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‘Heat-proof’ Eggs Help Turtles Cope With Hot Beaches

By Guest PostSeptember 29, 2011Nature, Scienceascension island, cayman islands department of environment, coast of south america, eggs, favourable genes, green turtles, jonathan blount, mark orr, rapid climate change, sam weber, sea turtles, south atlantic ocean, turtle evolution, turtles are naturally heat tolerant, uk, university of exeter, warming climate threatens

*Sea turtles face an uncertain future as a warming climate threatens to reduce their reproductive viability.*

*However, new research led by the University of Exeter and published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that some turtles are naturally heat-tolerant.*

The study focused on green turtles nesting on Ascension Island, a UK overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. Scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Groningen found that eggs laid by turtles nesting on a naturally hot beach withstand high temperatures better than eggs from turtles nesting on a cooler beach just a few kilometres away. (more…)

Glow-in-the-Dark Millipede Says ‘Stay Away’

By Guest PostSeptember 28, 2011Naturebioluminescent aposematism, bioluminescent millipedes, defense mechanism, glowing millipedes, warning coloration

The world’s only bioluminescent millipedes use their glow as a warning signal to nocturnal predators, a UA-led research team has discovered

As night falls in certain mountain regions in California, a strange breed of creepy crawlies emerges from the soil: millipedes that glow in the dark. The reason behind the glowing secret has stumped biologists until now. (more…)

Over the Hump: Ecologists Use Power of Network Science to Challenge Long-Held Theory

By Guest PostSeptember 26, 2011Nature, Sciencealpine tundra, british ecologist, bugle lily, ecologists, effects of environmental change on biodiversity, elizabeth borer, emperor new clothes, global sampling, grime unimodal pattern, habitats, henry gholz, hump shaped model, j philip grime, mt gilboa, national science foundation, peter adler, plant and animal species, productivity of the habitat, scientist, South Africa, utah state university

*Global sampling of 48 sites on five continents yields unprecedented data set*

For decades, ecologists have toiled to nail down principles explaining why some habitats have many more plant and animal species than others.

Much of this debate is focused on the idea that the number of species is determined by the productivity of the habitat.

Shouldn’t a patch of prairie contain a different number of species than an arid steppe or an alpine tundra? (more…)

Smells May Help Birds Identify Their Relatives

By Guest PostSeptember 25, 2011Naturebirds, captive penguins, kin discrimination, olfactory sense, sense of smell

Birds may have a more highly developed sense of smell than researchers previously thought, contend scholars who have found that penguins may use smell to determine if they are related to a potential mate. (more…)

When Plants Go Polyploid

By Guest PostSeptember 15, 2011Natureanimal evolution, diploid lineages, evolutionary gamble, hereditary information, plant lineages, polyploid lineages, polyploidy

Plant lineages with multiple copies of their genetic information face higher extinction rates than their relatives, researchers report in Science magazine.

While duplication of hereditary information is a relatively rare event in animal evolution, it is common in plants. Potatoes, coffee, bananas, peanuts, tobacco, wheat, oats and strawberries, to name but a few, all carry multiple copies of their genetic material, in a condition called polyploidy. (more…)

New Video/Images of Walrus Haulout

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2011Naturecontinental shelf, walrus haulout, walrus studies, young walrus

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The USGS Alaska Science Center has released new high-resolution video of Pacific walruses hauling out near Point Lay, Alaska, in late August, 2011. (more…)

A Tale of (More Than) Two Butterflies

By Guest PostSeptember 14, 2011Natureappalachian tiger, hybridization, poisonous butterfly, species formation, swallowtail butterfly, two butterflies

Appalachian tiger swallowtail butterfly is hybrid of other swallowtails

Flitting among the cool slopes of the Appalachian Mountains is a tiger swallowtail butterfly that evolved when two other species of swallowtails hybridized long ago. (more…)

Are New England’s Iconic Maples at Risk?

By Guest PostSeptember 5, 2011Naturealb eradication, alb infestation, alb outbreak, asian longhorned beetle, longhorned beetle, maple trees

Invasive Asian longhorned beetle has potential for wide reach in region’s forests

Are new England’s iconic maple trees at risk? If a beetle has its way, the answer may be yes. (more…)

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