species – Page 5 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Hiding in Plain Sight, A New Frog Species With A ‘Weird’ Croak is Identified in New York City

By Guest PostMarch 15, 2012Nature, Scienceamphibians, brad shaffer, bronx, cathy newman, cryptic species, dna data, ecology, Environment, evolutionary biology, jeremy feinberg, joanna burger, leopard frog, leslie rissler, long snore, manhattan, marshes, mitochondrial dna, new frog species, new jersey, new york, new york city, odd frogs, ponds, rana, rapid chuckle, Rutgers University, skyscrapers, species, staten island, statue of liberty, uc davis, ucla, university of alabama, unusual frogs, weird rana, wilds, yankee stadium

In the wilds of New York City — or as wild as you can get so close to skyscrapers — scientists have found a new leopard frog species that for years biologists mistook for a more widespread variety of leopard frog.

While biologists regularly discover new species in remote rain forests, finding this one in the ponds and marshes of Staten Island, mainland New York and New Jersey — sometimes within view of the Statue of Liberty — is a big surprise, said the scientists from UCLA, Rutgers University, UC Davis, and The University of Alabama who worked together to make the unexpected discovery. (more…)

Studying The Evolution of Life’s Building Blocks

By Guest PostFebruary 20, 2012Sciencealbert szent gyorgyi, ancient life, bacterium, basic module, beginning of life, beginning of time, british columbia, building block, chemical building block, chemical reactions, evolution, evolution of life, geneticists, michigan state university, molecular complementarity, molecular paleontology, origin of life, paleontologists, physiologist, robert root bernstein, species, vancouver, vitamin c

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Studying the origin of life at its building blocks offers a unique perspective on evolution, says a researcher at Michigan State University.

Robert Root-Bernstein, MSU physiology professor, will answer the question of why a physiologist studies the origin of life at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Feb. 16-20 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (more…)

New Species of Ancient Crocodile, Ancestor of Today’s Species, Discovered by MU Researcher

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2012Nature, Scienceaegisuchus witmeri, age of the crocs, age of the dinosaurs, ancestor, casey holliday, crocodilians, fossilized skull, late cretaceous period, mesozoic era, modern crocodile, nick gardner, prehistoric crocodile, shieldcroc, species, thermo regulator

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A University of Missouri researcher has identified a new species of prehistoric crocodile. The extinct creature, nicknamed “Shieldcroc” due to a thick-skinned shield on its head, is an ancestor of today’s crocodiles. Its discovery provides scientists with additional information about the evolution of crocodiles and how scientists can gain insight into ways to protect the species’ environment and help prevent extinction. The discovery was published this week in the journal PLoS-ONE (Public Library of Science). (more…)

Tortoise Species Thought to Be Extinct Still Lives, Genetic Analysis Reveals

By Guest PostJanuary 10, 2012Naturec elephantopus, charles darwin, chelonoidis elephantopus, domed shaped shells, ecological integrity, floreana, floreana island, galapagos islands, genetic analysis, genetic database, giant tortoises, gisella caccone, hunting by whalers, hybrid offspring, isabela, isabela island, missing species, northern shore, northern tip of isabela island, probability, ryan garrick, saddle shaped, shells of tortoises, species, theory of natural selection, university of mississipi, volcanic slopes, volcano wolf, volcano wolf tortoises, voyage to the galapagos, yale university

Dozens of giant tortoises of a species believed extinct for 150 years may still be living at a remote location in the Galápagos Islands, a genetic analysis conducted by Yale University researchers reveals.

The analysis, published Jan. 9 in the journal Current Biology, suggests that direct descendants of at least 38 purebred individuals of Chelonoidis elephantopus live on the volcanic slopes of the northern shore of Isabela Island — 200 miles from their ancestral home of Floreana Island, where they disappeared after being hunted by whalers. (more…)

Satellite Tracking Helps Russian Tanker Navigate Critical Sea Duck Habitat

By Guest PostJanuary 8, 2012Naturebiologists, craig lloyd, ellen lance, Environment, habitat, marcia mcnutt, matthew sexson, northern bering sea, population, russian tanker renda, satellite telemetry information, satellite tracking technology, sea duck, species, spectacled eiders, st lawrence island, transmitter, U.S. Geological Survey, us coast guard, usgs alaska science center, wildlife resources, wintering habitat

ANCHORAGE — On its way to deliver emergency fuel to Nome, Alaska, the Russian tanker Renda will move through an area used by wintering spectacled eiders, a federally threatened sea duck. But, to protect the ducks and their wintering habitat, resource managers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and navigators from the U.S. Coast Guard are using satellite telemetry information from the U.S. Geological Survey to plot a route for the tanker that minimizes impacts to this species and its habitat.

“Nearly 20 years ago, USGS biologists used the latest satellite tracking technology available at the time to uncover the mysterious wintering behavior of the spectacled eider, now a threatened species,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “Little did these scientists know at the time that their information would be critical in allowing a Russian tanker decades later to thread the needle to Nome in order to deliver life-saving fuel oil without taking a toll on these elusive sea ducks.” (more…)

Ancient Meat-Loving Predators Survived for 35-Million Years

By Guest PostDecember 9, 2011Scienceagile predators, ancient predator, beaufort group, cape breton university, dental, extinction, fossil, hypercarnivores, komodo dragon, lizards, mammals, middle permian, pristerognathus assemblage zone, robert reisz, saw like teeth, sean modesto, skeletal design, South Africa, species, terrestrial fauna, university of toronto mississauga, varanopid pelycosaur, varanopids

Lived through period of species extinction

A species of ancient predator with saw-like teeth, sleek bodies and a voracious appetite for meat survived a major extinction at a time when the distant relatives of mammals ruled the earth.

A detailed description of a fossil that scientists identify as a varanopid “pelycosaur” is published in the December issue of Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature. Professors Sean Modesto from Cape Breton University, a U of T alumnus, and Robert Reisz from University of Toronto Mississauga provide evidence that a group of ancient, agile predators called varanopids survived for more than 35 million years and co-existed with more advanced animals. (more…)

Female Fish Choose Attractive Friends to Avoid Attention

By Guest PostDecember 8, 2011Naturearipo river, attractive friends, females, freshwater fish, male attention, mating, receptive, reduce harassment, safi darden, scientists, sexual attention, sexual pheromone, species, trinidad, trinidadian guppy, universities of exeter

Scientists have observed a strategy for females to avoid unwanted male attention: choosing more attractive friends.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the study is the first to show females spending time with those more sexually attractive than themselves to reduce harassment from males.

Carried out by the Universities of Exeter and Copenhagen, the study focuses on the Trinidadian guppy, a species of small freshwater fish. It shows that the females choose companions that are relatively more attractive than themselves and in this way reduce harassment from males. The research shows that the tactic is successful and by ensuring they are less attractive than other group members, the fish experience less harassment and fewer mating attempts from males. (more…)

Infectious Fungus, Thought to Be Asexual, Isn’t

By Guest PostDecember 6, 2011Scienceallison m porman, asexual, brown university, candida albicans, candida genus, candida tropicalis, drug resistance, fungi, genetic switch, genus, infections, kevin alby, mating, matthew hirakawa, richard bennett, sex, sex as a survival tactic, sexual nature, species, the mating habits, wor1

*Candida tropicalis turns out to have sex, making it the second medically important member of the genus to be capable of mating. Sex may improve the survival of the species, particularly when it’s under pressure. It may also mean the species can achieve greater virulence or drug resistance more quickly than previously thought.*

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The fungi of the Candida genus, known to millions of patients worldwide for their ability to cause serious infections, were once all thought to be asexual. Even after scientists discovered that the mating habits of Candida albicans were many and varied, they remained convinced that many of the more infectious ones did not mate. Now with the first report that Candida tropicalis can mate sexually as well, the chastity of the whole genus comes into further doubt. (more…)

Tag Archives: species