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Iconic New Zealand Reptile Shows Chewing is Not Just for Mammals

By Guest PostJune 5, 2012Nature3d, angles, bbsrc, beetles, chewing technique, computer model, crickets, dinosaurs, harmful xrays, iconic, lizard, marc jones, metabolism, musculoskeletal model, neil curtis, new zealand, new zealand tuatara, reptile, sea birds, skull, small lizards, sphenodon, spiders, steak knife, tuatara, university college london, university of hull

The tuatara, an iconic New Zealand reptile, chews its food in a way unlike any other animal on the planet –challenging the widespread perception that complex chewing ability is closely linked to high metabolism.

Using a sophisticated computer model, scientists from UCL and the University of Hull demonstrate how the tuatara is able to slice its food like a “steak knife”. The tuatara’s complex chewing technique raises doubts about the supposed link between chewing and high metabolism in mammals.

The New Zealand tuatara (Sphenodon) is a lizard-like reptile that is the only survivor of a group that was globally widespread at the time of the dinosaurs. It lives on 35 islands scattered around the coast of New Zealand and was recently reintroduced to the mainland. Its diet consists of beetles, spiders, crickets, small lizards and, occasionally, sea birds. (more…)

Red Knots and Horseshoe Crabs Knotted Together

By Guest PostJuly 10, 2011Environment, Naturearctic breeding grounds, atlantic loggerhead sea turtles, chesapeake bay, conor mcgowan, crabs, delaware bay, ecological links, ecosphere, horseshoe crab, james hines, james lyons, james nichols, mid atlantic region, migrating shorebirds, new jersey, nutrient rich eggs, red knot, scorpions, sea turtle, shorebird species, spiders, ticks, U.S. Geological Survey, usgs, virginia

*Research Bolsters Importance of Horseshoe Crab Spawning for Migrating Shorebirds*

LAUREL, Md. – Speculation that the welfare of a small, at-risk shorebird is directly tied to horseshoe crab populations is in part supported by new scientific research, according to a U.S. Geological Survey- led study published in Ecosphere, a journal of the Ecological Society of America.

Population health of the red knot, a shorebird species whose population has plummeted over the last 15 years, has been directly tied to the number of egg-laying horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay — between Delaware and New Jersey — during the red knot’s northward migration each spring. (more…)

People Aren’t Born Afraid of Spiders and Snakes: Fear Is Quickly Learned During Infancy

By Guest PostFebruary 1, 2011Culturearachnophobia, arne ohman, children, electric shock, elephant, hollywood, humans, infants, monkeys, movies, poisonous, scary objects, snakes, snakes on a plane, spiders, susan mineka, toddlers, vanessa lobue

There’s a reason why Hollywood makes movies like Arachnophobia and Snakes on a Plane: Most people are afraid of spiders and snakes. A new paper published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, reviews research with infants and toddlers and finds that we aren’t born afraid of spiders and snakes, but we can learn these fears very quickly.

One theory about why we fear spiders and snakes is because so many are poisonous; natural selection may have favored people who stayed away from these dangerous critters. Indeed, several studies have found that it’s easier for both humans and monkeys to learn to fear evolutionarily threatening things than non-threatening things. (more…)

Tag Archives: spiders

Iconic New Zealand Reptile Shows Chewing is Not Just for Mammals

Red Knots and Horseshoe Crabs Knotted Together

People Aren’t Born Afraid of Spiders and Snakes: Fear Is Quickly Learned During Infancy