ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2011) — Large mammals living in temperate climates frequently have difficulty finding food during winter. It is well known that they lower their metabolism at this time but does this represent a mechanism for coping with less food or is it merely a consequence of having less to eat? The puzzle has been solved -- at least for the red deer -- by the group of Walter Arnold at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna.
The results are published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Although the temperate climates of central Europe provide plentiful food in summer, finding enough to eat is much more problematic in winter. Many small mammals avoid the problem by hibernating but this survival strategy is generally not practised by larger animals. With the exception of some bears, large mammals remain fully awake throughout the year, yet they too must reduce their metabolism to cope with the comparative scarcity of food. Red deer, for example, are known to lower their heart rate and to allow their extremities to cool substantially during winter. These changes have been interpreted as a mechanism for conserving energy but could simply reflect the fact that the animals cannot find enough food to eat, as the act of digestion is known to have a direct influence on a ruminant's metabolism.
It is clear that red deer must minimise their energy requirements to be able to survive on little but their own body fat over the long winter season. To understand how they do so, Christopher Turbill and colleagues at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna inserted special transmitters into the reticulum (the foremost part of the stomach) of 15 female red deer and monitored the animals' heart rate and stomach temperature for a period of 18 months, including two winters. The deer lived under near-natural conditions but their food intake was tightly controlled, with the amount and the protein richness determined by the scientists. The air temperature was also recorded and statistical modeling was used to untangle the effects of the various different factors -- including swallowing snow, which naturally led to a rapid and dramatic decrease in stomach temperature -- on the animals' metabolism.
Read more here ...
Showing posts with label mammals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mammals. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Highs and lows for British mammals
With several high profile species in decline in Britain and last year's global failure to meet biodiversity targets, you could expect conservationists to have a pessimistic view for the future.
But according to David Macdonald, Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Oxford who has co-authored the report for the last 10 years, hope is not lost.
"If one could roll back and look at what in 2001 we might have expected the picture to be, I think it's amazingly positive," he says.
Prof Macdonald cites the growth of "citizen science" as an enormous boost to mammal monitoring. Public insight into a perceived decline in hedgehog numbers prompted scientific investigation that led to the species' inclusion on the government's Biodiversity Action Plan.
Read on...
But according to David Macdonald, Professor of Wildlife Conservation at the University of Oxford who has co-authored the report for the last 10 years, hope is not lost.
"If one could roll back and look at what in 2001 we might have expected the picture to be, I think it's amazingly positive," he says.
Prof Macdonald cites the growth of "citizen science" as an enormous boost to mammal monitoring. Public insight into a perceived decline in hedgehog numbers prompted scientific investigation that led to the species' inclusion on the government's Biodiversity Action Plan.
Read on...
Red squirrel and hedgehog under threat, study says
Red squirrel and hedgehog populations in the UK have continued to fall over the last decade, a report suggests. The 2011 State of Britain's Mammals study says the species are still under threat despite efforts to protect them.
But it says conservation schemes have benefited otters, polecats and water voles and half of the monitored species have stable or rising populations.
Read on...
But it says conservation schemes have benefited otters, polecats and water voles and half of the monitored species have stable or rising populations.
Read on...
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Bizarre mammals filmed calling using their quills
 |
| Watch more video clips of tenrecs |
By Ella Davies
Earth News reporter
Unique hedgehog-like mammals have been filmed using their quills to communicate.
By rubbing together specialised quills on their backs, the tenrecs made high pitch ultrasound calls to each other in the forest undergrowth.
The footage is the first of a mammal communicating in this way, a technique called "stridulation".
The lowland streaked tenrec (Hemicentetes semispinosus) resembles both a hedgehog and a shrew with black and yellow stripes, and is found only in Madagascar.
A film crew hoping to feature these visually striking animals in the BBC series Madagascar faced a number of challenges.
As eaters of invertebrates, particularly earthworms, the best time of year to film the tenrecs was the rainy season.
The time of day also played a considerable role.
"They're active during the day and during the night but they hide a lot so it can be difficult," said local conservation expert Dr Rainer Dolch who assisted the crew in their search.
Despite being crepuscular and used to twilight conditions, the streaked tenrecs were unconcerned by the crew's lights as they foraged on the forest floor.
However, recording the sounds the animals made required more sophisticated technology.
Streaked tenrecs are known to communicate using high-pitch tongue clicks when foraging but many of the sounds are beyond human hearing.
"Most of the sounds are too high for us to hear so we took a bat detector so that we could also pick up ultrasonic noises," said researcher Emma Napper.
Using the bat detector, the filmmakers found that the seemingly "quiet" mammals were constantly communicating.
Scientists have theorised that tenrecs could also be using high pitched calls to echolocate in the dark forest, finding their way with sound rather than sight in a similar way to bats.
The film crew were also hoping to record evidence of a particularly bizarre audio behaviour, unique to streaked tenrecs.
In the 1960s, streaked tenrecs were found to communicate using specialised quills on their backs, rubbing them together to make high pitch ultrasound calls.
Animals such as crickets, beetles and vipers are known to communicate by rubbing together body parts in behaviour known as "stridulation".
However, stridulation had never been filmed before in mammals.
The crew captured footage of the tenrecs rubbing together these specialist quills on their back as they foraged.
Few studies have been made to investigate why streaked tenrecs communicate both vocally and via their quills but they are currently the only mammals known to do so.
Tenrecs are a diverse family of mammals that resemble shrews, mice and even otters.
There are approximately 30 species in Madagascar including the rare web-footed aquatic tenrec (Limnogale mergulus) and the spiny, rabbit-sized common tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus).
The rich diversity of tenrecs on Madagascar is explained by scientists as evidence of the Darwinian theory of "adaptive radiation".
They propose that the tenrecs evolved from a single ancestor 60 million years ago, possibly a mammal that floated across the sea from mainland Africa.
With no other mammals on the island at the time, the different species of tenrecs are thought to have evolved into a diverse family as they adapted to Madagascar's wide variety of environments, free from competition.
Madagascar continues on BBC TWO at 2000 GMT on Wednesday, February 16.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9392000/9392070.stm
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Chernobyl zone shows decline in biodiversity
The largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl has revealed that mammals are declining in the exclusion zone surrounding the nuclear power plant.
The study aimed to establish the most reliable way to measure the impact on wildlife of contamination in the zone.
It was based on almost four years of counting and studying animals there.
The scientists say that birds provide the best "quantitative measure" of these impacts.
They report their findings in the journal Ecological Indicators.
The research team say that their census of species in the zone - which was carried out for more than three years - provides more evidence that contamination has a "significant impact" on biodiversity.
Professor Timothy Mousseau from the University of South Carolina, US, and Dr Anders Moller from the University of Paris-Sud, France, worked together on the project.
From 2006-2009, they counted and examined wildlife including insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Their previously published work revealed some of the negative impacts on birds and on insects of the low-level radiation that still contaminated the exclusion zone surrounding the power plant.
The new data on mammals and reptiles shows what Professor Moussaeu described as a "strong signal" of reduced biodiversity in these groups too.
The research team compared the abundance of species in the exclusion zone with similar types of habitats in the area, which were not contaminated.
"The truth is that these radiation contamination effects were so large as to be overwhelming," Professor Mousseau told BBC News.
During their census work, he and Dr Moller have also examined the effects of radiation contamination on the animals. They say that these impacts are particularly obvious in birds.
In their studies on barn swallows, the team observed birds with tumours on their feet, necks and around their eyes.
"We think they may be more susceptible, after their long migrations, to additional environmental stress," explained Professor Mousseau.
Poison or haven?Scientists in the Ukraine criticised the conclusions. Dr Sergii Gashchak, a researcher at the Chornobyl Center in Ukraine was not available for comment on this latest paper.
But he spoke to BBC News last year and dismissed the team's previous findings on insects and birds. He said that he drew "opposite conclusions".
"Wildlife really thrives in Chernobyl area - due to the low level of [human] influence," Dr Gashchak told BBC News.
"All life appeared and developed under the influence of radiation, so mechanisms of resistance and recovery evolved to survive in those conditions," he continued.
But Professor Mousseau said the evidence of an increase in biodiversity in the region is "purely anecdotal".
"This is the first paper that provides quantitative, rigorous data that the mammals really are significantly affected by contamination," he told BBC News.
"That said - it's not a bad idea to set this place up as a wildlife haven - it's a natural laboratory where we can study the long-term consequences of this kind of an accident."
Dr Mousseau also criticised a recently made documentary film called Chernobyl, A Natural History, which has been promoted by a French production company as showing how nature has "recolonised" the exclusion zone in the absence of man.
Professor Mousseau said: "If society is ever to learn more about the long term environmental consequences of large scale accidents - and Chernobyl is just one of several - it is important that we all take our responsibilities seriously."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10819027
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The new faces of Royal Animail: New stamp collection featuring Britain's at-risk mammals is released
The new faces of Royal Animail: New stamp collection featuring Britain's at-risk mammals is releasedBy Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:02 AM on 13th April 2010
Next time you post a letter, you can send it by first class hedgehog - or polecat, if there's a rush. The little creatures star in the latest series of Royal Mail stamps, released today. The series, which highlights Britain's declining mammal population, also features dormice, bats, otters, humpback whales and sperm whales, and water voles (better known as Ratty from the Wind in the Willows).
According to the Mammal Society, many of the species are in danger after losing their habitat to farming, pollution, growth in roads and housing. The collection is the fourth in Royal Mail's Action For Species series, which has previously featured birds, insects and plants. Royal Mail head of special stamps, Julietta Edgar, said the images were designed to deliver 'an important conservation message through millions of letter boxes'.
Paul Wilkinson of The Wildlife Trusts, a group of charities which focus on habitat conservation, said: 'Many are enthused and inspired by imagery of these creatures; sleeping dormice, sleek otters and the adorable water vole.
'But some may not be aware of the work which goes on behind the scenes to ensure there is adequate and suitable habitat for them.' The Mammal Society said Britain and its coastline is home to more than 60 species of mammals and while many are thriving, others have seen their populations decline. Even the seemingly prevalent hedgehog has seen a fall in numbers.
The series of stamps has been released to coincide with the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) - a United Nations conservation initiative.
Dr Robert Bloomfield, UK co-ordinator of the IYB, said: 'These stamps illustrate that even some of the most loved UK species, which we consider common or familiar, are under threat.
'Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1265474/Royal-Mail-releases-stamps-featuring-Britains-risk-mammals.html#ixzz0kyKks7xp
Friday, April 2, 2010
Vt. town gets $150K grant for salamander crossing
Apr 2, 7:39 AM EDT
MONKTON, Vt. (AP) -- Future generations of salamanders in one Vermont town are going to be getting some help crossing the road.
The Monkton Conservation Commission says it has won a $150,000 state grant to install one or two culverts under a stretch of road to protect salamanders, other amphibians, reptiles and small mammals crossing between a swampy area and the uplands.
The Burlington Free Press says the project will be the first wildlife-crossing retrofit of a Vermont highway.
Reptile expert Jim Andrews says the crossing is "one of the most important of the known amphibian crossings in the state."
For the last nine years a group of Monkton residents has monitored the swamp-side road crossing, in some cases helping the creatures cross the road.
---
Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_SALAMANDER_CROSSING?SITE=MOSPL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
MONKTON, Vt. (AP) -- Future generations of salamanders in one Vermont town are going to be getting some help crossing the road.
The Monkton Conservation Commission says it has won a $150,000 state grant to install one or two culverts under a stretch of road to protect salamanders, other amphibians, reptiles and small mammals crossing between a swampy area and the uplands.
The Burlington Free Press says the project will be the first wildlife-crossing retrofit of a Vermont highway.
Reptile expert Jim Andrews says the crossing is "one of the most important of the known amphibian crossings in the state."
For the last nine years a group of Monkton residents has monitored the swamp-side road crossing, in some cases helping the creatures cross the road.
---
Information from: The Burlington Free Press, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_ODD_SALAMANDER_CROSSING?SITE=MOSPL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
South Pacific countries face threats from alien invasive species
02/22/2010 at 3:37PM
(Tahitipresse) - South Pacific countries are facing a serious threat from alien invasive species according to a new publication coordinated by the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP).
The publication lists a number of alien species as a major threat to life on earth, "and unfortunately a number of these now exist in the South Pacific islands", Regional Director of BirdLife International in the Pacific Don Stewart said. Birdlife is a partner in GISP.
Invasive alien species are plants and animals not native to the South Pacific countries but have been introduced either through trade, or through "misguided" attempts to protect local flora and fauna, a Birdlife press release states.
The publication names 542 species documented as invasive aliens in 57 countries including 316 plants, 101 marine organisms, 44 freshwater fish, 43 mammal, 23 bird and 15 amphibian species. An increase in the number and spread of alien species, which adversely affect the habitats they invade, is attributed to a substantial rise in international trade over the past 25 years.
In the Pacific region, the list of the alien species is substantial and includes rats, snakes, cats, ants, mongooses, freshwater fishes, and weeds like miconia, wedelia and mile-a-minute.
"Alien Invasive species 'take over' space and resources of animals and plants that belong in the Pacific. They also often eat native species, like birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. This can lead to native or endemic birds and other animals going extinct", Stewart said.
Dr. Randy Thaman, Professor of Biogeography at the University of the South Pacific endorsed these comments. "Invasive alien species are highly destructive and have led to the serious deterioration of unique Pacific island ecosystems", Thaman added.
Of all animals that have become extinct since 1800, 90% were island birds and 90% of these were lost to invasive species primarily because of rats.
BirdLife International operates a programme, currently funded by the UK Government Darwin Initiative and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, to primarily remove rats from islands in the Pacific that continue to pose a serious threat to seabird populations.
Together with BirdLife Partner organisations, rats have been removed from 17 biologically important islands in Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Palau.
Mr. Stewart said that these efforts have been a major benefit to the region's wildlife, and importantly have also protected crops from damage and drinking water from contamination.
http://en.tahitipresse.pf/index.cfm?snav=see&presse=28483&lang=2
(Tahitipresse) - South Pacific countries are facing a serious threat from alien invasive species according to a new publication coordinated by the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP).
The publication lists a number of alien species as a major threat to life on earth, "and unfortunately a number of these now exist in the South Pacific islands", Regional Director of BirdLife International in the Pacific Don Stewart said. Birdlife is a partner in GISP.
Invasive alien species are plants and animals not native to the South Pacific countries but have been introduced either through trade, or through "misguided" attempts to protect local flora and fauna, a Birdlife press release states.
The publication names 542 species documented as invasive aliens in 57 countries including 316 plants, 101 marine organisms, 44 freshwater fish, 43 mammal, 23 bird and 15 amphibian species. An increase in the number and spread of alien species, which adversely affect the habitats they invade, is attributed to a substantial rise in international trade over the past 25 years.
In the Pacific region, the list of the alien species is substantial and includes rats, snakes, cats, ants, mongooses, freshwater fishes, and weeds like miconia, wedelia and mile-a-minute.
"Alien Invasive species 'take over' space and resources of animals and plants that belong in the Pacific. They also often eat native species, like birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish. This can lead to native or endemic birds and other animals going extinct", Stewart said.
Dr. Randy Thaman, Professor of Biogeography at the University of the South Pacific endorsed these comments. "Invasive alien species are highly destructive and have led to the serious deterioration of unique Pacific island ecosystems", Thaman added.
Of all animals that have become extinct since 1800, 90% were island birds and 90% of these were lost to invasive species primarily because of rats.
BirdLife International operates a programme, currently funded by the UK Government Darwin Initiative and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, to primarily remove rats from islands in the Pacific that continue to pose a serious threat to seabird populations.
Together with BirdLife Partner organisations, rats have been removed from 17 biologically important islands in Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Palau.
Mr. Stewart said that these efforts have been a major benefit to the region's wildlife, and importantly have also protected crops from damage and drinking water from contamination.
http://en.tahitipresse.pf/index.cfm?snav=see&presse=28483&lang=2
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Blurred vision?
NEW LOOK: Would a sloth have blurred vision if it ran at the speed of a cheetah? The answer to the question on everybody's lips is quite simply, no. The neurological process that allows animals to visually track an object while on the move is basically the same in all mammals. Liverpool University's study of the relationship between an animal's speed and agility appears in the Journal of Anatomy.
http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2010/02/23/ - p10.
http://e-edition.metroherald.ie/2010/02/23/ - p10.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
What Do Humans, Bats and Shrews Have in Common? Frustration
RIGHT: A frustrated shrew, yesterdayThursday, November 05, 2009
SAN ANTONIO — Pet owners and scientists who spend a lot of time in the wild say that they can tell when an animal is upset by the sound of its voice. Now new analyses of animal calls may offer an explanation; humans seem to express frustration in the same way as other mammals.
At a recent meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, several groups of scientists presented evidence that humans, bats, elephants and shrews all speak faster and with a higher pitch when stressed. Along with other studies of primates, marmots and rats, the findings suggest that humans inherited the way we communicate when feeling anxious from animal ancestors that lived millions of years ago.
Studying animal emotions can be a challenge because unlike humans, animals cannot describe their emotions — at least, not to us. Unable to interview animals, scientists look instead for signs of emotion through visible behaviors and in the ways they communicate.
"We're obviously at a disadvantage when studying non-humans," said Michael Owren of Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Some emotional behaviors seem to be uniquely human. Monkeys shed tears to keep their eyes clean, but only Homo sapiens weep during distressing situations.
Laughter, on the other hand, is a way of communicating emotion shared by both humans and monkeys, something that Charles Darwin wrote about more than a century ago. He catalogued hundreds of facials expressions used by people and animals and noticed that monkeys — like humans — wrinkle their cheeks and grin with bright eyes when they laugh.
"We may confidently believe that laughter, as a sign of pleasure or enjoyment, was practiced by our progenitors long before they deserved to be called human," wrote Darwin, who believed that human beings inherited some of our emotions from our animal ancestors.
Recent studies into how animals communicate frustration have continued to explore Darwin's hypothesis of emotional continuity between species.
Zoologist Sabine Schmidt from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany, studies vampire bats. She has found evidence of frustration in the ultrasonic screeches the bats produce when quarreling over a favorite perching spot. When one bat stole another's favorite spot, the ousted animal screeched at the squatter, flapped its wings and opened its mouth aggressively. As a bat became more aggressive, the type of call it used remained the same — but the pitch rose, and the clicks happened faster.
"The clicks are like when a woman gets hysterical and the voice goes up," said Schmidt. "It codes for urgency."
Elke Zimmerman, also from the University of Veterinary Medicine, found a similar change in the calls of tree shrews, small insect-eating mammals native to Southeast Asia.
"Where they live, there are lots of bushes," said Zimmerman. "It is not always easy for them to see each other, so acoustic communication is of special relevance."
When the female tree shrews she observed were approached by a male, they often screamed in protest. And the closer the male got, the higher and faster the scream became. Zimmerman said that the rise in pitch is similar to changes in human speech that indicate intensifying anger.
Other data about how elephants talk to each other in groups has shown that the large mammals raise the pitch of their calls when talking to a herd member of higher status.
Zimmerman said that millions of years ago, mammals may have started to raise the pitch of their voices not to communicate, but because of stress on their bodies.
"You breathe at higher rate when you are stressed," said Zimmerman. "It might be that raising the pitch was a byproduct of the breath rate in our ancestral mammals that evolved into a signal to avoid danger."
"The central question we are dealing with is how far back do the evolutionary roots of emotional communication go in the mammals," said Schmidt. "This pushes us farther back in evolution than ever before, 85 to 95 million years back."
The research is the latest is a series of experiments that continue to uncover examples of emotional behaviors shared by humans and other animals. Magpies seem to hold funerals for fallen comrades, according to biologist Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Other research has suggested that elephants can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and that rats appear to laugh with joy when tickled.
"Most scientists accept that the real question is not if animals have emotions, but why they have evolved," said Bekoff.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572007,00.html
What Do Humans, Bats and Shrews Have in Common? Frustration
RIGHT: A frustrated shrew, yesterdayThursday, November 05, 2009
SAN ANTONIO — Pet owners and scientists who spend a lot of time in the wild say that they can tell when an animal is upset by the sound of its voice. Now new analyses of animal calls may offer an explanation; humans seem to express frustration in the same way as other mammals.
At a recent meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, several groups of scientists presented evidence that humans, bats, elephants and shrews all speak faster and with a higher pitch when stressed. Along with other studies of primates, marmots and rats, the findings suggest that humans inherited the way we communicate when feeling anxious from animal ancestors that lived millions of years ago.
Studying animal emotions can be a challenge because unlike humans, animals cannot describe their emotions — at least, not to us. Unable to interview animals, scientists look instead for signs of emotion through visible behaviors and in the ways they communicate.
"We're obviously at a disadvantage when studying non-humans," said Michael Owren of Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Some emotional behaviors seem to be uniquely human. Monkeys shed tears to keep their eyes clean, but only Homo sapiens weep during distressing situations.
Laughter, on the other hand, is a way of communicating emotion shared by both humans and monkeys, something that Charles Darwin wrote about more than a century ago. He catalogued hundreds of facials expressions used by people and animals and noticed that monkeys — like humans — wrinkle their cheeks and grin with bright eyes when they laugh.
"We may confidently believe that laughter, as a sign of pleasure or enjoyment, was practiced by our progenitors long before they deserved to be called human," wrote Darwin, who believed that human beings inherited some of our emotions from our animal ancestors.
Recent studies into how animals communicate frustration have continued to explore Darwin's hypothesis of emotional continuity between species.
Zoologist Sabine Schmidt from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany, studies vampire bats. She has found evidence of frustration in the ultrasonic screeches the bats produce when quarreling over a favorite perching spot. When one bat stole another's favorite spot, the ousted animal screeched at the squatter, flapped its wings and opened its mouth aggressively. As a bat became more aggressive, the type of call it used remained the same — but the pitch rose, and the clicks happened faster.
"The clicks are like when a woman gets hysterical and the voice goes up," said Schmidt. "It codes for urgency."
Elke Zimmerman, also from the University of Veterinary Medicine, found a similar change in the calls of tree shrews, small insect-eating mammals native to Southeast Asia.
"Where they live, there are lots of bushes," said Zimmerman. "It is not always easy for them to see each other, so acoustic communication is of special relevance."
When the female tree shrews she observed were approached by a male, they often screamed in protest. And the closer the male got, the higher and faster the scream became. Zimmerman said that the rise in pitch is similar to changes in human speech that indicate intensifying anger.
Other data about how elephants talk to each other in groups has shown that the large mammals raise the pitch of their calls when talking to a herd member of higher status.
Zimmerman said that millions of years ago, mammals may have started to raise the pitch of their voices not to communicate, but because of stress on their bodies.
"You breathe at higher rate when you are stressed," said Zimmerman. "It might be that raising the pitch was a byproduct of the breath rate in our ancestral mammals that evolved into a signal to avoid danger."
"The central question we are dealing with is how far back do the evolutionary roots of emotional communication go in the mammals," said Schmidt. "This pushes us farther back in evolution than ever before, 85 to 95 million years back."
The research is the latest is a series of experiments that continue to uncover examples of emotional behaviors shared by humans and other animals. Magpies seem to hold funerals for fallen comrades, according to biologist Marc Bekoff from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Other research has suggested that elephants can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and that rats appear to laugh with joy when tickled.
"Most scientists accept that the real question is not if animals have emotions, but why they have evolved," said Bekoff.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,572007,00.html
Monday, March 30, 2009
City's animal instincts help raise Rs 10L for AMC
30 Mar 2009, 0326 hrs IST, TNN
Ahmedabad: Little celebrities of Kankaria Zoo have raised a stunning sponsorship for Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) this year. Around 57 animals and birds were adopted by donors, animal lovers and children. Birds have been most popular, say AMC sources.
Till now, animals adopted under Friends of zoo' programme have raised a total of Rs 10.9 lakh donations for the zoo. At least 12 mammals, 29 birds and 15 reptiles have been adopted. Of 29 birds, seven peacocks were popular among donors. At least 37 donors have come forward for adoptions. Two major ones include Jani and Jani construction company and Sheetal builders, who have adopted a tiger, crocodile and an elephant. Zoo authorities say that children have a lot of interest in the peacock, owing to its National bird' status.
Some popular celebrities in the zoo like Ashok the elephant, Devi the hippo, and Raja the tiger have drawn maximum donations. The cobra, pheasants, lovebirds, badgers, pythons and Nicobar pigeons have also gained curiosity of kids.
Finance department and zoo authorities of Kamla Nehru Zoological Park have drawn up a unique plan to divert the sponsorship money. With adoption money, authorities plan to create infrastructure for animals in the zoo. Coolers during summers, clean drinking water facility, modern cages, food for animals and birds, as well as medical facilities are among things planned.
"At least five pythons, cobras and crocodiles have takers under reptiles, while parakettes, love birds and peacocks are famous among children. For some reason, the Macau has not generated much fan following. We are planning on an innovative way to attract more donors," says a senior AMC official.
Zoo also plans to organise seminars and even prepare and distribute information on animals, birds or reptiles who are being adopted. A special club of donors is on the cards, which will meet on scheduled dates to discuss and participate in the upkeep of zoo and educational programmes.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Ahmedabad/Citys-animal-instincts-help-raise-Rs-10L-for-AMC/articleshow/4331827.cms
Ahmedabad: Little celebrities of Kankaria Zoo have raised a stunning sponsorship for Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) this year. Around 57 animals and birds were adopted by donors, animal lovers and children. Birds have been most popular, say AMC sources.
Till now, animals adopted under Friends of zoo' programme have raised a total of Rs 10.9 lakh donations for the zoo. At least 12 mammals, 29 birds and 15 reptiles have been adopted. Of 29 birds, seven peacocks were popular among donors. At least 37 donors have come forward for adoptions. Two major ones include Jani and Jani construction company and Sheetal builders, who have adopted a tiger, crocodile and an elephant. Zoo authorities say that children have a lot of interest in the peacock, owing to its National bird' status.
Some popular celebrities in the zoo like Ashok the elephant, Devi the hippo, and Raja the tiger have drawn maximum donations. The cobra, pheasants, lovebirds, badgers, pythons and Nicobar pigeons have also gained curiosity of kids.
Finance department and zoo authorities of Kamla Nehru Zoological Park have drawn up a unique plan to divert the sponsorship money. With adoption money, authorities plan to create infrastructure for animals in the zoo. Coolers during summers, clean drinking water facility, modern cages, food for animals and birds, as well as medical facilities are among things planned.
"At least five pythons, cobras and crocodiles have takers under reptiles, while parakettes, love birds and peacocks are famous among children. For some reason, the Macau has not generated much fan following. We are planning on an innovative way to attract more donors," says a senior AMC official.
Zoo also plans to organise seminars and even prepare and distribute information on animals, birds or reptiles who are being adopted. A special club of donors is on the cards, which will meet on scheduled dates to discuss and participate in the upkeep of zoo and educational programmes.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Ahmedabad/Citys-animal-instincts-help-raise-Rs-10L-for-AMC/articleshow/4331827.cms
Friday, March 20, 2009
Female Mammals Select Only the Right Partners
Their noses aid them in that regard
Thus far, scientists and naturalists have known that female birds are the most picky living things when it comes to their mates, but have never suspected that the same behavior could be found in mammals as well. But recent investigations into the matter seem to yield very interesting conclusions, in that it actually turns out that females of all mammal species have very good instincts when it comes to selecting the right mating partner. Until that male is found, other pretenders are mercilessly cast aside, so as to make room for “the one.”
Cambridge University zoologist Tim Clutton-Brock and Katherine McAuliffe, a researcher at the Harvard University, have worked together for the new paper, which is published in the March issue of the journal The Quarterly Review of Biology. They have brought pieces of evidence that suggest females of all mammal species use their noses with a great degree of accuracy in detecting the male with the best possible genes. The reason why most researchers have thus far been unable to see this behavior, they share, is because it is not as obvious to the human observers as that of birds.
“The most convincing evidence for female mate choice in mammals comes from studies of captive mammals (...) carried out under controlled conditions where the effects of male competition can be excluded,” they write in the paper. It's “possible that in some mammals, males produce olfactory signals that match the elaboration and complexity of the peacock's tail (...) or the sedge warbler's song.”
Because most mammal species prefer to mate at dusk or during the night, it would stand to reason that it's not visual appearance that is the main aspect females look for when selecting their mates. That's why olfactory cues are most likely the best way for the animals to detect the traits of a possible mate and to act based on them. Clutton-Brock and McAuliffe suggest that lab analysis of the pheromones released in the air by courting males might provide the best insight into the mating behavior of most mammal species.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Female-Mammals-Select-Only-the-Right-Partners-107136.shtml
Thus far, scientists and naturalists have known that female birds are the most picky living things when it comes to their mates, but have never suspected that the same behavior could be found in mammals as well. But recent investigations into the matter seem to yield very interesting conclusions, in that it actually turns out that females of all mammal species have very good instincts when it comes to selecting the right mating partner. Until that male is found, other pretenders are mercilessly cast aside, so as to make room for “the one.”
Cambridge University zoologist Tim Clutton-Brock and Katherine McAuliffe, a researcher at the Harvard University, have worked together for the new paper, which is published in the March issue of the journal The Quarterly Review of Biology. They have brought pieces of evidence that suggest females of all mammal species use their noses with a great degree of accuracy in detecting the male with the best possible genes. The reason why most researchers have thus far been unable to see this behavior, they share, is because it is not as obvious to the human observers as that of birds.
“The most convincing evidence for female mate choice in mammals comes from studies of captive mammals (...) carried out under controlled conditions where the effects of male competition can be excluded,” they write in the paper. It's “possible that in some mammals, males produce olfactory signals that match the elaboration and complexity of the peacock's tail (...) or the sedge warbler's song.”
Because most mammal species prefer to mate at dusk or during the night, it would stand to reason that it's not visual appearance that is the main aspect females look for when selecting their mates. That's why olfactory cues are most likely the best way for the animals to detect the traits of a possible mate and to act based on them. Clutton-Brock and McAuliffe suggest that lab analysis of the pheromones released in the air by courting males might provide the best insight into the mating behavior of most mammal species.
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Female-Mammals-Select-Only-the-Right-Partners-107136.shtml
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