Hungry Spiders Spin Deadlier Webs (June 27, 2008)
Black widow spiders vary their webs to suit their purpose. A hungry spider spins a deadlier web, while a full one builds a fortress. Spiders that were fed daily with crickets spun tangled masses of non-sticky silk, Jacquelyn Zevenbergen and Todd Blackledge at the University of Akron, Ohio, found. But similar-size spiders that had been starved for a week tended to spin sheets of silk connected to the ground by taut, sticky strands.
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Source: New Scientist |
Frogs Pierce Skin with Claws of Bone (June 25, 2008)
Eleven species of African frogs—including Trichobatracus robustus (top) and Astylosternus perreti (bottom)—sport a Wolverine-like defense mechanism, scientists have announced. When threatened, the amphibians pierce their skin with toe bones, sprouting makeshift claws with which to attack predators.
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Source: National Geographic |
Black Market Tigers Linked to Thai Temple, Repost Says
(June 21, 2008) It's the hottest part of the day at a forest monastery in western Thailand, and tourists are led by the hand, one by one, into the beating sun to pet chained tigers and smile for the camera. Every day at this unusual "Tiger Temple," as many as 800 tourists pay 300 Thai baht (9 U.S. dollars) each for their chance to interact with the endangered big cats.
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Source: National Geographic |
"Unicorn" Deer Seen in Italy
(June 15, 2008) A young deer nicknamed "Unicorn" is drawing hundreds of curious visitors to a nature preserve in Tuscany, park officials say. The year-old roe deer was born in captivity with an apparent genetic flaw that gave it a single horn in the center of its head, said Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, northwest of Florence
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Source: National Geographic |
Caribbean Monk Seal Declared Extinct, US Officials Declare
(June 10, 2008) Federal officials in the U.S. have confirmed what biologists have long thought: The Caribbean monk seal has gone the way of the dodo. Humans hunting the docile creatures for food, skins, and blubber left the population unsustainable, say biologists, who warn that Mediterranean and Hawaiian monk seals could be the next to go.
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Source: National Geographic |
Humpback Whales Bounce Back due to Global Conservation
(June 07, 2008) Humpback whales in the Pacific Ocean have recovered swimmingly since the start of worldwide conservation programs in the 1960s and '70s. That's the finding from a large-scale, collaborative research effort by more than 400 whale experts throughout the Pacific region.
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Source: National Geographic |
Rarest Rhinoceros Wrecks Camera (May 30, 2008)
The world's rarest rhinoceros has been captured on film by a specially installed camera in the jungles of Java, Indonesia. But the female rhino, which was accompanied by a calf, promptly charged the camera, sending it flying. The animals are at severe risk of extinction, with only 60-70 animals left in the wild.
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Source: BBC |
Oldest Parrot Fossil Found - In Scandinavia? (May 26, 2008)
The fictional dead Scandinavian parrot that an unhappy customer tried to return in a famous Monty Python TV sketch may have a 54-million-year-old real-life ancestor, if a new study is to be believed. An ancient bird found on Denmark's Isle of Mors has already been nicknamed the "Danish blue" in honor of the fictional "Norweigan blue" breed of parrot featured in the 1970s British comedy show.
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Source: National Geographic |
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Chameleons Fine Tune Camouflage to Predator's Vision (May 22, 2008)
Chameleons' mastery of camouflage goes further than anyone expected – it seems they can fine-tune their colour changes to the visual systems of specific predators. Devi Stuart-Fox at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues studied the Smith's dwarf chameleon(Bradypodion taeniabronchum), which lives in South Africa. This critically endangered chameleon can alter its colour palette in milliseconds, either for camouflage or for social signalling.
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Source: New Scientist |
Fewer Caribou Born as Warming Causes Missed Meals (May 13, 2008)
Greenland's caribou work up quite a hunger during their long migrations. But global warming now has the animals arriving late for dinner—and paying a heavy price. Fewer caribou calves are being born in the western part of the Danish island, and those that are born have slimmer chances of surviving, a new study reports.
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Source: National Geographic |
Many Asian Vultures Close to Extinction, Survey Finds
(May 04, 2008) Several species of Asian vulture will be extinct within a decade, new research warns. The carrion-eating birds have been on the decline due to exposure to a common livestock drug. Now a survey of vultures in northern and central India has found the birds' populations have plunged to near-extinction levels—one species is down 99.9 percent since surveys began in the 1990s.
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Source: National Geographic |
Lizards Rapidly Evolve after Introduction to Island (Apr 26, 2008)
Italian wall lizards introduced to a tiny island off the coast of Croatia are evolving in ways that would normally take millions of years to play out, new research shows. In just a few decades the 5-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) lizards have developed a completely new gut structure, larger heads, and a harder bite, researchers say.
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Source: National Geographic |
Diseases Threat to Rare Wild Cats (Apr 16, 2008)
A vet has urged cat owners to neuter and vaccinate their pets against diseases in an effort to help protect Scotland's rare wildcat population. Jane Harley, who is based in the Cairngorms National Park, said the species was at risk from picking up highly contagious conditions.
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Source: BBC |
World's Largest Catfish Species Threatened by Dam (Apr 11, 2008)
In the swift currents of the Mekong River in northern Cambodia, fishers expertly navigate their longboats past rock outcroppings and fallen logs. But soon these wild waters may be tamed. Plans for the construction of a large hydroelectric dam just across the border, at Khone Falls in Laos, would permanently alter one of the most pristine areas in Southeast Asia.
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Source: National Geographic |
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