The World We Live In

As the url implies, this is a blog about biology! There will also be a smattering of nature photography, conservation, and other fun stuff. If you have a topic or organism you would like us to post about, feel free to write in the ask box.

[mad-as-a-marine-biologist]

Ever wonder what the inside of a baleen whale’s mouth looks like? This is a Bryde’s whale from the Sea of Cortez.

Photo by Doug Perrine

Shared by Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines. 

P.S. Mr. Bryde, for whom the whale is named, was from Norway so it’s pronounced “Brewde’s”. He was the Norwegian consul to South Africa and set up the first whaling station in Durban in 1908.  

[theanimalblog]

This species of caterpillar grows an enlarged, green coloured, section of abdomen which overlaps its actual head.  It is thought this acts as a deterrent to birds by resembling unripe berries.  Picture: Science Photo Library / Rex Features

[animals-animals-animals]

Limosa Harlequin Frog (Atelopus limosus) (by brian.gratwicke)

[rhamphotheca]

Komodo Dragons (Varanus komodoensis) Facts

by Katherine Gammon

Komodo dragons mate between May and August and females lay about 30 eggs each in September. The hatchlings are small and defenseless — they weigh less than 3.5 ounces (100 grams) are only 16 inches long (40 centimeters). They face a tough world: Young Komodo dragons spend much of their first few years in trees, where they are relatively safe from predators, including cannibalistic adults Komodos, who make juvenile dragons 10 percent of their diet.

The lizards are generally solitary outside of mating season. Males maintain and defend a territory and patrol up to 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) per day. Dragons maintain burrows within their territorial ranges and occasionally males will swim from island to island over long distances. They regulate their body temperature by using a burrow…

(read more: OurAmazingPlanet)            (photo: uncredited)

[theanimalblog]

A photographer has captured a rare glimpse of a Bryde’s whale breaching the water’s surface and soaring through the air. Photographer Andy Murch was on a boat in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of La Paz, Mexico, when the whale breached the surface.  Picture: Andy Murch/SeaPics/Solent News & Photo Agency

[rhamphotheca]

The three major zones of a coral reef: fore reef, reef crest, & back reef

Colonial “hard corals” form elaborate finger-shaped, branching, or mound-shaped structures and can create masses of limestone that stretch for tens or even hundreds of miles. Many coral reefs fringing coasts consist of nearshore inner reef flats that slope to deeper water fore reefs farther offshore. The reef crest, between the inner reef flat and outer fore reef, lies in extremely shallow water and may be exposed during the lowest tides. Waves commonly crash against or break on the reef crest. Fringing reefs help to protect harbors, beaches, and shorelines from erosion and wave damage by storms.

(Graphic Design: Susan Mayfield and Sara Boore)

(via: USGS)

[allcreatures]

Amazon horned frog.

Photograph by George Grall

[h4te]

[darraghdoyle]

Press Release from Dublin Zoo

Rio and Marmaduke celebrate their first born at Dublin Zoo  Tapir calf born

  Dublin Zoo is celebrating the birth of a Brazilian tapir born early on Tuesday, 5th June. The male calf, born to mum Rio, and dad Marmaduke, is the pair’s first calf together.

Team leader Eddie O’Brien, said, “We are delighted with the birth of the tapir calf. Mum and calf are doing very well and we are really happy with how well Rio is doing as a first time mum. The calf was up and about quickly after he was born, he is really inquisitive!”

Tapir calves are born with a number of white spots and stripes which act as camouflage in the wild. The spots and stripes mimic the dappled sunlight on the forest floor but these markings will disappear by adulthood. Although this is Rio’s first calf, Marmaduke has successfully fathered 17 tapir calves to date.

Brazilian Tapirs

Last year Rio, the female tapir arrived at Dublin Zoo from Marwell Wildlife in the UK to join Marmaduke the male tapir. A year on, the keepers are delighted to see how well both have hit it off and are even more delighted that they have successfully bred a new calf.

 These nocturnal mammals are native to the tropics of South and Central America. Tapirs have a short trunk, which they use to grab branches and leaves or to help pluck tasty fruit. Tapirs feed each morning and evening. They are excellent swimmers and can dive to feed on aquatic plants.

Dublin Zoo is open seven days a week from 9.30am to 6pm. For further information on news, events and opening times visit www.facebook.com/dublinzoo, www.dublinzoo.ie.

[theecolologist]

In Pictures: Winners of the First Edition of the HBW World Bird Photo Contest…

The Handbook of the Birds of the World saw great success with it’s inaugural World Bird Photo Contest. Some 10,754 photo entries were received from 128 different countries and a total of 3,127 bird species were photographed in 154 countries all over the world!

The contest was created with the aspiration of becoming the most important bird photography competition at world level. It’s aims are to encourage and disseminate knowledge about birds, while at the same time inspiring creativity in the art of photography. To these ends, it’s focus is on photography that is ethical, grounded in the utmost respect for the conservation of birds and their habitats, and without unnecessary digital manipulation.

The species seen in these photos are as follows:

Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) - 1st Prize Winner

Common Loon (Gavia immer) - 2nd Prize Winner

Calliope Hummingbird (Stellula calliope) - 3rd Prize Winner

Marvellous Spatuletail (Loddigesia mirabilis) - Best Threatened Species Photo

Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) - Best Vox Populi Photo

Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) - Honourable Mention

Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotus) - Honourable Mention

Red-bearded Bee-eater (Nyctyornis amictus) - Honourable Mention

Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea) - Honourable Mention

Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) - Honourable Mention

I’ll leave you to decide for yourself whether or not the best image won!…

[birdblog]

I suppose a bird blog wouldn’t be complete without this post.

[ethereal-algorhythm]

[rhamphotheca]

Scolopendra heros

Found in the SW United States and Northern Mexico. This species is moderately venomous, and may attain a length of up to 8 in.

(photo: A. Jaszlics)

[theecolologist]

Moonlighting: Throwing Some New Light on the Life Cycle of the Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)

Jellyfish have incredibly complex life cycles, involving many different stages during which they look nothing like the typical domed creatures we are so familiar with. Staff from the aquarium at the Horniman Museum and Gardens have been conducting research into the reproduction and development of Moon Jellyfish and have recently released a paper* on the topic along with these remarkable images charting the various developmental stages.

To read more detailed descriptions of the life cycle stages see here

*Craggs, J. & Robson, J. (2012). Observations of the life cycle of the scyphozoan jellyfish Aurelia aurita at the Horniman Museum Aquarium. Quekett Journal of Microscopy, 41, 615-621.

[rhamphotheca]

Australia’s Great White Sharks Always Go Home to Breed

by Jeanna Bryner

Two populations of great white sharks frolicking in Australian waters may look alike, but researchers have found they are distinct genetically, a finding that has conservation implications.

“The genetic makeup of white sharks west of Bass Strait was different from those on the eastern seaboard of Australia, despite the lack of any physical barrier between these regions,” said John Pandolfi, a chief investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, The University of Queensland.

“This shows that while the sharks can roam around Australia and across ocean basins, they repeatedly return to their home region to breed,” Pandolfi added in a statement…

(read more: OurAmazingPlanet)        (image: Neil Hammerschlag)

[mbari-blog]

For more than 20 years, MBARI Senior Scientist Ken Smith has been conducting deep-sea research at Station M, 125 miles west of Point Conception in southern California. On their June 2012 expedition, Smith’s research team recovered a novel piece of equipment they deployed six months earlier, the Benthic Rover. About the size and weight of a small compact car, the Benthic Rover is a mobile lab. Moving slowly across the seafloor, the Benthic Rover measures how much oxygen seafloor animals are using.

[rhamphotheca]

Twin baby polar bears celebrate their 100-day birthday

by Jess Zimmerman

These polar bear cubs, born and raised at Tianjin Haichang Polar Ocean Park in China, were so tiny and frail at birth that they weren’t expected to survive. Keepers whisked them into an incubator, and have been caring for them around the clock since then. But at 100 days old, the babies are now healthy and playful and super, SUPER cute. It looks like hand-rearing them has gotten a little more challenging, though.

(via: The Grist)       (photos: Xinhua)

[animals-of-the-world]

[biology-blog]

animals-of-the-world: Guinea Turaco (by zoohiko)