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Animal Science Blog From Biology-blog.com

added: Thu, 09th March 2006 | 517 views | 0x in favourites
feed url: http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/rss/animal-science-bl...

Animal Science Blog

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Gravity-defying bird beak mystery

As Charles Darwin showed nearly 150 years ago, bird beaks are exquisitely adapted to the birds' feeding strategy. A team of MIT mathematicians and engineers has now explained exactly how some shorebirds use their long, thin beaks to defy gravity and transport food into their mouths. The phalarope, usually found in western North America, takes advantage of surface interactions between its beak and water droplets to propel bits of food from the tip of its long beak to its mouth, the research team reports in the May 16 issue of Science........

Monarch butterflies help explain why parasites harm hosts

It's a paradox that has confounded evolutionary biologists since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859: Since parasites depend on their hosts for survival, why do they harm them? A new University of Georgia and Emory University study of monarch butterflies and the microscopic parasites that hitch a ride on them finds that the parasites strike a middle ground between the benefits gained by reproducing rapidly and the costs to their hosts. The study, reported in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides the first empirical evidence in a natural system of what's called the "trade-off hypothesis"........

Likely causative gene for Alzheimer's

The genetic profile of two large Georgia families with high rates of late-onset Alzheimer's disease points to a gene that may cause the disease, scientists say. Genetic variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, are common in DNA, but this pattern of SNPs shows up in nine out of 10 affected family members, says Dr. Shirley E. Poduslo, neuroscientist in the Medical College of Georgia Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies and the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta........

Mouse can do without man's most treasured genes

The mouse is a stalwart stand-in for humans in medical research, thanks to genomes that are 85 percent identical. But identical genes may behave differently in mouse and man, a study by University of Michigan evolutionary biologists Ben-Yang Liao and Jianzhi Zhang reveals. Their results, which have implications for the use of mouse models in studying human disease, appear in the current issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)........

Restoring fish populations

You might think that stocking the Great Lakes with things like trout and salmon would be good for the herring gull. The birds often eat from the water, so it would be natural to assume that more fish would mean better dining. But a new report published in the April journal of Ecology by the Ecological Society of America says that the addition of species such as exotic salmon and trout to the area has not been good for the birds, demonstrating that fishery management actions can sometimes have very unexpected outcomes........

Human vision inadequate for research on bird vision

The most attractive male birds attract more females and as a result are most successful in terms of reproduction. This is the starting point of a number of studies looking for factors that influence sexual selection in birds. However, is it reasonable to assume that birds see what we see? As per a research findings reported in the latest issue of American Naturalist, Uppsala scientists show that our human vision is not an adequate instrument........

First Veterinary Corneal Implant Procedure In U.s.

Sinisa Grozdanic an assistant professor of Veterinary Clinical Sciences performed the surgery that restored sight to 7-year-old Dixie, a Mountain Cur breed owned by Brett Williams of Runnells. "We are excited for Dixie," said Grozdanic. "She was our patient for such a long time and nothing really worked. She was gradually going down visually and we were finally able to do something to definitely improve her quality of life"........

Warming a greater danger to tropical species

Polar bears fighting for survival in the face of a rapid decline of polar ice have made the Arctic a poster child for the negative effects of climate change. But new research shows that species living in the tropics likely face the greatest peril in a warmer world. A team led by University of Washington researchers has observed that while temperature changes will be much more extreme at high latitudes, tropical species have a far greater risk of extinction with warming of just a degree or two. That is because they are used to living within a much smaller temperature range to begin with, and once temperatures get beyond that range a number of species might not be able to cope........

Platypus Genome Decoded

The curious discovery of the duck-billed, egg-laying, otter-footed, beaver-tailed, venomous platypus in Australia in 1798 convinced British researchers that it must be a hoax. Sketches of its appearance were believed to be impossible. But new research proves that the oddness of the platypus' looks isn't just skin-deep. Platypus DNA is an equally cobbled-together array of avian, reptilian and mammalian lineages that may hold clues for human disease prevention........

Global warming will negatively impact tropical species

Global warming is likely to reduce the health of tropical species, researchers from UCLA and the University of Washington report May 6 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. At the same time, a little bit of warming may actually move certain organisms, especially insects, in the high latitudes closer to their optimal temperature, the scientists say........

Bees Disease - One Step Closer To Finding A Cure

Researchers in Gera number of have discovered a new mechanism of infection for the most fatal bee disease. American Foulbrood (AFB) is the only infectious disease which can kill entire colonies of bees. Every year, this notifiable disease is causing considerable economic loss to beekeepers all over the world. The only control measure is to destroy the infected hive........

It's a unisex brain with specific signals

Research by Yale researchers shows that males and females have essentially unisex brains at least in flies as per a recent report in Cell designed to identify factors that are responsible for sex differences in behavior. The scientists showed that a courting song and dance routine that only male flies naturally perform one wing is lifted and wiggled to make a humming song can also be triggered in female flies by artificially stimulating particular brain cells that are present in both sexes. It isnt what youve got its how you use it, the authors say........

Sequencing of Protein from T. rex Confirms Dinosaurs' Link to Birds

Researchers have put more meat on the theory that dinosaurs' closest living relatives are modern-day birds. Molecular analysis, or genetic sequencing, of a 68-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein from the dinosaur's femur confirms that T. rex shares a common ancestry with chickens, ostriches, and to a lesser extent, alligators........

Photochemical Compass for Bird Navigation

A team of scientists at Arizona State University and the University of Oxford are the first to model a photochemical compass that may simulate how migrating birds use light and Earth's weak magnetic field to navigate. The team reports in the April 30, 2008, online issue of Nature that the photochemical model becomes sensitive to the magnitude and direction of weak magnetic fields similar to Earth's when exposed to light. The research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) demonstrates that this phenomenon, known as chemical magnetoreception, is feasible and gives insight into the structural and dynamic design features of a photochemical compass........

Engineering and invention on the half-shell

Marine snails, sea urchins, and other animals from the sea are teaching scientists in UC Riversides Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering how to make the world a better place. Consider, for example, the possibilities of designing a lightweight armor that would protect U.S. soldiers in Iraq from Improvised Explosive Devices. Or, what flexible ceramics might offer industry. Or, how everyone could benefit from new ways of producing and storing energy........

Bison can thrive again

Bison can repopulate large areas from Alaska to Mexico over the next 100 years provided a series of conservation and restoration measures are taken, according to continental assessment of this iconic species by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups. The assessment was authored by a diverse group of conservationists, scientists, ranchers, and Native Americans/First Nations peoples, and appears in the recent issue of the journal Conservation Biology........

Protect Endangered Right Whales

Endangered North Atlantic right whales are safer along Massachusetts Bay's busy shipping lanes this spring, thanks to a new system of smart buoys. The buoys recognize whales' distinctive calls and route the information to a public Web site and a marine warning system, giving ships the chance to avoid deadly collisions........

Are Ice Age relics the next casualty of climate change?

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) recently launched a four-year study to determine if climate change is affecting populations of a quintessential Arctic denizen: the rare musk ox. Along with collaborators from the National Park Service, U. S. Geological Survey, and Alaska Fish and Game, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists have already equipped six musk ox with GPS collars to better understand how climate change may affect these relics of the Pleistocene........

Ways To Fight Lake Trout Invasion

Natural barriers like waterfalls play an important role in preventing lake trout from spreading through Glacier National Park, so maintaining those barriers should be a priority, Montana State University scientists said after conducting a four-year study in the park. Park workers might have to remove ice, logs or debris to keep the water from rising behind those barriers, said graduate student Michael Meeuwig and his adviser Christopher Guy. If they don't, lake trout will have an easier time swimming up the rivers and invading new lakes........

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