Premature Evacuation: Skinks Hatch Early to Escape Predators
If you handle the egg of a delicate skink, you’ll quickly end up with a sticky mess on your hands (That’s the last double entendre I’m using today I swear). You see, delicate […]
Evolution in The Fast Lane: Birds Evolve To Avoid Traffic
Evolutionary pressures shape the organisms on which they act over time. Predators, disease, climate and a host of other stresses are thrown at species in an endless barrage against which […]
Genetic Piracy: Stealing Adaptations to Survive and Thrive
Picasso reportedly once said “Good artists borrow, great artists steal”, and, as one look at Apple Inc’s profits will tell you, he wasn’t far wrong. Believe it or not, this […]
Animal Pharm: Drugs in Wastewater May Be Affecting Fish
Science published a report this week, detailing the impacts of human anti-anxiety drugs on fish. Why would anyone deliberately give a psychiatric drug to a fish, you may ask? Well, […]
Happy Darwin Day!
Today’s pint-sized post serves as a Happy 204th Birthday card for our patron saint. It’s that most wonderful time of the year, when we decorate the Phylogenetic Tree, sit down […]
Arrested Development: Why Turtles Lay Eggs.
Why don’t turtles give birth to live young? It may sound like a dumb question, but remember that the only reason a marine turtle ever returns to land is to lay […]
Pigeons Prove a Point – DNA Evidence Supports Darwin’s Theory
If you’ve read “On the Origin of Species”, you’ll know that Darwin had a thing for pigeons. The astonishing variety of breeds provided a perfect model organism for him to […]
Spotted Eggs Are Hard To Spot.
Hiding a valued item from thieving layabouts is not the exclusive concern of co-habiting women with a penchant for Galaxy bars. In nature too, plunderers are everywhere, from bears stealing […]
Croc Scales: Not All They’re Cracked Up to Be….
A crocodile’s facial scales are in fact, not scales at all according to a study performed by Dr. Michel Milinkovitch of the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The study, published in Science, has revealed […]
Insects With Smart-Homes.
Imagine a home where the refrigerator stocks itself, the temperature regulates itself, and the trash takes itself out. If only, right? Well some social aphids (Nipponaphidini spp.) have managed to engineer such a […]
