there's so much bad in the world but there's also people who lift up and carry an elderly bat around every day so he can pretend he's flying again, and that's the part of the world I think is worth fighting for
Ugh I did neuro and have seen instances where E is the least important person on the paper AND where E and F are co-supervisors.
Absolutely adore this Australian Geographic article that describes the coastal taipan (one of the most venomous snakes in the world) as "extremely nervous." Like, me too, buddy. 🧪
When someone says „Scientists do not want you to know“ you can dismiss everything from there on. Scientists want you to know. They are desperate that you know. They can’t shut up about what they found out and want you to know.
Out of 20 chimps, 17 males and females tested positive for EtG ("above a clinically meaningful cutoff")
Researchers suggest further investigations into the effects of alc consumption on chimps' intergroup aggression and the timing of estrous.
Read the full study:
"Urine from individually identified chimpanzees was collected opportunistically and non-invasively using a pipette from fresh and dry leaf litter. Chimpanzees predictably urinate just prior to leaving a fruit crop and can often be seen preparing to do so by climbing to a lower branch of a tree."
To show that the chimps were actually consuming the ethanol (& not somehow choosing the lowest-alcohol fruits to eat), researchers measured EtG, an alcohol metabolite, in their pee.
How did they collect pee from wild chimps?? you ask. I had the same question & luckily the methods section explains:
Urine tests reveal "substantial" consumption of ethanol by wild chimpanzees.🧪
Previously, researchers assessed ethanol levels in ripe fruits & how much of these fruits the chimps typically ate to estimate that they consumed ~1.5 drinks a day. BUT directly demonstrating alc consumption was trickier.
10/10 scientific diagram 🧪
In humans, body temperature is strictly controlled, deviating only a degree or two from the standard 98.6 (although today's average human temp may actually be slightly lower), but many mammals are more flexible. I loved learning about heterothermy in lots of weird little mammals for this piece 🧪🦊
While searching for a bird evolution paper, I came across @currentbiology.bsky.social's amazing Quick Guide to Bird Genitalia. In my mind a quick guide is like how to change a tire, so I love the idea of an emergency requiring immediate instruction on bird genitalia. Don't @ me ornithologists 🧪
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🧪 Braided Science in action! 🤝🌿 Our new paper on Indigenous-centered archaeology field schools is out in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology. Deep graditude to the Kalispel Tribe for the partnership that made this work possible!
See #openaccess article link:
www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....
Link to paper: nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Photo credit: Jim Higham
In the summer, they never observed this behavior, but in winter, poo-eating happened in more than half of "events." Since natural food resources are scarce in the winter, this may help the choughs get more nutrition or help their gut microbiomes adjust to human food sources (bird feeders & garbage)
These birds eat poop, but only sometimes. Why?
Poop-eating, or coprophagy, is super common in the animal world, but it's not well understood in birds.
Researchers in Germany documented 1422 "excretion events" in alpine choughs (a member of the crow family) & found major seasonal differences
🧪
Probably would have been nicer to them if I’d known how much they cared about nocturnal pollinators
A seed packet of night-scented stocks (plants with small purple flowers)
Guys I think I finally figured out what the finance bros have been talking about all these years
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Delightfully, the researchers have included videos of the raccoons in the paper's supplementary information:
link.springer.com/article/10.3...
this could be due to raccoons' high levels of persistence, which contributes to their problem-solving abilities, but may be linked to worse performance in inhibitory control. Research on raccoons and other city species helps reveal the cognitive skills that facilitate adaptation to urban life.
This puts them in the middle of the pack among the species tested so far - they're much better than chicken, but not nearly as good as a chimp. This was somewhat surprising to researchers since raccoons generally perform well in other tests of behavioral flexibility. Researchers hypothesized that
That contained a jumbo marshmallow. They had to suppress the impulse to go right for the treat (since they couldn't get to it through the plastic) and instead had to reach down with their lil hands to grab it through the top of the tube. The raccoons did... just okay, passing about 60% of the time.
What can marshmallow-snarfing raccoons teach us about the adaptability of urban carnivores?🧪🦊
@zoology.ubc.ca researchers investigated raccoons' inhibitory control - essentially, the ability to control an immediate impulse in order to achieve a goal. Here, raccoons were shown a clear cylinder...
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Our next episode is now live! Christine interviews co-hosts Josh and Amber about their experiences as people of color in the field of animal science. This #BlackHistoryMonth, we are elevating Black voices in the field that means so much to us. Catch episode 71 on your podcatcher of choice!
You have to water them with distilled water! If you water them with tap water they die
I love that Venus fly traps have evolved such crazy spiky fast-moving leaves that allow a plant to be a CARNIVORE… and then they just have these cute little sweetie pie flowers 🧪
That would be so wild to see a bunch of little guys running around like teeny velociraptors
If you like sexy bird stuff check out the full paper here: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
