Discoveries / Research News - 2008

December 30, 2008. During the bison mating season, male bison produce loud, low-frequency bellows. These bellows are most often used when one male challenges another and may enable rival bulls to determine which bison is the more dominant. A team of scientists has now revealed that the way bellows convey information between bison is counterintuitive and perhaps far more complex than they had expected. Their findings indicate that males whose bellows are quieter win more mates and produce more offspring than their louder-bellowing rivals.

December 29, 2008. Geckos (Family Gekkonidae) are a group of small lizards that possess a remarkable ability to climb smooth, vertical surfaces with speed and ease. This impressive talent hinges on their specially adapted toe pads. Each of the gecko's toe pads is covered with microscopic hair-like stalks known as setae. These tiny bristle-like structures are stiff and frayed at the ends. The setea have unique adhesive properties—they are not sticky or moist like more familiar adhesives (such as tape or glue) yet they attach strongly to a wide range of surfaces.

December 4, 2008. Sea turtles and salmon possess an astonishing ability to migrate vast distances from their birthplace and, years later, return to their home territory to reproduce. This navigational feat, known as natal homing, has baffled scientists for many decades. Just how do these animals remember the location of their birthplace with such precision? A research team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill thinks they may have the answer to that question. The team proposes that marine animals such as sea turtles and salmon imprint the magnetic signature of their birthplace early in their development and recall that information when they are ready to return to their home ground to breed.

November 26, 2008. A team of conservationists recently captured a female Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) from the rugged Primorsky Krai region of Russia's Far East. The scientists gathered detailed health information for the leopard, including blood analysis, electrocardiogram, and weight measurements. After the medical data was collected, they released the leopard unharmed, back into its home territory. The team is now in the process of evaluating the data they collected to determine the cat's overall health and look for any signs of inbreeding.

November 24, 2008. Scientists from Boston University have discovered that the embryos of red-eyed treefrogs (Agalychnis callidryas) use up most of the oxygen within their eggs before they hatch. Undergraduate Jessica Rogge and associate professor Karen Warkentin found that treefrogs—whose eggs are ready to hatch about four days after they have been laid—delay hatching for several additional days. During that time, the treefrog embryos continue to grow and consume oxygen, all the time increasing their risk of asphyxiation.

November 16, 2008. Eland antelopes (Taurotragus Oryx) are the largest antelopes in the world but their considerable size doesn't mean they're eager to throw their weight around. It turns out, eland antelopes have developed elaborate means to avoid fights and in doing so, they avoid costly injury associated with physical conflict. When settling disputes, male elands send out a set of signals that accurately reflect their size, age, and aggressiveness to other males—these signals serve to advertise the fighting ability of each male.

November 4, 2008. The Blue-throated Macaw (Ara glaucogularis), a critically endangered bird that inhabits the savannas in the Beni province of Bolivia, faces a variety of threats including habitat destruction due to conversion of land for cattle ranching and capture for the pet trade. Now, their valuable habitat is to be protected according to a press release by the American Bird Conservancy. The Asociacion Armonia, a Bolivian conservation organization, has joined forces with the American Bird Conservancy and Wolrd Land Trust to create the Barba Azul Nature Reserve.

October 24, 2008. Beavers are key members of the wetland communities they inhabit, especially in times of drought. Scientists from the University of Alberta, Canada, found that when beavers and their dams are present in a habitat, that habitat was nine times more likely to contain open water than it was if no beaver or dam were present. The study's lead investigator, Glynnis Hood, and co-investigator, Suzanne Bayley, examined wetlands in Alberta's Elk National Park over a 54-year period. They found that in times of drought, beavers and their dam-building activities helped to keep water in areas that would otherwise dry out.

October 23, 2008. Genetic studies have revealed that the goliath grouper is not a single species as scientists once thought, but is in fact two distinct species. Researchers from the University of Hawaii, the Wildlife Conservation Society, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, National Marine Fisheries Service and Projecto Meros do Brazil studied goliath groupers from the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean and compared their genetic composition. They found that although fish from the two regions look identical, their underlying genetic makeup differs enough to classify them as separate species.

October 20, 2008. Oxygen-deprived coastal waters, known as dead zones, are not as devoid of life as scientists once thought. Coastal dead zones form where nutrient pollution is severe. When water runs off of agricultural lands, it transports dissolved nutrients from animal waste and fertilizer. The polluted water makes its way into streams, rivers, and eventually to the ocean. There the nutrient-laden water nourishes a blossoming of plankton and algae which in time die and decompose, processes that consume oxygen from the water.