http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/339930/title/Chimps_show_lethal_side

Chimps Show Lethal Side

from Science News

PORTLAND, Ore. -- In a cooperative venture aimed at understanding the most uncooperative of acts, researchers studying different African communities of wild chimpanzees have pooled their data and found that the apes sometimes kill each other nearly everywhere they've been studied.

Chimp homicides occurred most frequently in groups with the most adult males, anthropologist Michael Wilson of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis reported April 12 at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists' annual meeting. Wilson persuaded researchers at 10 wild chimp sites, containing a total of 17 communities, to contribute their findings on lethal attacks collected over the past several decades.

Chimps spend most of their time in peaceful pursuits, such as playing, foraging and grooming each other. Yet researchers, beginning with Jane Goodall more than 40 years ago, have described occasional chimp homicides. Some investigators have speculated that these animals get lethally riled up by human intrusions, such as deforestation, hunting and feeding of chimps by ecotourists.

http://ow.ly/akMRt

http://news.discovery.com/animals/manatee-hearing-boats-120412.html

Manatee Mystery: Why Can't They Avoid Speedboats?

Posted Thu Apr 12, 2012 08:03 AM ET | 0

The sea cows have good hearing but may be less aware of sounds when they're sleeping.

Manatees have sensitive hearing, but that doesn't necessarily keep them safe from passing boat propellers, a new study finds.

These docile sea cows have no natural predators in their coastal U.S. habitat, but fast-moving speedboats and other watercraft are a danger. Collisions with boat hulls or propellers can severely wound or kill a manatee.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/giant-panda-sex-lives-120404.html

Giant Panda's Tricky Sex Lives Revealed

Females are only "in the mood" for about a day -- three at the most -- each year.

The difficulty of getting pandas to mate in the wild and in captivity is legendary.

A new study sheds some light on just how tricky it can be. Giant panda males are reproductively viable for six or more months out of the year but females are only in the mood for one to three days each year, according to a new study.

The new study takes a very close look at giant panda reproduction. It's the first to reveal male giant pandas' reproductive capacity over time. The research is published in the latest issue of Biology of Reproduction.

http://www.livescience.com/19668-dung-beetle-poop-preference.html

Dung Beetle's Poop Preference: Smellier the Better

Dung beetles prefer the smelliest poop they can find, new research on the insects suggests. Odorous dung from omnivores, which eat a diet of both plants and animals, seems to be the most attractive to the beetles.

Some of the top choices? Human and chimpanzee dung.

http://www.livescience.com/19646-toddlers-chimpanzee-social-learning.html

Toddlers and Chimps 'Go With the Crowd'

Chimps and toddlers rely on the "wisdom of the crowd" to sway their decision-making processes, new research indicates. Orangutans don't, which could be because they live solitary lives.

The researchers were interested in finding out more about social learning — how one animal picks up behaviors from others rather than learning something by trial and error. This could be anything from tool use to cultural traditions.

http://news.yahoo.com/sperm-whales-form-clans-fight-off-orcas-222204434.html

Sperm Whales Form Clans to Fight Off Orcas

The threat of killer whales could be why societies of sperm whales in the Atlantic and Pacific differ so much, researchers say.

The sperm whale, the largest toothed whale, possesses the largest brain of any organism on Earth. These leviathans mostly live on giant squid and other creatures of the deep, pursuing them with the most powerful natural sonar known.

The sexes lead very different lives in sperm whales. Males leave their mothers to form ephemeral bachelor groups or to live alone, while females can develop complex societies with multiple levels of organization. At the most basic level of these societies are nearly permanent units of about 10 females that care for and suckle each other's progeny and defend their companions from attack.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/w-cgn041612.php

Chimpanzee ground nests offer new insight into our ancestors descent from the trees

Chimpanzee behavior suggests tree-to-ground transition occurred before emergence of ancient humans

The first study into rarely documented ground-nest building by wild chimpanzees offers new clues about the ancient transition of early hominins from sleeping in trees to sleeping on the ground. While most apes build nests in trees, this study, published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, focused on a group of wild West African chimpanzees that often shows ground-nesting behaviour.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-02/qmuo-gkc021412.php

Goat kids can develop accents

The ability to change vocal sounds (vocal plasticity) and develop an accent is potentially far more widespread in mammals than previously believed, according to new research on goats from Queen Mary, University of London.

Vocal plasticity is the ability of an individual to modify the sound of their voice according to their social environment. Humans benefit from an extreme form of vocal plasticity which allows us to produce a wide range of sounds and accents, but in most other mammals (except, for example, bats and whales) vocalisations were thought to be genetically determined, with very limited flexibility and ability to learn.

Gravity Disturbs Bees' Dancing

from BBC News

Honey bees that dance to give directions to flowers make more errors when performing horizontally due to gravity, say researchers. Female foragers perform "waggle runs" on the hive's honeycomb for other bees. The intricate movements display the direction and distance of the flowers from the hive.

Researchers from the University of Sussex are "eavesdropping" on bees to find out more about where they feed in Britain. Dr. Margaret Couvillon has spent three years decoding the bees' unique method of communication.

Using observation hives with a glass wall, researchers have filmed the bees without disturbing their natural behaviour. In honey bee society, forager bees scout out flower resources and return to the hive to perform a detailed dance made up of "waggle runs" on the honeycomb that communicate direction and distance.

http://ow.ly/an2Mw  

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/24/science/hyrax-songs-have-orderly-syntax-researchers-say.html?ref=science

Looks Like a Rodent, Croons Like a Bird

Researchers have found that hyraxes’ wailing, chucking, snorting, squeaking, tweeting songs have something rarely found in mammals: syntax and geographical dialects.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/120413_c-alpina.htm

In bird “divorce,” females seen having the advantage

Di­vorce might not be healthy—but at least it may be nat­u­ral, if find­ings from a new study are to be be­lieved.

The re­search ex­am­ined what sci­en­tists call “di­vorce” among shore­birds of a spe­cies known as Ca­li­dris al­pi­na, and found that fe­males tend to fare bet­ter in the af­ter­math of the split­ups.

Also called dunlins, these long-lived birds of­ten mate with the same part­ner over sev­er­al sea­sons, then go their se­par­ate ways, ac­cord­ing to bi­ol­o­gists Lars-Åke Flo­din and Don­ald Blom­qvist of the Uni­vers­ity of Goth­en­burg, Swe­den.

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/04/19/lizard.moms.may.prepare.their.babies.a.stressful.world

Lizard moms may prepare their babies for a stressful world

Stressed out lizard moms tend to give their developing embryos short shrift, but the hardship may ultimately be a good thing for the babies once they're born, according to a study published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology. Stress changes the way animals allocate energy. During predator attacks or food shortages, hormones are released that help the body to access stored energy. But for pregnant females there's a potential trade-off. Stress hormones could rob precious energy from developing embryos, leading to offspring that aren't as healthy.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/uov-rrr041912.php

http://www.economist.com/node/21552536

Exercise and Addiction: Fun Run

from the Economist

As the legions of gym bunnies and jogging enthusiasts who race out into the spring sunshine every year clearly demonstrate, running can be fun. More specifically, running triggers the release of brain chemicals called endocannabinoids that create a potent feeling of pleasure. As their name suggests, these endocannabinoids work in the same way as the active ingredient of marijuana.

From an evolutionary standpoint this surge of endocannabinoids, and the "runner's high" it creates, make sense. For ancient humans, remaining fit enough to run after game and away from predators and enemies was vital for survival. Yet whether other mammals are also driven to exercise by endocannabinoids has remained a mystery. Now a study led by David Raichlen of the University of Arizona has revealed that the runner's high does exist in other species, but not in all.

Dr. Raichlen hypothesised that endocannabinoid-driven exercise highs would be found in those mammals that gain an evolutionary benefit from being fast on their feet: antelopes, horses and wolves, for example. However, he also thought that they would not be present in those which are known for being quick and agile, but not for running, like ferrets. To test these ideas, he and a team of colleagues devised an experiment that monitored the endocannabinoid levels of different species after they had been walking or running on a treadmill.

http://ow.ly/asWJr  

Study Sheds Light on How Pigeons Navigate by Magnetic Field

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

Birds are famously good navigators. Some migrate thousands of miles, flying day and night, even when the stars are obscured. And for decades, scientists have known that one navigational skill they employ is an ability to detect variations in the earth's magnetic field.

How this magnetic sense works, however, has been frustratingly difficult to figure out.

Now, two researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Le-Qing Wu and David Dickman, have solved a key part of that puzzle, identifying cells in a pigeon's brain that record detailed information on the earth's magnetic field, a kind of biological compass.

http://ow.ly/ayvmZ

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/science/in-male-bowerbirds-pursuit-of-love-new-plant-life-blooms.html?_r=1&ref=science

In Birds’ Pursuit of Love, New Plant Life Blooms

Male bowerbirds cultivate plants, a new study reports, though their gardening work appears to be unintentional.  The birds, found in Australia and Papua New Guinea, are named for the extravagant structures they build to woo females. As part of their courting strategy, they decorate these bowers with fruits, and the seeds of these fruits germinate. This results in new plants of the species Solanum ellipticum, also known as the potato bush.

Researchers Reverse Evolution in Water Striders

from ScienceNOW Daily News

The males of many species impress potential mates with brilliant plumage, massive antlers, or expensive cars. Water striders, however, don't go in for courtship. For these smoothly gliding pond insects, mating is a wrestling match in which the male grips the female's head and pins her down while she struggles to throw him off. Now researchers have done a bit of reverse evolution to figure out how males developed this ability in the first place.

Animals that nurture their young together choose mates that will be the best protectors or nest-builders. But as evolutionary biologist Locke Rowe of the University of Toronto in Canada explains, "In some species, males and females have competing interests." Among water striders, for example, neither parent tends the offspring. The female's only job is to produce eggs; the males are mere sperm donors.

Once the female has mated, further couplings with other males are not only unnecessary, but costly. In a typical encounter, the male grabs the female from behind, then both flip over on their backs while the male uses his three pairs of legs to immobilize hers. They then flip back to their original position for copulation, which lasts several minutes. A female hobbled in this way can't catch food, and she's a bigger target for predators while wrestling with another bug. So a female whose eggs have already been fertilized by one male will fiercely reject the advances of other hopeful suitors.

To compete in this battle of the sexes, males in some water strider species have evolved an elaborate set of hooks and spikes on their antennae that precisely conform to the shape of the female's head—helping them maintain their grip long enough to mate. In the new study, Rowe and colleagues have uncovered a gene responsible for this adaptation.

http://ow.ly/aHvqA

Dogs Feel Your Pain

from ScienceNOW Daily News

Yawn next to your dog, and she may do the same. Though it seems simple, this contagious behavior is actually quite remarkable: Only a few animals do it, and only dogs cross the species barrier. Now a new study finds that dogs yawn even when they only hear the sound of us yawning, the strongest evidence yet that canines may be able to empathize with us.

Besides people and dogs, contagious yawning has been observed in gelada baboons, stump-tail macaques, and chimpanzees. Humans tend to yawn more with friends and acquaintances, suggesting that "catching" someone's yawn may be tied to feelings of empathy. Similarly, some studies have found that dogs tend to yawn more after watching familiar people yawning. But it is unclear whether the canine behavior is linked to empathy as it is in people. One clue might be if even the mere sound of a human yawn elicited yawning in dogs.

To that end, scientists at the University of Porto in Portugal recruited 29 dogs, all of whom had lived for at least 6 months with their owners. To reduce anxiety, the study was performed in familiar rooms in the dogs' homes and in the presence of a known person but with no visual contact with their owners.

http://ow.ly/aLEDG  

Herd's Fate Lies in Preservation Clash

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

COROLLA, N.C. -- Come summer, the beaches of this barrier island will be choked with cars and sunbathers, but in the off-season the land is left to wild horses. Smallish, tending toward chestnut and black, they wander past deserted vacation rentals in harems of five or six.

Thousands of them once roamed the length of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, the likely descendants from mounts that belonged to Spanish explorers five centuries ago. Now their numbers have dwindled to a few hundred, the best known living on federal parkland at Shackleford Banks.

But the largest herd, which has recently grown to almost 140 strong, occupies more than 7,500 acres of narrow land that stretches from the end of Highway 12 in Corolla (pronounced cor-AH-la) to the Virginia border, 11 miles north. Lacking natural predators, and trapped by fences that jut into the choppy Atlantic, the herd is becoming so inbred that its advocates fear a genetic collapse in mere generations.

http://ow.ly/aNiVO  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17991601

Humpback whales intervene in killer whale hunt

BBC/National Geographic film crew have recorded rare footage of humpback whales intervening in a killer whale hunt.

Gray whales migrating along the coast of California, US are often targeted by orcas.

One mother and calf's journey was being filmed for the BBC series Planet Earth Live when the third party became involved in the drama.

Onlookers suggest they were deliberately disrupting the hunt.

"To be honest we weren't expecting to see anything - it was our very first day out on the boat," said Victoria Bromley, a researcher with the crew that witnessed the scene.

http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/75610/Camera_trap_video_offers_rare_glimpse_of_worlds_rarest_gorilla.html

Camera trap video offers rare glimpse of world's rarest gorilla

Conservationists working in Cameroon's Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary have collected the first camera trap video footage of the Cross River gorilla. With fewer than 250 individuals remaining, Cross River gorillas are the world's rarest gorilla and a notoriously elusive species rarely observed directly by field researchers.

http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/75597/Men_can_rest_easy_-_sex_chromosomes_are_here_to_stay.html

The study, published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), looked at how genes on sex-linked chromosomes are passed down generations and linked to fertility, using the specific example of the W chromosome in female chickens.

The results confirm that although these chromosomes have shrunk over millions of years, and have lost many of their original genes, those that remain are extremely important in predicting fertility and are, therefore, unlikely to become extinct.

http://www.livescience.com/20126-dogs-thoughts-brain-scans.html

Doggy Daydreams: Brain Scans Reveal Fido's Thoughts

Fido's expressive face, including those longing puppy-dog eyes, may lead owners to wonder what exactly is going on in that doggy's head. Scientists decided to find out, using brain scans to explore the minds of our canine friends.

The researchers, who detailed their findings May 2 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, were interested in understanding the human-dog relationship from the four-legged perspective.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120322-whales-echolocation-sonar-ocean-animals-science/

Whales Have Sonar "Beam" for Targeting Prey

Precision sound beams help track fast prey in dark ocean, study says.

Toothed whales target quickly moving prey with a constantly shifting, tightly focused sonar beam, a new study says.

All toothed whales and dolphins echolocate, clicking loudly via special nasal structures and listening for echoes bouncing off objects. This skill is especially crucial in the dark ocean, where the mammals' vision is of little use.

New experiments show that whales can focus their clicks into a type of sonar beam to efficiently track fast-moving prey.

http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/playing-tag-with-dolphins/?ref=science

Playing Tag With Dolphins

I saw my first dolphins at 8 a.m. on an overcast Monday morning in Sarasota Bay, Fla., just seven minutes after leaving the boat ramp near Mote Marine Laboratory. The dolphins, muscular creatures about two and a half meters long, were a mother-calf pair named Boxer and Box 1. They powered smoothly through the water with their sleek blue-gray bodies, staying close together as we watched from 50 meters away.

Few animals have had their life stories so closely documented as the dolphins in Sarasota Bay. There are people out here who could tell you about a particular dolphin’s date of birth, list the sex of each of its calves and describe its behavioral ups and downs simply by looking at the nicks and notches on its fin. From time to time, a team of veterinarians and scientists from around the world work with the Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program to conduct health assessments and photo-identification surveys of the Sarasota dolphin community, gathering biological, behavioral, ecological and health data for use by field biologists, conservationists and veterinarians.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120509135937.htm

Bird Color Variations Speed Up Evolution

http://news.yahoo.com/dolphins-help-fishermen-catch-fish-231158650.html

Dolphins Help Fishermen Catch Fish

A visitor might stumble upon a strange sight in Laguna, Brazil, if they went down to the shore. Here, the local fishermen rely on dolphins to help them with their yearly fish catch.

New research has found that just one local group of about 20 dolphins works with the fishermen, while the other local dolphins don't cooperate, finding other sources of food. The researchers aren't sure what separates these groups.

Scientists had known that dolphins work together to herd groups of mullet, a fish that's an important source of food for local fishermen, toward a line of fishermen in boats or knee-deep water. Then the dolphins signal with specialized head or tail slaps when and where the fishermen should throw their nets. The cooperation is helpful to both parties, researchers said. The two wouldn't survive without each other.

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/05/04/ucsb.researchers.find.less.more.female.cowbirds

Less is more, for female cowbirds

More modest male displays attract the females when it comes to brown-headed cowbirds, contrary to sexual selection theory, according to UC Santa Barbara researchers Adrian O'Loghlen and Stephen Rothstein. Their findings are published May 2 in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

While sexual selection theory predicts that females should find more flamboyant displays the most sexually attractive, the opposite holds true for brown-headed cowbirds, a small songbird common in North America. Using audiovisual recordings of displaying males shown to captive females, the scientists found that the less intense the wing spreading, feather puffing, and bowing were during a display, the more sexually interested the female would be.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/05/chimp-planning-future/

Stone-Throwing Chimp Thinks Ahead

Three years ago, a stone-throwing chimpanzee named Santino jolted the research community by providing some of the strongest evidence yet that nonhumans could plan ahead. Santino, a resident of the Furuvik Zoo in Gävle, Sweden, calmly gathered stones in the mornings and put them into neat piles, apparently saving them to hurl at visitors when the zoo opened as part of angry and aggressive “dominance displays.”

But some researchers were skeptical that Santino really was planning for a future emotional outburst. Perhaps he was just repeating previously learned responses to the zoo visitors, via a cognitively simpler process called associative learning. And it is normal behavior for dominant male chimps to throw things at visitors, such as sticks, branches, rocks, and even feces. Now Santino is back in the scientific literature, the subject of new claims that he has begun to conceal the stones so he can get a closer aim at his targets—further evidence that he is thinking ahead like humans do.