Wildlife scientists have raised concerns about the impact of climate change on American pikas for some time, and the tiny mammals have now disappeared entirely from a large stretch of land in California. American pikas are a small, herbivorous relative of rabbits and hares who live high in the mountains of the American West. The […]
Tag: plos one
New Estimate: There are Over 18,000 Bird Species on Earth
Birds (class Aves) are traditionally thought of as a well-studied group, with more than 95% of their global species diversity estimated to have been described. Most checklists used by ornithologists as well as by bird watchers say that there are roughly between 9,000 and 10,000 species of birds. But those numbers are based on what’s […]
Male Birds Poison Themselves to Appear Sexier – a First
The lengths we go to for love can sometimes be dramatic – and so it is for male great bustards (Otis tarda), whose daredevil diet of poisonous beetles may actually help them get a date, a new study reveals. Scientists already knew the large birds, which are native to parts of Europe and Asia, snack […]
Butterfly larvae mimic queen ant to avoid detection
Parasitic butterfly larvae may mimic ants’ acoustic signals to aid in the infiltration of their host colonies, according to results published April 9, 2014, in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Marco Sala from University of Turin, Italy, and colleagues. Very interesting article you can read in English [HERE…] Papillons et larves de papillons […]
Monkeys can identify human hunters
Woolly monkeys can identify human hunters by their behaviour, research has revealed. Poeppig’s woolly monkeys live in the rainforests of Ecuador, Peru and Brazil but are vulnerable to hunting by the local Amazonian people. Scientists investigating how the monkeys respond to threats found that they acted differently depending on the behaviour of humans in the […]
62% of all Africa’s forest elephants killed in 10 years (warning: graphic images)
More than 60 percent of Africa’s forest elephants have been killed in the past decade due to the ivory trade, reports a new study published in the online journal PLOS ONE. The study warns that the diminutive elephant species — genetically distinct from the better-known savanna elephant — is rapidly heading toward extinction. “Saving the […]