Flaming orange tail and ochre sideburns set new Brazilian monkey apart from its closest relatives. Scientists have discovered a new species of titi monkey in Brazil, according to a recent paper published in scientific journal Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. Titis (genus: Callicebus) are new world monkeys found across South America. These tree-dwelling primates have long, […]
Author: Supertrooper
Poll: Should koalas be culled in overpopulated areas to prevent starvation?
Australia needs to consider allowing healthy koalas to be euthanised in order to control numbers in overpopulated areas, where the animals risk dying painfully from starvation, a koala expert says. Although not endangered in any state, koalas are listed as vulnerable in the eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales, where their habitat is […]
Study shows one reason why pigeons so rarely crash
A pair of researchers with Harvard University has uncovered one of the secrets behind pigeons’ impressive flight abilities. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, David Williams and Andrew Biewener describe how they videotaped some of the birds flying through an obstacle course they made, and what they found when […]
Long-tailed riders of the waves
Part of the attraction of going to the coast and seeing the various moods of the sea is the anticipation as you get closer. Such was the case last weekend. With the strong offshore wind and sunshine, it promised be spectacular – and it was. The high waves seemed as though they had built up […]
VOTE for the Best Photo of the Week 14 Mar 2015
Welcome to the “Best Photo of the Week” competition showcasing and celebrating the biodiversity of Planet Earth. This week’s featured image: Booted Racket-tail hummingbird (Ocreatus underwoodii) flying while feeding at a flower in Ecuador, South America by Glenn Bartley Voting is easy and lots of fun. First click an image and browse through the slideshow. Then […]
Want to keep these adorable foxes around? Lock up your garbage.
Here’s something kind of twisted: you know a conservation effort has been successful when the animals you’ve worked so hard to conserve are numerous enough to be run over by cars. That’s what happening now for the island fox, Urocyon littoralis. The smallest fox in North America, this adorable critter is native to six of […]
World’s first all-female patrol protecting South Africa’s rhinos
The battle against the poaching that kills a rhino every seven hours in South Africa has acquired a new weapon: women. The Black Mambas are all young women from local communities, and they patrol inside the Greater Kruger national park unarmed. Billed as the first all-female unit of its kind in the world, they are […]
Mountain birds beat the odds
Mountain chickadees (Poecile gambeli), a North American bird in the tit family, store away food for later occasions. These birds are found at different elevations where varying winter conditions are experienced. Previous research showed that mountain chickadees living at harsher high elevations have bigger hippocampi, the part of the brain which plays an important role […]