Transparency in animals is a complex form of camouflage involving mechanisms that reduce the scattering and absorption of light throughout the organism. Many species have evolved transparency, but it is particularly challenging for vertebrates because red blood cells attenuate light. In a new study, researchers from Duke University and elsewhere found that glassfrogs are able […]
Tag: zoology
What Are the Top 10 Jobs in Wildlife and Conservation Biology?
Your love for the environment and wildlife can easily grow into something bigger and become your career. The field is full of exciting job titles. The best part is that you can work in a wide variety of industries. Choose an academic career, work for consulting firms, collaborate with nonprofits, or even join law enforcement—and […]
Pheasant meat sold for food found to contain many tiny shards of toxic lead
Eating pheasant killed using lead shot is likely to expose consumers to raised levels of lead in their diet, even if the meat is carefully prepared to remove the shotgun pellets and the most damaged tissue. A study has found that pheasants killed by lead shot contain many fragments of lead too small to detect […]
Cats are eating NZ’s critically endangered bats
New research by Department of Conservation staff confirms what has long been suspected—feral and domestic cats are repeatedly hunting and eating New Zealand’s native bats, or pekapeka. In a recently published research paper in the NZ Journal of Zoology, DOC Science Advisor Dr. Kerry Borkin examined the gut contents of a feral cat trapped in […]
Hoards of terrestrial toads found living in dormouse nest boxes high in the trees
Toads sleeping in their nest boxes high in the trees have astonished scientists searching for dormice. For the first time, a study has shown how frequently common toads breed and build their nests in trees. There have been reports of 50 toads living in dormouse nest boxes, which are nests that are up to three […]
Conservation win for Bangladesh as efforts to halt vulture decline pay off
Vultures were a common sight across the Indian subcontinent until the late 1980s. But the excessive use of some veterinary drugs for cattle, which are toxic to the scavengers, and loss of habitat, led to a drastic fall in vulture numbers in the wild. By 2017, some species’ populations had fallen by 95%. However, in […]
Inti Tanager: Colorful New Species of Bird Discovered in South America
Ornithologists have discovered a new genus and species of tanager on the lower slopes of the Andes in southeastern Peru and western Bolivia. Tanagers are a large family, Thraupidae, of more than 370 songbird species restricted almost entirely to the American tropics. It is the second largest family of birds and represents about 4% of […]
Newly described chameleon from Madagascar may be world’s smallest reptile
Frank Glaw is no stranger to discovery. The German herpetologist has helped describe scores of new species from Madagascar, but the latest one is special: Brookesia nana is arguably the world’s tiniest chameleon and possibly the smallest reptile on Earth. Measuring just shy of 14 millimeters (0.55 inches), B. nana can perch cozily on an […]