If it hadn t been for birds I doubt if anyone would have thought even that it might be possible for something heavier than air to get airborne.
The bird s wing performs two separate tasks both of which are essential. By its shape it provides lift
but transferring the power function to an engine and propeller something no bird ever possessed.
if you are a monkey in the wild is about 2%per bone per year. If engineers worked to that standard they would soon be looking for another job.
Another example is the recent news that scientists have discovered an animal that runs faster than any other and it s a mite.
The story no doubt distorting the original science was that this mite runs faster than a cheetah
It is well known that smaller animals can run faster when measured by body size even the humble cockroach beats the cheetah on that measure.
But a simple biomechanical model applying the appropriate scaling laws would suggest that all animals should be able to run at the same absolute speed not the same relative speed.
So the inspiration here will come from asking why are the little guys so slow?#.
For hundreds of thousands of years humans lived in hunter-gatherer societies eating wild plants and animals.
While hunting wild game did not involve much co-ordination beyond placing traps and positioning hunters agriculture presented an opportunity to massively increase the amount of food that could be produced.
#Big cats Eat Dogs in India, Leopard Poop Reveals Leopards that roam rural India have a surprising favorite food:
dogs. The big cats even seem to prefer eating domestic dogs in areas where cows goats and other farm animals are plentiful according to a new study.
To reconstruct leopard diets scientists had to take a close look at leopard poop. A team led by researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society scooped up 85 leopard fecal samples as they scoured footpaths dried-up streams
and fields in a rural section of western Maharashtra (the same state where Mumbai is located).
Back in a lab the researchers looked for signs of claws hoofs and hair and other indigestible parts of unlucky prey in the scat.
See Photos of Leopards in Western Maharashtra The researchers found that domestic dogs were by far the most common prey making up 39 percent of the leopards'diet (in terms of biomass.
The remains of domestic cats were found in 15 percent of poop samples and accounted for 12 percent of the mass of leopards'meals.
By comparison livestock were a relatively small portion of the leopard diet. Domestic goats for example accounted for just 11 percent of the mass of the big cats'meals
even though they were seven times more abundant than dogs in the study area. All told 87 percent of the leopards'diet was made up of domestic animals including both livestock and pets;
this suggests the leopards though considered wild are completely dependent on human-related sources of food.
The small portion of the wild animals in the leopards'diet consisted of mostly rodents as well as civets monkeys mongooses and birds.
The study illustrates just how big of an impact people have on the lifestyle of leopards that live in human-dominated landscapes.
The largely agricultural study area around the town of Akole did not contain any natural patches of forest
and the nearest protected area was the Kalsubai Harishchandragad Wildlife Sanctuary 11 miles (18 kilometers) to the west.
The researchers speculated that domestic animals make easier prey because they lack anti-predatory behavior unlike their wild counterparts.
And free-roaming dogs might be particularly easy targets because they likely are not as heavily guarded as economically valuable livestock.
During the past two to three decades legal regulation of leopard hunting increased conservation awareness and the rising numbers of feral dogs as prey have led all to an increase in leopard numbers outside
of nature reserves in agricultural landscapes study researcher Ullas Karanth the Wildlife Conservation Society's director for Science-Asia said in a statement.
While this is good news for conservation and a tribute to the social tolerance of Indian people it also poses major challenges of managing conflict that occasionally breaks out.
Only sound science can help us face this challenge. In rural areas human-leopard conflict is more likely to be related to people's fears of leopards
and the sentimental value of pets like dogs Karanth and colleagues said. Their findings were published today (Sept. 11) in the journal Oryx.
Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+.+Follow us@livescience Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Live Science
if the smartwatch's display were made of Gorilla Glass the material developed by New york-based manufacturer Corning that has been used in the display screens for most of Apple's other devices.
Gorilla Glass isn't an inferior product however. The chemically infused glass is much more durable than normal glass
However compared with sapphire Gorilla Glass isn't all that durable Tuller said. Sapphire is more expensive to make than chemically treated glass
#Forest Elephant Numbers Decline More than 60 Percent in Decade About 65 percent of forest elephants were killed mostly for their ivory across Central africa in the last decade new research finds.
which described the catastrophic 62 percent decline of the region's forest elephants from 2002 to 2011.
Now field data from 2012 and 2013 show that the plight of elephants has gotten slightly worse.
At least a couple of hundred thousand forest elephants were lost between 2002-2013 to the tune of at least 60 a day
By the time you eat breakfast another elephant has been slaughtered to produce trinkets for the ivory market.##Elephant Images:
The Biggest Beasts On land Maisels and colleagues surveyed elephants at 80 sites throughout Cameroon the Central african republic the Republic of congo the Democratic Republic of congo and Gabon.
In their original study the researchers estimated that the population of African forest elephants was less than 10 percent of its potential size only about 100000 individuals were living in an area that historically could have harbored more 1 million.
What's more the elephants were spread across only a quarter of their potential range.
Nearly 60 percent of the remaining forest elephants can be found in the relatively small West african nation of Gabon according to WCS officials.
Meanwhile the Democratic Republic of congo a country nearly nine times larger than Gabon in area has a far smaller population of elephants.
The current number and distribution of elephants is compared mind-boggling when to what it should be study author Samantha Strindberg said in a statement.
About 95 percent of the forests of DRC are almost empty of elephants. Even in protected forest habitats these elephants are threatened seriously by poaching.
In their 2013 paper the scientists said illegal poaching must be stopped and the high demand for ivory must be stemmed
in order to save the forest elephants. Other elephant subspecies are threatened also by poaching for the ivory trade.
Several governments have been responding to conservationists'calls for action. The United states China Hong kong the Philippines and Gabon for example have destroyed
either or pledged to destroy their ivory stockpiles in largely symbolic moves to delegitimize ivory as a commercial product.
On Wednesday (Feb 12) the Obama administration announced that the United states will ban the domestic commercial trade of elephant ivory.
Campylobacter Clostridium botulinum Clostridium perfringens Escherichia coli (E coli) Giardia lamblia Hepatitis a Listeria noroviruses rotavirus Salmonella Shigella Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio vulnificus.
or hollandaise sauce packaged foods with broken seals or cans that are bulging or dented honey that hasn't been heat-treated soft cheeses alfalfa sprouts raw ground beef or fish.
while we're walking the dog in the park and sits down to get dirty idle in leaf piles
There's a lot of pasting clumps of dirt onto exposed tree roots and a lot of curious glances from passers by.
Studying the Bugs in Bees This Behind the Scenes article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
They made the journey in a minivan with a pet cat and 100000 bees. That was probably the most heroic event in our beekeeping saga to date says evolutionary biologist Nancy Moran a professor at the University of Texas at Austin who studies symbiosis particularly among multicellular hosts and microbes.
They also received wet sponges at regular intervals to keep them hydrated. They Kwong and Bennett justturned up the air conditioning all the way and wore sweaters Moran says.
and now live on top of a building on campus where their main forage might be drops of soda on discarded cans around campus says Moran who for many years studied the maternally transmitted symbionts of aphids
and other sap-feeding insects but has expanded in recent years to bees. Symbionts are organisms that coexist
but also love insects and insect biology she says. So this is a system that has both.
and function of the gut microbiota in honeybees and bumblebees emphasizing genomic approaches not unlike the current research interest in the human microbiome.
and other mammals because it is a long co-evolved and specialized bacterial community and because it impacts the health of the hosts she says.
when the animals have distinctive and co-evolved bacterial species in their guts Moran says.
In insects this doesn't always appear to be true many seem to have selected a set of bacteria taken up from the environment
But in honeybees and bumblebees the gut is dominated by a small number of tightly related groups she adds.
This is where the system parallels that of humans and other mammals all of which are social at least to the extent of having extended maternal care.
Gut symbionts of mammals are specialized and transmitted via these social interactions. Microbial gut symbionts are essential for the life of most animal species
but their diversity and functions in hosts and their responses to ecological disturbance are understood poorly she says.
Apis mellifera the honeybee has a distinctive set of about eight symbiotic bacterial species some of which occur in other Apis species and in the related Genus bombus bumblebees.
Bees of course are critically important ecologically and economically particularly in agriculture where honeybees pollinate an estimated $15 billion worth of agricultural products in the United states including more than 130 fruits according to the U s. Department of agriculture.
In recent years however there has been increasing concern over rampant bee colony losses dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder and the overall health of bees in general.
and function in the bee gut microbial community system some bumblebees are becoming rare and have shrunken ranges.
Are problems with gut microbiota part of the problem of honeybee health or could microbiota be preserved in a way that helps bees thrive?
and possibly nesting sites in the case of bumblebees she adds. But exposure to toxins and to diseases also play a part based on numerous studies.
Antibiotic resistance Moran's research has revealed that bacteria in the guts of honeybees are highly resistant to the preventive antibiotic tetracycline probably the result of decades of exposure to it because of its use by beekeepers to prevent bacterial diseases.
Moran's team identified eight different tetracycline resistance genes among U s. honeybees that were exposed to the antibiotic
And the gut microbiota of U s. honeybees is a treasure trove of tetracycline resistance genes that have been transferred horizontally from other bacteria.
Snodgrassella alvi Gilliamella apical and Frischella perrara named after three biologists who made major contributions in honeybee biology Robert Snodgrass Martha Gilliam and Karl von Frisch.
These three live together in one part of the honeybee ileum (part of the digestive tract) and two of them also live in bumblebees she says.
Another postdoctoral fellow in her lab Hauke Koch was the first to find that gut symbionts of bumblebees protect against protozoan parasites
if the same is true in honeybees and also to extend the findings in bumblebees she says.
She and her collaborators also conducted a survey of gut symbionts in three bumblebee species to determine whether environmental factors especially agricultural management or geographic location affected symbiont communities.
And it turns out that different bumblebee species all have some of the same symbionts particularly Snodgrassella
and Gilliamella but one bumble bee species seemed to sometimes miss being inoculated she says. The'right'symbionts are simply absent from some individuals.
This is very different from honeybees where every worker bee has the main symbionts and we think it might relate to their different life cycles and social lives.
This work provides a baseline for understanding how the gut microbiota of honeybees and bumblebees varies among colonies
and how this variation might affect colony health. By establishing methods for culturing and type strains that can be studied by different laboratories we can start to untangle the mechanistic basis for colonizing hosts she says.
when the hive is opened and don't line up in an aggressive manner preparing to attack she says.
One can approach the hives without alarming them she says. Feisty bees are touchy and prone to attack
when someone just gets close to the hive. We had some Texas bees but they were a bit feisty perhaps they did not like being plopped down in New england before she moved to Austin.
In the lab we mostly work with young worker bees which do not sting much plus we have contained them.
#Zoo-Raised Gorillas Prefer Forest Sounds Over Chopin (ISNS)--The sounds of a gently babbling stream
These natural sounds may also influence the behavior of gorillas raised in zoos that have seen never a rainforest.
Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) exhibited fewer stress-related behaviors when a recording of rainforest sounds was played in their enclosure.
The results accepted for publication in the journal Zoo Biology suggest that the forest melodies were more effective at reducing stress-induced habits such as hair-plucking
or regurgitating food in the three gorillas studied. Previous research on how music affects zoo-housed gorillas produced mixed results.
One study found adult gorillas were agitated more and aroused by rainforest sounds. Another paper found that the animals appeared more relaxed in response to music
whether classical or forest tunes than when no music was played to them. In this new study researchers Lindsey Robbins and Susan Margulis of Canisius College in Buffalo New york observed the effects of three kinds of music played to three adult gorillas.
A mix of compositions from classical composer Frã dã ric Chopin four songs from The english rock band Muse and a Sounds of the Rainforest#collection were played on hidden speakers housed in the gorillas enclosure
at the Buffalo Zoo. Each selection was played for two hours a day four times a week over a period of three weeks.
The animals received a week-long break of no music at all between each experimental period.
The researchers watched for signs of hair-plucking and regurgitating and re-ingesting food repetitive behaviors
which are considered often signs of stress in captive gorillas. Koga the only adult male in the group plucked his hair approximately 8%of the time
when no music was played or when he heard the forest sounds. But his frequency of hair-plucking increased to 35-40%of the time
Although to a smaller extent all three gorillas also vomited and re-ingested food less often when natural sounds were played to them.
#Though the researchers only observed three gorillas the study adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests enriching soundscapes can help the wellbeing of captive animals.#
#oecompared to 100 rats or 200 college students this is a small study#says Sheree Watson a primatologist at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg who was involved not in this work.
It s difficult to get large sample sizes when studying primate behavior. But it s a nicely done study.#
#Several previous studies have analyzed the effects of human-composed melodies on the behavior of captive animals.
Researchers studying dogs housed in a kennel found the canines spent more time sleeping when they were played Beethoven and Bach compositions.
Earlier studies on primates suggested similar influences. Music was correlated with reduced aggression in lab-dwelling chimpanzees decreased abnormal behaviors in rhesus macaques and a lower heart rate in baboons.
However few studies so far have found conclusive differences in the effects of different music genres on nonhuman primates.
Though we often play music to enrich our own homes and workplaces auditory stimuli are used not often in zoos.
A 2010 survey of 60 zoos in 13 countries found that nearly 75%of respondents had used never music to enrich the habitats of captive mammals.#
#oeauditory enrichment is used very sporadically right now#says Margulis. But we need to be aware of the impact it might have both on species and also on individual animals.#
#This story was provided by Inside Science News Service. Jyoti Madhusoodanan is a science writer based in San jose Calif. She tweets at@smjyoti s
#What Do Turtles Eat? Turtles like the humans who love them are a diverse bunch.
There are over 300 species of this ancient reptile and each one has preferred its own diet.
Some turtles are carnivores while others follow a strictly vegetarian diet. Most turtles however are omnivores eating both animals and plants.
What a turtle eats depends on its species specifically what kind of jaw it has for masticating (chewing) food where it lives and
what food sources are available to it. Sea turtles depending on the species may eat seagrasses algae sponges sea squirts squid shrimp crabs jellyfish cuttlefish or sea cucumbers.
For instance leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) which can reach a whopping 1100 pounds (500 kilograms) use their scissorlike jaws to munch on a jellyfish-only diet according to the Sea turtle Conservancy.
Green sea turles (Chelonia myadis) on the other hand are herbivores that feed on algae and seagrasses. A freshwater turtle's diet is varied
just as and may include worms snails insect larvae aquatic insects crustaceans water plants algae and fallen fruit.
Some species of freshwater turtles such as snapping turtles also eat small mammals frogs snakes fish and even other smaller turtles according to Connecticut's Department of energy and Environmental Protection.
Terrestrial turtles also eat a variety of foods from earthworms grubs snails beetles and caterpillars to grasses fruit berries mushrooms and flowers.
Both aquatic and land turtles have been known to eat carrion (decaying flesh) when it's available.
Many species of turtles are kept commonly as pets and just like their wild cousins they eat a diverse range of foods.
Commercial turtle pellets and fish pellets as well as gut-loaded insects (bugs with nutrient-rich diets) earthworms and small fish are sold often as turtle food at pet stores.
Turtle owners should speak with a veterinarian or other professional when planning a diet for their pet as the diets of captive turtles also vary by species. Follow Elizabeth Palermo on Twitter@techepalermo Facebook or Google+.
+Follow Livescience@livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+e
#Digging into Probiotics: Experts Look at Foods'Bacteria & Health Claims The term probiotic is misused so often that a group of experts has taken a fresh look at what probiotics really are examined
and what scientists have learned about them in recent years. Probiotics are thought generally of as the good bacteria in the body.
Experts define probiotics as live microorganisms which confer health benefits when present in adequate amounts.
Much of the current research on probiotics is focused on examining which bacterial species may have health benefits
An additional plus is that replacing antibiotics with phages during the fermentation process increases the marketability of the dried distillers-grain byproduct (the potential animal feed)
and son 28 years ago after a hiking trip near Utah's Bears Ears Buttes.
#New york's Power to Fight Illegal Ivory (Op-Ed) John Calvelli is executive vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and director of the society's 96 Elephants campaign.
WCS manages The bronx Zoo the New york Aquarium and other sites in addition to its conservation work. Calvelli contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices:
As we celebrate World Elephant Day (Aug 12) the Empire state is poised to help shape the future of one of Earth's most magnificent but endangered species:
African elephants. As Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the new law today New york currently the largest ivory market in the United states banned commercial sales and purchases of ivory and rhino horn.
The United states is the world's second-largest market for ivory behind China and much of it flows through New york. The new laws will assist federal efforts to shut down the ivory
and rhino-horn trades and with recently passed legislation in New jersey help close one of the nation's largest ports to this illegal wildlife trade.
The situation surrounding the illegal killing of elephants and ivory trafficking is dire. An estimated 35000 elephants were poached in Africa in 2012
and probably more last year that's 96 elephants killed every day for their ivory tusks
which are in high demand in Asia and beyond. Research by WCS and multiple partners found a staggering 65-percent decline in the population of African forest elephants between 2002 and 2013.
In a bipartisan acknowledgement of the urgent need to stop this decline state leaders from both sides of the political aisle including New york state Sens.
The momentum is clearly building for this commonsense strategy in the fight against illegal trafficking and elephant poaching.
Members of 96 Elephants a coalition of 160 groups committed to saving elephants are now working on similar efforts in California Illinois Vermont Florida and Hawaii.
Today on World Elephant Day 96 Elephants members delivered more than 96000 letters to their governors asking them to support an ivory ban in their state.
By banning ivory sales and purchases New york sent a message that the long-term survival of elephants is more important than ivory statues
A 2012 study published in the journal Ancient Science of Life suggested rats with diabetes that were fed Gomutra Ark had significantly lower blood glucose levels than rats in a control group did.
And a 2013 study in the International Brazilian Journal of Urology claimed that distilled cow urine might help to prevent the development of kidney stones in rats.
Owl Monkeys Are Caring Fathers, Too This Behind the Scenes article was provided to Live Science in partnership with the National Science Foundation.
If there were a competition for best father#in the animal kingdom owl monkeys might very well win.
Because father owl monkeys provide most of the care needed by their young; they carry their young almost all the time even when chased by predators.
By contrast caregiving from owl monkey mothers to their young is limited almost exclusively to nursing.
Devoted Dads Considering the high prevalence of deadbeat dads #and even cannibal dads#in the animal kingdom why of all creatures are father owl monkeys so attentive and protective of their young?
This question is answered by Patricia C. Wright of Stony Brook University in the accompanying video.
Wright s insights on owl monkeys are largely based on her many years of researching them in the rainforests of South america.
A renowned primate researcher and conservationist Wright is the 2014 winner of the Indianapolis Prize
My Quest to Understand the Monkeys of the Night (Lantern Books: 2013). ) Wild for Monogamy Wright said that are owl monkeys are devoted not only fathers
but are also truly monogamous another rarity in the wild. An owl monkey is faithful to its mate until its mate dies.
The unflagging fidelity of owl monkeys has been verified by DNA fingerprinting similar to the type of DNA fingerprinting used in the courts to prove human paternity.
By contrast DNA fingerprinting has revealed that many animal species that were thought once to be truly monogamous are really social monogamous instead#eaning that a male and female form a long-term pair;
mate and raise their young together; and spend time together but may nevertheless occasionally mate with others.
Amazingly owl monkeys are even more loyal to their mates than are those classic icons of love and fidelity#wans
and staunchly faithful mates owl monkeys have another extraordinary trait: They are nocturnal even though they were once daytime creatures as indicated by certain characteristics of their eyes said Wright.
Wright s field research suggests several potential reasons why owl monkeys may have joined the night life.
For one thing Wright observed families of owl monkeys snuggle and sleep together in protected tangles of vines
Wright speculates that owl monkeys which are relatively small monkeys hide and sleep during the day
in order to avoid huge day-hunting raptors such as harpy eagles and hawks which regularly swoop down from the skies
and snatch even large monkeys that dangle and jump through the tall forest canopy during the day.
Also by only searching for tree fruits during the night owl monkeys avoid competing with larger monkeys that spend their days hunting for the same foods.
So by time sharing#the canopy with larger monkeys in a day/night cycle owl monkeys increase their potential for collecting food while reducing their risk from predators.
Learn More NSF article and slide show: Animal Attraction: The Many Forms of Monogamy in the Animal kingdom Washingtonpost. com chat with a former NSF program director:
From Devoted to Deadbeat to Cannibal: How Animal Fathers Survive in the Wild. Editor's Note:
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