In this case the retrovirus'effect was to trigger an accumulation of a green-blue bile pigment called biliverdin in the eggshell as the egg develops in the hen.
They are commonly found across species of birds including those that lay blue eggs as well as non-blue eggs within a single population like the cuckoo and guillemot.
and patterning across avian species more generally but this remains to be studied. The work was initiated by Professor Olivier Hanotte
While much previous research has focused on trying to create a superbug that could tackle the whole job of processing waste plant materials into biofuels Lin
We wanted to understand how these quite well-studied ungulates with contrasting feeding strategies can survive
Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and first author of the study. Researchers from theizw the University of Namibia and other Namibian partners found that gemsbok (also called oryx) adjusted its diet according to season.
As a result the use of pesticides and their effect on humans animals and plants have become more important.
Intensive farming is linked also to collapsing populations of wild animals and the endangerment of species such as amphibians.
An interdisciplinary approach can plausibly demonstrate connections between the effects of chemicals in humans and animals and the often indirect consequences on the population community and ecosystem levels.
The researchers forecast changes to natural selection the spread of infections and the sexual development and fertility of wild animals.
#Fossil of historys most successful mammal: Prehistoric rodent may have set the stage for life in trees,
herbivorous dietsthe 160 million-year-old fossil of an extinct rodent-like creature from China is helping to explain how multituberculates--the most evolutionarily successful and long-lived mammalian lineage in the fossil
record--achieved their dominance. This fossil find--the oldest ancestor in the multituberculate family tree--represents a newly discovered species known as Rugosodon eurasiaticus.
and animals alike as well as ankle joints that were highly adept at rotation. In light of these findings researchers suggest that R. eurasiaticus paved the way for later plant-eating
and tree-dwelling mammals. Chong-Xi Yuan from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing China along with Chinese and American colleagues report their analysis of the fossil in the 16 august issue of Science.
Much like today's rodents they filled an extremely wide variety of niches--below the ground on the ground and in the trees--and this new fossil
which resembles a small rat or a chipmunk possessed many of the adaptations that subsequent species came to rely upon the researchers say.
The later multituberculates of the Cretaceous era and the Paleocene epoch are extremely functionally diverse: Some could jump some could burrow others could climb trees
What is surprising about this discovery is that these ankle features were already present in Rugosodon--a land-dwelling mammal he said.
Such highly mobile ankle joints are associated normally with the foot functions of animals that are exclusively tree-dwellers--those that navigate uneven surfaces.
The fossil--particularly its dentition which reveals teeth designed for shearing plant matter--confirms a 2012 analysis of tooth types that suggested multituberculates consumed an animal-dominated diet for much of their existence later diversifying to a plant-dominated one.
and went extinct in the Oligocene epoch occupying a diverse range of habitats for more than 100 million years before they were competed out by more modern rodents.
Based on their findings the researchers suggest that such adaptations must have arisen very early in the evolution of the order setting the stage for the major diversification of rodent-like mammals that ensued.
#New species of carnivore looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bearobserved in the wild tucked away in museum collections
and even exhibited in zoos around the world--there is one mysterious creature that has been a victim of mistaken identity for more than 100 years.
A team of Smithsonian scientists however uncovered overlooked museum specimens of this remarkable animal which took them on a journey from museum cabinets in Chicago to cloud forests in South america to genetics labs in Washington D c. The result:
the olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina)--the first carnivore species to be discovered in the American continents in 35 years.
The olinguito (oh-lin-GHEE-toe) looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear.
It is actually the latest scientifically documented member of the Family procyonidae which it shares with raccoons coatis kinkajous and olingos.
The 2-pound olinguito with its large eyes and woolly orange-brown fur is native to the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador as its scientific name neblina (Spanish for fog) hints.
In addition to being described the latest member of its family another distinction the olinguito holds is that it is the newest species in the Order carnivora--an incredibly rare discovery in the 21st century.
The discovery of the olinguito shows us that the world is explored not yet completely its most basic secrets not yet revealed said Kristofer Helgen curator of mammals at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural history
If new carnivores can still be found what other surprises await us? So many of the world's species are known not yet to science.
Discovering a new species of carnivore however does not happen overnight. This one took a decade
and was not the project's original goal--completing the first comprehensive study of olingos several species of tree-living carnivores in the genus Bassaricyon was.
even if we didn't find the animal we were looking for I knew our team would discover something cool along the way.
and Kays set off on a three-week expedition to find the animal themselves. Working with Pinto they found olinguitos in a forest on the western slopes of the Andes and spent their days documenting
what they could about the animal--its characteristics and its forest home. Because the olinguito was new to science it was imperative for the scientists to record every aspect of the animal.
They learned that the olinguito is mostly active at night is mainly a fruit eater rarely comes out of the trees
and at least one olinguito from Colombia was exhibited in several zoos in the United states during the 1960s and 1970s.
This is a beautiful animal but we know so little about it. How many countries does it live in?
#Huge owls need huge treesa study spearheaded by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Minnesota has shown that the world's largest owl
--and one of the rarest--is also a key indicator of the health of some of the last great primary forests of Russia's Far east.
The study found that Blakiston's fish owl relies on old-growth forests along streams for both breeding
The large trees provide breeding cavities for the enormous bird which has a two-meter (six-foot) wingspan.
and nesting characteristics of Blakiston's fish owl in Primorye Russia where they looked at nesting habitat over 20213 square kilometers (7804 square miles).
and riparian old-growth forest were the primary distinguishing characteristics of both nest and foraging sites.
because they are central to the owls'nesting and foraging behavior. Moreover conservation of Primorye's forests and rivers sustains habitat for many other species:
some of the 12 other owl species found in Primorye; and mammals like the endangered Amur (or Siberian) tiger Asiatic black bear and wild boar.
Listed as Endangered by IUCN Blakiston's fish owl is restricted to riparian areas in Russia China Japan and possibly North korea.
Blakiston's fish owl is a clear indicator of the health of the forests rivers
and salmon populations said lead author Jonathan Slaght of the Wildlife Conservation Society. Retention of habitat for fish owls will also maintain habitat for many other species associated with riparian old-growth forests in the Russian Far east.
Logistical and financial support for this study was provided by the Amur-Ussuri Centre for Avian Diversity with additional funding from the Bell Museum of Natural history Columbus Zoo Conservation Fund Denver Zoological Foundation
Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund Minnesota Zoo Foundation National Aviary National Birds of Prey Trust United states Forest Service-International Programs and the University of Minnesota.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wildlife Conservation Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Focusing on the avian flu virus strain H5n1 research published today in the journal PLOS ONE identifies key stages in the poultry trade chain which lead to its transmission to other birds animals and humans.
which act as huge reservoirs for the virus at bird vaccination centres and at cock fighting contests.
Diseases which originate in birds and mammals such as SARS and bird flu represent 60 per cent of outbreaks.
As well as representing a significant global health threat they also create a burden to public health systems and the global economy.
and 2011 Princeton graduate Ryan Huynh--challenges predictions that higher global temperatures will result in the widespread extinction of cold-blooded forest creatures particularly lizards.
it can also make them less resistant to pests and fire. It is also the case that a forest recovers much more slowly from fire
#Sugar toxic to mice in safe doses, test findswhen mice ate a diet of 25 percent extra sugar--the mouse equivalent of a healthy human diet plus three cans of soda daily--females died at twice the normal rate
and males were a quarter less likely to hold territory and reproduce according to a toxicity test developed at the University of Utah.
fed mice large doses of sugar disproportionate to the amount people consume in sweetened beverages baked goods and candy.
just as harmful to the health of mice as being inbred the offspring of first cousins. Even though the mice didn't become obese
and showed few metabolic symptoms the sensitive test showed they died more often and tended to have fewer babies says the study's first author James Ruff who recently earned his Ph d. at the University of Utah.
We have shown that levels of sugar that people typically consume --and that are considered safe by regulatory agencies--impair the health of mice.
The new toxicity test placed groups of mice in room-sized pens nicknamed mouse barns with multiple nest boxes--a much more realistic environment than small cages allowing the mice to compete more naturally for mates
and desirable territories and thereby revealing subtle toxic effects on their performance Potts says. This is a sensitive test for health
and vigor declines he says noting that in a previous study he used the same test to show how inbreeding hurt the health of mice.
The mice tell us the level of health degradation is almost identical from added-sugar and from cousin-level inbreeding.
A Mouse Diet Equal to What a Quarter of Americans Eatthe experimental diet in the study provided 25 percent of calories from added sugar--half fructose and half glucose--no matter how many calories the mice ate.
The diet fed to the mice with the 25 percent sugar-added diet is equivalent to the diet of a person who drinks three cans daily of sweetened soda pop plus a perfectly healthy no-sugar-added diet Potts says.
The researchers used a mouse supply company that makes specialized diets for research. Chow for the mice was a highly nutritious wheat-corn-soybean mix with vitamins and minerals.
For experimental mice glucose and fructose amounting to 25 percent of calories was included in the chow.
For control mice corn starch was used as a carbohydrate in place of the added sugars. House Mice Behaving Naturallymice often live in homes with people
so mice happen to be an excellent mammal to model human dietary issues because they've been living on the same diet as we have
ever since the agricultural revolution 10000 years ago Potts says. Mice typically used in labs come from strains bred in captivity for decades.
They lack the territoriality shown by wild mice. So the study used mice descended from wild house mice that were outbred to prevent inbreeding typical of lab mice.
They are highly competitive over food nesting sites and territories he says. This competition demands high performance from their bodies so
if there is a defect in any physiological systems they tend to do more poorly during high competition.
So Potts'new test--named the Organismal Performance Assay or OPA--uses mice in a more natural ecological context more likely to reveal toxic effects of whatever is being tested he says.
When you look at a mouse in a cage it's like trying to evaluate the performance of a car by turning it on in a garage Ruff says.
If it doesn't turn on you've got a problem. But just because it does turn on doesn't mean you don't have a problem.
A big room was divided into 11 mouse barns used for the new test. Six were used in the study.
Each mouse barn was divided by wire mesh fencing into six sections or territories but the mice could climb easily over the mesh.
Within each of the six sections was a nest box a feeding station and drinking water.
Four of the six sections in each barn were optimal more desirable territories because the nest boxes were opaque plastic storage bins
which mice entered via 2-inch holes at the bottom. Each bin had four nesting cages in it and an enclosed feeder.
The two other sections were suboptimal territories with open planter trays instead of enclosed bins. Female mice had to nest communally in the trays.
Running the Experimentthe mice in the experiment began with 156 founders that were bred in Potts'colony weaned at four weeks
and then assigned either to the added-sugar diet or the control diet with half the males and half the females on each diet.
The mice stayed in cages with siblings of the same sex (to prevent reproduction) for 26 weeks
Then the mice were placed in the mouse barns to live compete with each other and breed for 32 more weeks.
while in the mouse barns so the study only tested for differences caused by the mice eating different diets for the previous 26 weeks.
The founder mice had implanted microchips like those put in pets. Microchip readers were placed near the feeding stations to record which mice fed where and for how long.
A male was considered dominant if he made more than 75 percent of the visits by males to a given feeding station.
With the 156 founder mice (58 male 98 female) the researchers ran the experiment six times with an average of 26 mice per experiment:
Added Sugar Impairs Mouse Lifespan and Reproduction--After 32 weeks in mouse barns 35 percent of the females fed extra sugar died twice the 17 percent death rate for female control mice.
There was no difference in the 55 percent death among males who did did and not get added sugar.
control males occupied 47 percent of the territories while sugar-added mice controlled less than 36 percent.
Male mice shared the remaining 17 percent of territories. --Males on the added-sugar diet produced 25 percent fewer offspring than control males as determined by genetic analysis of the offspring.
The researchers studied another group of mice for metabolic changes. The only differences were minor:
cholesterol was elevated in sugar-fed mice and the ability to clear glucose from the blood was impaired in female sugar-fed mice.
The study found no difference between mice on a regular diet and mice with the 25 percent sugar-added diet
when it came to obesity fasting insulin levels fasting glucose or fasting triglycerides. Our test shows an adverse outcome from the added-sugar diet that couldn't be detected by conventional tests Potts says.
Human-made toxic substances in the environment potentially affect all of us and more are discovered continually Potts says.
Potts and Ruff conducted the study with University of Utah biology lab manager Linda Morrison and undergraduates Amanda Suchy Sara Hugentobler Mirtha Sosa and Bradley Schwartz and with researchers Sin
and other animals and plotted their genetic relationships in a phylogenetic tree. Corresponding author Ross Fitzgerald of the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland says strains of CC97 found in cows appear to be the ancestors of CC97 strains from humans.
Although the CC97 strains from animals were quite genetically diverse the human isolates cluster together in two tight distinct clades
#Bright birds make good mothersfemale blue tits with brightly coloured crowns are better mothers than duller birds according to a new study led by the University of York.
Unlike humans birds can see ultraviolet (UV) light. While the crown of a blue tit looks just blue to us to another bird it has added the dimension of appearing UV-reflectant.
The three-year study of blue tits which also involved researchers from the University of California Davis USA and the University of Glasgow showed that mothers with more UV-reflectant crown feathers did not lay more eggs
but did fledge more offspring than duller females. These brightly coloured mothers also experienced relatively lower levels of stress hormones during arduous periods of chick rearing.
Previous studies have shown that male blue tits prefer mates that exhibit highly UV-reflectant crown feathers.
UV plumage can signal maternal quality in blue tits so a male choosing a brightly coloured female will gain a good mother for his chicks and a less stressed partner.
and investigated the factors that affect breeding success in wild birds. In blue tits (Cyanistes Caeruleus) both sexes exhibit bright UV-reflectant crown feathers.
The birds are socially monogamous with the female solely incubating the eggs and both parents feeding the chicks.
The researchers looked at the relative UV reflectance of the crown feathers of female blue tits
and related this to indices of reproductive success--lay date clutch size and number of chicks fledged--as well as the birds'maternal state.
Dr Arnold said: With up to 14 chicks to care for blue tit mothers in our study were feeding their broods every couple of minutes.
We showed that dowdy coloured females found this level of hard work twice as stressful compared with brighter mothers.
Also the mothers with more UV-reflectant crowns were highly successful fledging up to eight more chicks than females with drabber feathers.
and reduction in variety of forage sources due to pressures of intensifying land use increasing spread of new and old pests--caused by globalisation of trade in bees and bee products--as well as possible adverse effects
The findings come from a multi-year airborne survey of atmospheric chemistry called HIAPER Pole-to-Pole Observations or HIPPO.
Taking advantage of the long-duration and high-altitude-profiling capabilities of the NSF Gulfstream V aircraft also known as HIAPER the HIPPO project was designed to take a'snapshot'of the global troposphere Earth's lowest atmospheric
Recent observations aboard the Gulfstream V were made during regular flights conducted during the HIPPO campaign from 2009 to 2011.
In these dry fragile ecosystems where increase in water availability from rainfall is the limiting factor for malaria transmission irrigation infrastructure can drastically alter mosquito population abundance to levels above the threshold needed to maintain malaria transmission said lead
when irrigation is introduced due to increased amounts of standing water that serve as mosquito breeding sites.
and characterized by an enhanced environmental malaria risk despite intensive mosquito control efforts said Pascual the Rosemary Grant Collegiate Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at U-M and a Howard
Malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite which is transmitted via the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes.
In the human body the parasites multiply in the liver and then infect red blood cells. In the PNAS study the researchers examined epidemiological data on microscopically confirmed malaria cases from rural areas some dating back to 1997.
In particular lights that doubled as cellphone chargers helped small businesses in two ways: The lights kept an owner's store illuminated at night driving more traffic to it
and the owner could rent the light as a charger for customers'cellphones. Interestingly the researchers found that in all cases microentrepreneurs tended to prefer products that were not necessarily the cheapest available:
The research team developing the drug--led by scientists at the Nanomedicine Research center part of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute in the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical center--conducted the study in laboratory mice with implanted human
Mice receiving the drug lived significantly longer than untreated counterparts and those receiving only certain components of the drug according to a recent article in the Journal of Controlled Release.
or OMPS that flies aboard the Suomi-NPP satellite measures relative aerosol concentrations such as those generated by wildfires.
#Increase in woodpecker populations linked to feasting on emerald ash borerthe scourge of forests the emerald ash borer
or EAB is described usually with words like destructive and pest. A recent study based on data collected by citizen scientists suggests that one more adjective might apply at least from a bird's perspective:
delicious. In a study published this week in the journal Biological Invasions U s. Forest Service entomologist Andrew Liebhold
and Cornell University scientist Walter Koenig and others document how an EAB invasion fueled a population boom for four species of birds in the Detroit area.
The four species of birds considered in the study Effects of the emerald ash borer invasion on four species of birds included three woodpeckers that are known to forage on EAB-infested ash trees
--the downy woodpecker hairy woodpecker red-bellied woodpecker--as well as the white-breasted nuthatch a common bark-gleaning species that is also a potential predator of EAB.
The emerald ash borer has been massively destructive because most North american ash trees have little or no defense against it Liebhold said.
We can take heart that native woodpecker species are clearly figuring out that EAB is edible
Data used in the study were collected by volunteers for Project Feederwatch a Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Bird Studies Canada project in
which volunteers count birds that visit feeders at backyards nature centers community areas and other locations from November through early April.
The data helps scientists track movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance.
since 1987 and allowing us to track changes in the abundance and distribution of birds across North america.
The study examined bird populations in an area about 25 miles west of downtown Detroit where EAB was discovered first.
Between the time EAB was detected first in 2002 and 2011 relative numbers of red-bellied woodpeckers
and white-breasted nuthatches increased in abundance scientists found. Populations of downy and hairy woodpeckers initially declined significantly
and then fluctuated however the downy woodpecker was at a significantly higher level relative to control sites during the 2009 bird survey season
and hairy woodpecker populations were significantly higher during the 2011 season. Both for forests and urban trees the emerald ash borer has been devastating said Michael T. Rains Director of the U s. Forest Service's Northern Research Station and Director of the Forest Products Laboratory.
The Forest Service is helping cities and states prepare for and recover from EAB invasion with research on the insect ash trees'resistance to EAB and biological control.
Researchers compared the abundance of the four bird species to their abundance in two sets of sites where the impact of EAB has not yet been severe.
These areas included sites approximately 50-100 km from the EAB epicenter where the insect had caused some tree mortality but considerably less than
what occurred in the epicenter of the outbreak. They also looked at abundance in five Midwestern cities similar in size to Detroit where EAB had caused not yet major damage
but in some cases had been reported. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by USDA Forest Service-Northern Research Station.
NASA satellites used to predict zebra migrationsone of the world's longest migrations of zebras occurs in the African nation of Botswana
and where zebras will move has not been possible until now. Using NASA rain and vegetation data researchers can track
if zebras will make the trek or if the animals find poor conditions en route understand why they will turn back.
Covering an area of approximately 8500 square miles (22000 square kilometers) Botswana's Okavango Delta is one end of the second-longest zebra migration On earth a 360-mile (580-kilometer) round trip
to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans--the largest salt pan system on the planet. Zebras walk an unmarked route that takes them to the next best place for grazing
while overhead thundering cloudbursts of late October rains drive new plant growth filling pockmarks across this largest inland delta in the world.
High above Earth-orbiting satellites capture images of the zebras'movements on this epic trek as well as the daily change in environmental conditions.
Zebras don't need data to know when it's time to find better forage: The surge of rain-coaxed grasses greening is their prompt to depart.
and predict when the zebras will move. Pieter Beck research associate with the Woods Hole Research center in Falmouth Mass
This sheds unprecedented light on what drives animals to migrate he said what cues they use
Zebra mind: A band of scientists earn their stripesthe Zebra Migration Research Project began in 2008 after Hattie Bartlam-Brooks
and her team discovered the migration during field work for Okavango Herbivore Research. Anecdotal evidence--unverified stories--prior to the 1970s described a zebra migration from the Okavango Delta to the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans at the start of the rainy season in September
and continuing through April but from 1968 to 2004 veterinary fences prevented zebras from making the migration.
The veterinary fences--which had been built to keep wild buffalo from transferring diseases to cattle--were taken down in 2004.
Within three years of the removal of the veterinary fences zebra began making movements on the migration path toward the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.
These movements were recorded by GPS collars that were fitted to zebra mares allowing researchers to accurately record their movements.
Zebras in the wild live for about 12 years so the migration path could not have been learned from previous generations said Bartlam-Brooks.
She and her team in the field observed that the zebras began their migration at the onset of the rains so she joined forces with Beck to see how extensive the environment's influence is on the timing of the zebras'journey.
Beck combined this GPS movement data with satellite imagery taken over the months of the migration.
Beck and his team learned that zebras do not follow an internal clock nor do they migrate at a steady pace.
when zebras started migrating and how fast they migrated. By comparing the results of the models it was possible to determine which environmental variables are the most effective in predicting zebra movement
and then use this knowledge to try and infer as to how the zebra make their decisions said Gil Bohrer assistant professor in the Department of Civil Environmental and Geodetic Engineering at The Ohio State university who collaborated on the project.
It shows we can figure out very closely what'makes the zebra move.''Bill Fagan professor of biology at the University of Maryland finds hope in the team's discoveries.
Their discussion he said was particularly intriguing as a demonstration of how important the consistency
Guiding light among the starshaving access to NASA's free satellite images that shed light on the environmental conditions migratory animals face is something that Beck finds invaluable.
The models provided the team with the means to think like a zebra which has practical applications in management issues that concern humans.
whether it's zebras or other migratory animals. Understanding the mechanisms that drive migratory behavior is increasingly important Beck said in terms of climate change as migrating animals rely on multiple habitats.
If migrating animals lose any of the habitats they rely on because the timing of their food--insect hatches greening plants for example--no longer coincides with their travel this can have serious consequences for their continued survival.
Under climate change things are likely to accelerate Beck said. Many of the major migrations On earth especially on land have already been lost he explains
and few landscapes are left On earth where the migratory animals do not have to share land resources with agriculture and other human activities.
We need to know what the fate of those migrations is under climate change Beck said.
Understanding when animals might come through what drives them what they're looking for sometimes. Being able to predict that into the future is very useful information to managing those landscapes
so that migratory animals and humans can coexist. Helping zebras continue a journey--newly discovered by the animals
and their observers--may allow them to cope with changes in their environment an outcome that is not so black-and-white.
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