<a href=http://www. livescience. com/44171-society-civilization-collapse-study. html target=blank>Society Is doomed Scientists Claim</a p><p>Like camels of the sea a species
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/44190-sea-snakes-dehydrate. html target=blank>Camels of the Ocean:
#Zoos, Aquariums and Their Visitors Are Critical Advocates for Conservation (Op-Ed) John Calvelli is executive vice president for public affairs at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and director of the 96 Elephants campaign.
We attended to provide senior zoo representatives from across the nation with an update on the forest-elephant poaching
We also led a discussion of our 96 Elephants public campaign. That effort launched by WCS in 2013 and named for the number African elephants killed on average each day of 2012 seeks to bring attention
and consensus to a poaching crisis that has eliminated a stunning 65 percent of the entire African elephant population since 2002.
The campaign rests on three pillars we have identified to end the crisis: Stop the killing stop the trafficking
So far 115 different zoos and aquariums have signed on as 96 Elephants partners. All have the ability to spread the message of elephant conservation to their park-going audiences
and zoos and aquariums are making a difference. Each in their own way is helping to focus attention educate their visitors
For example last fall the Indianapolis Zoo gathered 96 school children for a group picture to promote greater awareness of the elephant-poaching crisis. The Houston Zoo is incorporating campaign messaging into its promotion of the birth
of a new elephant calf and is currently working to collect 5000 signatures to hand over to local elected leaders asking them to push for a total ban on the sale of ivory and ivory products in the United States.
Clearly a movement is growing to protect elephants and other iconic species from devastating losses.
The 96 Elephants campaign underscores both the power of conservation to move people to take action
To help elephants survive and thrive we must now work state by state to ensure there are adequate laws on the books to stop the sale of ivory.
Starving Rats Ate Trees By now most of North america has thawed out from a brutal winter that introduced unhappy phrases such as polar vortex into the lexicon.
One surprise was the discovery that starving rats in New york city had attacked the trees in urban parks for sustenance.
which even in winter have some carbohydrates mostly sucrose) in the vascular tissue beneath their bark had been gnawed by rats all the way around the base of the trunk a practice called girdling that usually kills a tree.
Sorry no rat Armageddon The population of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) whose numbers are almost wholly dependent on humans for food may drop somewhat this year as a result of wintry blasts.
and it's hard for young rats to jump across the snow and get to the food then cold temperature might actually cause some mortality urban ecologist Steve Sullivan of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museumin Chicago told Fox news Chicago.
But urbanites who are hoping that last winter's unusually bitter weather resulted in a rat Armageddon may be disappointed.
Sullivan doesn't expect a major die off from cold for a tough smart animal like the rat.
Norway rats are a very adaptable species Sullivan told Fox news. Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+.
and behavior of spider monkeys but not until today have I been able to claim such a huge victory for a place
and it's already starting to change These protected areas are vital to ensure that species like those spider monkeys I studied have plenty of forest habitat
During a recent trip to Utah I came across an iconic gnarly tree clinging to the top of the canyon wall at Dead Horse Point State Park and
Nonhuman primates and other wild animals rarely get dental diseases Warinner said which raises the question What is it about humans that allows these pathogens to grow?
Rhino Horn and Tiger Bone Vietnam could be the latest country to destroy its stockpiles of illegal wildlife products.
Officials with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development of Vietnam say they are considering crushing rhino horn elephant ivory
and tiger bone the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced. In recent years the international community has recognized that Vietnamese citizens have emerged as key players in global illegal wildlife trade as traders transporters traffickers
Despite international bans wildlife products like ivory and rhino horn remain in high demand fueling poaching
WCS estimates that 96 elephants are killed each day for their ivory in Africa contributing to a 76 percent decline in elephant populations since 2002.
Last year a record 1004 rhinos were killed in South africa for their horns. Follow Megan Gannon on Twitter and Google+.
Animal studies show whey protein supplements fed to rats can prevent inflammation and early signs of complications from obesity and diabetes according to a 2012 review published in the journal Lipids in Health and Disease.
In their study Brandt and her colleagues also used a mouse model as proxy for humans
Mice fed a diet where a fifth of the food was powdered carrot had fewer and smaller tumours than mice who were fed a normal diet.
and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) where she focuses on food and drug safety protections for scientist whistle-blowers and government transparency and accountability.
The author's most recent Op-Ed was Why Whistle-Blowers Should Watch out for New Loophole.
I would sit in front of the primate exhibits for hours and watch their behavior it was exciting to see up close
Our zoo is small enough that keepers get to work with a wide range of animals from bison and mountain lions to tropical birds Andean bears and Roosevelt elk.
And during times when we have high winds we place the big cats off-exhibit to a secure holding area to safeguard against anything that could fall.
since they know they'll get a treat (either a rat or a fish to munch on).
and Chief Earl Old person of the Blackfeet Nation is advisor for the National Mammal Campaign and a Tribal Council member.
and small mammals and provided abundant food resources for grizzly bears wolves and humans. More than any other species the buffalo American bison or iiniiwa in Blackfoot linked native people to the land provided food
He whipped his horse and broke through to Liang among ten thousand men of his army.
And one study in rats suggested that extremely high doses of Garcinia may cause testicular atrophy and toxicity.
Another group of researchers discovered seal dolphin and fish bones near a Neanderthal hearth on the Rock of gibraltar located on the Iberian peninsula.
Ainara Sistiaga a graduate student at the University of La Laguna in Spain who led the investigation as a visiting student at the Massachusetts institute of technology said the results aren't all that surprising as Neanderthals are primates
and most primates are omnivores. We cannot say anything about what kind of plants they were actually eating
In pointing a finger at these human cousins the authors of the paper may have been too quick to rule out bears wild boars
We know that modern bears are attracted by abandoned hearths and they would probably leave droppings behind without any afterthoughts Bocherens told Live Science in an email.
He added that scientists need a much better reference database for the profile of chemicals they should expect to see in the fossilized feces of different animals such as bears and humans.
#Facts About Elephants African elephants & Asian Elephants Elephants are the largest land animals On earth. They have characteristic long noses or trunks;
There are two species of elephant. The Asian elephant and the African elephant live on separate continents and have many unique features.
There are several subspecies that belong to one or the other of these two main species though there is disagreement over just how many subspecies there are.
African elephants are the larger of the two species. They grow 8. 2 to 13 feet (2. 5 to 4 meters) from shoulder to toe
2268 to 6350 kilograms) according to the National geographic. Asian elephants can grow up to 6. 6 to 9. 8 feet (2 to 3 m) from shoulder to toe
African elephants live in Sub-saharan africa the rain forests of Central and West Africa and the Sahel desert in Mali.
Asian elephants live in Nepal India and Southeast asia in scrub forests and rain forests. Elephants eat grasses roots fruit and bark.
They use their tusks to pull the bark from trees and dig roots out of the ground.
An elephant has an appetite that matches its size. An adult can eat 300 lbs.
136 kg) of food in a day according to the National geographic. A group of elephants is called a herd.
Females as well as young and old elephants stick together in a herd. Adult males tend to wander on their own.
Elephants also have certain rules. For example when they are meeting each other they expect the other elephant to extend its trunk in greeting.
The matriarch will often teach young elephants in her herd how to act properly. Male elephants are called bulls
and females are called cows. After mating the cow will be pregnant for around 22 months. When the baby elephant is born finally it can weigh around 200 lbs 91 kg) and stand about 3 feet (1 m) tall.
A baby elephant is called a calf. As the calf grows it will gain 2 to 3 lbs. every day until its first birthday.
By the time they are 2 or 3 years old calves are ready to be weaned. Male calves will wander off on their own
while females will stay with their mothers. When they are 13 to 20 years old they will be mature enough to have their own young.
Elephants live 30 to 50 years in the wild. The taxonomy of elephants according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information system (ITIS) is:
Kingdom: Animaliasubkingdom: Bilateria Infrakingdom: Deuterostomia Phylum: Chordatasubphylum: Vertebratainfraphylum: Gnathostomata Superclass: Tetrapoda Class: Mammalia Subclass: Theriainfraclass:
Eutheria Order: Proboscidea Family: Elephantidae Genera & species: Loxodonta africana (African savannah elephant) Loxodonta cyclotis (African forest elephant) Elephas maximus (Asian elephant) Subspecies:
ITIS recognizes: Another possible subspecies is Elephas maximus borneensis (Borneo pygmy elephant. The World Wildlife Fund has determined that DNA evidence proves that the Borneo pygmy elephantis genetically different from other Asian elephants.
According to the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the Asian elephant is endangered.
Though it is known not exactly how many Asian elephants remain it is believed that the population is decreasing.
The African elephant is considered vulnerable. Overall its populations are increasing. According to the African Wildlife Foundation there are around 470000 African elephants roaming the globe.
The African elephant can be identified by its ears. Stretched out its ears are shaped like the African continent.
Asian elephants have smaller ears which are rounded more on top and flat along the bottom.
Heat radiates out of the elephant's massive ears acting as a cooling mechanism. The largest elephant ever recorded was an African elephant according to the San diego Zoo.
It was 24000 lbs. 10886 kg) and 13 feet (3. 96 m) tall from its feet to its shoulders.
When it gets too hot African elephants will suck water into their trunks and then blow it back out to shower themselves with a cool mist.
An elephant's trunk has more than 100000 muscles according to National geographic. They use it to breathe pick things up make noises drink and smell.
In the same way that humans tend to be right-handed or left-handed elephants can be tusked right
or left-tusked. Their dominant tusk is easy to identify because it will be worn more down than the less dominant tusk according to the World Wildlife Fund.
An elephant's skin can be as thick as 1 inch but it is sensitive to the sun. To protect it elephants will cover themselves in mud
or dust a
#'Climate Smart'Agriculture Is Blossoming (Op-Ed) David Cleary Director of Agriculture at The Nature Conservancy contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices:
Op-Ed & Insights. In a somber scene-setter for the climate summit in New york this week the World meteorological organization the United Nation's meteorological office released a report showing that world carbon emissions in 2013 reached a record high and atmospheric
carbon is increasing at the fastest rate seen in more than thirty years. Some hard questions face the international order which has spent much of that period in an interminable round of meetings meant to combat climate change.
Against that backdrop the pertinent question the UN report raises is: Why bother? If we appear to be losing the battle
what difference does yet another meeting and round of press conferences make other than to worsen traffic conditions in lower Manhattan?
It matters when it comes to food. Rising temperatures and extreme weather events are now familiar agricultural foes in much of the world.
Farmers have been managing weather since agriculture began but all the evidence suggests that climate change will now severely tax the world's ability to feed itself within a generation.
Climate smart agriculture is a space that bears watching and perhaps even some guarded optimism is in order.
#Most Interesting Science News articles of the Week<p></p><p>Love sweet love sloth potty breaks
Bones from young cattle and teeth from leopards suggest its residents ate and dressed like royalty.</
and nearby mound containing the hind limbs of young cattle the seals of high-ranking officials which were inscribed with titles like the scribe of the royal box and the scribe of the royal school and leopard teeth (but no leopard).<
</p><p>Full Story:<<a href=http://www. livescience. com/42717-leopard-teeth-found-at-giza-pyramids. html target=blank>Tasty Life:
Leopard Teeth Calf bones Found in Ruins Near Pyramids</a p><p></p><p>Sloths are the quintessential couch potatoes of the rainforest
and these sluggish tree-dwellers also serve as a hotel for moths and algae.</</p><p>Three-toed sloths descend from the trees once a week to defecate providing a breeding ground for moths that live in the animals'fur
and nourishing gardens of algae that supplement the sloths'diet new research finds. Leaving the trees burns energy
and makes sloths easy prey for predators but the benefits of a richer diet appear to be worth the perils.</
</p><p>Full Story:<<a href=http://www. livescience. com/42744-why-sloths-leave-trees-to-poop. html target=blank>Why Sloths Leave the Trees to Poop</a p><p></p
><p>Archaeologists in Israel have uncovered intricate mosaics on the floor of a 1500-year-old Byzantine church including one that bears a Christogram surrounded by birds.</
</p><p>The ruins were discovered during a salvage excavation ahead of a construction project in Aluma a village about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Tel aviv the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA
><p>Polar bears have shifted to a diet of more land-based food in response to climate change
</p><p>The results suggest that polar bears at least in the western Hudson bay area may be slightly more flexible in the face of climate change than previously thought.</
<a href=http://www. livescience. com/42807-polar-bear-diet-shifting. html target=blank>Polar bears Hunt On land as Ice Shrinks</a p><p></p><p>The world
A better approach would be to act as a watchdog against legitimate testable problems which science would then be accountable for.
and working to save the world's threatened elephants Sonja Van Tichelen European Regional Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said in a statement.
Rampant ivory poaching is causing precipitous declines in elephant populations and the Wildlife Conservation Society estimates that 96 elephants are killed each day by poachers in Africa.
The ivory trade was banned in 1989 but the demand for ivory now is higher than ever
Not only are we losing an elephant every 15 minutes but the ivory trade is undercutting law
and order in elephant range states and enriching organized crime syndicates the slaughter of elephants must be stopped Van Tichelen said.
Belgium is set to join several other countries that recently destroyed their stockpiles of ivory. In February France crushed more than 15000 pieces of ivory
Recently officials with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development of Vietnam announced they are considering crushing the country's stores of rhino horn elephant ivory and tiger bone.
Follow Denise Chow on Twitter@denisechow. Follow Live Science@livescience Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Live Science c
whose dedicated work with chimpanzees has helped to promote the field of conservation in countless ways.
Is a Rhino Hunt Really Conservation?(Op-Ed) Indeed Ahimbisibwe is now a leader in her community.
Raccoons are pretty bad they can eat eagle eggs and chicks but they're nothing like great horned owls who will swoop into a nest decapitate the chicks
which also happens to be the molecule that makes chocolate poisonous to dogs. Then there is serotonin a natural neurotransmitter
#Gorgeous Faces Keep Guenon monkeys from Sleeping around With bushy beards and funky blue yellow or brown faces guenon monkeys have some of the most colorful and quirky faces of all primates.
A close study of more than 20 guenon monkey species reveals these sociable animals may rely on their distinctive patterns to prevent interbreeding.
and we think guenons are using their patterns to recognize different species said study lead author William Allen of the University of Hull in the United kingdom. Guenon monkeys live in the forests of Central
Sometimes called cheek pouch monkeys most guenons are the size of cats and dogs and they forage in large groups of two
or more different species. Each species has unique chirps sneezes and whistles but the monkeys learn other species'warning calls like a foreign language providing protection for all groups.
Photos: Adorable Guenon monkey Faces There are as many as 35 guenon monkey species and spending so much time with other friendly monkeys means running the risk of interbreeding.
If guenons mate across species their offspring might be infertile or less healthy similar to when donkeys and horses breed Allen said.
Guenons can interbreed in zoos but rarely do so in the wild. For decades many researchers have thought that guenons'unusual fur
and facial features were meant to send I'm different signals to other monkeys. However while there are many examples of wild creatures signaling with skin patterns
and colors such as the bright red patch on the abdomens of black widow spiders scientists have had little success actually proving these patterns are a means of species-wide communication in the guenons Allen said.
To show that the these monkeys speak to each other with their stylish fur Allen relied on facial recognition software.
He photographed more than 150 guenons both wild monkeys living in Africa and individuals in zoos and preserves.
Then he analyzed how facial patterns differed among monkeys within a guenon species as well as how the patterns differed among species. Allen said he thinks the software algorithm recognizes facial features in a manner similar to how the guenon monkeys do it.
It turns out the facial patterns are remarkably similar within a guenon monkey species. That is all guenon monkeys are alike
if they are the same species . But each different species has developed its own dramatic flair
whether it's a furry white nose a ruffly black mohawk or pursed pink lips.
The new findings were published today (June 26) in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers suspect that the close living style of the guenon species combined with repeated expansion
and contraction of the monkeys'forest habitat drove the development of their incredible facial diversity.
For example isolated groups living in far-flung forests were squeezed together when their habitat shrunk forcing them to live with different species Allen said.
Researchers studying primates in South america have discovered a similar pattern with more-complex facial features among primates who need to quickly recognize members of their own species. Email Becky Oskin
Pacelle's most recent Op-Ed was Yes You Can Get Your Cat to Behave.
This woody best friend to a talking raccoon shifts around on mobile stumps and lifts alien bullies up by their nostrils.
what we are learning is that it often has effects on other species. For instance there is a pig pheromone that stops dogs from barking Mcglone said.
But other scientists argue that a gerbil-like rodent called the Persian jird may have brought the plants into the cave after the Neanderthal there had died.
#Squirrels: Diet, Habits & Other Facts Squirrels are tailed nimble bushy rodents found all over the world.
They belong to the Sciuridae family which includes prairie dogs chipmunks and marmots. There are more than 200 species of squirrels according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information system (ITIS)
and they are categorized into three types: tree squirrels ground squirrels and flying squirrels. These three categories are broken further down into many squirrel types such as Albino Mountain Tree Antelope Spotted Grey American Red Douglas Fox Pygmy Northern Flying Southern
Arizona Gray Idaho Arctic Ground Albert s Franklin Richardson Rock White and Black squirrel. Since there are so many types of squirrels they range greatly in size.
The smallest squirrel is the African pygmy squirrel. It grows to 2. 8 to 5 inches (7 to 13 centimeters) in length
and weighs just 0. 35 ounces (10 grams). The Indian giant squirrel is the world's largest known squirrel.
It grows to 36 inches (1 meter) long and weighs up to 4 pounds (1. 8 kilograms).
Grey squirrels commonly found in North america are medium-size squirrels. They grow to 15 to 20 inches (38.1 to 50.8 cm) in length with their tails adding an extra 6 to 9. 5 inches (15.24 to 24.13 cm) to their length.
They typically weigh about 1 to 1. 5 pounds(.45 to. 68 kg. A group of squirrels are called a scurry or dray.
They are very territorial and will fight to the death to defend their area. Mother squirrels are the most vicious when defending their babies.
Some squirrels are crepuscular. This means that they are only active at dawn and dusk.
Squirrels live on every continent except in Australia and Antarctica according to the BBC. Tree squirrels typically live in wooded areas
since they prefer to live in trees. Ground squirrels live up to their names. They dig burrows a system of tunnels underground to live in.
Some squirrels also hibernate in burrows during the winter to keep warm. Flying squirrels make their homes in tree holes
or nests that are built into the crooks of branches To get from tree to tree
or from a tree to the ground flying squirrels spread the muscle membrane between their legs and body and glide on the air.
They can glide up to 160 feet (48 m) making it look like they can Fly on average squirrels eat about one pound of food per week.
Many people think that squirrels only eat nuts but this isn't true. Squirrels are omnivores
which means they like to eat plants and meat. Squirrels mainly eat fungi seeds nuts and fruits but they will also munch on eggs small insects caterpillars small animals and even young snakes.
To prepare for cold months squirrels will bury their food. In the winter months they have a store of food they can eat
when supplies are scarce. A female carries her young for a gestation period of 33 to 46 weeks
and gives birth to two to eight offspring at one time. Babies are called kits or kittens and are born blind.
They depend on their mothers for around two or three months. After seven to eight weeks the young are weaned.
When the kits leave the nest they don't travel farther than 2 miles from home according to the Massachusetts Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Some species of squirrel have new litters every few months or as little as twice per year. The taxonomy of squirrels according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information system (ITIS) is:
According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List these species are endangered:
San Joaquin antelope ground squirrel woolly flying squirrel Sipora flying squirrel Mentawi flying squirrel Siberut flying squirrel smoky flying squirrel Vincent's bush squirrel Baja california rock squirrel Idaho
ground squirrel Perote ground squirrel fraternal squirrel and Mearns'squirrel. The Namdapha flying squirrel is endangered critically. Squirrels have four teeth in the front of their mouth that constantly grow throughout their lives.
This ensures that their teeth don't wear down to nubs from gnawing on nuts and other objects.
These rodents have remarkable little bodies. For example a squirrel has padded feet that cushions jumps from up to 20 feet (6 meters) long.
Their eyes are high on their head and placed on each side of the head
so they can see a large amount of their surroundings without having to turn their head.
They are also fantastic runners. Squirrels can run 20 mph (32 kph. The gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) isn't just gray.
It comes in a variety of colors such as white gray brown and black. These little squirrels are great at planting trees.
They bury their acorns but forget where they put them. The forgotten acorns become oak trees.
Nina Sen contributed to this article. Other resources l
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