Gorilla Mums Use 'Baby Talk' With Infants:
London, (ANI): Mother gorillas use "baby talk" gestures to communicating with their infants, according to scientists. The research team led by Eva Maria Luef from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, studied captive western lowland gorillas, watching and filming the animals as they interacted. Since the animals have a wide repertoire of communication gestures, the team focused on facial expressions and hand signals used in play. Luef and her colleague Katja Liebal filmed 120 hours of footage of the gorillas at Leipzig Zoo and Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks in the UK. Analysis of this footage revealed that, when they played with infants, adult females used more tactile gestures than they used with other adults; they would "touch, stroke and lightly slap" the youngsters. "The infants also received more repetition," the BBC quoted Dr Luef as saying. She described one particularly motherly gesture, which the researchers call "hand-on". "This is where mothers put the flat hand of their hand on top of the [infant's] head," Dr Luef explained. "It means 'stop it'," she said. The researchers revealed that best of the non-human communicators are the chimpanzees. In the wild, the animals use up to 66 distinct gestures, each with a different meaning. Gorillas often use this gesture with one another, which apparently means that an animal has "had enough". But in case of an infant, the female would repeat the action several times. The researchers explain this motherly communication as "non-vocal motherese". They say that it helps infants to build the repertoire of signals they would later use as adults, in order to communicate with the rest of the gorilla group. "It also shows that older animals possess a certain awareness of the infants' immature communication skills," Dr Luef said. Prof Richard Byrne from the University of St Andrews said that he doubted that the research shed any light on the evolution of human "baby talk". The researcher explained the importance of the way in which adults talk to babies, describing it as a "natural but very smart way of conveying the details of how we construct complex grammar". But he added that, since gorillas do not acquire language, they have "no need of such an adaptation". "So I suspect this is not the same at all," he said. "[But] it is interesting that the adults gesture in a different way to babies than among each other. "This suggest that adults understand that communicating to infants is going to be tricky, and plan their gesturing accordingly," he added. The findings were published in the American journal of Primatology. (ANI) Image: flickr.com, Source: News Track India. The King Kobra : The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the
world's longest venomous snake, with a length up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft). This species is widespread throughout Southeast Asia and parts of India, and is found mostly in forested areas. The king cobra can be fierce and agile, and can deliver a large quantity of highly potentvenom in a single bite. It is one of the most dangerous and feared Asiatic snakes. The King Cobra is a large and powerful snake, averaging 3.6–4 m (12–13 feet) in length and typically weighing about 6 kg (13.2 lb). A particularly large specimen was kept captive at the London Zoo, and grew to 5.7 m (18.8 ft) before being
 euthanized upon the outbreak of World War II. Despite their large size, king cobras are fast and agile. It seems unfairly menacing that a snake that can literally "stand up" and look a full-grown person in the eye would also be among the most venomous on the planet, but that describes the famous king cobra. King cobras can reach 18 feet (5.5 meters) in length, making them the longest of all venomous snakes. When confronted, they can raise up to one-third of their bodies straight off the ground and still move forward to attack. They will also flare out their iconic hoods and emit a bone-chilling hiss that sounds almost like a growling dog. Their venom is not the most potent among venomous snakes, but the amount of neurotoxin they can deliver in a single bite—up  
the Ultimatum Game: Chimpanzees have a sense of fairness that was previously seen as uniquely human, finds a study by Emory's Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Georgia State University. The researchers played the Ultimate Game with the chimpanzees to determine how sensitive the animals are to the reward distribution between two individuals if both need to agree on the outcome. The findings, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggest a long evolutionary history of the human aversion to inequity, as well as a shared preference for fair outcomes by the common ancestor of humans and apes. “We used the Ultimatum Game because it is the gold standard to determine the human sense of fairness," says lead author Darby Proctor, a post-doctoral fellow at Yerkes. "In the game, one individual needs to propose a reward division to another individual and then have that individual accept the proposition before both can obtain the rewards. Humans typically offer generous portions, such as 50 percent of the reward, to their partners, and that’s exactly what we recorded in our study with chimpanzees.” "Until our study," adds co-author Frans de Waal, "the behavioral economics community assumed the Ultimatum Game could not be played with animals, or that animals would choose only the most selfish option while playing. We've concluded that chimpanzees not only get very close to the human sense of fairness, but the animals may actually have exactly the same preferences as our own species." For purposes of direct comparison, the study was also conducted separately with human children. You can read more about the study here.Chimpanzees have a sense of fairness that was previously seen as uniquely human, finds a study by Emory's Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Georgia State University. The researchers played the Ultimate Game with the chimpanzees to determine how sensitive the animals are to the reward distribution between two individuals if both need to agree on the outcome. XThe findings, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggest a long evolutionary history of the human aversion to inequity, as well as a shared preference for fair outcomes by the common ancestor of humans and apes. “We used the Ultimatum Game because it is the gold standard to determine the human sense of fairness," says lead author Darby Proctor, a post-doctoral fellow at Yerkes. "In the game, one individual needs to propose a reward division to another individual and then have that individual accept the proposition before both can obtain the rewards. Humans typically offer generous portions, such as 50 percent of the reward, to their partners, and that’s exactly what we recorded in our study with chimpanzees.” "Until our study," adds co-author Frans de Waal, "the behavioral economics community assumed the Ultimatum Game could not be played with animals, or that animals would choose only the most selfish option while playing. We've concluded that chimpanzees not only get very close to the human sense of fairness, but the animals may actually have exactly the same preferences as our own species." For purposes of direct comparison, the study was also conducted separately with human children.You can read more about the study here. Image: flickr.com, Source: eScienceCommons, Golden Whistler Australia Birds: The Norfolk Island subspecies of Golden Whistler prefers the
shrubby understorey of rainforest, palm forest and indigenous pine forest (Smithers and Disney, 1969), but also uses plantations of exotic species. It has been recorded in, or at the edges of, pockets of suitable habitat throughout the island, but does not occur near gardens (Schodde et al., 1983). There are about 70 other subspecies in other parts of Australia and on islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean. P. p. contempta (Lord Howe I.) is Vulnerable. All other Australian subspecies (Schodde and Mason, 1999) are Least Concern, including P. p. queenslandica (wet tropics), P. p. pectoralis (central Queensland to northern New South Wales), P. p. youngi (south-eastern mainland Australia), P. p. glaucura (Tasmania) and P. p. fuliginosa (mallee ,
regions). Largely confined to the Norfolk Island National Park and nearby forested areas. A steady decline recorded through 1960s and 1970s, but subspecies still present over nearly half the island in 1978 (Schodde et al., 1983). By 1990, virtually confined to Norfolk Island National Park (Bell, 1990) and the population reduced to 535 pairs (Robinson, 1988). Recent estimates suggest the population has now stabilised (Robinson, 1997). Much suitable habitat has beencleared or fragmented, and the subspecies appears to be confined to the largest tract of remaining forest. The reason
for the recent population decline, and the principal continuing threat is probably predation by Black Rats Rattus rattus (introduced in the mid 1940s; Robinson, 1988). Cats may also take some birds (Bell, 1990). The Golden Whistler lives in forests throughout Lord Howe I., and nests high in the trees away from most predators. Golden Whistlers have survived the introduction of cats, rats, pigs and goats to Lord Howe I. Therestricted area of occupancy, however, makes the subspecies susceptible to catastrophe, such as the introduction of another predator. Source: Animal-Discovery. The Lion: Lion is a carnivore (meat eater) and a hunter. Lions are mostly
found in Africa and a small reserve in India. The lion is the second largest member of the cat family that lives in Africa. It hunts many animals and people they can live in cold regions, a very hot environment or in dense forests. In the past there were lions in the wild in Europe. Today, many lions live in zoos around the world. In the past they lived in northern India, Pakistan, and Arabia. Lions are also used as symbols of courage. They appear in heraldry often than any other animal. They are considered
 the king of animals and the icon of courage and royalty. The lion is the highest of all living cats, bigger than the tiger. Behind only the tiger, the lion is the second largest living felid in height and weight. Its skull is very similar to that of the tiger, although the frontal region is usually depressed and flat, with a shorter post-orbital region. The largest skull has broader nasal openings than the tiger. Because of the amount of variation in the skull, two types, generally only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator species. Lion color varies from light buff to yellowish, reddish or dark ochraceous brown. The abdomen are generally lighter and the tail tuft is black. Lion cubs are born with brown rosettes (spots) on their body, like that of a  leopard. Although these fade as lions reach adulthood, faint spots often can still be seen on the legs and abdomen, particularly on lionesses. Lions spend much of their time resting and are inactive for approximately 20 hours per day. Although lions can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socializing, grooming and defecating. Intermittent bursts of activity through the night to follow until dawn, when hunting usually takes place. They typically spend two hours a day walking and 50 minutes eating. Lions are the most socially inclined of wild felids still free solitary character. The lion is a predatory carnivores who manifest two types of social organization. Some are residents, living in groups, called pride. Male are 20 to  35% larger than the females and 50% heavier. The male's most important role is the pride of territory and to protect women against other males. Size is an advantage but it increases the male need for food. Only males grow manes. It makes him look bigger without increasing its weight or need for food. It also protects him from bites and scratches he should go to another man to fight. Each lion, so called, "whisker spots". The pattern is formed by the top row of whiskers differs in each lion and remains the  same throughout its lifetime. Field researchers often use this unique pattern to identify specific animals. Lions are powerful animals who usually hunt in coordinated groups and stalk their chosen prey. They are not particularly known for their endurance. The lioness is one who is hunting the pride, for the lioness is more aggressive. The male lion usually stays and looks at the young in anticipation of the lionesses to return from hunting. Typically, several female lions work together and encircle the herd from different angles. Once they have with a herd, they usually target the closest prey. The  attack is short and powerful, they try to catch the victim with a fast rush and final leap. The prey consists mainly of large mammals, with a preference for wildebeest, impalas, zebras, buffalo and warthogs in Africa and nilgai, wild boar, deer and several species in India. When resting, lion socialization occurs through a number of behaviors, and the animal expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful tactile gestures are head rubbing and social licking, which were compared with care in primates. Lions have a range of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures. Lions tend to bellow in a very characteristic manner, starting with a  couple of deep, longitudinal roar consisting of course in a series of roar shorter. They often at night. Lions have the loudest roar of a big cat. Most lions now live in eastern and southern Africa, and their numbers are rapidly, with an estimated 30-50% decline in the past two decades. Lions are part of a group of exotic animals that are the core of the zoo exhibits since the late eighteenth century, the members of this group are always large vertebrates and include elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, large primates, and other big cats; zoos sought to gather as much these species. The lion is an icon for humanity for thousands of years in cultures in Europe, Asia and Africa. Despite incidents of attacks on humans, lions have enjoyed a positive image in the culture as strong but noble. A common conception is their representation as "king of the jungle" or "king of beasts", hence the lion is a popular symbol of royalty and stateliness, but also a symbol of courage. Copyright By: IMAGENES, Source: Article, Now, a device to communicate with 
dolphins: Scientists have developed a new dolphin speaker device which they say could help one talk with these remarkably intelligent mammals. Dolphins live in a world of sound far beyond our own. They can distinguish very small differences in the pitches of sound waves and can hear, and generate low-frequency sounds below 20 khz, as well as high-frequency sounds of over 150 khz, which is well beyond the range of human hearing. In addition, they produce special sounds to communicate with others and to scan their surroundings and prey in the dark sea (called echolocation). Acoustic research of dolphins to date has mostly focused on recording their sounds and measuring their hearing skills. Few audio playback experiments have been attempted, since it's difficult to find speakers that can project from a wide range of low to high frequencies like dolphins do. Now, scientists in Japan have devised a prototype dolphin speaker that can project the full range of all of the sounds the mammals make -- from those used in communication to echolocation clicks. To develop the device, the researchers used piezoelectric components that convert electricity into physical movement and vice versa. These components were capable of broadcasting both high-frequency and low-frequency sounds. They precisely tailored the sizes of these components and the acrylic disk to create an extremely broad range of sounds. “I am happy if we can communicate with dolphins using the dolphin speaker,” lead researcher Yuka Mishima of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology told LiveScience. The dolphin speaker, which was developed just a few weeks ago, has not been tested yet. Mishima and colleagues plan to work with such scientists using the new speaker. The idea is to broadcast specific series of vocalisations and then record the responses; over time, this back and forth could someday both reveal what dolphins are 'saying' and allow possible human-dolphin communication, the researchers detailed at Acoustical Society of America meeting in Hong Kong. “We know very little about how dolphins classify their own sounds -- we need more perceptual studies to find out, and this equipment may help us do that,” said Heidi Harley of New College of Florida in Sarasota who wasn't involved in the new research. As to whether or not this invention could one day result in a human-dolphin translator device, “I think we have a lot to learn about dolphin vocalisations -- their productions are complex, Harley said. “There is still a lot of basic perceptual and acoustic analysis that needs to be done before we can make strong claims about how dolphins are using their vocalisations,” he added., Image: flickr.com, Source: Indian Express, Kangaroo Papua And Australian Mammalias: Kangaroo are the largest mammal
marsupials and they belong to the Marcropodidae family. Marsupials are animals that carry their young up to a certain age in a pouch. Examples of marsupials besides kangaroos are koalas, wombats, and opossums. Some marsupials have their pouch on their back; whereas kangaroos have their pouches in the front. The name of the family to which they belong comes from macropods, which means large or big foot. Kangaroos are to be found mainly in Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea.There are around 63 species of kangaroos and they vary in size as well as in the type of habitat in which they live. Depending on the specie, kangaroos can live in forests, woodlands, grasslands, plains, rocky hills, and even deserts. When people talk about kangaroos, they are usually referring to one of four types. There is the Red Kangaroo, which is the largest of the species and usually the male kangaroo could weigh up to 200 pounds
and his height can reach over 7 feet. The other three species are the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, the Western Grey Kangaroo, and the Antilopine Kangaroo. There are other much small species that live in tress and can hop from branch to branch. The ones that are of smaller size are as small as a rabbit. Some examplesof smaller kangaroos are tree and rat kangaroos. Kangaroos are herbivores and each species eats based onthe habitat in which they live. Some eat shrubs, others graze, and others eat roots and fungi. Kangaroos have often been described as strange animals as they have heads like deer but without the antlers, can stand up straight like humans, and are able to hop like frogs. Kangaroos move only but hopping and they are the only animal of that size that travel and move in such a way. They, like emus, are unable to move backwards or go in reverse. Kangaroos have very strong and powerful hind legs, which they use to hop or defend themselves by kicking their enemies and predators. They also have long tails, which they use for balance when they are hopping. Kangaroos can hop at a speed
of 40 miles per hour. They also have very good hearing and can move their ears all around to make sure that they are able to hear sounds from all directions. Kangaroo are social animals that travel in groups called ‘mobs’ that may range from 3 kangaroos up to 100. The male kangaroo is called a buck, boomer, or an old man. The female kangaroo is called a doe or a flyer. A baby kangaroo is called a joey. Female kangaroo give birth to one baby at a time. The gestation time, which means the time that a female kangaroo is pregnant is around 30 days. Newborns usually weigh around 0.03 ounces, and as soon as they are born crawl up into the mother’s pouch in which they stay for around 9 months or longer. A female kangaroo can have up to three children at a time. They can have one that just got out of the pouch, one that is in the pouch, and one that is in the womb. However, since female kangaroos do not carry their babies for very long in the womb, female kangaroos have the ability to pause the pregnancy to make sure that the newborn kangaroo does not come out before the one in the pouch has grown and developed. In the female pouch, there are 4 teats. Each teat provides different milk for the different stage of growth. Source: Animal-Discovery Male frogs woo females with a song and a sac beneath their throats: London: (ANI): Scientists at the University of Texas have found strong
 evidence that male frogs woo females with a song and a vocal sac beneath their throats. A robot, which resembles a real tungara frog, made this finding possible.The machine has a speaker that broadcasts a realistic mating call, and a shiny painted balloon that inflates and vibrates beneath its throat. The researchers used the robo-frog to study different components of communication between the frogs, found the vocal sac to be quite important for wooing females, even though they mate in the dark. According to them, males sing to attract females at night, and their throats inflate. "The sacs evolved for males to shuttle air back and forth, so they don't have to suck in air each time they sing," New Scientist magazine quoted Michael Ryan of the University of Texas in Austin as saying. During the study, the robo-frog was attached to an air pump that was driven by the wave on an oscilloscope, to make its fake vocal sac bulge in and out rhythmically. The researchers had synthesised a male mating call, and fed it into the oscilloscope to make the fake frog's vocal sac to vibrate realistically. Overall, 20 female frogs were given a choice between an inflating robo-frog producing mating calls and a speaker on its own. The researchers observed that 16 of the 20 female frogs seemed more attracted to the combination of speaker and frog. When the researchers switched off the robot's oscilloscope, the females did not find it any more attractive than the speaker. Based on their observations, the researchers came to the conclusion that a vibrant vocal sac is crucial to finding a mate. The researchers also tried vibrating the vocal sac out of sync with the songs, and observed that it actually deterred the females. "We are particularly excited about the implications of this result," said Ryan Taylor, another expert to lead the study. The researchers believe that their findings show something similar to the "McGurk effect", which shows that the shapes made by a person's lips are relevant to the sound they are perceived to produce. A research article describing the study has been published in the journal Animal Behaviour. (ANI), Image Link Photobucket, Source: News Track India, Bald Eagle: U.S. icon is also a conservation success story: Nations around the globe have their  flags that to help give them an identity, a visual rallying point as it were. They can also have their iconic symbols that can range from buildings to geological formations to plants and animals. For the United States, it is the bald eagle - a symbol of magnificence and strength. And as the American expansion rolled across the great nation, the bald eagle, whether deliberately or by accident, was slowly pressured and pushed from one habitat to another until this iconic symbol of one of the most powerful and successful nations on earth was faced with extinction. Irony abounds. Chosen as the national bird in 1782 (to the disappointment of statesman Benjamin Franklin who had proposed the turkey), the bald eagle's numbers slowly declined until there were only 417 nesting pairs of eagles in the lower 48 states when the Endangered Species Act was initiated in 1963 (the bald eagle was formally declared endangered under the Act in 1967). The nation's founding fathers did not have to travel far within the new fledgling states to see a bald eagle, but by the 20th century the birds were typically found only in rugged, remote mountainous areas - further west and north where human populations were scarce as was large scale agriculture. Along with large commercial agriculture came the need to control pests and with that came the use of pesticides. The broad use of DDT contributed to the decline of the bald eagle - as well as many other birds of prey - as the pesticide slowly worked its way up the 
food chain. When ingested by bald eagles, it produced weakened eggs and the bird's survival rate plummeted. Midwest states, with large population centers and agriculture, were essentially devoid of bald eagles. The state of Iowa, as an example, did not have a single nest from the early 1900s until the late 70s when one nest was finally sighted. But now it appears that is all changing. Iowa's number of nesting pairs numbered around 9,000 in 2006 and they continue to grow. With the use of DDT discontinued, along with the adoption of other regulatory measures between the United States and Canada, the overall population of bald eagles has continued to rise and it was officially de-listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1997. Numbers now range over 115,000 in the United States and Canada. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources carefully monitors the number of nests and nesting pairs, utilizing a program that involves both government officials and volunteers to monitor the nests. The birds need to be observed but not disturbed in any way, so involved conservation groups and the department keep the exact location of many of the nests under wraps. The return of bald eagles to states like Iowa is an example of the overall success nationwide in bringing back the populations of bald eagles back to respectable levels. It is the iconic symbol of a nation but, more importantly, it is an important member of nature's balanced community and a success story that bears repeating for many animal and plant species from coast to coast. Source: The Republic, Source: Wikipedia, Source: RTSea, Octopus 'hints at West Antarctic Ice Sheet
collapse': Washington: The West Antarctic Ice Sheet -- one of the world's major ice sheets, could collapse if global warming continues, scientists have warned after analysing the genetic evidence from an Antarctic octopus. An international team, led by Dr Jan Strugnell from La Trobe University, has analysed genes of the Turquet's octopus, which lives in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, the 'Molecular Ecology' journal reported. Dr Strugnell said: "We're able to take advamontage of much larger sample sizes than had been collected from Antarctica before. This presented us with a unique opportunity." She said that adult Turquet's octopuses don't travel very much. They only move to escape from predators. However, the scientists found that the genes from octopuses from the Weddell and Ross Seas, 10,000 kilometres apart and on opposite sides of Antarctica, are startlingly similar. "Those two seas are completely separate, so we expected the genetics of these octopuses to be quite different," said Dr Strugnell.However, because they are so similar, the scientists think this would only have happened if there had been a previous collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet which separates those two bodies of water. This collapse may have happened possibly as recently as 200,000 years ago, which suggests that scientists' concerns about the state of today's ice sheet could well be justified, according to British website 'Planet Earth'.Dr Strugnell said when the climate was much warmer, sea levels would have been substantially higher, because less water would have been locked up as ice. In this situation, the Ross and Weddell Seas could have been connected."Ocean currents both facilitate and hinder the flow of genes. But the Antarctic Circumpolar Current almost certainly wouldn't have facilitated so much dispersal by octopuses that two populations would have almost identical genetics if the ice sheet had been in place," she added. Image: flickr.com, Source: Article, Emperor penguins counted from space: Nearly twice as many emperor penguins inhabit Antarctica
 as was thought. UK, US and Australian scientists used satellite technology to trace and count the iconic birds, finding them to number almost 600,000. Their census technique relies in the first instance on locating individual colonies, which is done by looking for big brown patches of guano on the white ice. High resolution imagery is then used to work out the number of birds present. It is expected that the satellite mapping approach will provide the means to monitor the long- term health of the emperor population. Climate modelling has suggested their numbers could fall in the decades ahead if warming around Antarctica erodes the sea ice on which the animals nest and launch their forays for seafood. "If we want to understand whether emperor penguins are endangered by climate change, we have to know first how many birds there are currently and have a methodology to monitor them year on year," said Peter Fretwell from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). "This study gives us that baseline population, which is quite surprising because it's twice as many as we thought, but 
it also gives us the ability to follow their progress to see if that population is changing over time," he said. Their survey identified 44 key penguin colonies on the White Continent, including seven that had not previously been recognised. Although finding a great splurge of penguin poo on the ice is a fairly straightforward - if laborious - process, counting individual birds in a group huddle is not, even in the highest resolution satellite pictures. This means the team therefore had to calibrate their analysis of the colonies by using ground counts and aerial photography at some select sites. Fretwell and colleagues totted 595,000 penguins, which is almost double the previous estimates of 270,000-350,000 emperors. The count is thought to be the first comprehensive census of a species taken from space. Michelle LaRue from the University of Minnesota said the monitoring method provided "an enormous step forward in Antarctic ecology". "We can conduct research safely and efficiently with little environmental impact," she explained. The emperor breeds in the coldest environment of any bird species on Earth. The implications for this study are far-reaching. We now have a cost-effective way to apply our methods to other poorly understood species in the Antarctic. The extent of sea ice in the Antarctic has
been relatively stable in recent years. Nonetheless, computer modelling suggests a warming of the climate around Antarctica could result in the loss of more northern ice floes later this century. If that happens, it might present problems for some emperor colonies if the seasonal ice starts to break up before fledglings have had a chance to acquire their full adult, waterproof plumage. And given that the krill that penguins feed on are also dependent on the ice for their own existence - some colonies affected by eroded floes could face a double-whammy of high fledgling mortality and restricted food resources. But this can all now be tested by the methodology outlined. "The emperor penguin has evolved into a very narrow ecological niche; it's an animal that breeds in the coldest environment in the world," explained Peter Fretwell. "It currently has an advantage in that environment because there are no predators and no competition for its food. If Antarctica warms so that predators and competitors can move in, then their ecological niche no longer exists; and that spells bad news for the emperor penguin." Image Link Photobucket, Source: Bisarbeat, Monster snake captured: giant anaconda was successfully captured by a group of biologists.
18ft anaconda weighs 100kg with a 27in girth
Monster the snake was killed to stop the animals moving further north. Snake killed after eating whole deer. THIS enormous 18ft anaconda was successfully captured by a team of daring biologists - during a tropical rainforest exploration. Niall McCann, a
 29-year-old biologist from Cardiff, pounced on the slithering jungle giant when he happened across it on a bank of the Rewa River in Guyana. The monster reptile weighed around 100kg and had a 27in girth. Niall is an avid adventurer and has rowed the Atlantic and trekked across Greenland’s Polar Ice Cap. He has a passion for handling creatures that would petrify most people and had always dreamed of catching one of these massive snakes. He said: “I'd always dreamed of seeing an anaconda and I knew that our work in Gcondauyana would give us a real possibility of seeing one.“I was trying to hold its head to the ground and it kept trying to turn its head to bite me - it was a wrestle. Its strength was amazing and when a ripple went through its body it shook all of us.” Anacondas are the heaviest snakes in the world and can weigh up to a whopping 250kg. They squeeze their prey to death before swallowing them whole, and have been known to attack jaguars and humans. Source: Bisarbeat, Are Sharks Social?: Australian researcher studies social interaction of Port Jackson sharks: great white shark seems to keep its A distance from its fellow white sharks. Even when I have had the opportunity to have as many as five white sharks circling around me, they still keep a respectable distance from each other and rarely came close to each other. Then on the other hand, you have hammerhead sharks that can be seen swimming in large schools. Lemon sharks or various types of reef sharks congregating in the tens and sometimes hundreds. And I have seen seasonal congregations of up to 4-5 foot leopard sharks and guitarfish in Southern California, presumably part of a breeding behavior. The social interactions of sharks is not well understood. Each species has its own type of behavior and while the general public thinks of sharks as somewhat solitary (which they often can be), in reality it is more likely a very complex relationship that revolves around feeding, breeding, and a predator's sense of territoriality (ie: survival). In Australia, one researcher is specifically focusing his efforts on understanding the social behavior of sharks. Working in conjunction with the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, Nathan Bass intends to study the patterns of interaction between Port Jackson sharks, a smaller, predominantly bottom-feeding species similar to the horn shark found along the Pacific coast of the U.S. “Port Jackson sharks have some really interesting interactions,” says Bass. “These types of sharks can be solitary, but they often occur in large groups around breeding time. They are apparently social while resting and seem to favour their resting sites, frequently with more than 30 individual sharks recorded together in one area alone.” Bass will be attaching acoustic transmitters, known as "tags," to several sharks to track their movements. Tags have long been used in shark research often to study the animal's regional hunting movements or longer migratory journeys. By attaching tags to a large number of Port Jackson sharks, Bass hopes to be able to correlate their movements and possible interactions with seasonal events such as known breeding periods to determine possible social behavioral patterns. “What we’d like to find out is whether Port Jackson sharks are frequently congregating with the same individuals for social reasons, and if they are, whether they prefer to socialise with individuals of the same sex and size or rather with individuals they’re related to,” said Bass.understanding of the social behavior An of one species of shark does not necessarily open the floodgates of enlightenment regarding sharks as a whole. But it is a solid first step and provides a sort of baseline with a set of behavioral assumptions that can be tested with other species. Insight into the social behavior patterns of sharks, no matter how social or anti-social these animals prove to be, will provide us with a better understanding as to their role in the maintenance of a healthy marine ecosystem and what the implications are with the loss of one or more of these important predators within a specific area. Source: RTSea Blog, Honey ice-creams keep pandas cool in French heatwave: TWO Chinese pandas in a  French zoo are chilling out in the current summer heatwave with the help of honey and apple ice creams. With temperatures set to touch 40 degrees Celsius in central France this weekend, Yuan Zi and Huan Huan have been enjoying the home-made treats as a supplement to their normal bamboo-based diet. "Since Thursday we've been giving them ice cream that we make ourselves three times a day," said Rodolphe Delord, the director of Beauval Zoo. "We also use cooling sprays and if it gets really hot they can go into their compound where the air conditioning is set at 20 degrees." The two pandas have increased visitor numbers at the zoo by 50 per cent since their arrival from China in mid-February. But the star attractions are not getting special treatment: all the other bears in the zoo are also enjoying daily ice creams. Source: Sam Daily Times, China to artificially breed rare golden monkeys: WUHAN,.jpg)
(Xinhua) -- China is expected to set up the country's first artificial breeding base for the endangered golden monkeys within the year. The base will be set up in the Shennongjia Nature Reserve in central China's Hubei Province, which is home to about 1,200 golden monkeys, according to the reserve's management bureau's research institute. The base will help increase the population of the endangered golden monkeys in Shennongjia by conquering key technical problems, said Yang Jingyuan, director with the institute. Regarded as China's "state treasure," just like giant pandas, golden monkeys are classified as under top level protection. In natural conditions, the birth rate of Shennongjia golden monkeys is about 4 percent, with the survival rate of monkey cubs at only 6 percent. "It is still an unsolved scientific question why the golden monkeys in Shennongjia become pregnant between August and October. And the female monkeys can only deliver one cub every two years," Yang said. He said that, researchers will focus on increasing the monkey's pregnant probability by human assistance techniques, artificial fertilization and nutritional regulation. The Shennongjia golden monkeys, who live in thick forests at altitudes of between 1,680 to 3,000 meters, are on the verge of extinction. They were first spotted in Shennongjia in the 1960s. The first census of the golden monkeys in the 1980s revealed that only 501 of the primates lived in the area. The golden monkeys in Shennongjia belong to the species of Rhinopithecus roxellanae, or Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, which is one of the five golden monkey species in the world. Located in the northwestern mountains in Hubei, the Shennongjia reserve boasts rich natural forest resources and animal species. Source: Sam Daily Times, Male sheep and female deer are dear mates: Beijing, Staff at a wildlife park in
southwest China have turned to the country's half a billion web users for advice after a male sheep and a female deer began mating -- and soon became inseparable. A posting on the park's microblog posed the question: "What do you do when a ram falls in love with a deer?" It asked readers whether they agreed it would be "unethical" to let the unusual pairing continue. "They do not want to be separated but it is unethical to let them go on,"said the posting, addressed to users of China's hugely popular weibos -- microblogging services similar to Twitter that have taken the country by storm. The romantic liaison hit headlines this week after a local television station in the southwestern province of Yunnan picked up on the story, reporting that attempts to separate the pair had been unsuccessful. The ram -- whose Chinese name Changmao means Long Hair -- had "completely integrated himself into deer society" after being placed in a pen with the animals, the Global Times daily reported. Source: Siasat, Blue Naped Parrot: The blue naped parrot,
 Tanygnathus lucionensis is one of the many species of parrots that live in the Philippines’ forests. It has a unique blue nape, red beak, green feather, and black and gold wings. This particular species resides in the island of Luzon, in the northern part  of the country. The blue-naped parrot is slowly becoming an endangered species, its demise a consequence of habitat loss and illegal pet trade. saw this blue-naped parrot while I was on vacation in the Philippines this past May. It was at the entranceof a church in Tagaytay City, a tourist area atop the mountains south of Manila, overlooking the Taal volcano. Its presence at the church provides locals and tourist  alike with entertainment. Its greets the church’s visitors upon their entry, saying “Kumain na kayo? Kumain na kayo?” (Did you eat yet? Did you eat yet?) and bids farewell, “Paalam. Paalam.” (Goodbye. Goodbye.). The bluenaped parrot certainly addedsome spice in my visit to the Philippines and Tagaytay City. Source: Animaldiscovery, The Last Man-eater: Killer Tigers of India: The only place on earth where Man is not at the top of the food chain. The Last Maneater 
is a spectacular documentary about the last tigers in the world to hunt, kill, and eat humans. They live in the Sunderbans, gnarled fingers of thick impenetrable mangrove forest swamps in eastern India. It's a place where the daily quest for a net full of fish, or even an armload of firewood understand... that in the Sunderbans, humans are not the most dominant animal. That if a tiger decides to kill... it can... and will. This is a place where tigers don't live in fear of people. Here... tigers reign supreme. Image Source: Screen Shot On Link Video. Bluebirds egg on spring: A glorious, blue
egg appeared on this first day of spring in the bluebird nest on the quadrangle of Emory's Oxford Campus. The proud parents are busily flitting about amid the oaks andornamental pear trees. "They just finished building their nest," says Oxford biologist Eloise Carter, who installed a wooden bluebird box just outside of her office. Last year, two clutches of birds were raised in the little box. If you want to attract bluebirds to your yard, Carter recommends buying a special birdhouse for them, with the right sized opening. "It's best to put the house up in February, because then the bluebirds have time to shop around for a spot, but you probably still have time to attract some this season," she says. Add water and a feeding station. "They especially love mealworms," Carter says. "The birds will see, 'What a great neighborhood, it's got food and it's safe,' and they'll move in." Source: eScienceCommons, White Killer Whale Spotted—Only One in the World? The headline-grabbing all-white
adult killer whale spotted off Russia this month, may well be one of a kind. But the sighting may not be the first time he's been caught on camera. Scientists were studying acoustic and social interactions among whales and dolphins off the North Pacific's Commander Islands when the team noticed a six-foot-tall (nearly two-meter-tall) white dorsal fin jutting above the waves."The reaction from the team for the encounter, which happened on an ordinary day for spotting and photographing the whales, was one of surprise and elation," researcher Erich Hoyt said. Though he wasn't aboard the boat, Hoyt co-directs the Far East Russia Orca Project (FEROP), which had organized the expedition.Though Iceberg's moniker is new, he may be the same killer whale scientists spotted in 2000 and 2008 in Alaska's Aleutian Islands (map), Holly Fearnbach, a research biologist at the University of Aberdeen in the UK said. For one thing, Iceberg and the previously seen whales look very similar, Fearnbach said. Furthermore, each of the three white whale sightings were among about a dozen family members, all bearing the typical black-and-white pattern, Fearnbach said. And it wouldn't be odd for Iceberg to have made the Russia-to-Alaska crossing. Fish-eating North Pacific killer whales have been observed migrating more than 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers). Their mammal-eating cousins cover smaller ranges. The whale seen in 2000 and 2008 was darker and more mottled than Iceberg, FEROP's Hoyt noted, though the coloring can change seasonally due to algae on the skin, "which would tend to make a white animal look darker." Overall, Aberdeen's Fearnbach said, "it is highly possible they are the same whales—but we cannot be certain until a match is confirmed" by closely analyzing photographs of the three sightings. White Whale a Mystery The 22-foot-long (7-meter-long) Iceberg is probably not a true albino, since he has color on his saddle—the area behind his dorsal fin—FEROP's Hoyt said. "Iceberg may or may not be an albino. We really don't know," said Hoyt, also a senior research fellow at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. One way to find out would be to see if Iceberg's eyes are pink and unpigmented—a sure sign of albinism, Hoyt said. Scientists have observed other killer whales with a condition called Chediak-Higashi syndrome, a rare disease of the immune and nervous system that affects coloration, Fearnbach said. But most animals affected with Chediak-Higashi don't survive to adulthood, meaning it's unlikely Iceberg—a mature male of at least 16 years—has the disease. The male seen in 2000 and 2008, if different from Iceberg, also didn't have the disease. "I do not know a lot about other genetic conditions that may cause such light pigmentation, but hopefully he will be seen again and we can collect a genetic sample," Fearnbach said. Iceberg Healthy, Handsome Whatever his condition, "we can see that he is a healthy-looking male, a handsome, robust member of his fish-eating pod, so we can presume that his coloration doesn't affect him in a negative way," FEROP's Hoyt said. In general, "finding a beautiful animal like Iceberg shows us that there are still great surprises to be found in the least visited parts of the ocean," Hoyt added. "I would hope that Iceberg would help motivate people not only to save whales but to save their habitat, their homes in the sea." Image: flickr.com, Source: Bisarbeat, Car-sized Turtle Found in Colombian Coal Mine: Remains of an enormous turtle, which was the size of a
Smart Car, have been unearthed in a Colombian coal mine. The shell alone of the 60-million-year-old turtle, Carbonemys cofrinii, aka "coal turtle," is large enough to be a small swimming pool. Its skull is roughly the size of a regulation NFL football. The coal mine where it was found is part of northern Colombia's Cerrejon formation. "We had recovered smaller turtle specimens from the site," Edwin Cadena, a North Carolina State doctoral student who discovered the turtle, said in a press release. "But after spending about four days working on uncovering the shell, I realized that this particular turtle was the biggest anyone had found in this area for this time period & it gave us the first evidence of giant-ism in freshwater turtles. Source: Article
Animals Smiles and emotions
There's nothing cuter than when an animal seems to smile or laugh. Following animals are absolutely adorable and guaranteed to make you smile along with their smile!
These orangutans look like they might fall out of the tree if they laugh any harder
Another owl swaps twittering for tittering
The joke was so funny this elephant had to sit down
This mirthful moggy looks as if he's about to burst with laughter
Someone must have told him the one about the horse who walks into a pub and the barman asks 'Why the long face?' Source: Bisarbeat, What is your dog thinking? Brain scans unleash canine secrets: By Carol Clark: When your dog gazes up at you adoringly, what does it
A best friend? A pack leader? A can opener? Many dog lovers make all kinds of inferences about how their pets feel about them, but no one has captured images of actual canine thought processes – until now. Emory University researchers have developed a new methodology to scan the brains of alert dogs and explore the minds of the oldest domesticated species. The technique uses harmless functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), the same tool that is unlocking secrets of the human brain.The Public Library of Science (PLoS ONE) is publishing on May 11 the results of their first experiment, showing how the brains of dogs reacted to hand signals given by their owners. “It was amazing to see the first brain images of a fully awake, unrestrained dog,” says Gregory Berns, director of the Emory Center for Neuropolicy and lead researcher of the dog project. “As far as we know, no one has been able to do this previously. We hope this opens up a whole new door for understanding canine ”cognition and inter-species communication. We want to understand the dog-human relationship, from the dog’s perspective.Key members of the research team include Andrew Brooks, a graduate student at the Center for Neuropolicy, and Mark Spivak, a professional dog trainer and owner of Comprehensive Pet Therapy in Atlanta. Two dogs are involved in the first phase of the project. Callie is a two-year-old Feist, or southern squirrel-hunting dog. Berns adopted her at nine months from a shelter. McKenzie is a three-year-old Border Collie, who was already well-trained in agility competition by her owner, Melissa Cate. Both dogs were trained over several months to walk into an fMRI scanner and hold completely still while researchers measured their neural activity. The researchers aim to decode the mental processes of dogs by recording which areas of their brains are activated by various stimuli. Ultimately, they hope to get at questions like: Do dogs have empathy? Do they know when their owners
Callie, a 2-year old Feist, is one of two dogs involved in the initial phase of the project. Photo by Carol Clark.
are happy or sad? How much language do they really understand? In the first experiment, the dogs were trained to respond to hand signals. One signal meant the dog would receive a hot dog treat, and another signal meant it would not receive one. The caudate region of the brain, associated with rewards in humans, showed activation in both dogs when they saw the signal for the treat, but not for the no-treat signal. “These results indicate that dogs pay very close attention to human signals,” Berns says. “And these signals may have a direct line to the dog’s reward system.” Berns is a neuroeconomist, who normally uses fMRI technology to study how the human mind works. His human brain-imaging studies have looked at everything
Callie training in a scanner mock-up.
from why teens engage in risky behavior to how adults decide to follow, or break, established rules of society. Dog lovers may not need convincing on the merits of researching the minds of our canine companions. “To the skeptics out there, and the cat people, I would say that dogs are the first domesticated species, going back at least 10,000 years, and by some estimates 30,000 years,” Berns says. “The dog’s brain represents something special about how humans and animals came together. It’s possible that dogs have even affected human evolution. People who took dogs into their homes and villages may have had certain advantages. As much as we made dogs, I think dogs probably made some part of us, too.” The idea for the dog project came to Berns about a year ago, when he learned that a U.S. Navy dog had been a member of the SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden. “I was amazed when I saw the pictures of what military dogs can do,” Berns says. “I realized that if dogs can be trained to jump out of helicopters and airplanes, we could certainly train them to go into an fMRI to see what they’re thinking.” All procedures for the dog project were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Emory. “From the outset, we wanted to ensure the safety and comfort of the dogs,” Berns says. “We wanted them to be unrestrained and go into the scanner willingly.” The dogs were trained to wear earmuffs, to protect them from the noise of the scanner. They were also taught to hold their heads perfectly still on a chin rest during the scanning process, to prevent blurring of the images. “We know the dogs are happy by their body language,” says Mark Spivak, the professional trainer involved in the project. Callie, in particular, seems to revel in the attention of breaking new ground in science.“She enters the scanner on her own, without a command, sometimes when it’s not her turn,” Spivak says. “She’s eager to participate.” Source; eScienceCommons, Lesula- Africa’s newest species of monkey: A new forest monkey is
the latest discovery of a team of international scientists in DR Congo. The news has been highlighted in a report in Plos One scientific online journal earlier this week. The researchers found the primate known locally as Lesula, earlier unknown to science which they named Cercopithecus Lomamiensis.The scientists spoke with the Voice of Russia about the new monkey. Dr. Christopher Gilbert from the Department of Anthropology of Hunter College in New York is one of the authors of the report. In an interview with the Voice of Russia he said, “This new species was unknown to the outside world. But it was well-known locally and the locals hunted it quite a bit,
This discovery was made during the first expedition that John and Terese Hart, Yale conservation biologists working for Lukuru Foundation, carried out in a remote forested area of DR Congo.
which is a problem going forward.” “In 2007, John and Terese Hart, field biologists working in the Congo, and their field team, came across an interesting monkey that has been kept as a pet in a local town. They noticed it looked somewhat like the owl faced monkey which is found much further to the East, but it looked quite different from them”, explained the anthropologist. In an exclusive interview with the Voice of Russia, John Hart explained that he first saw this monkey in 2007 during the first expedition he and his wife undertook in this part of DR Congo. At that time, the scientists noticed that this primate was different from other species they knew, and
This monkey is different from already known species. It was quite a beautiful animal according to Dr.John
they decided to track this animal. “The new monkey compared to its closest relative, has a much paler face and a sort of pale creamed-colored stripe on its nose: unlike, its closest relative, who has a very dark face and a clear kind of white stripe on its nose. So the whole face is different. TheLesula has also a sort of blond-golden colored mane around the face. And on its back, it has a really beautiful sort of red, amber colored stripe. And he has really big eyes, much bigger eyes than the eyes of the owl faced monkeys.” Furthermore, the Cercopithecus Lomamienshas a particular behavior and way of life. As Dr. Gilbert pointed out, “We know right now that they appear to spend a lot of time on the ground and that’s interesting because for the all group of monkeys, there is not a lot of them who spend that lot of time in the ground, most of them are strictly tree-living.” This discovery is quite a success for the scientists involved in the project. Actually the Lesula is the second species of primate to be found in Africa over the past 28 years. On the one hand, this discovery positively shows that the scientific progress is still getting further and further. But on the other hand, it is also an illustration that hunters are going further too, and hunt in even more remote areas, than the place where the Lesula lives. As Dr. John Hart described, in the region, the bush meat hunters are poaching beyond control. And this is a big threat for the local biodiversity. That is why the scientific project led in Congo by Terese and John Hart and their team, aims both to document the biodiversity and to prevent the area from further ecological damage. Thus, this discovery shows how vital it is to protect nature, particularly in Africa. More information about the project can be found on the website of the Lukuru Foundation and on the website of Terese and John Hart’s project (Searching for Bonobos in Congo) Source: Voice of Russia, Hen in Sri Lanka gives birth to chick without egg: The Mystery now
has been solved as hens come before egg. A hen in Sri Lanka gave birth to a chick without an egg, veterinary officials said. Instead of being laid by the hen and incubated in the nest, the egg was incubated insidethe hen for 21 days and then the chick hatched inside the mother. The chick is normally formed and healthy, veterinarians say, although the mother hen died. The government veterinary officer in the area, P.R. Yapa, said he had never seen anything like it before, the BBC reported. An examination of the hen's carcass showed the fertilized egg had developed within the hen's reproductive system but stayed inside the hen's body until ithatched, Yapa said. The examination showed the hen died of internal wounds. The story has made headlines in Sri Lanka, the BBC said, with one Sri Lankannewspaper carrying the headline: "The chicken came first; not the egg."Source: Ananta-Tech, How rats are 'primed' to remember fear: Scientists at Emory's Yerkes National
Center have achieved some insight into how fleeting experiences become memories in the brain. Their experimental system could be a way to test or refine treatments aimed at enhancing learning and memory, or interfering with troubling memories. The results were published in the Journal of Neuroscience. The researchers set up a system where rats were exposed to a light followed by a mild shock. A single light-shock event isn't enough to make the rat afraid of the light, but a repeat of the pairing of the light and shock is, even a few days later. "I describe this effect as 'priming'," says the first author of the paper, postdoctoral fellow Ryan Parsons. "The animal experiences all sorts of things, and has to sort out what's important. If something happens just once, it doesn't register. But twice, and the animal remembers." Parsons worked with Michael Davis, Robert W. Woodruff professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory's School of Medicine, who studies the molecular basis for fear memory. Even though a robust fear memory was not formed after the first priming event, at that point Parsons could already detect chemical changes in the amygdala, part of the brain critical for fear responses. Long-term memory formation could be blocked by infusing a drug into the amygdala. The drug inhibits protein kinase A, which is involved in the chemical changes Parsons observed. It is possible to train rats to become afraid of something like a sound or a smell after one event, Parsons says. However, rats are less sensitive to light compared with sounds or smells, and a relatively mild shock was used. Fear memories only formed when shocks were paired with light, instead of noise or nothing at all, for both the priming and the confirmation event. Parsons measured how afraid the rats were by gauging their "acoustic startle response" (how jittery they were in response to a loud noise) in the presence of the light, compared to before training began. Scientists have been able to study the chemical changes connected with the priming process extensively in neurons in culture dishes, but not as much in live animals. The process is referred to as "metaplasticity," or how the history of the brain's experiences affects its readiness to change and learn. "This could be a good model for dissecting the mechanisms involved in learning and memory," Parsons says. "We're going to be able to look at what's going on in that first priming event, as well as when the long-term memory is triggered." The research was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Source: eScienceCommons, Chimps can sense fair play - scientists: Chimpanzees, like people, can appreciate
 fairness can learn to play fair. The and conclusions to this effect were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. During the experiment, chimps were given unequal portions of food which they could either share with others or keep for themselves. Even though nearly all the chimps went for the “unfair” option at first, they eventually opted in favor of sharing what they had with a neighbor. Scientists say chimpanzees living in the wild have to cooperate in order to protect their territory or search for food and this could explain why they developed an ability to evaluate their behavior in the course of evolution. Source: Voice of Russia, Young whales can speak: Dr Sam Ridgway, of the National Marine Mammal Foundation, 
studied the possibility of the marine mammal to copy the sound of people. It first happened to a young white whale, also known as a beluga, named NOC. It could make a sound similar to the human word “out”. Then it copied human words so well, that at first researchers thought they were hearing humans conversing in the distance. This study revealed an amplitude rhythm in NOC's vocalizations that was comparable to human speech. Fundamental frequencies in the whale's vocalizations were also in the same range of human speech and were several octaves lower than the whale's usual sounds. The whale NOC also went to a lot of trouble to make the sounds. The researchers explain that the whale had to vary the pressure in his nasal tract while making other muscular adjustments and inflating the vestibular sac in his blowhole. But when the whale turned 4 years he stopped his human vocal mimicry. Researchers say that there might be two reasons for this. The first is that hormonal changes related to sexual maturity may diminish a whale's urges to mimic. Another possible reason is that the novelty might have simply worn off for NOC. The findings open up the possibility of teaching white whales how to speak, Ridgway suggests. Voice of Russia, Discovery News, Source: Voice of Russia
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