Predation has shaped the whole of the living world, as prey respond to evolutionary changes in predators, and vice versa. The earlier prey can detect a predator, the greater their possibility of surviving, either by fleeing or hiding. In many aquatic species, prey detection can occur from beyond the grave – for example, Daphnia (“water-fleas”) [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Amphibians’
24/04/2009
TOADS BREAK THE RULES
November 2007 You all know the generally-accepted “biological” definition of a species – a population of interbreeding organisms. Toads don’t seem to be quite so clear about this. A new article in Science looks at inter-specific hybridisation, which in two species of toad appears to be linked to environmental conditions. BBC summary, including videos of toads; original article in [...]
23/04/2009
SOLUTION TO THE AMPHIBIAN FUNGUS PROBLEM?
November 2007 One of the factors that may account for the global decline of amphibian populations is a fungal infection. New Zealand scientists suggest that a readily-available antibiotic, chloramphenicol, may resolve the problem. No peer-reviewed article yet, but this from the BBC.
23/04/2009
AMAZING REPTILE IMPRESSION
November 2007 Seeing fossilized trackways is always cool, but this unique fossil from Pennsylvania shows body impressions of 330-MY old amphibians. Is it one animal or two? How was the fossil made?
22/04/2009
FANTASTIC COLLECTION OF PHOTOS
October 2007 Andrew Johnson (First Year) has a website which includes some amazing photos of amphibians and reptiles, taken both on his travels (in particular in Bali) and at home – including one of a minxy gecko that escaped and appears to have lived under his bed for several weeks. It’s really worth looking at these terrific pictures.
21/04/2009
LOCH NESS MONSTER FOUND!
May 2007 OK, so it’s a toad. But it’s still where it shouldn’t be – 100m down at the bottom of Loch Ness.
21/04/2009
MORE ON THE DECLINE OF AMPHIBIA
April 2007 Various hypotheses have been put forward to explain the catastrophic collapse in the number of frogs to be found in the tropics, from hormonal effects due to pollution, to a lethal fungus linked to global warming. Another factor has now been added: a decline in leaf litter. This study looks at 35-year decline in amphibians and [...]
20/04/2009
THE ROBOT SALAMANDER THAT CAN SWIM AND WALK
March 2007 Swiss scientists built a robot that, like a salamander, can both swim and walk, in an attempt to model how animals may have made the transition from aquatic to terrestrial locomotion. Science article here (subscription necessary), BBC summary here. Watch the salamander walk, compare it with the robot.
20/04/2009
FATAL FROG FUNGUS
February 2007 This from Annya Smyth, currently on placement: “I stumbled across this article all about a mysterious killer fungus which is rapidly wiping out frog populations around the globe. I am working with frogs (albeit dead frogs, ) and I saw this. I had no idea the devastation this fungus was causing and just thought that as [...]
14/04/2009
GLOBAL WARMING MAKES AMPHIBIANS SICK
October 2006 BBC article describing how frogs are dying from a fungal disease due to global warming.
