http://www.biology-blog.com/ New article alert from biology-blog.com, the place for biology information. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT en-us http://www.biology-blog.com/images/blogs/tiger-thumb-589910.jpg http://www.biology-blog.com/ 90 99 http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/why-female-moths-are-big-and-beautiful.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/why-female-moths-are-big-and-beautiful.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT In most animal species, males and females show obvious differences in body size. But how can this be, given that both sexes share the same genes governing their growth? University of Arizona entomologists studied this conundrum in moths and found clues that had been overlooked by prior efforts to explain this mystery of nature........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/600-million-year-old-origins-of-vision.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/600-million-year-old-origins-of-vision.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT By studying the hydra, a member of an ancient group of sea creatures that is still flourishing, researchers at UC Santa Barbara have made a discovery in understanding the origins of human vision. The finding is published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a British journal of biology........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/myths-about-amazon-rain-forests.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/myths-about-amazon-rain-forests.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT A new NASA-funded study has concluded that Amazon rain forests were remarkably unaffected in the face of once-in-a-century drought in 2005, neither dying nor thriving, contrary to a previously published report and claims by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "We found no big differences in the greenness level of these forests between drought and non-drought years, which suggests that these forests appears to be more tolerant of droughts than we previously thought," said Arindam Samanta, the study's main author from Boston University........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/yellow-fever-strikes-monkey-populations.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/yellow-fever-strikes-monkey-populations.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT A group of Argentine scientists, including health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society, have announced that yellow fever is the culprit in a 2007-2008 die-off of howler monkeys in northeastern Argentina, a finding that underscores the importance of paying attention to the health of wildlife and how the health of people and wild nature are so closely linked........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/hidden-habits-and-movements-of-insect-pests.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/hidden-habits-and-movements-of-insect-pests.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT For a high-resolution image of the Asota caricae moth referenced in the article, visit http://bit.ly/aB4PEb. The moth has a two-inch wingspan and a 2,500 mile distribution. Image is courtesy of Lauren Helgen, Smithsonian Institution. For a copy of the research paper, contact Jeff Falk at jfalk@umn.edu........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/musk-ox-population-decline-due-to-climate.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/musk-ox-population-decline-due-to-climate.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT team of researchers has discovered that the drastic decline in Arctic musk ox populations that began roughly 12,000 years ago was due to a warming climate rather than to human hunting. "This is the first study to use ancient musk ox DNA collected from across the animal's former geographic range to test for human impacts on musk ox populations," said Beth Shapiro, the Shaffer Career Development assistant professor of biology at Penn State University and one of the team's leaders. "We observed that, eventhough human and musk ox populations overlapped in a number of regions across the globe, humans probably were not responsible for the decline and eventual extinction of musk oxen across much of their former range." The team's findings would be reported in the 8 March 2010 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/snake-venom-charms-science-world.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/3-2010/snake-venom-charms-science-world.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT The King Cobra continues to weave its charm with scientists identifying a protein in its venom with the potential for new drug discovery and to advance understanding of disease mechanisms. The novel protein named haditoxin has been described in the prestigious Journal of Biological Chemistry (March 12, 2010)........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/tree-dwelling-mammals-climb-to-the-heights-of-longevity.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/tree-dwelling-mammals-climb-to-the-heights-of-longevity.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT The squirrels littering your lawn with acorns as they bound overhead will live to plague your yard longer than the ones that aerate it with their burrows, as per a University of Illinois study. Researchers know from prior studies that flying birds and bats live longer than earthbound animals of the same size. Milena Shattuck and Scott Williams, doctoral candidates in anthropology, decided to take a closer look at the relationship between habitat and lifespan in mammals, comparing terrestrial and treetop life. They published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/forage-plant-fights-parasites.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/forage-plant-fights-parasites.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT common pasture plant could help foraging ruminants ward off damaging gastrointestinal nematodes that can cause illness and death, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) researchers report. Animal scientist Joan Burke at the ARS Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center in Booneville, Ark., along with colleagues at several universities, has patented formulations of Sericea lespedeza, usually referred to as Chinese bush clover. The plant was introduced in the United States in the 1930s to minimize soil erosion........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/from-carnivorous-plants-to-the-medicine-cabinet.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/from-carnivorous-plants-to-the-medicine-cabinet.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT In the tropics, carnivorous plants trap unsuspecting prey in a cavity filled with liquid known as a "pitcher". The moment insects like flies, ants and beetles fall into a pitcher, the plant's enzymes are activated and begin dissolving their new meal, obtaining nutrients such as carbon and nitrogen which are difficult to extract from certain soils. Carnivorous plants also possess a highly developed set of compounds and secondary metabolites to aid in their survival........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/big-cats-in-serious-trouble-around-the-world.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/big-cats-in-serious-trouble-around-the-world.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT As a number of Asian countries prepare to celebrate Year of the Tiger beginning February 14, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports that tigers are in crisis around the world, including here in the United States, where more tigers are kept in captivity than are alive in the wild throughout Asia. As few as 3,200 tigers exist in the wild in Asia where they are threatened by poaching, habitat loss, illegal trafficking and the conversion of forests for infrastructure and plantations........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/genome-sequence-for-advancement.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/genome-sequence-for-advancement.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT A global initiative that includes key researchers from Oregon State University has successfully sequenced the genome of the wild grass Brachypodium distachyon, which will serve as a model to speed research on improved varieties of wheat, oats and barley, as well as switchgrass, a crop of major interest for biofuel production........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/sugar-plays-key-role-in-cell-division.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/sugar-plays-key-role-in-cell-division.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT Using an elaborate sleuthing system they developed to probe how cells manage their own division, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that common but hard-to-see sugar switches are partly in control. Because these previously unrecognized sugar switches are so abundant and potential targets of manipulation by drugs, the discovery of their role has implications for new therapys for many diseases, including cancer, the researchers say........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/egyptian-fruit-bat-finds-a-target.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/egyptian-fruit-bat-finds-a-target.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT New research conducted at the University of Maryland's bat lab shows Egyptian fruit bats find a target by NOT aiming their guiding sonar directly at it. Instead, they alternately point the sound beam to either side of the target. The new findings by scientists from Maryland and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel suggest that this strategy optimizes the bats' ability to pinpoint the location of a target, but also makes it harder for them to detect a target in the first place........ ]]> http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/viagra-enhances-fetal-growth-in-female-sheep.html http://www.biology-blog.com/blogs/permalinks/2-2010/viagra-enhances-fetal-growth-in-female-sheep.html Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:41:33 GMT A joke among two Texas AgriLife Research researchers later turned into a fully-funded study found Viagra can aid fetal development in female sheep. Female sheep (ewes) are an agriculturally important species, which can serve as an excellent animal model for studying the physiology of human pregnancy, the scientists said........ ]]>