Month: October 2015

{$inline_image} Migration: Alaskan Trout Retire Early and Feed On Salmon Eggs To Avoid Ocean Predators Dolly Varden, an Alaskan trout species, are able to retire from migrating each year after growing big enough to store and utilize fat reserves. This…

Great Ape Evolution Redefined By New Fossil Species, Researchers Say A new fossil species suggests that great apes, including humans, evolved differently from smaller “lesser” apes than researchers previously surmised. Source: Natures Talk Show via Nature World News Great Ape…

Acorns and Mast Years: Masses of Acorns and Why Oak trees may be really overdoing it in your neighborhood. Here’s more on what’s happening there, and why they’re putting out such an effort. Source: Natures Talk Show via Nature World…

Vultures and Immunity: Scavenging Better Than the Others A new study looks at vultures, one of several creatures our ecosystems need but don’t like to contemplate, and says we can learn about immunity from them. Source: Natures Talk Show via…

{$inline_image} Endangered Birds: Puffins Join Threatened Species List Atlantic puffins, European turtle doves, Slavonian grebes, and pochards are now listed as “vulnerable” species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species for birds. This…

Bedrock and Geology: Building Better by Knowing Geology Beneath A new study has learnings that may help builders and urban planners set things down in the right place, not so much the place on top of unpredictable geological processes. Source:…

Grizzly Bears of Yellowstone May Lose Protection Under Endangered Species Act Yellowstone National Park’s Iconic grizzly bears may soon lose their protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) but not if Native American Tribes have their way. Source: Natures Talk…

Social Insects and Matricide: Why Some Bees, Wasps, Ants Kill Their Nearest Relative An entomologist recently looked at the story behind matricide among social insects, which isn’t the standard but sometimes happens. It turns out that a pretty intricate plot…

Iberian Lynx: Oldest Ancestor Recently Found In Spain, Researchers Say Iberian lynx fossils dating to 1.6 million years ago were recently recovered from a cave in Barcelona, Spain. It’s the oldest lynx specimen ever found, suggesting the species arrived in…