Thursday, 23 May, 2013

And how did it traverse 460 kilometers of ocean? Apparently by crossing a narrow band of ice during the last Ice Age. A new study echoes evolutionary giants Darwin and Wallace and highlights the role of sea level in animal migration.

A common mole never sees the light of day, but it can pinpoint the source of food in just a few seconds — thanks to its newfound stereo smelling ability. If two ears help you hear in stereo, what good are two nostrils?

Dig the dung beetle. Sample the belly button. Tilt your brain — and see what happens. Watch bees cook their enemies. Drive through the cabbie’s brain. Check out pretty pix of pretty chicks. All weird. All here!

Amphibians are disappearing faster than any other animals. A new study looks at the effects of changes in climate, land use and disease. The picture isn’t pretty, but looking at three threats at once shows the true danger facing frogs, toads, salamanders and their relatives.

In African savannas, cattle graze the same grass as zebras, elephants and gazelles. Obviously, wildlife are stealing food from the mouths of cattle, and from the people who depend on cattle. But new data show that in the wet season, grazing wildlife actually benefit cattle!

Humans and cats have enjoyed each other’s company for millennia, but scientists have discovered some troubling secrets of free-roaming felines that have wildlife and health experts worried. A new study reveals what free-roaming cats do all day, and The Why Files investigates some implications of their outdoor habits.

Pythons, anacondas and boas are breeding in South Florida. What are these snakes eating, besides alligators? Can they be trapped, hunted, poisoned?

Turkeys got help for 75 years from conservation agencies. Coyotes spread across half the country all on their own. Why have these animals succeeded? How have they changed the environment?

Refuge is site of effort to use ultralight aircraft to guide crane chicks toward Florida wintering grounds. Dangers remain, but it’s a step ahead for Americas’ largest flying bird, once reduced to 21 animals.

Coral reefs are the ocean’s biodiversity hotspots, but a new study finds that one-third of reef-building corals are under some threat of extinction.

Study shows the wisdom of allowing fish stocks to recover. Production is higher, but costs are lower. What would it take to bring economic and environmental sanity to the fishing industry?

Just after humans reached the Western Hemisphere, many large mammals went extinct. Some scientists have blamed hyper-effective human hunting. But a new study fingers changes in climate and environment.

Feeling burned? Farmed salmon have higher levels of a brominated flame retardant than wild salmon.

Endangered species profiles: Mexican wolf, Houston Toad, Sumatran Rhino, Mountain Gorilla, Mountain mist frog, red-crowned cranes, Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, beluga sturgeon, Higgins’ eye pearly mussel, West Indian manatee, piping plover, Higgins’ eye pearly mussel

In a wilderness, roads can interrupt migration corridors; kill wildlife through vehicle impacts, block movement of surface water; compact soil, harming burrowing animals and changing groundwater flow; cause air pollution and traffic noise; and allow invasive species to enter.