Poetic biologist

Cerebrum nasus is a medium sized quadruped with a unique adaptation to navigate a world that seldom has light. While equipped with eyes that can pick up ultraviolet light, the Cerebrum Nasus “sees” it’s world through it’s large multifaceted nose. This large fleshy organ holds multiple nostrils to pick up the slightest of shifts in scent. It also can emit and register as an electroreceptor. Communication between individuals is also processed through the organ via electric fields.

Birds from different species recognize each other and cooperate

Cooperation among different species of birds is common. Some birds build their nests near those of larger, more aggressive species to deter predators, and flocks of mixed species forage for food and defend territories together in alliances that can last for years. In most cases, though, these partnerships are not between specific individuals of the other species – any bird from the other species will do.

But in a new study published in the journal Behavioral Ecology, scientists from the University of Chicago and University of Nebraska show how two different species of Australian fairy-wrens not only recognize individual birds from other species, but also form long-term partnerships that help them forage and defend their shared space as a group.

Allison E Johnson, Christina Masco, Stephen Pruett-Jones. Song recognition and heterospecific associations between 2 fairy-wren species (Maluridae). Behavioral Ecology, 2018; DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary071

—

The zebrafish is used as model in developmental biology. Here two juvenile fish of just two days old. © MPI für Entwicklungsbiologie/ Jürgen Berger/ Mahendra Sonawane

Science Fact Friday: Spiders!

I’ll admit I’m //not// a fan of spiders but we rarely appreciate them as the cool, complex organisms they are. So here. Have a spider. I tried to make it fuzzy and friend-colored so it’d be less threatening.