predators

Siberian Jays Use Different Calls For Communication

harminka — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:31:01 -0500

When mobbing predators, Siberian jays use over a dozen different calls to communicate the level of danger and predator category to other members of their own group. A Swedish study from Uppsala University, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences, shows birds have evolved call systems that are as sophisticated as those of primates and meerkats.

New meat-eating dinosaur from Argentina had bird-like breathing system

harminka — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 08:21:58 -0500

The remains of a new 10-meter-long predatory dinosaur discovered along the banks of Argentina's Rio Colorado is helping to unravel how birds evolved their unusual breathing system.

Study shows parasites outweigh predators

harminka — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:41:47 -0500

In a study of free-living and parasitic species in three estuaries on the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, a team of researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, the United States Geological Survey, and Princeton University has determined that parasite biomass in those habitats exceeds that of top predators, in some cases by a factor of 20.

Parasites outweigh predators in Pacific Coast estuaries

harminka — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:17:42 -0500

In a study of parasites living in three estuaries on the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, researchers have determined that biomass of these parasites exceeds that of top predators, in some cases by more than 20 times.

Scientology founder: "Christ was an alien mind control implant." Secret cult recording leaked.

lilly_von_marcab — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:43:43 -0500

A "classified" Scientology cult recording of founder L. Ron Hubbard from Oct 3, 1968 has been leaked to Wikileaks. Contrary to public Scientology statements about the compatibility of Scientology and Christianity, the recording shows that Scientologists believe that, "There was no Christ" and that the stories of Christ are alien mind implants.

Communication tactics used by sexual predators to entrap children

harminka — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:36:53 -0500

A child’s innocence and vulnerability presents a target for a sexual predator’s abusive behavior. University of Missouri researchers are beginning to understand the communication process by which predators lure victims into a web of entrapment. This information could better equip parents and community members to prevent, or at least interrupt, the escalation of child sexual abuse.

Evolved resistance to deadly toxic newts

harminka — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:59:13 -0500

Animals are poisonous to prevent other animals from eating them. However, a new study published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Biology investigating the toxic rough-skinned newt finds that, despite being among the most poisonous known animals, in some regions these newts have no effect on their main predator, the garter snake, as these slippery serpents have evolved resistance to a poison so strong that one-newtsworth can kill thousands of mice.

Predicting the perfect predator

harminka — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:24:45 -0600

Garlic mustard has become an invasive species in temperate forests across the United States, choking out native plants on forest floors and threatening ecosystem diversity.

Predators do more than kill prey

harminka — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 02:20:08 -0600

The direct effect predators have on their prey is to kill them. The evolutionary changes that can result from this direct effect include prey that are younger at maturity and that produce more offspring.

Predators and Parasites May Increase Evolutionary Stability

harminka — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:29:01 -0500

A new study explores the role of natural enemies, such as predators and parasites, for mixed mating, a reproductive strategy in which hermaphroditic plants and animals reproduce through both self- and cross-fertilization. The findings highlight the possible evolutionary consequences of these interactions.

Humans unknowing midwives for pregnant moose

harminka — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 12:12:40 -0500

When it’s time for moose to give birth in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, they head to where it is safest from predators – namely closer to people, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Study reveals predation-evolution link

harminka — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:48:17 -0500

The fossil record seems to indicate that the diversity of marine creatures increased and decreased over hundreds of millions of years in step with predator-prey encounters, Virginia Tech geoscientists report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.