Thought to have been extinct since the late 18th century, when the hunting of Norfolk Island’s Polynesian settlers and European sailers eradicated its numbers to unprecedented lows, the Tasman booby, a long-winged sea bird formerly native to the small islands off the Australian and New Zealand coasts, has been rediscovered in a laboratory. But not [...]
Entries from August 2009
August 22, 2009
Chill the Fuck Out, Swima Worms & Spanish Ribbed Newt…
As early as 1879, biologists have known about the Spanish ribbed newt’s tendency to use its rib bones as weapons, but only recently has x-ray imaging been used to observe how they do it. When the newt is agitated or distressed, it will swing its ribs forward, increasing their angle to the spine by up [...]
August 22, 2009
You’re Not God, Desert Ants.
A recent study coming out of the University of Paris Nord has expanded on the results of an 1874 experiment which saw teams of ants lend a mandible to colony-mates submerged in sand by digging them out and dragging them to safety. This time, the operation got far more complex as researchers tied nylon threads [...]
