A typical morning of titi monkey vocalization recording starts off with a 4:30 AM alarm. I roll out of bed, start coffee, and am out in the door in under ten minutes. The 20-minute drive goes by quickly as I mechanically drink my coffee. As I gather my recorder, microphone, and camera, interns begin to show…
Field Frame Friday: Dimethylsulfoniopropionate: what a mouth full… of food.
Bluefin trevally (Caranx melampygus) or ‘omilu in Hawaiian are able to detect dimethylsulfoniopropionate (say that 5 times fast, or just say DMSP). DMSP is a chemical produced by phytoplankton (marine algae) that is an indicator of food productivity. This chemosensory adaptation is important for foraging success! [Photo and caption by Karli Chudeau] DeBose, J.L., Nevitt,…
Newsroom: A Bee of All Trades
Check out our newest piece by ABGG grad student Adrian Perez, telling us all about the task repertoire of honeybees!
Sunday Sketch: Glow-In-The-Dark Pocket Shark
A new species of pocket shark (Mollisquama mississippiensis) that was found in the Gulf of Mexico has recently been classified. Pocket sharks get their name from the “pocket” glands behind their pectoral fins. The glands in glow-in-the-dark pocket sharks produce a bioluminescent fluid. Their bodies also generate light all over from bundles of glandular organs…
Field Notes- The Tale of the Pilot Study: Where little goes as planned and not all data fits into a spreadsheet.
“Please put your tray tables up and your seats in their upright position to prepare for landing.” Looking out the window, a mosaic of vivid aqua, bright cerulean, and deep indigo below indicates that we have reached our island destination in the middle of the Pacific. The flight attendant’s announcement instigated a flurry of activity…
Field Frame Friday: Food poisoning continues to curse California condors.
Did you know that this scavenger gets food poisoning, but maybe not in the “rotten meat” way you think. In the 1980s, California condors (Gymnogyps californianus) were considered extinct in the wild due to many factors, but largely from unintentional lead poisoning from bullet fragments left in terrestrial animal carcasses. Due to captive breeding there…
Sunday Sketch: Ultimate marine predator vs. the panda of the ocean
Duhdum. Duhdum. Duhdumduhdumduh-move over Jaws soundtrack, the long (wrongly) vilified white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is now being replaced with a top predator that you may not expect: killer whales (Orcinus orca)! White sharks and transient (i.e. marine mammal eating) killer whales have similarly preferred food sources, and in the northeastern Pacific, there is regional overlap…
Field Frame Friday: Garibaldi neighbors respect the “no trespassing” signs.
Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus) are territorial fish. Males will clear bottom territories and combat other fish and even SCUBA divers that come too close to their territory. However, it is uncommon that there is intraspecfic aggression; Garibaldis generally “respect” each other’s territories, so there is no need for aggression within species. [Photo by Nick Chudeau and…
Sunday Sketch: Convict Cichlid
Did you know that the convict cichlid (Amatitlania siquia), a monogamous fish species that forms long-lasting pairs, can exhibit pessimism? In a recent study, female fish selected male partners and were then paired with preferred or non-preferred partners. The fish that were paired with non-preferred partners did not spawn as quickly as the others. Furthermore,…
Field Frame Friday: This is my ‘Don’t mess with me’ face
This lone male clearly wants to range alone as he is trying to scare us off by displaying aggressive behaviors. Aggression in macaques, and in this example long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), can be identified via the intense direct stare, raised eyebrows and round “open threat face”. [Photo and caption by Josephine Hubbard] Reference Van Hooff, J. A. R. A. M. (1967)….
Field Frame Friday: No, its not facial recognition technology, its facial recognition GOATS!
Goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) have the ability to recognize the emotional state of other familiar goats just by viewing pictures of them! Since goats are social animals, facial expressions might be a major mode of communication between individuals. [Photo by Nick Chudeau and caption by Maggie Creamer] Reference Bellegarde, L. G., Haskell, M. J., Duvaux-Ponter,…
Creature Feature: Zebra finch
The zebra finch is arguably in the running to be the world’s next top model….organism, that is
