A sketch and fact about a very lazy yet very clever little lobster
Field Frame Friday: Looked cute, might delete later.
While titi monkeys (Callicebinae spp.) are generally neophobic (i.e. afraid of new things), they do show wide variability in personality. This more adventurous coppery titi monkey (Plecturocebus cupreus) wanted to get a closer look at the camera lens! Pictured in the back is his six-month-old son. [Photo by Alexander Baxter, Caption by Allison Lau] Savidge,…
Sci Hero: Dr. Roger Arliner Young
The Ethogram believes that science should be accessible and diverse in order to increase the sense of belonging within the science community. As a part of our continuing effort to make science a more inclusive field, we will be highlighting a “Sci Hero” each month so that the next generation of scientists and naturalists may…
Science Heroes: Dr. Roger Arliner Young
Welcome to Science Heroes, the column highlighting the incredible and diverse scientists and naturalists that if you don’t already know about them…you should! Our inaugural post features Dr. Roger Arliner Young, the first Black woman to graduate with a PhD in 1940!
Sunday Sketch: Branching out
A fact about beaver foraging behavior
Field Frame Friday: Summer Fieldwork Forecast?
I study how bird songs influence mating strategies in white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) and am interested in how traffic noise impedes the ability to assess bird songs and subsequently affects their reproductive success. During this summer’s fieldwork at Tioga Pass in Yosemite, we woke up to something very unexpected…a snowstorm had hit overnight- in JUNE!…
Arts & Crafts: Abu the Monkey
Monkey see. Monkey do. Check out this drawing by a young explorer too!
Field Notes: “Feline” fine in the Field
Field work with kittens? 1st year graduate student Sabrina Medero shares her experiences with kitten behavior!
Creature Feature: Ethiopian wolf
An elusive creature and the rarest canid in the world, the Ethiopian wolf is commonly referred to as the Simien fox. Despite its foxy nickname, bushy tail, and reddish fur, the Ethiopian wolf is actually a true wolf.
Sunday Sketch: Build it and they will come
A sketch and fact about some of nature’s most exceptional architects
Field Frame Friday: Now you see them, now you don’t!
What happens when a pandemic strikes and travelers are no longer hiking or visiting natural areas? Research, of course! Since there are no visitors allowed in protected areas in Panama, I’m taking advantage of this opportunity to assess whether local forest mammals will avoid the trails less with fewer human visitors. I deployed cameras traps…
Ask a Scientist: The Elephant Spa
Why do elephants like mud?
Field Frame Friday: Trot, trot, tölt!
Icelandic horses (Equus ferus caballus) are the only horse breed in the world that can perform five different gaits. Most horses can walk, trot, and canter, but Icelandic horses can also perform a flying pace and a tölt – these gaits, in which only one hoof touches the ground at a time, are useful given…
Arts & Crafts: Butterfly Fly Away
Check out this watercolor butterfly before it flies away!
Creature Feature: Amazon molly
Why did the Amazon molly get her name?
Sunday Sketch: Orange is in this season
Orange you glad you get to see a lizard’s true colors?
Field Frame Friday: Migrating mule deer!
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are migratory ungulates and often their migratory routes intersect with human developments and urban areas. Development and urbanization have greatly impacted the migration routes of many migratory ungulates and have ultimately lead to the population decline of many of these animals. Mule deer do not adjust their migration routes to avoid…
Ask a Scientist: Cat-chy
Why does my cat catch bugs and bring them into my bed?
Creature Feature: Grass carp
Grass carp, originally brought to the U.S. as lawnmowers for aquatic plants, can eat up to 100% of their body weight in vegetation every day.
Sunday Sketch: A little eye roll
The Chambered Nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) is one of 6 extant species of nautilus, the closest living relative of coleoid cephalopods (octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish). Considered by many to be living fossils, nautiluses have experienced little morphological change over millions of years and are more similar to ancient cephalopods than modern coleoid cephalopods. Nautiluses have numerous…
Field Frame Friday: To know the seal, one must BE the seal!
When data collection is cancelled because of the pandemic, one must get creative to stay connected to their study species. For me, this means free-diving in Monterey Bay. Harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) are often found in the kelp forests, using different strategies for foraging and hunting. One strategy is called the sit-and-wait, where seals can…
Arts & Crafts: Jellyfish
Check out this young explorer’s watercolor jellyfish!
Scholar Holler: Sabrina Mederos
It’s 2020 and this year has been full of surprises and lessons. In fact, one news site (The Atlantic) deemed 2020 as the “second-most traumatic year in American history”, and yet we still have months to go. While quarantining at home, attempting to get work done, I find myself reminiscing about simpler times, and reflecting…
Newsroom: In-air hearing in walruses
Sound travels much farther than visual cues in the marine environment. As a result, many marine mammals rely on sound to gather information about their surroundings, search for prey, avoid predators, and communicate with others of their species. For walruses, vocalizations play an important role in communication and mating displays during the breeding season. As their…
Sunday Sketch: Color me intrigued
Stump-tailed macaques (Macaca arctoides) are a vulnerable species of macaques found in South and Southeast Asia. These monkeys are known for their interesting color patterns. The infants of this species are born with white fur which gradually darkens with age. Older individuals are identified by their dark-colored faces with black or brown patches. Fact and…
Field Frame Friday: Moose? Mooses? Meese?
Moose (Alces americanus) will dive in lakes for aquatic plant species despite the fact that there is ample, accessible, nutritious, woody vegetation on land and swimming and diving is a more costly form of locomotion. This behavior used by moose to supplement terrestrial vegetation was a mystery until scientists discovered that aquatic plants are much…
Ask a Scientist: Caching
Why do I see some birds take seeds out of the bird feeder but hide them in our garden rather than just eat them?
Field Notes: Ruminations on integrated crop-livestock systems.
As I shifted the sheep from one grazed section of the field to the next luscious cover crop patch, they moved in threes, filling the width of the corridor. They became more frantic to get to wherever the sheep in front was going, and the electric netting that formed the corridor leaned precariously on its side….
Ask a Scientist: Fur seals and sea lions
Why are fur seals called seals when they look more like sea lions?
Arts & Crafts: Conference Crafts
Artistic inspiration can hit anyone anywhere-even a child at an animal behavior talk!
Activity: Insect Scavenger Hunt
Learn how to examine insects in your community and compare their habitats and behaviors with this activity!
Creature Feature: Hummingbirds
Good things come in small packages! This saying perfectly describes our flying, flower-loving friends, the hummingbirds.
Ask a Scientist: Zebra Stripes
Why do zebras have stripes?
Sunday Sketch: If you are breeding and you know it, clap your flippers!
If you try and steal a seal’s girlfriend, do expect a clapback.
Sunday Sketch: Telling the Bees
Always make sure your bees are sitting down before you hit them with some good or bad news
Creature Feature: Orangutans
Learn about these clever red-headed apes from southeast Asia in this week’s Creature Feature.
Ask a Scientist: Feeling Salty
Mild-mannered Manatee asks, “Why can’t fresh water fish survive in the ocean?” What a great question Mild-mannered Manatee! To answer your question, we need to learn a little bit about osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water from less salty areas to more salty areas across a membrane. Cells, like the ones in your body,…
