Working for Cramer Fish Sciences in Sacramento, California, I have been able to conduct field research in many of the California’s river systems and help inform fisheries and natural resource issues. Our primary study species, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) need these anadromous (river to sea connected) waters throughout their various…
Creature Feature: Charoxus Rove Beetle
Rove beetles are insects within the family Staphylinidae which includes around 63,000 species and thousands of genera. One of these genera in particular, Charoxus, appears to take advantage of the very tight mutualistic relationship between fig trees and their pollinating wasps. Fig trees, those in the genus Ficus, are pollinated by wasps in the family…
Sunday Sketch: The Dolphin Digestive Tract Debris Dilemma
A recent study found plastic debris in the digestive tracts of 50 dolphins, whales, and seals. Surprisingly, a large amount of the trash came from synthetic fibers (found in clothing, fishing nets, and toothbrushes), while the rest were from plastic fragments. Keep in mind that plastic pollution affects many other marine organisms, as well. Therefore,…
Field Frame Friday: Squad goals.
Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) congregate in areas where natural cracks in the ice provide easy access into and out of the water, and while Antarctic waters remain around -2°C (~28°F) which may seem cold to us, these seals are well adapted to spending hours at a time in the water. [Caption and Photo taken (under…
Sunday Sketch: Lacewing Trash-Packages
Why bother with camouflage when you can just play dress-up? The larvae of green lacewings (order Neuroptera) blend into their surroundings by attaching bits of debris to small, hook-like structures on their backs. These “trash-packages” can consist of plant matter, lichen, dirt, or even the dead bodies of their prey (aphids)! Sketch and fact contributed…
Field Frame Friday: Wasps make good neighbors.
Female yellow-rumped caciques (Cacicus cela) choose to build their unique, enclosed, hanging nests next to wasp nests to provide protection from mammals and botflies. [Photo by Grace Davis in Barro Colorado Island, Panama; Caption by Maggie Creamer] Reference Corwin, P. (2012). Yellow-rumped Cacique (Cacicus cela), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab…
Sunday Sketch: White-tailed Deer
White-tailed bucks carry a prominent set of antlers in the summer and fall, which are grown annually and shed in the winter months. A set of antlers is made up of a number of different points, called “tines.” The length and number of tines are determined by nutrition, genetics, and age. While the antlers are…
Field Frame Friday: I’m sitting on what?!
Lesser Noddies (Anous tenuirostris), make their nest using leaves and their own guano (fancy word for poop). Waste not, want not? [Photo by Nick Chudeau in Cousin Island, Seychelles; Caption by Karli Chudeau] Reference Surman, C., Burbidge, A., & Fitzhardinge, J. (2016). Long-term population trends in the vulnerable Lesser Noddy Anous tenuirostris melanops at the…
Animal Myths: WATER
In this last installment of our Animal Myths series, we’ll be diving in to tackle misconceptions about the wet and wild critters that live underwater! If you haven’t already, make sure to check out the first two parts of this series which examine myths pertaining to creatures of the Air and Land. 1. Sharks are man-eaters This first,…
Creature Feature: Flapper Skate
When I refer to the skate as one of my study organisms, I tend to receive a blank stare. To be fair, as someone whose interest in research was sparked by popularized megafauna such as the great white shark, I understand that reaction. After all, when it comes to shark cousins, the ray takes…
