Welcome to Science Heroes, the column highlighting incredible scientists and naturalists, such as animal welfare scientist and autism awareness advocate, Dr. Temple Grandin!
Newsroom: Sleeping Under the Midnight Sun
Check out this week’s newsroom, featuring a recent study on the effect of sleep loss on an arctic-breeding songbird!
Sunday Sketch: Hardcore Parkour
A fact about ringtail parkour
Field Frame Friday: Gear up!
Throwback to last spring, just before leaving Davis for Lee Vining, CA for two months. In addition to the Potter traps that I use to catch birds, you can see I had to pack a lot of food for a 2-week quarantine due to the Covid-19 pandemic. [Photo and caption by Carly Hawkins] Carly studies…
Arts & Crafts: Feeling Batty
Check out this young explorer’s batty sculpture!
Field Notes: Do You Prefer Your Salmon Hot or Iced?
If you’ve been following the information stream on climate change, you have likely heard of global warming. And, if you happen to be interested in fish or marine life (like yours truly), you also probably know that this means many of the world’s water systems are projected to increase in temperature . Even at face…
Creature Feature: Kea
Many animals are afraid of humans, and with good reason. Then there is the kea (Nestor notabilis), a playful bird known for its intelligence, wild curiosity, and general disregard for the “stay away from humans” rule. This New Zealand native was named by the Māori people for its distinct call: a bright, high-pitched keee-aaa!
Sunday Sketch: Silent Love Language
A fact about toad flirting strategies
Field Frame Friday: GoT vs. GoaT
“The Mountain” may have been a fearsome Game of Thrones character, but these mountain goats, hiking high above King’s Landing (the walled city of Dubrovnik, Croatia) on Mount Srđ, are anything but. Mountain goats in areas of human establishments are noted to be more alarmed by motor disturbances, such as cars on highways built near…
Ask A Scientist: A Rhino’s Horn Isn’t for Making Music
Rambunctious Rhino wonders, “Why does the rhino have horns?” Great question, Rambunctious Rhino! There are actually five different species of rhinoceros, but all of them have horns! The Asian species–Javan rhinos, greater one-horned rhinos, and Sumatran rhinos–have one horn on their snout, just above their nose. The African rhinos–the white and black rhino–have two, with…
Sunday Sketch: Pray you don’t get punched by this mantis
A fact about a shrimp martial arts
Field Frame Friday: Don’t feed the neighbors.
Most coyotes (Canis latrans) are fearful of humans. Unfortunately, some coyotes lose this fear which can lead to less than ideal interactions between coyotes and humans or their pets. While this is very rare, the loss of fear is often facilitated by human behavior. This coyote is fed regularly by a homeowner whose property sits…
Arts & Crafts: Unlikely Friends
Come join our animal dance party on this Animal Adventure Thursday!
Creature Feature: Sea Cucumbers
What animal has no face, is named after fresh produce, resembles a flaccid turd, and can turn their bodies inside out when threatened? Well, if you guessed sea cucumbers (Class: Holothuroidea) you must be a fellow aficionado or… perhaps the title was a dead giveaway. Either way, these squishy marine invertebrates are unsung heroes of…
Field Frame Friday: GOODBYE 2020, HELLO 2021
Hello from your Field Series editors! We just wanted to pop in and say that 2020 was a difficult year for researchers all over the globe. For many of us animal behaviorists that rely on collaborators, animal managers, interns, and others in the academic and non-academic community for help and support, COVID required us to…
Sci Hero: Maria Sibylla Merian
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 be inspired and identify with the diverse community that came before them.
Newsroom: Seeing is believing for Chickadees
Check out this week’s newsroom, featuring a recent study on Black-capped Chickadee behavior conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta!
Science Heroes: Maria Sibylla Merian
Welcome to Science Heroes, the column highlighting incredible scientists and naturalists, such as ecologist and scientific illustrator Maria Sibylla Merian!
Field Frame Friday: Rockin’ Around the Ocean Floor
While some of us are rockin’ around adorning our bristly Christmas tree tops with twinkling stars, brittle stars (Class: Ophiuroidea) adorn sea floors around the world. This little star, found on the shores of western France, has relatives in the tropical reefs of Hawaii, the sediments of the Arctic, and even floors of the deep…
Arts & Crafts: Happy Holidays!
Our young explorer wants to wish you a peaceful holiday with this dove sketch!
Field Notes: Ewe Wouldn’t Believe How Sheep Behave!
It has been two and a half years of collecting data for my oxymoronically entitled study, “An assessment of consistent individual differences during human-animal interactions in the pre and post-natal period in rangeland ewes”. Ewes are female sheep for those of ewe that do not know. I say my study seems like an oxymoron because prior to…
Creature Feature: Manatees
Many of us have slowed down our fast-paced lives during the pandemic, so it’s hard to recall how differently we lived last year. The morning grind to beat rush hour traffic, the hurried meal we scarfed down during our brief lunch break, the rushed exercise routine we somehow managed to squeeze in on our way…
Ask A Scientist: That’s a lot of birthdays to shell-ebrate!
How old are clams?
Sunday Sketch: Party Platypus
A fact about glowing marsupials
Arts & Crafts: Sunshine and Elephant Design
Check out this young explorer’s sunny elephant design!
Creature Feature: Greater glider
That “new” mammal that made a splash over social media isn’t so new.
Sunday Sketch: If the shrew fits
Elephant shrews (now in the Family Macroscelididae) were originally classified as true shrews due to their obvious physical similarities. However, studies using actual genetic sequences to analyze evolutionary relatedness show that elephant shrews are not closely related to shrews and actually belong to an African lineage which includes aardvarks, manatees, and elephants! Sketch by Nicole…
Ask A Scientist: So many animals!
Wondering Whale asks “How do you decide what animal to study?” Good question, Wondering Whale! Deciding what animal to study depends on a few different things, but one of the first things we can do to help us decide is to think about why we want to study animals. You may have a specific scientific…
Sunday Sketch: Bird’s Eye View
What big eyes you have! Ostriches have the biggest eyes of any land vertebrates– roughly the size of a billiard ball. Sketch and fact contributed by Amelia Munson Source: Brown, L. H.; Urban, E.K.; Newman, K. (1982). “Ostriches and to Birds of Prey”. In Curry-Lindahl, Kai (ed.). The Birds of Africa. I. London, UK: Academic Press. pp. 32–37. ISBN 978-0-12-137301-6.
Arts & Crafts: Turkey Time
Happy Thanksgiving! Check out this turkey double feature from two sister explorers!
Creature Feature: Tidewater mucket mussel
If there had been a fall feast at Plymouth in the early 1600s, it probably would have included a food uncommon at modern-day Thanksgiving meals: mussels!
Sunday Sketch: Tardigrade Glow Up
A fact about tardigrade sunbathing
Newsroom: Total Umwelten, Signalling and Shared Meaning in Animal Social Groups
Check out this week’s newsroom, featuring zoologist Amelia Lewis and her paper that builds on the concept of the ‘Total Umwelt’ to discuss shared meaning and social signalling in animal social groups!
Science Heroes: Dr. Margaret S. Collins, the ‘Termite Lady’
Welcome to Science Heroes, the column highlighting incredible scientists and naturalists, such as Dr. Margaret S. Collins!
Sunday Sketch: Hot Headed
A fact about Swordfish hunting!
Arts & Crafts: Moo Moo Meadows
Check out this young explorer’s happy cow as it moseys through the meadow!
Arts & Crafts: Will a Real Wild Elephant Please Stand Up?
Stand up tall with this young explorer’s elephant artwork!
Racial inequality in academia: The journey to equity and inclusion starts within.
Disclosure: I am not an expert on racial inequality in STEM. As a white, cisgender woman, my privilege has precluded me from enduring what my colleagues of color have experienced and from birth, this privilege has reinforced clouded perceptions of the world around me. I am still learning what it means to confront systemic racism,…
Creature Feature: Aye-ayes
Primates are known for their behavioral diversity, but perhaps no primate is as bizarre as the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis). Their black-grizzled fur, combined with bat-like ears, rodent-like incisors, and long middle finger, make them look quite spooky—right on time for Halloween!
