Allison Lau

Creature Feature: Saiga Antelope

The saiga antelope, also known as Mongolian saiga (Saiga tatarica), is a little-known species of antelope, recognizable by its distinctive facial features. While saiga antelope once inhabited Mongolia, the extant (i.e. current) populations of saiga antelope live in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and a small part of Russia. These antelope once ranged from France all the way…

Field Frame Friday: The Beauty of Binoculars

Anyone who’s done field work will likely agree: nature photography is super hard! This photo here was taken with a smart phone, through a pair of binoculars! If you look closely, you can spot a moustached tamarin (Saguinus mystax). Not picture here: four other tamarins further along the branch! [Photo and caption by Allison Lau]…

Field Frame Friday: Cicada Chimney

What’s this mud spire doing in the middle of the jungle? Some cicada species, like the creator of this muddy tiny tower here, build mud chimneys to protect themselves from predators and harsh weather like rainforest storms! [Photo and caption by Allison Lau] Béguin, C. F. (2020). The Nymph Architect of the Cicada Guyalna chlorogena:…

Field Frame Friday: Safety First

Field work can often be an adventurous endeavor and planning for the possibility of problems is just as important as preparing for exciting research. At UC Davis, there is an entire Field Safety Research Team dedicated to facilitating safe field research. The field safety team provides consultations on how to minimize risk while in the field. One…

Field Notes: Peru Pilot Trip

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a good deal of research was put on pause to protect the health of our global community and the animals we work with. While the pandemic is still an ongoing threat, some researchers have been able to safely resume data collection. The field notes shared here are from my September 2021 pilot field…

Creature Feature: Giant anteater

Learn more about our ant loving friends!

Field Frame Friday: Jungle Documentary Secret

If you’ve ever enjoyed the beautiful cinematography of a jungle nature documentary, we have news for you! Your expectation of what a rainforest looks like might be a bit skewed. Rainforests are some of the most biodiverse places in the world, and documentaries often make it look like these forests are chock-full of lianas and…

Field Frame Friday: Dreamin of Field Work

The past year’s global pandemic has changed research timelines for us all. But it hasn’t stopped researchers from getting ready for upcoming field seasons! These bright, shiny new audio moths sit around dreaming of the day they’ll be deployed in the Peruvian Amazon and finally get to capture the songs of titi monkeys. Until then,…

Field Frame Friday: Anthropomorphism never looked so cute.

This four-month-old titi monkey (Plecturocebus cupreus) infant stuck his tongue out at the camera! Though it’s easy to assume this behavior was intentional and comedic, due to these monkeys’ close relatedness to us humans, this little one likely was unaware of what humor is. Anthropomorphism, wherein human characteristics are given to animals or objects, is…

Field Frame Friday: Diligent Dad Duty

Pictured here, a father titi monkey carries his one-week-old infant. Titi monkeys (Callicebinae spp.) show biparental care, in which the father does the majority of infant care and carrying. The mother nurses, but dad is on duty 24/7! [Photo by Alexander Baxter, Caption by Allison Lau] Mendoza, S. P., & Mason, W. A. (1986). Parental…