Author: The Ethogram

The official blog of the UC Davis Animal Behavior Graduate Group.

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…

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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…

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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.

Field Frame Friday: Bike safety meets surf safety?

What are those dark purple lumps on the rocks below? The sea urchins, Colobocentrotus atratus, have earned several nicknames for their distinctive body shape, including “helmet urchin” and “shingle urchin.” Unlike other urchins covered in long, sharp spines, C. atratus have a smooth body and flattened spines. Their unique body plan helps them withstand pounding…

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