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Tag: animal behaviour

if fish had nightmares, these spiders would feature in them

June 19, 2014 | Alison | animal behaviour, animal diversity, new science stories

If asked, "what do spiders eat?", my answer would probably include insects, spiders, other arthropods, and maybe birds. I'd never have thought of fish! And yet it seems that fish-eating by spiders is, if not common, then not exactly rare, although other food items still account for most of the spiders' diets. In a paper […]

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something reassuringly disgusting…

May 4, 2014 | Alison | animal behaviour, animal diversity

This post's title comes from Something Fishy where, talking about sea cucumbers, Illya wrote "But there's something else they can do. Something reassuringly disgusting. Something totally Sea Cucumber." I was mildly let down to find he was talking about bioluminescence, & not self-evisceration. Yes, that's right. When threatened (or repeatedly prodded by some uncouth human […]

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a strange but beautiful bird

April 30, 2014 | Alison | animal behaviour, animal diversity

In terms of plumage and behaviour, some of the birds of paradise have to be strong contenders in any 'most unusual' list. I mean, take a look at this: (Image source: Wikpedia (Creative Commons)) This is a male Wilson's Bird of Paradise (Cicinnurus respublica), a species that's found only on a couple of small islands […]

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‘slow life’ – corals and anemones strut their stuff

March 29, 2014 | Alison | animal behaviour, animal diversity, education

When I was a kid we used to go to the beaches of the Mahia peninsula most weekends. (Well, memory says 'most weekends' – it might not have been that often!). Sometimes we'd stop at the sweeping sandy shores of Blue Bay, but on other days we'd go round to the exposed rocky coast & […]

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it’s not all fun & games being a crocodile, you know

March 9, 2014 | Alison | animal behaviour, ecology

Crocodiles (& their relatives, alligators) are generally viewed as top predators. They're 'ambush' hunters1, lunging up out of the water to snatch at their prey at the last moment. But sometimes, they come off second-best. Check out this video on the National Geographic site, of a jaguar stalking, catching, & killing a caiman. And how […]

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of whale poo, wolves, and spiny s*x

February 20, 2014 | Alison | animal behaviour, ecology, humour

Whales – competing with us for food, or helping to sustain the phytoplankton production on which most life in the oceans depends? The story and video at this link make a good case for the latter.  Then there's the wolves – their return to Yellowstone Park in the US has led to a whole cascade […]

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why did the pigeon cross the road?

November 19, 2013 | Alison | animal behaviour, education

if I lived in Hawkes Bay I'd be keen to attend this Royal Society public lecture, & I'll certainly be watching the video, which will be available after. It looks like being of interest & value to senior Biology teachers. The ninth lecture in the 10X10 series   Why did the pigeon cross the road? […]

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a creeping assassin

November 4, 2013 | Alison | animal behaviour, animal diversity, evolution

The daughter & her friends play Assassin's Creed from time to time. This little arachnid would fit right in: Photo: Jeremy Miller For this is an assassin spider, one of a number of species (in the superfamily Palpiamanoidea) that prey on other spiders. The assassin spiders have a long history: a combination of fossil & DNA evidence suggests […]

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a beautiful nightmare

September 10, 2013 | Alison | animal behaviour, animal diversity

A few weeks back I briefly mentioned the 'bobbit worm' – a rather large polychaete worm of scary appearance (a friend said 'nightmarish' was closer to the mark) and predatory habits. I've noticed on Facebook how interest in any particular subject seems to come in waves, and so it is with this creature.  For via […]

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is this a coat of many colours?

August 21, 2013 | Alison | animal behaviour, animal diversity

I had to look twice at this undersea Liberace-lookalike before recognising it as an octopus (more precisely, a blanket octopus, Tremoctopus sp.) These beautiful creatures live in the open ocean where they grow up to 2m long. The female in this image (thanks, Science Alert) has unfurled a sort of cape (called a ‘web’ in […]

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Swan girl - portrait of the author as a young scientist This blog in response to comments from secondary school biology teachers. I hope to use it as a way of encouraging critical thinking, looking at scientific papers that are relevant to the Level 3 curriculum and to Scholarship.

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