possums, predators, and biocontrol

Australian brush-tailed possum, Trichosurus vulpecula

Featured image from https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/native-animals/native-animal-facts/brush-tailed-possum   Recently I shared this Spinoff article about extinction on Twitter, & tagged the Science Learning Hub as the NZ focus makes the article a good fit with their mahi supporting student learning. But I was somewhat surprised to have someone else pop up saying that they wouldn’t read it because, […]

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poor little pangolins – driven to destruction by human greed & stupidity (redux)

When I wrote this, 5 years ago, pangolins were in deep strife due to human greed & stupidity (plus a side order of habitat destruction). I saw this bittersweet video on Twitter today, & thought I’d repost my original article, since nothing has changed. Baby Pangolin ❤️ pic.twitter.com/DyuRU6OwYm — Sunlit Rain (@Earthlings10m) February 12, 2023 […]

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a fishy story: midas cichlids in nicaraguan lakes

https://pixabay.com/photos/astronotus-fish-cichlid-aquarium-3528098/

Midas cichlids (Amphilophus spp.) are a popular aquarium fish, but in the wild they’re found in South America, ranging from Nicaragua to Costa Rica. The 2018 Schol Bio paper included a really interesting question about a Nicaraguan ‘species complex‘ of these fish, based on a paper in Nature Communications. and a monograph in Cuadernos de […]

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controversy? or manufactroversy?

A few days ago, New Zealand’s Minister of Education announced the wider release of a resource on climate change, which was initially trialled at a Christchurch school during 2018. According to the Minister, children will learn about “the role science plays in understanding climate change, aids understanding of both the response to it and its impacts […]

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