A team of scientists at the University of Wyoming has provided the first empirical evidence that ungulates (hooved mammals) must learn where and when to migrate, and that they maintain their seasonal migrations by passing cultural knowledge across generations.
The results were reported today in Science.
Biologists have long suspected that, unlike many bird, fish and insect...
Towards animal-friendly machines
Semi-autonomous and autonomous machines and robots can become moral machines using annotated decision trees containing ethical assumptions or justifications for interactions with animals.
Machine ethics is a young, dynamic discipline, which primarily targets people, not animals. However, it is important that animals are kept from harm when encountering these machines since animals cannot make informed decisions...
Why leaf-eating Asian monkeys do not have a sweet tooth
Asian colobine monkeys are unable to taste natural sugars, and in fact have a generally poor sense of taste. This is according to research led by Emiko Nishi of the Primate Research Institute of Kyoto University in Japan. Nishi and her colleagues found that the receptors on the tongues of colobine monkeys do not function...
The dynamics and energetics of locomotion depend on the number of propulsive legs
Although land animals can move in many different ways, most terrestrial creatures use legs to crawl, scuttle, walk and run about. Leg propelled animals, such as mammals, insects, spiders or centipedes, feature a wealth of differently designed locomotor apparatuses and a wide range of leg numbers. In order to cover distances energy-efficiently, many terrestrial animals...
Common pesticide inhibits brain development in frogs
New research published in Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry reveals that low doses of a commonly used pesticide potentially harm the Northern Leopard frog by inhibiting their brain development.
The pesticide chlorpyifos, which has been used since 1965 in both agricultural and non-agricultural areas, had clear effects on Northern Leopard tadpoles' neurodevelopment, even in situations where the...
Burly bird gets the worm
The pecking order of garden birds is determined by their size and weight, new research shows.
In a study at bird feeders, researchers from the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) found larger species like house sparrows and greenfinches monopolised the best food and spent longer feeding than smaller birds.
Meanwhile, smaller birds...