Lots of Stuff - Videos, Snake Bites and More!

Posted by Alex H. |0 comments

Here's the setup.  Whenever I find something I think would make an interesting post on this blog, I bookmark it with intentions of writing an article at some point.  That happens for the things with some substance, but over time, I have accumulated all kinds of internet knick-knacks that I'd like to share in one large post.

• Here's a neat one. On this website, you can view high-quality, color, streaming video of a nesting Red Tailed Hawk (tipoff from here). The nest is located in Philadelpha, PA at the Franklin Institute Building. Here's a screencap of what I saw when I visited :)

• A study has found that denim denim may guard against rattlesnake bites. Read the fine print, as the study was just measuring the amount of venom that was injected into warm saline-solution filled gloves - not necessarily accounting for physical damage or psychological damage (I think you'd be a bit freaked out if you were bit by a poisonous snake!). Nonetheless, it's an interesting read (especially since I'm always wearing denim jeans).

• A species of frog thought to be extinct in the wild for 30 years has been rediscovered on farmland in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales state of Australia. The Yellow-Spotted Bell Frogs are quite adorable and the article notes optimism for similarly-"lost" species. Seven of Australia's 216 known species of frogs have disappeared in the last thirty years.

• Impress your friends with this compendium of collective nouns for animals. Where else would you hear about a murder of ravens, a pounce of cats, or a parliament of owls?
• A punk band named REPTILES. You can listen to their music here.
• When looking for advice on how to draw reptiles, I encountered this humorously-simple description of how to draw amphibians and reptiles.
• Some great underwater photography from one of my favorite blogs, The Flying Kiwi.
• Cool fluorescent coral (via Deep Sea News):

Hope that was enough for you! I'll continue updating throughout the week as I tactfully do not do homework before finals week.

New Species Found Every Day

Posted by Alex H. |3 comments

Scientists often ask the question "How many species are there currently living on Earth?" How many do you think there are? 50, ooo? 100,000? 1 million? Estimates vary from study to study, but conservative estimates point to 7-10 million species, and other studies claim up to 100 million species. That's a lot!

Certainly, the ability to understand just how many species are currently on our planet is crucial to understanding what changes affect living things. Without baseline information, detecting trends is near-to if not impossible. (For related topics, see my posts on biodiversity here and here).

Although the estimates of the number of species varies so widely (93 million is a huge number, last time I checked), there seems to be a consensus that large and charismatic species are described more completely than, say bacteria or lichens. That is why you may find it surprising to hear that scientists find new vertebrate species all the time. Yep. A recent news article (with beautiful photos) describes species of frogs, geckos, snakes, birds, and even a flowering plant that are all new to science. If that piques your interest, here's another article (again, with great photography)

I have previously commented that taxonomy (the science of naming species) is a dying science and art. This is especially unfortunate in an era when our estimates of the number of undiscovered species on our planet are so massive! In my naive mind, a solution to this problem would be a grassroots effort in the sciences to support taxonomists and the work they do. Fellowships, labs, and doctoral positions should be competitively awarded to taxonomists in academic institutions, not just at Harvard or Oxford, but around the world. This network, coupled with online diversity indices (such as Encyclopedia of Life and GeckoWeb), will aid in conservation and education efforts destined for governmental policy. I feel declines in worldwide biological diversity are worse than eminent global warming (regardless of cause) and the only way to effectively combat those declines is via workable, worldwide diversity indices.

If you're interested in following new species discoveries, try ScienceDaily's New Species News.

Now for some animal photos. We all like those:

Article - Zoo Animals in the Snow

Posted by Alex H. |1 comments

Haven't posted in a while. Last semester was rough.

To make it up, here's a cute slideshow of animals in the snow from zoos worldwide:

http://news.discovery.com/animals/zoo-animals-in-the-snow-slide-show.html

Beautiful Anuran Photos From Vietnam

Posted by Alex H. |0 comments

Wildlife photographers' challenges are many: know a species, be there, avoid disturbing the species, use the right equipment, and prepare for failure. In my case, failure is simply avoided by taking several photos, but you can't always use such a low-effort solution.

Sometimes you have to go to great lengths to get the right photograph - like going to Vietnam.

I encourage you to experience beautiful frog photos by clicking here.

Additionally, if you have any wildlife photos you feel the whole world needs to see, send them to me at halla(at)southwestern.edu and I'll see what I can do for you.

Leopard Gecko Birthday Cake!

Posted by Alex H. |3 comments

For the man who has everything, give him a leopard gecko cake on his birthday.

The cake was inspired by my own pet leo, Bob.

Here he or she is:

PETA mustn't know about this ;)

Here are some older birthday pictures of

my mom's nifty animal cakes (I'm nine in this first one):

And a dolphin, too!

If you like cakes or laughing until your belly hurts, check out this awesome blog.

Field Trip - To the Forth Worth Zoo!

Posted by Alex H. |1 comments

My family took a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo just after school was out. Rather than drone on and on about a zoo many of you have never visited, I'll post some pictures. For larger images, click on the thumbnails.

Research Bit/Field Trip - UNDERC-East

Posted by Alex H. |0 comments

Talk about things I'm thankful for...

For the past 10 weeks of this summer, I've been trekking around night and day through the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC-East).

My reason for making the 1,500-mile journey by train and van was a program aimed at training the ecological researchers of tomorrow. Five concentrated module weeks focus on Mammalogy and Ornithology (study of birds), Aquatic Ecology, Forest Ecology (silviculture), Aquatic Ecology, and Herpetology (sweet!)

In addition to these focused module weeks, each of 24 college students (myself included) completed an original research project using the generous facilities and wildlife provided by the station (akin to an REU).

10 weeks of ecological research in the northern hardwoods taught me a great deal about ecology, physiology, and animal behavior. More importantly, however, was a practical glimpse at the research process in action. I may comment on it further in another post, but this experience gave me the insight necessary to determine that I will pursue a Ph.D. in some topic of behavioral ecology. That insight is something unable to be taught effectively in a classroom setting, and I am thankful for it.

I recommend viewing their intuitive website for a more in-depth view of the aims, history, and research of this wonderful ecological research site.

A future post will more fully explain my successful research project conducted at UNDERC-East.

Now for some pictures (image names give a brief descriptor):