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Showing posts with the label biologists

Tree frog thought to have died out more than a century ago has been rediscovered in India

The discovery was made by renowned Indian biologist Sathyabhama Das Biju and a team of scientists, in the jungles of north-eastern India. It is hoped the frogs might now be found across a wide area, from China to Thailand. Studies of the frog have also led scientists to reclassify it as an entirely new genus.The golf ball-sized frog lives in tree holes up to 6m (19ft) above ground, which may have helped it stay undiscovered. Although other scientists have suggested it may have gone unnoticed simply because there are so few scientists working in the remote region. The height at which they live is not their only quirk, with females laying their fertilised eggs in tree holes filled with water, only to return after the tadpoles hatch, to feed them with unfertilised eggs. Unlike most frogs, adults also eat vegetation rather than insects and larvae.The newly uncovered frogs were first found by accident in 2007, during a search for other animals. Mr Biju,...

Tarantulas evolved blue colour eight times

That is the conclusion of a study by US biologists, exploring how the colour is created in different tarantula species. The hue is caused by tiny structures inside the animals' hairs, but those shapes vary across the family tree. This suggests, the researchers say, that the striking blue is not driven by sexual selection - unlike many other bright colours in the animal kingdom. This argument is also supported by the fact that tarantulas have poor colour vision, and do not appear to show off their hairy blue body parts during courtship.Nonetheless, Bor-Kai Hsiung and his colleagues found that 40 out of 53 groupings (genera) of tarantula exhibit a very vibrant blue. "We collected published data and constructed a super-tree, which combined the previous published small trees," said Mr Hsiung, a PhD student at the University of Akron in Ohio and the first author of the study, published in Science Advances. They then mapped blueness onto that evolutionary tr...

The deep, growling roar of the howler monkey have less sperm, according to biologists

A study by an international team of scientists has revealed that the primates either develop big voices, or big testes - but not both. Scientists made the discovery while trying to understand the "evolution of the animals' incredible roars". The findings suggest such evolutionary trade-offs may be more common that previously thought. They are published in the journal Current Biology.Howler monkeys are named for their impressive howling roars - sounds they make to intimidate rivals and impress potential mates. And their anatomical musical instrument is a bone in their throat called the hyoid bone, which acts as a resonator So, while their vocal folds act like the strings of an instrument, the hyoid bone is the body - and its size relates directly to the depth of their howl."Females find a deeper howl more attractive," explained lead researcher Dr Jake Dunn from the University of Cambridge. Looking at research into the different howler monkey speci...

Plant uses raindrops to eat ants, biologists discovered

Plant uses raindrops to eat ants The team, from the University of Bristol, found that raindrops kick off very fast vibrations in the lid of the plant's jug-shaped leaves. This propels ants from the lid into the pitcher trap below, where they drown and are consumed by digestive juices. The findings, published in the journal PNAS, are based on high-speed cameras and laser vibration measurements. Using these instruments, Dr Ulrike Bauer and her colleagues recorded extremely fast movement in the lid of the pitcher leaf, after it was hit by a raindrop. Having a fast movement in a plant is unusual in itself, but having one that doesn't require the plant to invest any energy... that's something quite surprisingDr Ulrike Bauer, University of Bristol It wobbles like a stiff spring, she said. "You have a raindrop hitting the surface and that causes it to move down, fast. Then because of this spring property, it moves to a certain point and springs back. "You ge...