Who’s Your Daddy?
For marine flatworms, Pseudoceros bifurcus, “Who’s your daddy?” is a loaded question. As hermaphrodites, marine flatworms have both male and female sexual organs (Nelson, 2010). They engage in a battle of “penis fencing” to determine who will be a dad,…
The Secret of A Hippo’s Silky Skin Regime
While most people cool off under a high-powered fan or equip themselves with umbrellas to fight the mighty sunrays, the hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibious has its own way of shielding itself – and in it lies the secret to their silky…
Pigs Won’t Fly, But Squids Will
I used to think that pigs, much less squids, could never sprout wings and fly. But our tentacled friend has sure come close to this absurdity. It may not have wings, but the Ommastrephes bartramii, more conveniently known as the Squid,…
Lion King Re-match: Simba versus Scar, the Latter Should Prevail as the True King in Nature?
Lions (Panthera leo) are in many ways unique amongst its feline relatives. For one, the lions are social while all other cats are solitary hunters. In that respect, the lions exhibit more semblance toward the wolves and hyenas. However, it is…
One-legged Pink Beauties
While looking at the brilliant pink Flamingo at the zoo, have you ever wondered why Flamingos stand on one leg? There are many suggestions as to why Flamingos favor this one-legged stance but no one knows for sure until researcher…
Agonistic sounds of cheetah
Name: Low Jing Yong A0072155L Group 11 The animal that I will be discussing is Acinonyx jubatus, which is also commonly known as cheetah. Cheetah is one of the more vocal felids and actually made different type of…
Bzzz! Bees get a caffeine buzz too
Many of us need our daily cup of coffee to get ourselves awake, and some of us are even addicted to the caffeine and can’t go without it. A new study has revealed that bees may similarly like caffeine to,…
How Emperor Penguins “Flirt” Before Having Sex
Fans of “How I Met Your Mother” would know that Robin loves how emperor penguins would bow to each other before mating (Youtube, 2008). This is interesting because human bow means respect and thus I researched more. The largest…
Why cats behave the way they do around catnips
“Cat getting high from catnip,” by Aaron Rift. YouTube, 20 April 2009. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvsFJQt8MIM (accessed on 4 Apr 2013) The above video shows how a cat react after being exposed to a toy sprayed with catnip. The reactions shown…
Panda: CUTE? Wait till you see their dark side…
Have you ever heard of Panda (scientific name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca) eating their own children? Well I did, and I was disgusted. Although researchers found that infanticide is commonly practiced in the animal community, having cute animals like the panda eating their…
Oh it’s you again!
You might have heard of the mockingbirds, but are you able to recognize a mockingbird – maybe a yes. But are you able to differentiate one mockingbird from another – highly unlikely. The Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) are definitely better than…
Suicide bomber ant?
I recently came across an interesting cartoon about Camponotus saundersi, a species of ant commonly found in Malaysia and Brunei. The cartoon below sparked a curiosity about the fact that the Camponotus saundersi can explode. It turns that ants have…
Polar Bears are Clean Freaks?
Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) spend a great deal of their time grooming their coat throughout the day. After feeding, they make sure they remove all blood and fat that had contaminated their fur coat by swimming, grooming and rolling on fresh…
Who wants to live forever?
Living forever seems like a dream come true for humans and is thought to be something from legends, myths or science fiction. Not for the Turritopsis nutricula, also known as the immortal jellyfish. The immortal jellyfish grows to about 5…
Bonobos: Female Dominance in a Bi-sexual Primate Society
The bonobo, Pan paniscus, is a great ape that belongs to the same genus as the chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes. Both primates share about 98% of the same genes as humans. (De Waal 1995) Bonobos are known for engaging in…
Adapted Catfish: The Pigeon-Grabbers
Animals use numerous foraging strategies to capture their prey – many even find ways to obtain prey that lie outside their ecosystem boundaries. Recently, scientists discovered a freshwater catfish population intentionally beaching themselves to catch and consume birds. Many…
Survival Instincts Before Birth?!
Every animal is differently endowed with natural instincts to protect themselves from predators, but have you heard of instinct endowment even before birth? Hatching early from their eggs when startled by potential predators, the delicate skink (Lampropholis delicata) is endowed…
Superb Lyrebird (Nature’s own sound recorder) can even mimic artificial sounds
(BBCWorldwide, 2007) The Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) is a pheasant-sized bird commonly found in Australia. Its diet includes small invertebrates on forest grounds or among rotting logs. A male has elegant tail feathers which he fans out during courtship display….
Can I Have This Dance, Please?
Set against a thick blanket of snow and sparse trees, the choreography of the Japanese cranes’ (Grus japonensis) dance documented by Discovery channel is indeed a sight to behold. Every forceful flap…
Goats yell like humans… Because they knew you were trouble?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpccpglnNf0 If you’re among the millions who have heard the last remix of Taylor Swift’s hit song ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’, or other related videos of goats yelling like humans, you must have wondered why these goats yell like…
Even elephants can have feelings too!
Elephants are one of the most highly intelligent animals in the world. They are among the most emotionally expressive creatures! Elephants experience an array of emotions similar to human beings such as sadness, joy, love, jealousy, fury, grief, compassion and…
Nobody wants to be your mama! Flatworms Battle in Sex
Flatworms, Phylum platyhelminthes, are hermaphrodites, therefore having both male and female reproductive organs, they can inseminate and be inseminated (Jaro, 2010). As a result of this sexual conflict, sex can turn into an ugly battle where each wants to be…
Mating Behaviour- Faithful, maybe not.
In the context of a committed relationship, we would always expect our partner to remain faithful, loving, monogamous. Both physically and emotionally, we don’t stray. Unsurprisingly, some animals mating behaviour are similar to us. Such ‘expectations’ has its roots in…
The Moth Whisperer
Did you know that bats, Chiroptera, do not originally have to ability to echolocate when hunting? Echolocation is an ability possessed by the bat to “send out sound waves and listen for echoes bouncing off objects, including prey.” (Handwerk, 2008)….
Unicorns of the sea
Unlike its mystical counterpart commonly found in fairy tales and on girly bedsheets, these marine mammals indeed do exist. (Image by Paul Nicklen/National Geographic) The Narwhal (scientific name Monodon monoceros) is a toothed whale, or odontoceti, predominantly found in the…
Eastern Hog-nosed snake: Probably Nature’s best actor.
Have you ever tried to bluff and pretend your way through a difficult situation? Like acting tough in front of bullies to avoid being hit? Or acted like you were ill at the polyclinic in front of the doctors to…
For an Orangutan, does age matter?
The male Sumatran Orangutans, Pongo pygmaeus abelli, are able to delay puberty for up to ten years in order to…
Balloon in water…wait what??
The Portuguese Man-of-War (Physalia physalis) is commonly mistaken to be a jellyfish due to its jelly-like outer appearance and tentacles, but does not belong to that family. It is instead, a colony of organisms called polyps (or zooids) which…
BloodSHOT Eyes!!!!!
The Regal Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma solare) is found in Sonora desert and Sinoloa of Mexico and Arizona of United States. This species of lizard tends to choose dry, hot and sandy environment as their habitat. It has one row of lateral abdominal…
Crows: Not your typical bird brain
When people think of intelligent animals, chimpanzees and dolphins come to mind. Widely regarded as nothing more than a pest, the crow is far more intelligent than it lets on. Tool usage is one of the hallmarks of animal intelligence. While…
Why did the meerkat cross the road?
In the natural environment, animals encounter numerous threats and have thus developed various behavioral responses (ETH Zürich, 2013). The Meerkat, Suricata suricatta, has similarly developed an interesting response to man-made dangers such as when crossing a road. In meerkat social…
Monkey See Monkey Do!
The Rhesus Macaque, scientifically known as the Macaca mulatta (Ferrari et al., 2006), socially learns its behavior during early stages of life by imitating facial movements presented in front of them! (Ferrari et al., 2006) This is due to their…
BLOODSHOT!
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3013/2422746652_b066733992.jpg WHAT A BEAUTY! This is none other than the Regal Horned Lizard or to be more specific, Phrynosoma solaris. Regal means of notable excellence or magnificence and it can be clearly described by the appearance of this lizard….
A Wild Leap of Faith!
Sure dolphins and whales are able to co-exist in the same habitat, but it also seems that they just might be friends too. The humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncates) particularly were seen frolicking about and playing…
BLOODY Awesome: Reflex Bleeding (Autohaemorrhaging)
“World’s Weirdest: Blood-Squirting Lizard’” by National Geographic. NatGeo Wild Youtube Channel, 30 January 2013. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgB4u6Mgy2M (accessed on 20 March 2013) Bloody Awesome Defence ‘Blood-squirting’ sounds like a scene ripped out of horror movies, but this action can be found…
Quantum Biology! – The ‘Super’ Bird’s-Eye View: Magnetic Vision.
The intriguing yet unfathomable conquest of birds migrating across continents has remained an unanswered question for many years and is one of the world’s most famous scientific mysteries. Studies have suggested that birds, amongst other animals, are able to navigate using…
Master of Mimicry? Untangling the Impossssster from the Authentic
Batesian mimicry is the process by which a palatable animal or plant species evolves to mimic an unpalatable animal or plant. The idea is that the predator drives natural selection by learning to avoid the unpalatable species, as well as…
The Harmless Devil
The Thorny Devil, Moloch horridus, may look as scary as its name, but it is one of the world’s most harmless lizards. This lizard is one-of-its-kind as it is the only species in its genus. The Thorny Devil…
Would you hold me forever?
Introduction In 2007, visitors to the Vancouver Aquarium uploaded to YouTube a video of two otters holding hands while sleeping in their tank (see below)[10]. This video skyrocketed and till date, it has 18million viewers. In 2010, Time magazine nominated…
The Cyclops of the Animal Kingdom
Cyclops of the X-Men is one comic book superhero that needs no introduction. It would come as no surprise if the creator of this fictional character had actually drawn inspiration from the Texas horned lizard’s (Phrynosoma cornutum) ocular-sinus blood spitting…
3…2…1 Bang!
The Bullseye Snapping Shrimp, Alpheus soror, is under the family Alpheidae of caridean snapping shrimp. The general body of a Bullseye Snapping Shrimp is pale orange/yellow coloured and has bright purple claws and legs. It can be easily differentiated…
Seal, You Think You Can Dance?
Gangnam Style? Harlem Shake? Now even a Seal can dance! Ronan the sealion, (credits: University of California, Santa Cruz) The ability to entrain, which is to consistently keep beat to auditory stimuli was first discovered in 2009 amongst animals with…
Make Love, Not War
The Pan paniscus, or commonly known as the bonobos, is generally known to be a peaceful animal species compared to their barbaric Chimpanzee cousins. What’s their secret? They make love, not war. Literally. The bonobos are famed for its high level…
The Enchanting Pebble
The Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a species of penguin common along the entire Antarctic coast. Distinctive marks are the white ring surrounding the eye and the feathers at the base of the bill. It’s tail is a little longer than other penguins’ tails….
Escaping predators that have a taste for the exotic
The European Hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, is covered with a thorny coat of spines on its back. An adult hedgehog can have up to 7,000 spines! When threatened, the hedgehog curls up into a tight ball where its spines serve as…
Liar, Liar, Fur on Fire
A conservative estimate states that people lie at least once a day (Saad, 2011) but the truth is this number may very well be a lie. However, are humans the only species in the animal kingdom that are capable of deceptive…
Born with a ‘fishing bait’
Alligator snapping turtles, Macrochelys temminckii, are the largest freshwater turtle in North America where the average weight of a male is 80kg and the average length is 66cm. Spiked shell, beaklike jaws, as well as thick, scaled tail are distinctive features…
Brace yourselves everyone: The World’s First Sea Lion with Rhythm
A California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) has shaken up science by bobbing its head in time with music and it is the first mammal that is not capable of vocal mimicry, other than humans, that can keep a beat, according…
Knock Knock, Who’s There? – Identification of fairy-wren chicks by their mums
Before you start thinking this is yet another knock-knock joke, think again! The importance of the ability to distinguish their chicks from parasites found in their nest is no laughing matter to a mother fairy-wren. Just like how our parents…
Let’s hear what man’s best friend has got to say!
We talk to it when we are lonely. We vent our anger on it. However, we never comprehend its reply. Studies have shown that a dog (referring to domestic dogs in this case), Canis lupus familiaris, has different vocalizations that…
Sharing the love? – Nonrandom brood mixing and foster parenting in cichlid colony
Will you let a completely unrelated stranger take care of your child while you adopt someone else’s? Probably not. However, parental care of unrelated offspring has been reported in more than 120 mammal and 150 bird species!! (Riedman, 1982) Specifically,…
Satin bowerbirds: the obsessive-compulsive bachelors of the animal kingdom
Think of bachelor pads, and one pictures plasma-screen TVs, plush sofa beds, and gaming consoles. But humans aren’t the only species with a penchant for luxury housing; male satin bowerbirds skillfully construct personal ‘bachelor pads’, known as bowers, to impress…
Follow the Leader
The sheep, or Ovis aries, exhibit a strong following instinct from birth. This instinct exists in all sheep breeds but is the strongest in the fine wool breeds (Sheep 101, 2009). Since young, they are conditioned to follow the older…
Whales may be host to blood sucking fish
A study in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean has suggested that the blood-sucking sea lampreys, Petromyzon marinus, may be feeding on whales in the region. This parasitic species was photographed by observers in the region to be…
The Free Willy
The Free Willy. This is one of the show that I still remembered now since I watched it as a young kid. The touching story of the bond between a little boy and a killer whale makes me want to…
Harnessing the power of the Bee Ball!
The Japanese honeybees, Apis cerana japonica is a honeybee species that habituates in Japan. One of their most common arch-enemy is the Japanese Giant Hornet, Vespa mandarinia japonica. The Japanese Giant Hornet would usually destroy their hives, killing the bees for their…
Don’t want more ERP? Learn from the ants!
Ever heard the phrase “They’re moving like ants!” used when caught in traffic? Well, in a traffic jam, you would actually want other cars to be travelling like ants! In unidirectional ant trails, there are rarely any traffic jams (John A, Schadschneider…
Horned ghost crabs: Using camouflage based on day-night cycle and not simply environmental colours?
A study has revealed that horned ghost crabs (Ocypode ceratophthalmus) change their appearance from day to night for camouflage. The ghost crab lives in the Indo-Pacific region from East Africa to the Philippines and the Great Barrier Reef. It has extended eyestalks which point skywards resembling horns, hence…
Sea slug disposes penis, regrows within 24 hours
Today, we can pretty much find many of the things we use in disposable forms; disposable napkins, disposable cameras, disposable utensils are just the norm, but what about disposable penis? The red and white spotted hermaphrodite sea slug, Chromodoris reticulata…
Honey, I ate the kids!
Who could resist a fluffy ball with beady black eyes, little pink paws, a stubby twitching nose and tiny pointed ears? For most people who visit pet shops (including me), they peer into the glass rectangular box, watching the little…
Pistol shrimp makes full use of its ‘gun’ to survive
The bigclaw snapping shrimp (Alpheus heterochaelis) is part of the family of pistol shrimps. Pistol shrimps have one disproportionately large claw and make distinct snapping sounds when they close their claws. Its relatively small size might make it seem like…
Tiger, tiger, burning bite!
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the biggest cat in the world, and its power, majesty, and predatory grace have made it a symbol of might for many cultures in history. William Blake’s poem ‘The Tiger’ characterizes it as a powerful…
CHEATING ON PARTNER- JUSTIFIED!
How temptations of having a better mate outside their ‘bond’ pushes the Gouldian finches (Erythrura gouldiae) to cheat on their mate not just once or twice, maybe even multiple times. Figure 1: Photo showing a male (red) and female (black)…
Yummy Mummy
No, they are not the animal equivalent of Yummy Mummies like Victoria Beckham and the soon- to- be one– Kate Middleton, but rather they are LITERALLY yummy mummies to their babies. Yes, matriphagy is the consumption of…
For the Swarm! –The appearance of insectoid behavior in the naked mole-rat
For the Swarm! –How did insectoid behavior come about in the naked mole-rat First, a brief introduction on the naked mole-rat, Heterocephalus Glaber: Eusociality is a form of animal social behavior that involves a highly intricate caste system. The characteristics…
The surprising ANTic of birds
Humans have a propensity to apply the strangest things on ourselves. Do a quick search on Google and you will find breast milk soap bars, dead algae cleansers and nightingale poop cream. It turns out that humans are not the…
Sea Lion challenges notion and boogie to the beat!
You may have seen Sea lions performing in the zoo, but have you seen a sea lion bobbing its head to the music, keeping the beat like a metronome? Ronan, a 3 year old California sea lion, Zalophus californianus, an animal…
Prostituting Penguins
The Adélie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) is a type of penguin that is commonly found along the Antarctic coast. It belongs to the Family Spheniscidae and subgroup pygoscelis. The Adélie penguins are usually monogamous and they breed in large colonies. (Hunter…
Hey my brother, you look tasty!
Cannibalism is the act of any animal consuming members of its own species. I am particularly fascinated by the siblicide that takes place in the womb of a pregnant sand tiger shark (Carcharias taurus) where even before the pup is born,…
Pigeons The Messengers
Ever wondered why pigeons were trusted and relied on to deliver important messages in the old days? And how did they manage to do so…
Abnormal Hedgehog!
A video documentary on National Geographic Channel showed that hedgehogs,Erinaceus europaeus, have a weird tendency to consume the most unbelievable toxic substances such as tobacco, paint etc. After that, hedgehogs will perform self-anointing to spread the poison all over their body…
The Original MMA Champion: Red Pandas!
Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens) or otherwise known as ‘lesser’ pandas, are not easy pushovers as their name suggests. Red pandas were discovered back in 1821, much earlier than their highly popular distant relatives – the giant pandas whom were…
David Versus Goliath? Are elephants afraid of mice?
In An Early Encyclopedia published in A.D. 77 called Naturalis Historia by Pliny the Elder, he proclaims that the elephant hates the mouse above all other creatures. This has led to the folk legend that Elephants have a fear of…
There’s some bad blood between us!
Ever felt afraid by your normal household lizard? Then what about a lizard fully covered with horns that can spurt blood through its eyes? Ack. Horned lizards, also known as Phrynosoma cornutum , despite the spikes and blood that can…
Starbucks for bees?
Did you know, humans are not the only species in the animal kingdom that enjoy consuming caffeine! Recent studies have shown that when honeybees (Apis mellifera) consume small quantities of caffeine in nectar, their memory capabilities are increased. Fig. 1: The…
Monkey….? No! Octopus See, Octopus Do!
I first came across the Mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus while I was browsing the Internet. I had read about the unique plumage of birds, special mating calls and behavior, but it was my first experience learning about an octopus with…
Dung beetles: courtship behaviour and how the horny males differ
Onthophagus binodis, a specie of dung bettles, have dimorphic males: large males have horns while small males do not (Cook, 1990). The following information is obtained through an experiment involving 96 observations. During courtship, after initial physical contact between a…
Deadly Alliances: Male Dolphins engage in sexually coercive mating behaviour…in gangs!
Hi everyone! Today I’m going to talk about the Common Bottlenose Dolphin, Tursiops truncates. They belong to the family of Delphinidae and their Genus name is Tursiops. Legend has it that dolphins in Greek mythology are messengers of Poisedon. They…
3 Deaf Mice, 3 Deaf Mice, See How They Speak, See How They Speak
YOU “MOUSE” BE KIDDING? Mice Do Not Need To Hear To Learn Courtship Vocalisation?! When human babies learn to speak, they listen to the speech of the people around them, imitating their language and articulation. However, do mice require such…
Biting the Bullet: Defense Mechanisms of Bullet Ants (Paraponera clavata)
Being stung by a bee was one of the more unpleasant experiences in my life. I can still remember the lingering pain even after removing the stinger *ouch*. Entomologist Justin Schmidt compiled the sting pain index-which ranks pain on a…
New Caledonian Crow, the Only Tool Manufacturer in Animal Kingdom
We believe that human have superiority over other animals as our ancestors were able to manufacture and use tools and thus we become what we are today. However, scientists have found that “New Caledonian crows Corvus moneduloides have impressive tool…
As a pod, killer whales “wave-washed” seals
Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are fast swimming, intelligent, social animals and the largest apex predators in the ocean. They hunt in packs/pods using various tactics. Pitman & Durban (2011) report that there are three species of killer whales found in…
Love at First Bite
In the deep waters of the ocean, with conditions so severe that life seems impossible, lives the Triplewart Seadevil, Cryptopsaras couesii, a species of Anglerfish. A 5 cm standard length Triplewart Seadevil by Robin McPhee © NORFANZ Founding Parties In…
What goes on in my pocket?
The red kangaroo (Macropus rufus) is the biggest marsupial alive. (National geographic) All marsupials carry their young in a pouch until they are old enough to survive outside of it. Like all species of kangaroos, only the female red kangaroos…
Parenting 101 for Burying Beetles: Raising Kids in a Corpse
Morbid as it sounds, burying beetles (Genus: Nicrophorus) put carcasses to good use. From the video, the beetles bring the dead animal body back to its burrow. The dead body becomes a “nursery” and the narrator calls this a “home…
I’ve got my eye on you (all the time)
As humans, have you ever thought of how other animals sleep? Unlike humans who have comfortable homes and beds to sleep in, animals have to sleep in the open and are exposed to the elements and this includes the threat…
Putting Muhammad Ali to shame
While Muhammad Ali trained hard to be the great boxer that he was, the Peacock mantis shrimp, Odontodactylus scyllarus, has all the talent – it is born a natural boxing machine. Sporting two hammer-like claws, the mantis shrimp can deliver…
Unicorns do exist, maybe not?
How many of you believe in unicorns? My impression of Unicorns is that they are flying horses with a horn in front of their head. I always thought unicorns are creepy looking but still fascinating because they can be…
The Mammalian in Insect-like Dwellings
Naked mole rats, Heterocephalus glaber, are found in arid areas of Eastern Africa. Living in Colonies They inhabit in extensive burrow system underground in large colonies of up to three hundred animals. These rodents are the only known mammals with…
Taming the Wild
In the world today, there is a growing trend of holding wild animal captives and depositing them in domesticated environments such as the zoos and safaris for the viewing pleasure of the general public. The adverse change from the wild…
A Flight With Light: Mating in Photinus ignitus fireflies
A Flight With Light: Mating in Photinus ignitus fireflies Fireflies are winged-beetles found in temperate and tropical environments, which illuminate light (bioluminescence, a chemical reaction) from their abdomen (Cratsley et al 2003: 135). What distinguishes then are the ways…
The Most Strategic Hunters of the Great Ocean
The Most Strategic Hunters of the Great Ocean Photograph by Gerard Lacz/Animals Animals—Earth Scenes “Killer Whale” is what people and media call them. However, this mammals is actually are the largest dolphins kind with the scientific name is “Orcinus orca“….
Too much sex exhausts the promiscuous dumpling squid
The dumpling squid, also known as Euprymna tasmanica, are known for their promiscuous mating behavior – mating with as many partners as possible. These short-lived cephalopods can spend up to 3 hours copulating, when the males and females would appear to…
All the world’s a stage…
You notice a strange creature entering your territory. As you charge fearlessly towards it, it undergoes an astonishing transformation… into a poisonous banded sea snake! Startled, you turn and quickly flee for dear life. You are a damselfish, swimming in…
Clownfish Queue To Have Sex
All Percula Clownfish, Amphiprion percula, are born males! They are Protandrous hermaphrodites that develop into males first, then possibly to females. They form matriarchal social groups within a single Anemone, composing of a dominant breeding pair accompanied by up to…
Hey look, a dead snake!
If you happen to chance upon a snake lying with its stomach facing up, and blood spewed over it, you would probably think the snake is dead, right? Well, meet the Hognose snakes, or in particular, the Eastern Hognose Snake…
Eurasian Jays and the 6th Language of Love
Image 1: Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) (Kaisla, 2012) There are five languages of love that the world know of today, but what do we know about the animals’ love languages? According to a recent research, the Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius),…
The “Sentry” Meerkats
Meerkats (Suricata suricatta), also called suricates, are one of the commonest mammals in South Africa which belong to the mongoose family. Famous for their upright posture (standing on their rear legs and gaze alertly at the surrounding), these gregarious small…
The Master of Camouflage
One of the takeaways from LSM1303 I’m sure we all share is the understanding that animals utilize different mechanisms in their response to predatory attacks, be it with distinctive behaviours, signals or displays. These responses can be targeted towards the…
Cuckoo: They see, they mimic, they fool
“Cu-ckoo!” — A distinctive two-tone call by the male Common Cuckoo. Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes and a summer migrant to Europe and Asia. The cuckoos have an interesting behavior not commonly found in other bird…
I’m, mi-mi-mistaken…
The above title, in my opinion truly encapsulates the complexity of the animal kingdom in which the behaviour and the relationships between animals are not as simple. Through the mimicry of the weaver ants, it aims to express such complicated…
Honey, I Fostered the Kids!
Brood parasitic birds lay their eggs in the nests of others, belonging either to another individual of the parasite’s species (intraspecific behaviour) or to other species of birds (interspecific). At least 85 species of birds are reportedly interspecific brood parasites…
Cock-a-doodle-do: It’s in me!
Be it alarm tones of roosters crowing or even the nursery rhyme “Cocks crow in the morn” –roosters’ crows are often associated with the break of dawn or a new day. Previous studies have shown that crowing occurs throughout the…
Mourning for the deceased
While some animals express their concern for deceased companions (Butler, 2011), the majestic elephants certainly remember their deceased more than others. Research has shown that elephants, like humans, are concerned with deceased individuals, and they show a special interest in dead…
Alien vs Predator in real life? Introducing the Glomerata wasp!
One of the most iconic scenes in film history: watching a parasitic alien ripping through its host’s chest as it enters the world in the Alien movie franchise. The very thought of this happening in reality is shuddering, yet, there…
Pre-Birthdays. meow~
Pre-Birthday. meow~ Ever heard cats screaming in the middle of the night? It might be coming from a mating female. In today’s post that I am going to share about, the main…
An Odyssey of Thousands of Miles!
The migration of the European eel (pictured above) from their freshwater habitats in Europe to their spawning ground in the Sargasso Sea is one of the unsolved mysteries in animal navigation. Imagine having to travel thousands of kilometres without a GPS,…
“Full-mah? “ BBBBBBLLLLAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!
http://shetlandpetrels.blogspot.sg/2010_07_01_archive.html Check out this little baby bird which looks so cute and defenseless! Baby birds are at the mercy of predators. They cannot fly and will easily become lunch of a predator which comes near to their nest. That…
I welcome you to the world, gastric-brooding style.
The gastric-brooding frog, Rheobatrachus silus, was a species native to Southeast Queensland belonging to the class Anura. The species has been extinct since the mid-1980s years. They are medium in size, measuring an average of 55mm in body length….
Now you see me, now you don’t
What’s the first animal that comes to your mind when you think of camouflaging ability? CHAMELEONS!!! Well… not quite right! While chameleons are best known for that, little is actually known to the big blue octopus, Octopus cyanea,…
Slow Sloths!
One of the most viewed animal video on youtube is a video titled “Strange animal cross the road”. With over 10 million views, it featured an exceptionally slow moving animal trying to cross a busy road in Manuel Antonio, Costa…
Rise From The Grave
For those living on the East Coast of the United States, you have been warned. Sometime between mid-April to late May, millions of creatures will be invading your communities and homes. Yes, that’s right. MILLIONS. The Brood II cicadas, Magicicada…
To Grieve Is To Have Loved : Elephant Mourning
Species: Loxodonta africana of the Elephantidae family. Colloquially known as the African Bush Elephant. Video: Elephants Grieving People are most stunned when animals display behaviour or emotions that are typically thought to exist only in the human domain. Aristotle was among the first…
Battle of the NECKS
Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) are the world’s tallest animals standing at a towering height of 5-6 meters (National Geographic, 2013). And it is without a doubt that their most distinctive feature is their long slender necks (1.5-2 meters). But…
Criminals in tuxs
Penguins are not as simple as we think. Adelie penguins, otherwise known as Pygoscelis adeliae are the smallest of the Antarctic penguins. Yet, these Adelie penguins are known for being “Thief penguins” as they would be sneaking around their neighbour’s stones and…
The courting mechanism of bat
It has been discovered that bat, also known as Chiroptera, is trying every possible way to find a partner to mate even when they are in the process of finding nourishment. “A new study, published in the latest Proceedings of…
Serenading the dolphins
Dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) Dusky dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) are commonly found in the coastal waters in the Southern Hemisphere, more notably around New Zealand, South America and South Africa (Wursig & Wursig, 1980). They are known for having a…
Bumblebees are able to think logically?
Bumblebee is the common name for any member of the bee genus Bombus, found in the family Apidae. Bumblebees are hairy creatures and tend to live together in colonies. They are the most common type of bee and almost 250 species…
Till Death Do Us Part … … Or Maybe Not
Ever thought of what would lead to a union beyond death? Love? Maybe, but in the case of the deep-sea anglerfish (Photocorynus spiniceps), “practicality” is probably a better reason. Scientists who first discovered the deep-sea anglerfish were puzzled by the…
Don’t just listen. Read my lips too.
By now, most would have already accepted that we are evolved from primates. Well, at least on paper. Have you ever wondered how something as elaborate and complex as human speech could have evolved? Bergman (2013) may just have the answer…
INSERT WITTY TITLE ABOUT THE DOMESTIC DOGS HERE
On a fateful sweltering summer afternoon, on my usual bout of procrastination I chanced upon the following mind-blowing visual imagery. What you have before you is Heini Winter, dog sled racer and sled dogs extraordinaire, taking his pack of sled…
“I’m not dead!” Opossum plays possum.
Perhaps you have been told that, when facing a bear, it is best to pretend to be dead so that the bear loses interest in you. To do that, you have to remain really still and have very little…
Returning to their Roots
When growing up, we have always been taught to appreciate own roots. Well, the Salmo salar, or better known as the Atlantic Salmon, brings that saying to an all new level. Born in freshwater rivers, the Salmo salar only stays…
Fainting Goats?
Fainting Goats? *faints* Hysterical videos of these fainting goats can be found on YouTube, always giving us a good laugh. In the videos, we see that when these goats are startled, instead of being able to run away, they…
Eavesdropping: a BAT behaviour?
Bats,Nycatalus noctula, are nocturnal creatures that live in complex environments. These bats have a wide Palaearctic spread and can found in many places, with Malaysia being the location closest to us. (Csorba et. al, 2008) The bats are capable of…
Have you ever seen black and white wolves hunt in the sea?
Wolves of the sea – Killer Whale/Orca (Orcinus orca) It has been noted that in regions of ice, orcas (Orcinus orca) were observed to spyhop for seals and sometimes hit the ice from below to knock pinnipeds or penguins (Spheniscidae)…
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos): To not forgive nor forget!
John Marzluff Shows How Crows Will Recognize You If you think humans are the only creatures around that hold a grudge, think twice! A study conducted by Marzluff et al. (2010) indicates that the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) has the…
Aye-Aye captain! We’re off to Madagascar!
The Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a type of primate found to be native in the dense jungles of the island of Madagascar. Picture taken from: http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/aye-aye/ These brown or black hairy mammals are characterized by their big eyes and ears…
Dating Deception: Male Topi Antelopes Schemes for Sex
Lying to the opposite sex to get laid does not seem to be restricted to us humans anymore. While the use of mating deception in animals is not new; such as chimpanzees using false alarms to scare off competition for…
![Source: [The Guises of Mimic Octopuses]. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/files/2009/12/the_mimic_octopus_my_first_ever_post/Mimicoctopus-guises.jpg](https://blog.nus.edu.sg/lsm1303student2013/files/2013/04/Mimicoctopus-guises-ztrxz1-150x150.jpg)
And the Oscar goes to…an octopus?
Have you ever wished that you could change your appearance and look like somebody else, even if it is just for awhile? You may be surprised to know that this is entirely possible – for some animals at least, and…
Croc Files: ‘Petrified’ diet of a ‘floating log’
Often found in African water bodies, camouflaged as drift wood to unsuspecting prey, the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is the second largest surviving reptile today. Hidden within its carnivorous diet is surprisingly a variety of stones of different shapes and…
Birdsong at its best
From chainsaws, construction sounds, car alarms and camera shutters, to dogs barking and the songs of other birds, it seems that there is no sound that the Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) cannot mimic. The mimicry of human voices is rare…
The Little Architect
He pays great attention to making sure everything looks perfect. He carefully places a few flowers around, along with several interesting items: straws, shells and sticks that he picked up here and there-making sure the structure he decorated and built…
I love my cat, but does she love me?
When I wanted to get a pet, many told me to get a dog (Canis familiaris). Get a poodle, people said. Or a maltese? How about a husky? When I said I wanted a cat (Felis catus), friends were appalled….
How many carats (stones)?
Who needs diamonds? As part of their courtship behaviour, the male adeile penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, proposes pebbles to the female adelie penguin. According to The Press and Journal, “(Male) Penguins pick up mates thanks to pebbles”. Why are pebbles so important…
Turning Ants into Fools- The Ingenious Lacewing
Green Lacewings, Neuroptera: Chrysopidae, have a unique way of protecting their eggs from insect predators like ants. Unlike other insects, they do not lay their eggs directly on a plant surface. When a female lacewing has found a safe place…
The relationship between Nemo and anemone
The Amphiprion percula, also known as the clown anemonefish is made famous by the Pixar movie, “Finding Nemo”. However, not many know that the clown anemonefish can dance too! It belongs to the Family Pomacentridae and “are in the subgroup…
An ocean of stars, is it for real?
For those of you that have seen the movie ‘Life of Pi’, I am certain that you would be mesmerized by the various magical scenes shown inside the movie as Pi (the main character) was left drifting on the sea….
Sophistication of gray wolves
Gray wolves, also known scientifically as Canis lupus, are very sophisticated creatures especially in the aspects of their social interaction between members of their species and their level of intelligence. Most gray wolves are part of packs and in their…
Ever wished you were a squirrel? I did.
Ever forgotten where you left your homework, notes, or things you cannot live without –mobile phone and spectacles? Now imagine you had stored these items underground, over kilometers of land; what would your retrieval rate be weeks, or even months,…
Sloth; The Most (un)Deadly Sin
The sloth, scientifically known as Folivora, was one of the first creatures to make an existence high up in the tropical forest canopy of South America. It is a distant relative of the ant-eater and there are two kinds of…
Skip above the Mud!
Yes, mudskippers do skip above the mud, as implied by their name, but besides that, there are more things about them that make them one of the most unique and fascinating fish that is blog-worthy. A mind-blowing excerpt from David Attenborough’s BBC Life…
Do animals feel empathy?
Ask any pet owner if his pet empathizes with him, and chances are that you’d get a confident, affirmative, “Yes!”. We have plenty of anecdotal evidence suggesting that animals are able to “feel” for one another, such as this heroic…
Shedding Crocodile Tears
When someone feigns sadness, they “shed crocodile tears” – a phrase that comes from an old myth that crocodiles cry while eating. Do these scary-looking reptiles actually cry when they feed? Studies have shown that crocodiles, scientifically known as Crocodylidae,…
‘Mini-Me’s in the Animal Kingdom
Parthenogenesis: from the Greek παρθένος, parthenos, meaning “virgin”, and γένεσις, genesis, meaning “birth”. Cutting through all the science-y jargon I couldn’t explain to you anyway, having never studied Biology as separate subject, parthenogenesis is essentially the production of offspring (by a female, of course)…
Let’s go DEEP: Dracusquid
With incredible instincts of survival, some species can see even hundreds of years of life. I was browsing through the web looking for videos of creatures to bewilder myself earlier today and I got just what I wanted (and much…
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