[the zoological association] animal sciences chat

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Fri May 21, 2021 8:33 pm

zoology

noun

xxxxthe scientific study of the behavior, structure, physiology, classification, and distribution of animals.

hello and welcome!

all lovers and scholars of the kingdom animalia are welcome here. this is a catch-all thread for discussing any variety of animal that does not already have a dedicated thread for it (the directory can be found here). species that have dedicated threads can be talked about too, but more in-depth discussions about them should go to the appropriate threads.

rules

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Fri May 21, 2021 8:33 pm

branches under zoology

for reference

anthrozoology

arachnology

archaezoology

bionics

cetology

embryology

entomology

coleopterology

dipterology

hemipterology

isopterology

lepidopterology

melittology

myrmecology

orthopterology

trichopterology

vespology

helminthology

herpetology

batrachology

ophiology

histology

icthyology

malacology

conchology

mammalogy

morphology

nematology

ornithology

palaeozoology

pathology

primatology

protozoology

taxonomy

zoogeography

zoography

zoometry

zootomy

source

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Fri May 21, 2021 8:33 pm

joining form

Code: Select all: [b]username:[/b] [b]favorite animal overall?[/b] [b]favorite mammal?[/b] [b]favorite reptile?[/b] [b]favorite amphibian?[/b] [b]favorite bird?[/b] [b]favorite fish?[/b] [b]favorite invertebrate?[/b] [b]favorite extinct animal?[/b] [b]favorite (by your standards) underrated animal?[/b] [b]favorite branch of zoological science?[/b] [b]what animals have you seen in person?[/b] [b]what animals can be found in your area?[/b] [b]do you create media related to animals (art, writing, crafts, etc.)?[/b] [b]have you ever wanted to work with animals?[/b] [b]what animals do you hope to see in person one day?[/b] [b]give me an animal fact![/b]

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Sun May 23, 2021 11:55 pm

posting is open!

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Mon May 24, 2021 12:26 am

lord howe stick insect

tree lobster

Dryococelus australis

xxx

whole book about it

A large stick insect from a remote Australian island is back from the dead.

It's hard to miss a Lord Howe Island stick insect, sometimes called a "tree lobster." Their blackish brown bodies grow to be nearly six inches long, and the robust insect has a sturdy abdomen and six long legs.

For decades it appeared to be extinct, but new DNA research reveals that may not be the case. To understand the insect's complicated and sudden revival, you have to go back to a small island as it was 100 years ago.

The massive population decline of these stick insects began with a shipwreck in 1918, on their namesake Lord Howe Island, a small, lush landmass jutting out of the ocean off the east coast of Australia. In addition to its crew, the ship contained a horde of rats that quickly invaded. With no larger mammals to predate on the rats, their population exploded. The stick insect was eventually classified as extinct in 1983, along with 12 other insect species and five bird species.

Then, in 1960, a group of rock climbers visited another small volcanic rock island nearby, named Ball's Pyramid. It was there that they found what appeared to be the dead remains of the "extinct" stick creatures. It wasn't until 2001 that researchers returned to Ball's Pyramid. Atop a tea tree, 213 feet above sea level, sat a few living examples of what appeared to be Lord Howe Island stick insects.

In the year that followed, several of the insects were collected and placed in a captive breeding program at the Melbourne Zoo.

national geographic article by sarah gibbens

Before 1918, the Lord Howe Island Phasmid was abundant on Lord Howe Island, its presence detectable by heaps of excrement at the base of trees in forests. It disappeared rapidly from the island after the introduction of Black Rats (Rattus rattus) in 1918. Rats probably ate the eggs and young nymphs rather than the adults. By 1935, the species was considered rare, if not extinct. Since then, surveys on the island for the Phasmid have not located any indication of its presence, and the species is considered to be extinct on the island.

In the 1960s, three dead Lord Howe Island Phasmids were found on Balls Pyramid, a volcanic spire 23 km south-east of Lord Howe Island. Despite many attempts, no live individuals were found at Balls Pyramid until a survey team of scientists found three live individuals and two eggs in February 2001.

The size of the Lord Howe Island Phasmid population on Balls Pyramid is not known. Only three live individuals were found, and they were all located in one bush. Based on the quantity of excreta below the bush, the population at the site is unlikely to exceed 10 individuals. The likelihood of there being additional individuals at other sites on the Pyramid is low, as there is little suitable habitat, and much of the suitable habitat was surveyed in February 2001.

In summary, Lord Howe Island Phasmid has declined by at least 99% since 1918. Therefore, the species is eligible for listing as critically endangered under this criterion.

environment.gov.au

The long-term viability of the population is also complicated by the possibility that there appear to be no males in the remaining population. The three individuals recently found were females, and of the three specimens collected in the 1960s, two were females and one was an immature Phasmid. Some scientists speculate that the females may be breeding asexually, with unfertilised eggs developing into clones of the parent female. If so, the population may be less adaptable in the face of a changing environment compared to a sexually reproducing population.

environment.gov.au

propose the eradication of the invasive rats on the island

Zoos Victoria’s Priority Species
LORD HOWE ISLAND STICK INSECT PDF

Museum Genomics Confirms that the Lord Howe
Island Stick Insect Survived Extinction PDF

San Diego Zoo

zoo.org.au

Wikipedia page

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Mon May 24, 2021 12:43 pm

Blackwater diving is a recreational form of scuba diving that occurs during the dark of night. Descending into the epipelagic zone (0-200 m), divers sweep lights to illuminate organisms, many of which have risen from the deep ocean to feed under the cover of darkness. Most of these divers are also photographers, and as they encounter beautiful and bizarre creatures they are able to capture mesmerizing photographs of organisms few people in the world have seen alive.

Even experts know little about the world of these open water species. What we do know about them comes from the specimens collected using large nets, which are then preserved in jars for later study. Because the specimens are removed from the environment and often damaged, it’s a method hardly ideal for understanding the true nature of their lives in the midwater.

Blackwater Divers Illuminate Sea Life at Night

national geographic has a slideshow with more images.

this underwater photography magazine goes into how these images are captured.

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Thu Jun 10, 2021 1:43 pm

the american museum of natural history!

Say “hi” to the Plush-crested Jay (Cyanocorax chrysops)! It lives throughout south central and eastern South America, where it inhabits forests, open woodlands, and scrub. The gregarious bird can make a wide variety of sounds, sometimes mimicking other birds or humans. It might even make calls with no particular purpose!
Photo: Sergey Pisarevskiy, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, flickr

Did you know? The spotted bat (Euderma maculatum) has the largest ears of any bat in North America. Its ears are nearly as long as its body! This winged mammal has a vast range that spans parts of Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Like other bats, it uses echolocation to get around and find prey. The calls of most bats are too high-pitched for humans to hear, but the calls of the spotted bat are an exception!
Photo: Paul Cryan , U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Can you see where the Crimson-rumped Toucanet’s (Aulacorhynchus haematopygus) name comes from? This colorful bird lives in parts of South America, including Ecuador and Venezuela. It inhabits forests and shrubland, where it spends its time foraging for fruits and invertebrates. It’s a social animal and can be spotted in a pair or a small group making bark-like vocalizations.
Photo: Alejandro Bayer Tamayo, CC BY-SA 2.0, flickr

My gallery · by **zoocyte** » Wed Jun 16, 2021 3:28 pm

Illustration of Smilodon fatalis cubs playing together. (Danielle Dufault © Royal Ontario Museum)

Two new studies published this year have underscored the fact that sabercats required some of the same family ties that today’s big cats rely upon. Some young sabercats may have stayed with their parents for two years or more as they waited for their impressive fangs to come in. Those parents likely played an essential role in teaching their saberkittens how to catch and eat food, including dragging mammoth legs home to chew on. Together, these studies help highlight how sabercat behavior evolved to cope with a world in which many carnivorous species—from dire wolves to giant bears—competed for prey.

smithsonianmag.com by riley black

Smilodon were not born with their impressive fangs. Saberkittens, like most mammals, had milk teeth that they eventually lost as their adult teeth came in. In this case of Smilodon, this took at least 14 months. But the Smilodon siblings from Ecuador were even older than that, likely about two years old at the time they died. “What was surprising wasn’t so much that there were siblings with a parent,” Reynolds says, “but that these siblings seemed to be quite old while still being with a parent.”

Modern tigers are usually independent of their mothers at this age, yet, Reynolds and coauthors point out, young lions are often still with their mothers at this time. Given how long it took for young Smilodon to grow their fangs, the cubs may have stuck with their mothers for another year or two as they learned to hunt and put that cutlery to work.

smithsonianmag.com by riley black

The connection offers more evidence that Smilodon was a social cat, an idea proposed based on the sheer number of Smilodon bones found at La Brea. “Living big cats that are highly social stay with the pride they were born in much longer,” Reynolds notes. A social setting allows cats to spend a longer time growing up, learning from the adults and playing with other cats their own age. More research is needed on the idea, Reynolds says, but the fact that Smilodon took so long to grow up might mean that these hunters were not solitary stalkers, but rather social predators that relied on each other.

smithsonianmag.com by riley black