home > current
living world news > living
world archive: Apr-Jun 2010
Living world news archive: April-June 2010
Orang-utan language identified
(Jun 18, 2010)
Orang-utans communicate intelligently using gestures, researchers
have found. British scientists who spent nine months observing
the great apes in three European zoos identified 40 frequently
used body language signals. These were employed repeatedly to
send messages such as "I want to play", "give it to me", "go away",
"follow me", or "stop doing that".
Read
more. Source: The Independent |
Humpback whales form friendships that
last years
(Jun 7, 2010)
Humpback whales form lasting bonds, the first baleen whales known
to do so. Individual female humpbacks reunite each summer to feed
and swim alongside one another in the Gulf of St Lawrence, off
Canada, scientists have found. Toothed whales, such as sperm whales,
associate with one another, but larger baleen whales, which filter
their food, have been thought less social.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Deep sea fish 'mystery migration' across
Pacific Ocean
(Jun 4, 2010)
Deep sea fish species found in the north Pacific Ocean have mysteriously
been caught in the southwest Atlantic, on the other side of the
world. It is unclear how the animals, a giant rattail grenadier,
pelagic eelpout and deep sea squid, traveled so far. Their discovery
15,000km from their usual home raises the possibility that deep
sea currents can transport animals from one polar region to another.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Monster colossal squid is slow not fearsome
predator
(May 7, 2010)
The world's largest invertebrate is not a fast and voracious predator
as previously thought, say scientists. The colossal squid, a creature
once linked to maritime myth and feared as a sea monster, is really
a slow drifting animal that ambushes unwitting prey. That conclusion
was reached by studying the physiology and feeding habits of other
deep sea species and scaling up to the colossal squid's huge size.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Chimps 'feel death like humans'
(Apr 27, 2010)
Chimpanzees deal with death in much the same way as humans, studies
suggest. Scientists in Scotland filmed a group of chimps grooming
and caressing an elderly female who died, and remaining subdued
for several days afterwards. Other researchers saw females carrying
around the bodies of their dead children. Both studies are reported
in the journal Current Biology.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Clever New Caledonian crows can use
three tools
(Apr 21, 2010)
New Caledonian crows have given scientists yet another display
of their tool-using prowess. Scientists from New Zealand's University
of Auckland have found that the birds are able to use three tools
in succession to reach some food. The crows, which use tools in
the wild, have also shown other problem-solving behavior, but
this find suggests they are more innovative than was thought.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Census offers glimpse of oceans' smallest
lifeforms
(Apr 19, 2010)
An unprecedented number of tiny, ocean dwelling organisms have
been catalogued by researchers involved in a global survey of
the world's oceans. One of the highlights was the discovery of
a vast "microbial mat", covering an area equivalent to the size
of Greece. Microbes are estimated to constitute up to 90% of all
marine biomass.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
First oxygen-free animals found
(Apr 8, 2010)
Scientists have found the first animals that can survive and reproduce
entirely without oxygen, deep on the floor of the Mediterranean
Sea. The team, led by Roberto Danovaro from Marche Polytechnic
University in Ancona, Italy, found three new species from the
Loricifera group. He told BBC World Service they were about a
millimeter in size and looked like jellyfish in a protective shell.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
Giant lizard species discovered in the
Philippines
(Apr 7, 2010)
A new species of giant lizard has been discovered in the Philippines.
The 2m-long reptile is a monitor lizard, the group to which the
world's longest and largest lizards belong. The monitor, described
as spectacular by the scientists who found it, lives in forests
covering the Sierra Madre mountains in the north of the country.
Read
more. Source: BBC |
BACK TO TOP
|
You are here:
Home
> Living world news
> Living world archive
Apr-Jun 2010
Other news sections
Latest science news
Archeo news
Eco news
Health news
Living world news
Paleo news
Robot diaries
Strange news
Tech news
Also on this site:
Encyclopedia of Science
Encyclopedia of Alternative
Energy and Sustainable Living
News archive
Bookshop
Contact
|
