ASPCA Fleas and ticks are two of the most frequent pet care concerns. While prevention is the best defense against these parasites, it’s important to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of fleas and ticks so you can help your pets if necessary. Fleas Fleas are the most common external parasite to plague […]
Naja nivea, the CAPE COBRA
by Steve Venom Man Cape Cobras are a medium sized cobra that usually reach around 1.5m – they have been recorded up to 2.5m in some areas but it’s not common. They have round pupils and are smooth scaled, there scales are glossy with 19-21 rows mid-body, and the sub-caudals are paired 50-68 with 195-227 […]
What Greenland’s record-breaking rain means for the planet
Willow Hallgren, Adjunct Research Fellow, Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University – 25 August 2021 For three days this month, 7 billion tonnes of rain fell across Greenland — the largest amount since records began in 1950. It’s also the first time since then that rain, not snow, fell on Greenland’s highest […]
What you may not know about Seahorses
Mark Tupper, Senior Lecturer, Marine Biology (Fisheries), University of Portsmouth Seahorses have long been a popular attraction in public aquariums, but they remain mysterious. They are a fish with a difference in that they swim in an upright, vertical position. They have flexible necks and long, tubular snouts that point downward, giving them the appearance […]
The Inquisitive Cape Robin-Chat
The Cape Robin-Chat, Cossypha caffra, is a small passerine bird of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) A song-filled, perky, shy, yet curious bird that bears an orange throat and a striking white speculum, which separates the blackish lores and ear coverts from the crown and has adapted well […]
Jacarandas in parts of South Africa are flowering earlier: why it’s a warning sign
Jennifer Fitchett, Associate Professor of Physical Geography, University of the Witwatersrand – 6 July 2021 In September each year, South Africa’s Gauteng province turns purple. The cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria are well covered with trees – and jacarandas (Jacaranda mimosifolia), with their purple blooms in late spring, are a prominent part of this urban […]
Moths do the pollinator night shift – and they work harder than daytime insects
Richard Elton Walton, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Biology, Newcastle University When you settle down for bed, after the birds and bees have hushed, moths are just starting their work. You might only see them bobbing around street lights at night, but they actually spend most of their time visiting flowers, pollinating them in the […]
Marine life is fleeing the equator to cooler waters and could trigger a mass extinction
Anthony Richardson, Professor, The University of Queensland; Chhaya Chaudhary, , University of Auckland; David Schoeman, Professor of Global-Change Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast, and Mark John Costello, Professor, University of Auckland 8 April 2021 The tropical water at the equator is renowned for having the richest diversity of marine life on Earth, with vibrant […]
Research: We’re surprisingly similar to Earth’s First Animals
The earliest multicellular organisms may have lacked heads, legs, or arms, but pieces of them remain inside of us today, new research shows. Jules Bernstein, University of California – 8 March 2021 According to a UC Riverside study, 555-million-year-old oceanic creatures from the Ediacaran period share genes with today’s animals, including humans. “None of them […]
Giant ancient sharks had enormous babies that ate their siblings in the womb
Tom Fletcher, Honorary Research Fellow in Palaeobiology, University of Leicester Made famous by the 2018 blockbuster The Meg, the largest predatory shark ever discovered, the megalodon, is a bit of a mystery. We know it lived between 15 and 3.6 million years ago and it reached at least 14 metres in length, more than double […]