Predators are a problem for Trinidad’s killifish: in streams where the problem is worst the killifish grow more brain cells, perhaps to help evade the hunters Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2226787-predators-may-make-prey-get-smart-and-grow-more-brain-cells/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: predators
Weird Triassic ‘Dragons’ Had Massive Heads. Here’s Why.
Massive skulls and jaws helped these carnivorous reptiles to become one of the Triassic’s deadliest apex predators on land. Source: https://www.livescience.com/triassic-giant-head-reptile.html
Vertebrates Became Predators By Tweaking the Neural Crest
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: Caltech scientists have discovered that a population of embryonic stem cells called neural crest cells may help explain how vertebrates progressively evolved a more and more efficient head. Neural crest cells originate within the developing central nervous system before migrating throughout the embryo. They are a major player in the development of the…
Tons of acorns in your yard? It must be a mast year
Masting is what biologists call the pattern of trees for miles around synchronizing to all produce lots of seeds – or very few. Why and how do they get on schedule? Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/mast-year-synchorized-seeds-trees…
Night vision specialists: cats, bats, and owls
Three spooky Halloween animals see better at night than we do. Here’s how they do it. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/night-vision-cats-bats-and-owls…
Humpback whale population on the rise
After a near-miss with extinction, a population of humpback whales in the South Atlantic has rebounded. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/humpback-whale-population-on-the-rise…
Giant toad looks and acts like a venomous snake to scare off predators
The Congolese giant toad looks like the head of a Gaboon viper, and it even hisses like a snake when approached – all to scare off potential predators Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2220447-giant-toad-looks-and-acts-like-a-venomous-snake-to-scare-off-predators/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tiny stature of extinct ‘Hobbit’ thanks to fast evolution
New research suggests that the tiny human species – that survived until about 18,000 years ago, later than any human species other than our own – evolved its small size remarkably quickly while living on an isolated island. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/tiny-extinct-hobbit-human-species-fast-evolution…
Deep-sea anglerfish may shed luminous bacteria into the ocean water
Bacteria in deep-sea anglerfish give the predators a luminescent glow – but despite being adapted to this lifestyle the microbes leave for the open water Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219425-deep-sea-anglerfish-may-shed-luminous-bacteria-into-the-ocean-water/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
These giant croc-like carnivores terrorized Triassic dinosaurs
Researchers have identified fossil remains as belonging to rauisuchians, predatory crocodile-like animals that fed on early dinosaurs and mammal relatives 210 million years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/extinct-giant-croclike-carnivores-triassic-rauisuchian…