South America
dr. dolittle | March 13, 2016 Image of ruby-throated hummingbird by Joe Schneid, Louisville, Kentucky (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
In a new study published in The Auk, scientists report that well-fueled older tiny Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris) might be capable of non-stop flights of over 4,000 kilometers, wind conditions permitting. They made this remarkable observation while studying birds from 2010-2014 as the animals made stopovers at a wildlife refuge during their annual migration to South America.
In general, older birds not only…
drorzel | August 18, 2010We picked up a used copy of Charles Mann's pop-archeology book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus a while back. I didn't read it at the time, because I was a little afraid that it would be rather polemical in what I think of as the Neil Young mode-- wildly overstating the awesomeness of pre-Columbian cultures, and exaggerating the evil of the European invaders (Neil's recorded some great stuff, but the lyrics to "Cortez the Killer" are pretty dopey). It came up several times recently in discussions elsewhere, though, and seemed like it would make a nice break from the…
pjaniszewski | June 9, 2010As our regular readers will recall, my partner, Marina, and I are travelling for the summer throughout South America as a means to celebrate the successful defense of both of our PhDs (Read about our travel adventures). Last week I discussed the dietary habits on the Galapagos islands.
This week I will discuss my experience at a local indigenous food market in Latacunga, Ecuador - a town a couple hours south of Quito.
Sitting on a filthy butcher's table with legs spread open, a toddler drinks fresh cow blood out of a plastic cup. Our eyes meet, as he finishes a gulp, and his face breaks into…
pjaniszewski | May 31, 2010 (Photo by Marina Komolova)
As our readers may have noticed, Travis has been solely carrying the Obesity Panacea load, while I have been a bit absent since my PhD defense. As some of you may know, I am taking the summer off to travel through South America with my partner, Marina, who also just defended her PhD thesis. While you can follow our adventures on our travel blog, I am also keeping notes during the travels that may be of greater interest to the readers of Obesity Panacea. Here is the 1st in the series of posts on lifestyles throughout South America: Galapagos edition.
We have just…
laelaps | April 20, 2010
For much of the past 130 million years South America was an island continent, and on it organisms evolved in "splendid isolation." Mammals, especially, evolved into forms not seen anywhere else, and while some mammalian immigrants made their way to South America during the past 30 million years it was not until about three million years ago, with the closing of the isthmus of Panama, that large animals from North and South America began to wander across the new landbridge and mix with the endemic faunas. This is why there were elephants in South America and giant ground sloths in North…
grrlscientist | September 15, 2009tags: Magellanic penguins, pudu, cod cod, Andes Mountains, nature, animals, BBC, television, streaming video
Fascinating footage of mountaineering penguins in the Andes trying to search for a safe mountain nesting ground. Also featuring weird and wonderful animals such as the Andes possum, the littlest deer in the world known as the pudu, and the tiniest wild cat in existence - the cod cod. Brilliant nature video from BBC animal wildlife show Andes - The Dragons Back.
awild | December 23, 2007
Paraguay may be the world's most important country. Never mind that it is economically isolated and geopolitically forgettable. Rather, I measure importance by less trivial metrics, and by that of course I mean ants.
Paraguayan ants have changed the world. Many of the world's worst pest species evolved on the broad plains of the Paraná river before hitchhiking with human commerce to points abroad. The infamous fire ants in the southern U.S. originated on the Paraná, as did the Argentine Ants that plague California and Europe, along with a rogue's gallery of other trampy and invasive…
zooillogix | June 4, 2007Daceton armigerum, a highly visual, predatory ant.
Two dozen new species were identified on the plateaus of Eastern Suriname, according to scientists today. The creatures, which include 12 new kinds of dung beetle, were originally discovered during a 2005 expedition sponsored by Suriname Aluminum Company LLC and BHP Billiton Maatschappij Suriname.Purple-festooned, Atepolus toad
Amazonian snail-eating snake
A dwarf catfish in the Guyanancistrus genus, nicknamed "Big Mouth" by its discoverers
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zooillogix | March 8, 2007We had a bat house hanging from the second story of my home growing up. My brother loved bats and I fully endorsed sharing our home with them. These critters might be a different story.
Bat species, like many creatures, can be difficult to tell apart based purely on physiology. These new bats were recently identified as unique species by using DNA barcoding and immediately prepped for inclusion in female nightmares.
trachops cirrhosus
myotis riparious
platyrrhinus helleri
Our friends here are native to camping areas in the Midwest and various alleys on the Lower East Side of Manhattan...