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Science Friday: Nature

Submitted by Tjadendevries on Fri, 07/15/2011 - 1:40pm

A cornucopia of articles. From parrots naming their chicks; to the Pink Dolphins of the Amazon Rainforest; to the newly rediscovered Rainbow Toad; to what sand actually looks like magnified 250x; to a list of 10 pretty, but carnivorous plants; to Dusty the Klepto cat; to how to pacify a cat. But first the video of this dog shows it's much smarter than a politician ... because it learns from its mistakes


Baby Parrots Learn Their Names From Their Parents

    What’s the News: Parrots, those irrepressible mimics of the animal world, are some of the few creatures known to have individual names: each bird has its own signature call that others use when addressing it and that the bird uses itself in avian “conversation.” Scientists have long wondered where these calls come from. Now, a new study of wild parrots shows that even before chicks can “talk,” their parents have provided them with a moniker, which they will tweak and then use throughout their lives.

    [...]

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/07/13/baby-parrots-learn-their-names-from-their-parents/


Pink Dolphin

    The Pink Dolphin lives in the Amazon Rainforest. It is usually found in the tributaries and main rivers of the Orinoco River systems in South America. This animal can stay summerged up to fifteen minutes in the rivers. Males sleep just below the surface and they come up to breathe as the reflex. The Pink Dolphin's body has adapted to the rivers of the Amazon.

    [...]

http://www.amersol.edu.pe/ms/7th/7block/jungle_research/new_cards/14/report14hm.html

More at The Ark in Space

http://www.arkinspace.com/2011/07/pink-dolphins-on-parade.html


Lost rainbow toad is rediscovered

    Scientists from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) found three of the missing long-legged Borneo rainbow toads up a tree during a night time search.

    The team had spent months scouring remote mountain forests for the species.

    Prior to these images, only illustrations of the toad had existed.

    These were drawn from specimens that were collected by European explorers in the 1920s.

    [...]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14151541

Sand

From Lost at E Minor via Geekologie


10 Beautiful Yet Deadly Carnivorous Plants

    Over many million years of evolution, nature has created some most unusual and bizarre plants that attract, trap and digest animals. The list of animals that fall prey to these plants includes anything from small vertebrates and water fleas to nematodes and butterflies.

    Famous as ‘carnivorous plants’, there are more than 600 of these fascinating species found all over the world. Having colonized a wide range of habitats, each type of plant is yet characterized by particular environmental conditions. Let's take a look at some of the most beautiful but deadly ‘meat-eater’ plant species.

    [...]

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/plants/news-10-oddly-beautiful-deadly-carnivorous-plants

Dusty the Klepto Cat Gives Back from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.


Dusty the Klepto Cat

    Meet Dusty. He is becoming known as Klepto Cat and is a 5-year-old male Siamese who has stolen in the region of 600 bits and pieces over the last three years, according to guardian Jean Chu of San Mateo, California.

    Among the many items the 15-pound cat has stolen from his neighbors include shoes, towels, leg warmers, a mask, gloves, a stuffed animal, bathing suits, a bra, and men's briefs.

    Dusty makes his heists in the dead of night. His unusual exploits have earned him fame with spots on Animal Planet, Late Night With David Letterman, and ABC-TV news in the Bay Area.

    [...]

http://www.arkinspace.com/2011/07/dusty-klepto-cat.html


Clipnosis

    I agree with the comments at the Nothing To Do With Arbroath source, that this maneuver takes advantage of a vestigial reflex originally triggered when mother cats carry their kittens.

    Addendum: Revised and reposted in order to add this relevant information found by cavalaxis:

      Pozza, M. E., J. L. Stella, et al. (2008). "Pinch-induced behavioral inhibition ('clipnosis') in domestic cats." J Feline Med Surg 10(1): 82-7.

      There has been much interest in using mechanical inhibition for gentle restraint of rabbits, rodents, mice and guinea pigs. In these species, immobility is induced using neck clips or inversion. Although it has not received much interest, there have been reports of immobilizing cats by placing clips along the dorsal midline or neck for short procedures such as blood sampling. The authors have coined the term "pinch-induced behavioral inhibition" (PIBI) or "clipnosis" to describe this method of restraint. In this project, the effectiveness of PIBI was evaluated in 13 healthy cats and 18 cats with idiopathic cystitis (IC) using standard two-inch binder clips from a stationery store. In the first month of the study, 92% of the healthy cats and 100% of the cats with IC responded positively to clipping. The physiological response to clipping was similar to that of scruffing a cat - miosis, ventroflexion of the back, curling the tail under the abdomen. While clips can be placed anywhere along the dorsal midline, the authors recommend the dorsum of the neck as the most effective location. No cat exhibited behavior that could be interpreted as a fear or pain response. The researchers concluded that PIBI can be a safe and effective method of gentle restraint for various routine veterinary procedures, such as blood sampling, vaccinations, and nail trimming.

http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-deactivate-cat.html