GrrlScientist

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54 posts · 123,580 views

GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist and science writer who writes about evolution, ethology and ecology, especially in birds

GrrlScientist
54 posts

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  • May 15, 2013
  • 11:06 AM
  • 63 views

Scarlet macaw genome sequenced | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

The newly-sequenced scarlet macaw genome will provide many important insights into avian and human biology, behaviours and genetics and will contribute to parrot conservation.... Read more »

Seabury Christopher M., Dowd Scot E., Seabury Paul M., Raudsepp Terje, Brightsmith Donald J., Liboriussen Poul, Halley Yvette, Fisher Colleen A., Owens Elaine, & Viswanathan Ganesh. (2013) A Multi-Platform Draft de novo Genome Assembly and Comparative Analysis for the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao). PLoS ONE, 8(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062415.s019  

Oleksyk Taras K, Pombert Jean-Francois, Siu Daniel, Mazo-Vargas Anyimilehidi, Ramos Brian, Guiblet Wilfried, Afanador Yashira, Ruiz-Rodriguez Christina T, Nickerson Michael L, & Logue David M. (2012) A locally funded Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata) genome sequencing project increases avian data and advances young researcher education. GigaScience, 1(1), 14. DOI: 10.1186/2047-217X-1-14  

Ried T, Schröck E, Ning Y, & Wienberg J. (1998) Chromosome painting: a useful art. Human Molecular Genetics, 7(10), 1619-1626. DOI: 10.1093/hmg/7.10.1619  

  • May 11, 2013
  • 05:12 AM
  • 49 views

True Facts About The Dung Beetle | video | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

This week's Caturday morning video smile is a lovely blend of science, animals and humour all rolled up into a short video.... Read more »

Dacke Marie, Baird Emily, Byrne Marcus, Scholtz Clarke H., & Warrant Eric J. (2013) Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation. Current Biology, 23(4), 298-300. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.12.034  

  • May 7, 2013
  • 07:01 PM
  • 49 views

In Your Face: soldiers' faces predict aggression, military rank and number of children | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

New research demonstrates that male soldiers' faces may predict their military rank and how many children they ultimately father... Read more »

  • January 15, 2013
  • 10:53 AM
  • 156 views

The extraordinary courtship dance of Australia's peacock spider | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Meet the peacock of the spider world and watch his lovely courtship dance! ... Read more »

Hill David Edwin . (2009) Euophryine jumping spiders that extend their third legs during courtship (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryinae: Maratus, Saitis). . Peckhamia, 74(1), 1-27. http://www.peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA 74.1.pdf

  • November 13, 2012
  • 08:00 AM
  • 201 views

Sing for your supper: fairy-wren chicks must sing vocal password for food | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Female fairy-wrens teach their chicks a vocal password before they hatch to distinguish them from brood parasitic bronze-cuckoo chicks... Read more »

Colombelli-Négrel Diane, Hauber Mark E., Robertson Jeremy, Sulloway Frank J., Hoi Herbert, Griggio Matteo, & Kleindorfer Sonia. (2012) Embryonic Learning of Vocal Passwords in Superb Fairy-Wrens Reveals Intruder Cuckoo Nestlings. Current Biology, 22(22). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.025  

  • November 10, 2012
  • 08:00 AM
  • 163 views

Polly gets his own cracker: clever cockatoo manufactures, uses tools | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Not known to manufacture and use tools in the wild, a captive cockatoo demonstrates that parrots can make tools to suit their needs... Read more »

Auersperg Alice M.I., Szabo Birgit, von Bayern Auguste M.P., & Kacelnik Alex. (2012) Spontaneous innovation in tool manufacture and use in a Goffin’s cockatoo. Current Biology, 22(21). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.002  

  • October 9, 2012
  • 03:00 AM
  • 356 views

One-eyed wooing: beauty is in the right eye of the beholder for finches | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

GrrlScientist: a newly published study shows that beauty is in the right eye of the beholder for birds, providing the first demonstration in any animal of visual lateralization of mate choice... Read more »

Jennifer J. Templeton, D. James Mountjoy, Sarah R. Pryke, & Simon C. Griffith. (2012) In the eye of the beholder: visual mate choice lateralization in a polymorphic songbird. Biology Letters. info:/10.1098/rsbl.2012.0830

L. Workman, & R.J. Andrew. (1986) Asymmetries of eye use in birds. Animal Behaviour, 34(5), 1582-1584. info:/10.1016/S0003-3472(86)80235-4

Orsola Rosa Salva, Lucia Regolin, Elena Mascalzoni, & Giorgio Vallortigara. (2012) Cerebral and behavioural asymmetries in animal social recognition. Comparative Cognition , 110-138. info:/10.3819/ccbr.2012.70006

  • September 27, 2012
  • 04:00 AM
  • 413 views

Choosy females speed speciation of poison dart frogs | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Female poison dart frogs' distinct preferences for mates with particular colours may be a first step in the process of speciation... Read more »

Corinne L. Richards-Zawacki, Ian J . Wang, & Kyle Summers. (2012) Mate choice and the genetic basis for colour variation in a polymorphic dart frog: inferences from a wild pedigree. Molecular Ecology, 3879-3892. info:/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05644.x

  • September 22, 2012
  • 05:00 AM
  • 346 views

Wild parrots name their babies | video | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Wild green-rumped parrotlet parents give their babies their own individual names... Read more »

Karl S. Berg, Soraya Delgado, Kathryn A. Cortopassi, Steven R. Beissinger, & Jack W. Bradbury. (2011) Vertical transmission of learned signatures in a wild parrot. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. info:/10.1098/rspb.2011.0932

Ralf Wanker, Jasmin Apcin, Bert Jennerjahn, & Birte Waibel. (1998) Discrimination of different social companions in spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus): evidence for individual vocal recognition. . Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology , 43(3), 197-202. info:/10.1007/s002650050481)

  • September 19, 2012
  • 04:00 AM
  • 392 views

Extinct Carolina parakeet provides glimpse into evolution of American parrots | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

DNA obtained for the first time from extinct Carolina parakeets reveals their closest relatives and provides insight into the evolution of New World parrots... Read more »

Jeremy J. Kirchman, Erin E. Schirtzinger, & Timothy F. Wright. (2012) Phylogenetic relationships of the extinct Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) inferred from DNA sequence Data. The Auk, 129(2), 197-204. info:/10.1525/auk.2012.11259

Manuel Schweizer, Ole Seehausen, & Stefan T. Hertwig. (2011) Macroevolutionary patterns in the diversification of parrots: Effects of climate change, geological events and key innovations. Journal of Biogeography, 38(11), 2176-2194. info:/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02555.x

  • August 24, 2012
  • 04:00 AM
  • 489 views

Two new owl species discovered in Philippines | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Two new owl species were discovered in the Philippine Islands and five more Philippine owls were given full species status... Read more »

P. C. Rasmussen, D. N. S. Allen, N. J. Collar, B. De Meulemeester, R. O. Hutchinson, P. G. C. Jakosalem, R. S. Kennedy, F. R. Lambert, & L. M. Paguntalan. (2012) Vocal divergence and new species in the Philippine Hawk Owl Ninox philippensis complex. Forktail, 1-20. info:/

  • August 22, 2012
  • 04:30 AM
  • 328 views

Unraveling the life history traits of successful invaders | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Species at the opposite ends of the life span-brood value spectrum will be most likely to survive climate change... Read more »

Daniel Sol, Joan Maspons, Miquel Vall-llosera, Ignasi Bartomeus, Gabriel E. García-Peña, Josep Piñol, & Robert P. Freckleton. (2012) Unraveling the Life History of Successful Invaders . Science, 580-583. info:/

  • August 9, 2012
  • 12:30 PM
  • 322 views

Mystery bird: Sira barbet, Capito fitzpatricki | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

This striking mystery bird is a new species just discovered in the cloud forests of Peru!... Read more »

Glenn F. Seeholzer, Benjamin M. Winger, Michael G. Harvey, Daniel Cáceres A., & Jason D. Weckstein. (2012) A new species of barbet (Capitonidae: Capito) from the Cerros del Sira, Ucayali, Peru. Auk, 129(3), 551-559. info:/10.1525/auk.2012.11250

John P O'Neill, Daniel F Lane, Andrew W Kratter, Angelo P Capparella, & Cecilia Fox Joo. (2000) A striking new species of barbet (Capitoninae: Capito) from the eastern Andes of Peru. Auk, 117(3), 569-577. info:/10.1642/0004-8038(2000)117[0569:ASNSOB]2.0.CO;2

  • June 27, 2012
  • 04:38 PM
  • 510 views

Trees, grass and gas: the battle for dominance | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

A new study shows that increasing carbon dioxide levels favours trees over grass, suggesting that large regions of Africa's savannas may be forests by the end of this century... Read more »

Steven I. Higgins, & Simon Scheiter. (2012) Atmospheric CO2 forces abrupt vegetation shifts locally, but not globally. Nature. info:/10.1038/nature11238

John Grace, Jose´ San Jose´, Patrick Meir, Heloisa S. Miranda, & Ruben A. Montes. (2006) Productivity and carbon fluxes of tropical savannas. Journal of Biogeography, 387-400. info:/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01448.x

  • May 10, 2012
  • 04:12 AM
  • 534 views

Identification of the world's smallest mammoth | video | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

The world's smallest mammoth has been discovered on Crete, and it's the size of a newborn baby elephant!... Read more »

Herridge, V., & Lister, A. (2012) Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.0671  

  • May 8, 2012
  • 05:15 AM
  • 557 views

Bee deaths linked to common pesticides |video| @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Two recently published scientific studies show that bee populations are being ravaged by widespread use of a particular type of pesticide, the neonicotinoids.... Read more »

Henry, M., Beguin, M., Requier, F., Rollin, O., Odoux, J., Aupinel, P., Aptel, J., Tchamitchian, S., & Decourtye, A. (2012) A Common Pesticide Decreases Foraging Success and Survival in Honey Bees. Science, 336(6079), 348-350. DOI: 10.1126/science.1215039  

  • May 3, 2012
  • 04:00 AM
  • 563 views

Were dinosaurs undergoing long-term decline before mass extinction? |video| @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

A new scientific paper uses a unique methodology to addresses this timeless question ... Read more »

Brusatte, S., Butler, R., Prieto-Márquez, A., & Norell, M. (2012) Dinosaur morphological diversity and the end-Cretaceous extinction. Nature Communications, 804. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1815  

  • February 29, 2012
  • 04:34 AM
  • 808 views

Stem cells put women on fertile ground [video] | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Using cutting-edge technologies and some imagination, a Harvard professor and his team find that ovaries in women of reproductive age contain stem cells that give rise to mature oocytes... Read more »

  • February 22, 2012
  • 04:28 AM
  • 838 views

Leaping lizards [video] | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

Theropod dinosaurs used their long tails as a counterbalance to stabilise rapid or irregular movements ... Read more »

Libby, T., Moore, T., Chang-Siu, E., Li, D., Cohen, D., Jusufi, A., & Full, R. (2012) Tail-assisted pitch control in lizards, robots and dinosaurs. Nature, 481(7380), 181-184. DOI: 10.1038/nature10710  

  • February 6, 2012
  • 04:00 AM
  • 830 views

17 and sudoku clues [video] | @GrrlScientist

by GrrlScientist in GrrlScientist

17 is the minimum number of clues required to give a unique sudoku solution -- but how did mathematicians prove this? ... Read more »

Gary McGuire, Bastian Tugemann, & Gilles Civario. (2012) There is no 16-Clue Sudoku: Solving the Sudoku Minimum Number of Clues Problem. ArXiv. info:/arXiv:1201.0749v1

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