Wild Things: Life as We Know It
Caterpillars, Bonobos, European Songbirds and More...
- By T. A. Frail, Jesse Rhodes, Jessica Righthand, Brandon Springer and Sarah Zielinski
- Smithsonian magazine, November 2010
A mom grooms her son (Frans Lanting)
Male bonobos accompanied by their mothers have greater success mating with fertile females than unchaperoned males, say researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Mother bonobos can assist low- and mid-ranking sons by interrupting the mating attempts of unrelated males. By hanging out with mom, sons also have more opportunities to interact with fertile females, make their own overtures, mate and reproduce.
Additional Sources
“Web gigantism in Darwin’s bark spider, a new species from Madagascar (Araneidae: Caerostris),” Matjaž Kunter and Ingi Agnarsson, The Journal of Arachnology, 2010
“Mothers matter! Maternal support, dominance status and mating success in male bonobos (Pan paniscus),” Martin Surbeck et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society B, September 1, 2010
“Are fish less responsive to a flow stimulus when swimming?” Karla E. Feitl et al., The Journal of Experimental Biology, August 27, 2010
“Artificial Night Lighting Affects Dawn Song, Extra-Pair Siring Success, and Lay Date in Songbirds,” Bart Kempenaers et al., Current Biology, September 16, 2010
“Parachuting behavior and predation by ants in the nettle caterpillar, Scopelodes contracta,” Kazuo Yamazaki, Journal of Insect Science, April 27, 2010
Comments (2)
Mini-sized air surfing! Imagine if this was to scale for humans!
Posted by Skhy Blitzer on October 28,2010 | 02:25 PM
Amazing picture
Posted by Chi Pritchard on October 25,2010 | 10:37 AM