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
zebra fish larvae (Matthew Henry)
Small fish, especially young ones, tend to swim quickly for an instant, stop and then zip away again. What accounts for such darting around? Briefly stopping may allow small fish to better feel the pull of predators, such as larger fish, that suck prey into their mouths. Researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that stationary zebra fish larvae in laboratory tanks are twice as likely as swimming ones to avoid piston-induced suction that mimics the water flow of a predator slurping up a meal.
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