Wild Things: Yawning Chimps, Humpback Whales and More...
Leaping beetles, Pacific salmon, prehistoric mammals and other news updates in wildlife research
- By Arcynta Ali Childs, T.A. Frail, Megan Gambino, Laura Helmuth and Sarah Zielinski
- Smithsonian magazine, June 2011
(Alan Harvey)
Larvae of the Southeastern beach tiger beetle have an odd way of getting around. Scientists working in Georgia found that, especially on windy days, the larvae hurl themselves into the air to catch the breeze, tuck themselves into a wheel, and roll up sand dunes as far as 200 feet at a time. Both wind-driven leaping and “wheel locomotion” are rare, and this is the first creature to be observed combining the two.
Additional Sources
"Ingroup-Outgroup Bias in Contagious Yawning by Chimpanzees Supports Link to Empathy," Matthew W. Campbell and Frans B. M. de Waal, PLoS ONE, April 2011
"Dental Occlusion in a 260-Million-Year-Old Therapsid with Saber Canines from the Permian of Brazil," Juan Carlos Cisneros et al., Science, March 25, 2011
"Wind-Powered Wheel Locomotion, Initiated by Leaping Somersaults, in Larvae of the Southeastern Beach Tiger Beetle (Cicindela dorsalis media)," Alan Harvey and Sarah Zukoff, PLoS ONE, March 23, 2011
"Impacts of Salmon on Riparian Plant Diversity," Morgan D. Hocking and John D. Reynolds, Science, March 25, 2011
"Dynamic Horizontal Cultural Transmission of Humpback Whale Song at the Ocean Basin Scale," Ellen C. Garland et al., Current Biology, April 14, 2011
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