Cool Animals
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Dolphins ‘talk’ like humans + efforts at a translator
Posted by Xeno on September 8, 2011 A study in which recordings of dolphins made in the 1970s were re-analysed has revealed that dolphins talk to each other in a manner very similar to human speech, using tissue vibrations. The study by biologists at Aarhus University in Denmark concentrated on the dolphin’s whistle, which was believed to be produced by the resonance of air in the dolphin’s nasal air cavities. This would have implications for how dolphins communicate at depth — increased air pressure would affect the size of the nasal air cavities and therefore the pitch of the sounds they can make. Instead, the team discovered that the dolphin’s whistle isn’t in fact a whistle at all; but a sound produced by tissue vibrations. … They found that the pitch did not change between the whistles produced in Heliox and the normal whistles.
Elephant Makes a Stool—First Known Aha Moment for Species
In an apparent flash of insight, a young Asian elephant in a zoo turned a plastic cube into a stool—and a tool—a new study says. That eureka moment is the first evidence that pachyderms can run problem-solving scenarios in their heads, then mentally map out an effective solution, and finally, put the plan into action, researchers say. Video: Kandula the Elephant's Aha Moment Correction to video title: Action shown is not first instance of Kandula exhibiting this behavior. This video requires the latest version of Flash Player. Click here to download.Posted by Xeno on July 27, 2011 A South American dolphin is the first “true mammal” to sense prey by their electric fields, scientists suggest. The researchers first showed that structures on the animal’s head were probably sensory organs, then found it could detect electric fields in water. Electroreception is well known in fish and amphibians, but until now the only mammal example was the platypus. Writing in the Royal Society’s journal Proceedings B, the scientists say other cetaceans may show the same ability. The Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) lives around the east coast of South America, and resembles the much more common bottlenose variety.
Dolphin hunts with electric sense
BBC Nature - Lizard has problem-solving skills
13 July 2011 Last updated at 08:33 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature The lizard used a novel "head-butting" technique to retrieve its treat A vibrant green tree-dwelling lizard has surprised scientists with its mental prowess by succeeding in a problem-solving test.
Two things. 1) That gorilla was so used to being asked to throw things it did it with a natrual fluidity and also a bit of what seemed like annoyance. Almost like he was saying "yea bitch, here's your damn box. Have it!" *woosh*
Gorilla is given a video camera, awesomeness ensues
July Fourth tragedy: Dolphins 'carried Luis Arturo Polanco Morales' body to shore'
By Daily Mail Reporter UPDATED: 09:02 GMT, 6 July 2011 July Fourth weekend ended in tragedy for one family when a man drowned after being caught in an undertow. The body of 47-year-old Luis Arturo Polanco Morales, of Denham Springs, was found by authorities about ten to 15 feet from the shore line.
7 July 2011 Last updated at 00:37 By Matt Walker Editor, BBC Nature Panzee, a chimp with a talent for words A talented chimpanzee called Panzee can recognise distorted and incomplete words spoken by a computer, scientists have discovered. That suggests that apes may be more capable of perceiving spoken sounds than previously thought, and that the common ancestor of humans and chimps may also have had this ability. It also refutes the idea that humans have brains uniquely adapted to process speech, say the scientists who have published their findings in the journal Current Biology. Panzee was raised from 8 days old, by humans, and was spoken to and treated as if she were human.
BBC Nature - Chimp recognises synthetic speech
By Daily Mail Reporter Created 11:08 AM on 4th July 2011 To capture the perfect wildlife image, you usually have to be in exactly the right place at precisely the right time. But in this instance, David Slater wasn’t there at all and he still got a result.
Black macaque takes self-portrait: Monkey borrows photographer's camera
How humpback whales catch prey with bubble nets
June 27, 2011 — Marine biologist David Wiley of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ) and others report in the latest issue of Behaviour how humpback whales in the Gulf of Maine catch prey with advanced water technology. Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) are large baleen whales (up to 14 m long) that feed on a small prey in dense concentrations, such as krill or herrings. Humpbacks whales have large flukes relative to their size providing greater thrust for quick maneuvers. While other baleen whales feed by swimming rapidly forward, humpbacks are adapted for fine-scale movement to create bubble nets. Behaviorally, humpback whales capture prey by engaging in complex feeding maneuvers that are often accompanied by the apparently directed use of air bubble clouds (the production of single or multiple bursts of seltzer-sized bubbles) to corral or herd fish.Orangutan saves drowning chick
A visitor to US zoo, captured moment when a 15 stone ape mounted a delicate rescue of the young bird, tenderly lifting it from the water using a leaf. The curious ape was in its enclosure, when it noticed the bird’s struggle in the pond It yanked a leaf from a nearby bush and extended its arm out to the bird, beckoning to the chick in the hope that it will latch onto the leaf. Onlookers cheered as orangutan managed to get the bird to grip the leaf for a split second only to have the bird drop again.
Dolphins use double sonar
Posted by Xeno on June 7, 2011 Dolphins and porpoises use echolocation for hunting and orientation. By sending out high-frequency sound, known as ultrasound, dolphins can use the echoes to determine what type of object the sound beam has hit. Researchers from Sweden and the US have now discovered that dolphins can generate two sound beam projections simultaneously. “The beam projections have different frequencies and can be sent in different directions. The advantage is probably that the dolphin can locate the object more precisely”, says Josefin Starkhammar, a newly examined doctor in Electrical Measurements at Lund University, who also holds a Master’s degree in Engineering Physics.Animals
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