July 2011
16 posts
Optix drives the repeated convergent evolution of...
The color patterns on the bodies of some animals can serve to inform predators if they’re unpalatable and harmful. For example, when we come across a skunk at night and notice its distinctive black-and-white-striped fur, we almost instinctively know to avoid it. This form of body coloration, which warns off other animals, is widespread in nature and technically called “aposematism” (from apo-,...
Matthias Wittlinger, Rudiger Wehner, and Harald Wolf. The Ant Odometer: Stepping on Stilts and Stumps. Science 30 June 2006: 213 (5782), 1965-1967.
Here’s the problem: you’re an ant. You live in the goddam Sahara Desert. When you skeeter outside to collect food, there’s sand. And the sun. And more sand. And more sun. So when you finally find food, how in tarnation are you going to get back...
Competition drives cooperation among closely related sperm of deer mice. Heidi S. Fisher and Hopi E. Hoekstra Nature. 2010 Feb 11;463(7282):801-3.
Females of many species will often mate with several males in a short period of time. And since there’s only one egg for thousands of sperm, it’s not surprising that males have evolved incredible ways for their sperm to compete with others. But what is...
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