HardFuckingCore

zoo-logic:

Everyone’s favourite smiley-faced cetaceans are more than just… well, a smiley face. Recent research has investigated dolphins’ incredible ability to heal from traumatic wounds such as those from a shark bite - injuries that would be fatal in a human being - without bleeding to death, becoming infected, or even seeming to experience pain. Not only this, but in healing the wound dolphins manage to almost totally restore the body contour from what was a deep, gaping laceration. The review provides some insight into how this might occur. Dr Zasloff of Georgetown University Medical Centre suggests that blood loss may be controlled by the same mechanism that reduces blood flow to the periphery of the body during deep dives (the diving reflex); that natural compounds known as organohalogens in blubber prevent infection through antimicrobial and antibiotic activity; and that recovery from a wound is less like the process of healing in humans and more like regeneration, allowing almost complete rebuilding of the tissues into the body contour. Least understood is the apparent lack of pain. Further neurological and physiological research will be required to find out exactly how pain is reduced.

In addition, research has recently discovered that the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) is the first true mammal to be found to be able to detect the electrical fields of their prey - the ability has previously only been seen in some fish, amphibians and primitive egg-laying mammals such as the duck-billed platypus. The electro-sensory organ in the dolphin is located in the upper jaw, and is evolutionarily derived from whiskers. Electro-sensory perception is much better at locating prey over short distances, for which echolocation is not so useful.

Ref: Mallet (2011) Dolphins’ remarkable recovery from injury offers important insights for human healing. EurekAlert! [link] || Hooper (2011) Electric dolphins: cetaceans with a seventh sense. New Scientist News [link]

zoo-logic:

This is just brilliant. This is how cool stuff in the natural world makes me feel - like an excited little kid again.

zoo-logic:

The tayra (Eira barbara), a species of mustelid found in Central and South America, is the first non-human animal to have been found to harvest unripe fruits and hide them until they ripen. Unlike other native species such as coatis and opossums that eat ripe fruit while it is still attached to the plant, tayras break off whole sapote and plantain fruits and cache them for later. This may seem similar to a squirrel stashing away nuts for the winter, but there is a key difference: nuts are a food that could be eaten now, but are not required, whereas the fruits kept by tayras are not yet edible. As such this research sparks the hotly debated question of whether animals have an awareness of, or plan for, the future; in this case, whether the tayra plans that the fruits will provide for them when they are hungry a few days from now. The strongest evidence for this has currently been seen in primates and corvids - for example, chimpanzees have been seen to take tools for later use even if they are currently unnecessary - but it remains up for debate whether these animals specifically carry out their actions with the future in mind.

Ref: Soley & Alvarado-Díaz (2011) Prospective thinking in a mustelid? Eira barbara (Carnivora) cache unripe fruits to consume them once ripened. Naturwissenschaften 98, 693-698. [link]

zoo-logic:

The South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis) is the world’s most endangered species of tiger - less than 30 remain in the wild, and only around 60 in captivity. What is remarkable about conservation efforts for this particular species is that populations are being returned to the wild in a controversial project that takes them via South Africa. Li Quan, founder of Save China’s Tigers, explains: ”Wildlife management is an art, and it’s one in which South Africa excels. China is still poor and if people are hungry they will hunt wildlife. Poverty alleviation is the Chinese government’s priority, so there’s little money for conservation. There is also wholesale loss of the prey animals on which large predators survive. We have no time to lose, and I persuaded the Chinese government that we should re-wild the tigers in a 600-hectare reserve in South Africa while restoring their habitat in China in preparation for their return.” The ‘re-wilding’ project teaches young tigers, including those from captive backgrounds that may never have even seen grass before, to hunt in order that they can be returned to wild, a process that takes about 18 months. The tigers will be returned to nature reserves in China once sustainable populations of prey have been established and people living in target areas have been resettled.

Ref: Armstrong (2011) Li Quan: Why Chinese tigers should return via Africa. New Scientist 2828 29. [link]