Feature Channels: Nature

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Although you wouldn't want one to balance your checkbook, dogs can count. They can also understand more than 150 words and intentionally deceive other dogs and people to get treats, according to psychologist and leading canine researcher Stanley Coren, PhD, of the University of British Columbia. He spoke Saturday on the topic "How Dogs Think" at the American Psychological Association's 117th Annual Convention.

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Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists studying shorebirds in western Arctic Alaska recently made a serendipitous discovery when they spotted a bar-tailed godwit with a small orange flag and aluminum band harmlessly attached to its legs. Further research revealed that scientists in Australia had banded the bird and attached the flag near Victoria "“ more than 8,000 miles away.

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African village dogs are not a mixture of modern breeds but have directly descended from an ancestral pool of indigenous dogs, according to a Cornell-led genetic analysis of hundreds of semi-feral African village dogs.

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An abandoned ranch in a sheltered Wyoming valley with mountain vistas and clear streams seemed an ideal spot for the University of Michigan's summer surveying camp back in 1929, when it became necessary to relocate the facility from northern Michigan.

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An odd songbird with a bald head living in a rugged region in Laos has been discovered by scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and University of Melbourne,

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Temperature explains much of why cold-blooded organisms such as fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and lizards live longer at higher latitudes than at lower latitudes, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) online.

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In a study released online on July 22 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, researchers at Arizona State University and Princeton University show that ants can accomplish a task more rationally than our "“ multimodal, egg-headed, tool-using, bipedal, opposing-thumbed "“ selves. This is not the case of humans being "stupider" than ants.

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To Be Out There, many families take their daily activities outdoors in the summer, but this season can be primetime for America's peskiest insect"”the mosquito. . David Mizejewski, naturalist at National Wildlife Federation, provides his top 10 tips to avoid summertime swarms. These tips will help families avoid these pesky biters.

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Cornell ecologist brings century-old eggs to life to study evolution. By hatching these eggs, scientists can compare time-suspended hatchlings with their more contemporary counterparts to better understand how a species may have evolved.

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A study published in the July 17 issue of the journal Science details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorough examination of subsurface sandfish locomotion, researchers found that the animals place their limbs against their sides and create a wave motion like snakes to propel themselves through granular media.

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Many animals besides dogs bark, says biologist Kathryn Lord, whose recent work provides the first acoustically precise definition of this animal vocalization. But domestic dogs bark more than other animals for reasons related to their 10,000-year history of hanging around human food refuse dumps.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society announced today that critically endangered alligators in China have a new chance for survival. The WCS's Bronx Zoo, in partnership with two other North American parks and the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Management of the State Forestry Administration of China, has successfully reintroduced alligators into the wild that are now multiplying on their own.

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Long-term declines of elephants, giraffe, impala and other animals in Kenya are occurring at the same rates within the country's national parks as outside of these protected areas, according to a study released this week.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today the discovery of a new monkey in a remote region of the Amazon in Brazil.

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Oscar the bobcat is healing by leaps and bounds after a team of surgeons at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals at the university's College of Veterinary Medicine repaired injuries he sustained after being hit by a car.

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New research using high-speed digital imaging shows that, at least for some insects, wings that flex and deform, something like what happens to a heavy beach towel when you snap it to get rid of the sand, are the best for staying aloft.

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Scripps study focuses on bony structures essential in fish orientation and acceleration.

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A Baylor University researcher who has studied the Eastern Screech Owl for more than 40 years says an increase in the number of the owls that are red "“ known as "rufus" "“ is another sign of global warming.

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Forget the old folk tales about snakes hypnotizing their prey. The tentacled snake from South East Asia has developed a more effective technique. The small water snake has found a way to startle its prey so that the fish turn toward the snake's head to flee instead of turning away.

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University of Michigan aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues say this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" could be one of the largest on record, continuing a decades-long trend that threatens the health of a half-billion-dollar fishery.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today a major breakthrough in the science of saving tigers: high-tech DNA fecal sampling.

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For the first time, Cornell researchers have reported finding the emerald ash borer "“ an ash tree-destroying beetle "“ in New York state.

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Researchers have discovered a unique beaked, plant-eating dinosaur in China that offers new, important evidence about how three-fingered hands of birds evolved from the hand of dinosaurs.

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Plants or meat: That's about all that fossils ever tell paleontologists about a dinosaur's diet. But the skull characteristics of a new species of parrot-beaked dinosaur and its associated gizzard stones indicate that the animal fed on nuts and/or seeds.

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A new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology uses high-resolution computed tomography (CT) imaging to guide sampling of bone lesions in the vertebrae of a hadrosaur ("duck-billed") dinosaur for histological and isotopic analysis.

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Snakes use both friction generated by their scales and redistribution of their weight to slither along flat surfaces, researchers at New York University and Georgia Tech have found. Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, run counter to previous studies that have shown snakes move by pushing laterally against rocks and branches.

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Forensic anthropologists from the University of Indianapolis are among a team of U.S. scientists who are assisting the Rwandan Office of Tourism and National Parks in creating a repository where skeletal remains of endangered mountain gorillas will be carefully maintained for research on diet, disease, stress and other factors affecting their health and survival.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today that the Afghanistan's National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), in an effort to safeguard its natural heritage, has released the country's first-ever list of protected species now banned from hunting or harvest.

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Researchers at the University of Delaware have discovered a new reason why the tall, tasseled reed Phragmites australis is one of the most invasive plants in the United States. The UD research team found that Phragmites delivers a one-two chemical knock-out punch to snuff out its victims, and the poison becomes even more toxic in the presence of the sun's ultraviolet rays.

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The International Institute for Species Exploration at ASU announces the top 10 new species described in 2008. On the list are a pea-sized seahorse, caffeine-free coffee and bacteria that live in hairspray. Also issued is the State of Observed Species report, which notes 18,516 species new to science in 2007.

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Marine mammal videotaped stealing fish provides information about animal's physical features

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Northeastern ecologists examine plant species on Boston Harbor Islands and find that exotic species are more widespread than native species.

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Some Michigan mammal species are rapidly expanding their ranges northward, apparently in response to climate change, a new study shows. In the process, these historically southern species are replacing their northern counterparts.

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A private beach is a luxury for most, but for the maleo"”an endangered bird found only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi"”an exclusive stretch of sand is now a protected nesting area for the species, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

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Agaporomorphus colberti, a diving beetle from Venezuela, was named by entomologists Quentin Wheeler of Arizona State University and Kelly Miller of the University of New Mexico to honor Stephen Colbert, the satirical host and executive producer of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report."

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A new initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is using music to raise public awareness about aquatic invasive species in the state.

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Sea urchins dig themselves hiding holes in the limestone of the ocean floor using teeth that don't go blunt. Weizmann Institute scientists have now revealed their secrets, which might give engineers insights into creating ever-sharp tools or mechanical parts.

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A limestone countertop, a practiced eye and Google Earth all played roles in the discovery of a trove of fossils that may shed light on the origins of African wildlife.

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Diet and nutrition counseling for virtually all overweight and obese women of childbearing age can reduce health risks associated with excess weight for mothers and children alike, according to a newly released position paper from the American Dietetic Association and the American Society of Nutrition.

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Leatherbacks are the largest turtles on Earth with evolutionary roots that go back more than 100 million years. But their numbers, particularly in the Pacific, are declining at an alarming rate due to egg harvest, fishery bycatch, coastal development, and highly variable food availability. A Dalhousie University team is conducting leading research on the turtles, including attaching satelite transmitters that are the basis for tracking them in the Great Turtle Race.

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Team of researchers explores how inheriting favorable or unfavorable habitat affects the overall rise and fall of animal populations. For some animal species, inheriting habitat may play as much of a role in survival as inheriting intelligence, fertility, camouflage or other genetically transferred characteristics.

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Two weeks after rains begin, an elephant family named "the Royals" usually switches to a grass diet to bulk up for pregnancy. But when they wandered off their African reserve, cattle grazed the grass so short that elephants couldn't eat it. The University of Utah study of isotopes in tail hair suggests how climate change and human encroachment may affect endangered elephants.

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A team led by University of Illinois at Chicago biologist Jennifer Schmidt used DNA tagging to show that whale sharks, the world's largest fish, show little genetic variation across widely separated tropical oceans, underscoring the need for wider protection against over-fishing.

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The wolves on Isle Royale are suffering from genetically deformed bones. Scientists from Michigan Technological University blame the extreme inbreeding of the small, isolated wolf population. They report the first scientific evidence in the current issue of the journal Biological Conservation.

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Large size and a fast bite spelled doom for bony fishes during the last mass extinction 65 million years ago. Today, these same features characterize the large predatory bony fishes, such as tuna and billfishes, that are in decline and at risk of extinction. They appear to be the least able to rebound from declining numbers due to overfishing.

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The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today the discovery of a huge population of rare dolphins in South Asia"”but warns that the population is threatened by climate change and fishing nets.

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Virginia citizens have been reporting a significant number of deaths of birds common to bird feeding stations such as finches. The current problem is not yet epidemic statewide. Salmonella occurs in wildlife in regular cycles, and we appear to be in one of those up cycles, says a wildlife specialist. Good sanitation with feeding stations is recommended.

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Northeastern University and MIT researchers have observed"”for the first time"”the origin of a mass gathering and the subsequent migration of hundreds of millions of animals. Utilizing a new imaging technology invented by the researchers, they were able to instantaneously image and continuously monitor entire shoals of fish containing hundreds of millions of individuals stretching for tens of kilometers off Georges Bank near Boston.

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Scientists at North Carolina State University and three universities in Japan have shown for the first time that it is possible for certain female termite "primary queens" to reproduce both sexually and asexually during their lifetimes. The asexually produced babies mostly grow to be queen successors "“ so-called "secondary queens" "“ that remain in the termite colony and mate with the king. This produces large broods of babies without the dangers of inbreeding, as secondary queens have no genes in common with the king.

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Tips to preventing termite infestations in the home.