Category Archives: News

News: Meet the ‘sabre-toothed sausage’

  May 5, 2010 - 13:23 |
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Now this little fella is one heck of a Crazy Creature, check out this fascinating article from the BBC website:

“They look a bit like a sabre-toothed sausage,” says Dr Chris Faulkes, as we enter the naked mole rat laboratory at Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL).

Scuttling around in a maze of tubes are dozens of small rodents. They appear to be hairless, covered with wrinkly, pink skin and they have beady, black eyes. But the thing that really catches your attention is their enormous, protruding teeth.

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News: Hyena laughs and giggles decoded

  March 30, 2010 - 09:17 |
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From the BBC Wildlife Website:

The giggling sounds of a hyena contain important information about the animal’s status, say scientists.

In the first study to decipher the hyena’s so-called “laugh”, they have shown that the pitch of the giggle reveals a hyena’s age.

What is more, variations in the frequency of notes used when a hyena makes a noise convey information about the animal’s social rank.

Read more here.

News: 7 Terrific Toad Survival Tactics

  February 10, 2010 - 18:44 |
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Do you want to know why Toads have spread all across the world? They’re all over the place. For example the Cane Toad was introduced into Australia from Costa Rica about 75 years ago to combat beetles that were destroying the Queensland cane plantations. However, it didn’t work as there wasn’t enough shelter from the sun during the day, so they went elsewhere. Just over 50,000 were introduced back then, but due to the phenomenal survival skills of the Cane Toad, it has flourished in Australia, causing massive problems to local biodiversity. There are now over 200 million of the little hoppers! Cane Toad (more…)