-
Pregnant pygmies
rotund pregnant male pygmy seahorse risk his life by releasing his vice-like grasp on the gorgonian to fight the current and swim to where it strikes. There, he reattaches to the gorgonian, and, once he is confident that he has a strong hold, he begins...
-
Nichola Raihani FRSB: The Social Instinct
how things are going. If a cleaner fish bites its client and they flee or chase the cleaner fish, the visitor tends to then swim off and go somewhere else. A study by a PhD student called Anna Pinto showed that the cleaner fish themselves know when...
-
A killer cure
to function in predatory bacteria. What makes BvB such an effective predator? It is very small and can glide on surfaces and swim quickly in liquid, so it can collide with bacteria. But it also has chemotaxis apparatus that enables it to sense prey-rich...
-
A killer cure
to function in predatory bacteria. What makes BvB such an effective predator? It is very small and can glide on surfaces and swim quickly in liquid, so it can collide with bacteria. But it also has chemotaxis apparatus that enables it to sense prey-rich...
-
Biology and Conservation of Musteloids
population dynamics, diseases and the interaction of people with wild musteloids. A delightfully titled chapter 'Stink or swim: techniques to meet the challenges for the study and conservation of small critters that hide, swim, or climb, and may...
-
Trials of a sperm
progression through the female tract. In reality, though, this isn't always the case. In certain mammals, fishes and birds, swimming speed increases with sperm length. Yet, in others, swimming speed doesn't appear to be influenced by sperm length at...
-
Current Activities
in fish and marine invertebrates. Behavioural tests in neuroscience and psychopharmacology: the case of the Forced Swim Test. The Godfray review, Cattle vaccines and DIVA Diagnostics. Sex as an important variable in animal research. Animal research...
-
Member profiles
have always loved teaching and hope to be able to continue doing so while studying for my PhD. After work… I might go for a swim or mark students’ work. On a Friday night I usually meet my husband for dinner and head out to see a late-night exhibition....
-
Restoration Dramas
resistance to sea level rise. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 115, 10281–10286 (2018). 5) Williams, B.R. et al. Oyster larvae swim along gradients of sound. J. Appl. Ecol. 59, 1815–1824 (2022). 6) Hemraj, D.A. et al. Global success in oyster reef restoration...
-
Pinch point
their carapace (upper shell). It is easy to admire their amusing waddle as they walk on land, and their spurting backwards swimming in water. I am one of the few people to have the privilege of working with this endangered species as a licence is...
-
The Motorcycle Diaries
facility, this entails a volunteer carrying the otter in a crate down aseries of steps to the rocky beach daily, letting her swim, play and hunt until she is ready to come back to the crate, before being carried back up the many flights of stairs....
-
The Matter of Life
with rather surprising results. What did you find? Two findings from our early work were that firstly, microbes can't swim in the same direction in a large group even if they try: a coherently swimming state is intrinsically unstable for purely...
-
Crazy horses
have a horse-like head, a prehensile tail like a monkey and independently mobile eyes like a chameleon. Nor do they swim with an upright posture. However, seahorses are indeed fishes, being close relatives of pipefishes, from which they are believed to...
-
What's the UK's favourite mammal?
well adapted to their semi-aquatic life. Otters have webbed feet, streamlined bodies and a muscular tail, allowing them to swim at a speed of about one metre per second. Otters dive underwater to catch small fish and can see just as well under water as...
-
Animal Madness: Inside Their Minds
insecurities, self-destructive behaviour and unfortunate demise are weaved in among less suburban stories. Polar bears that swim compulsive figures of eight, gorillas raised as men in East London, traumatised elephants turning on their tamers – all are...
-
Weird Mating Rituals
technically has eight arms, but it's safe to say the Argonaut has one extra - its super long detachable penis. When a female swims by, the lazy male Argonaut sends his penis off to swim to the female and mate with her. In the past, scientist that caught...
