51 posts · 27,531 views
My blog is a quirky collection of tantalizing biology information. Each week I review a paper (Carin's Paper Pick O' the Week), interview a biology professor (Nerd Corner), and post a Cool Biology Job.
Dr. Carin Bondar
51 posts
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- February 28, 2011
- 02:03 PM
- 726 views
Reflections on Biology and Motherhood: Where do Homo sapiens Fit In?
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
This post originally appeared on the Scientific American guest blog on Friday, February 25th.
As a mom to three young primates, I spend a lot of time thinking about the large role that biology plays in my life. After all, nothing could be more important (biologicaly speaking) than birthing and raising these offspring. It’s [...]... Read more »
Dirks W, Humphrey LT, Dean MC, & Jeffries TE. (2010) The relationship of accentuated lines in enamel to weaning stress in juvenile baboons (Papio hamadryas anubis). Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology, 81(4), 207-23. PMID: 21124031
Hoffman, C., Higham, J., Mas-Rivera, A., Ayala, J., & Maestripieri, D. (2010) Terminal investment and senescence in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago. Behavioral Ecology, 21(5), 972-978. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arq098
TRIVERS, R. (1974) Parent-Offspring Conflict. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 14(1), 249-264. DOI: 10.1093/icb/14.1.249
- March 19, 2010
- 05:22 PM
- 715 views
Voracious damsels, helpless midges, facilitative shredders…life in a Costa Rican bromeliad:
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Carin’s paper pick o’ the week, March 19, 2010:
Much of what we know about food web structure comes from work that focuses on negative interactions between trophic levels (e.g. predation and competition). However, facilitative (positive) interactions should not be ignored when it comes to elucidating the importance of food-web interactions. The work outlined in this [...]... Read more »
STARZOMSKI, B., SUEN, D., & SRIVASTAVA, D. (2010) Predation and facilitation determine chironomid emergence in a bromeliad-insect food web. Ecological Entomology, 35(1), 53-60. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2311.2009.01155.x
- October 19, 2010
- 10:55 AM
- 713 views
An Oldie but a Goodie: Darwin’s ‘Survival of the Fittest’ meets the irresponsible Homo sapiens
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
After writing this post back in April, I had the idea to send one of my video cameras to Jan and Ulrika in Finland so that they could get me some footage of this work. Now that I’m working on creating a ‘BIOMUSINGS‘ episode around it, I thought I’d remind you of this fantastic [...]... Read more »
Heuschele, J., & Candolin, U. (2010) Reversed parasite-mediated selection in sticklebacks from eutrophied habitats. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-0937-9
- March 28, 2011
- 04:14 PM
- 699 views
You can take a horse out of the wild, but you cannot take the wild out of a horse…
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Feral horse populations are alive and well on several continents including North America, Europe, Australia and India. Feral horses – referring to specimens that are free roaming but with a domesticated ancestry – live in herds (harems) that are comprised of a dominant stallion, sub-dominant males, and several females. The majority of the foals in [...]... Read more »
Bartoš, L., Bartošová, J., Pluháček, J., & Šindelářová, J. (2011) Promiscuous behaviour disrupts pregnancy block in domestic horse mares. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1166-6
- April 18, 2011
- 01:29 PM
- 697 views
Gardening on a coral reef? A promising new alternative to passive management techniques…
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
The practice of silviculture has been alive and well in the terrestrial ecosystems of our planet for a few centuries. From Latin roots, the term essentially means to grow (culture) the forest (silvi). Such a practice has made both economic and ecological sense in a myriad of biomes on each and every continent. [...]... Read more »
Horoszowski-Fridman, Y., Izhaki, I., & Rinkevich, B. (2011) Engineering of coral reef larval supply through transplantation of nursery-farmed gravid colonies. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2011.01.005
- April 14, 2010
- 06:44 PM
- 688 views
What do Tyra Banks and Great Bustards (Otis tarda) have in common?
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Ok I’ll admit, ‘America’s Next Top Model’ is a guilty pleasure of mine. If I’ve learned anything from the gospel of ANTM, it’s that you need to ‘find the light’ in order to obtain a prize-winning picture. So what about the rest of the animal kingdom? Are Homo sapiens (led by the fierce Tyra Banks) [...]... Read more »
Olea, P., Casas, F., Redpath, S., & Viñuela, J. (2010) Bottoms up: great bustards use the sun to maximise signal efficacy. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 64(6), 927-937. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-0908-1
Dakin, R., & Montgomerie, R. (2009) Peacocks orient their courtship displays towards the sun. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 63(6), 825-834. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-009-0717-6
- September 9, 2010
- 03:28 PM
- 662 views
There will be blood. And barf.
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
It’s a tough world out there.
Prey species experience intense selection pressure to evolve ways to outwit their predators. Indeed, the ‘Life-Dinner’ principle explains that while unsuccessful predators lose a meal, unsuccessful prey will lose their lives! The diversity of ways in which prey species in the animal kingdom defend themselves against predators is extremely vast; [...]... Read more »
Bateman, P., & Fleming, P. (2009) There will be blood: autohaemorrhage behaviour as part of the defence repertoire of an insect. Journal of Zoology, 278(4), 342-348. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2009.00582.x
- April 19, 2010
- 06:08 PM
- 658 views
Gloomy Octopii LOVE their HDTV!
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
I’ve got a special place in my heart for the Cephalopods. These invertebrates have brought the spineless into the realm of charismatic megafauna, and this is not just because of their size. Cephalopods, and octopii in particular, have large brains and complex visual capabilities. Although the octopus eye evolved independently of the human eye, [...]... Read more »
Pronk, R., Wilson, D., & Harcourt, R. (2010) Video playback demonstrates episodic personality in the gloomy octopus. Journal of Experimental Biology, 213(7), 1035-1041. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.040675
- March 31, 2011
- 08:25 PM
- 658 views
Five minutes of love for momma warthogs…
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Group-living confers significant benefits in terms of protection from predation and thermoregulation, and is commonly observed in groups of herbivorous mammals. Populations of warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) in the South African savanna live in groups; however, recent studies on group dynamics in these organisms shows that size and composition varies greatly thoughout the year. General associations [...]... Read more »
White, A., & Cameron, E. (2011) Evidence of helping behavior in a free-ranging population of communally breeding warthogs. Journal of Ethology. DOI: 10.1007/s10164-011-0268-y
- October 26, 2010
- 12:06 AM
- 653 views
The Nudibranch Smoothie: Two Out of Three Hermit Crabs Prefer It…
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Opisthobranch molluscs (aka nudibranchs) present and interesting scenario to behavioral ecologists because they have evolutionarily dispensed of a gastropods’ best line of predator defense: the shell. Most gastropods are able to effectively shield themselves from predators by withdrawing into their calcareous caverns; however, save for a small shell that develops during the larval stage, nudibranchs [...]... Read more »
Takagi, K., Ono, N., & Wright, W. (2010) Interspecific variation in palatability suggests cospecialization of antipredator defenses in sea hares. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 137-144. DOI: 10.3354/meps08738
- July 20, 2010
- 05:06 PM
- 643 views
The amazing Life History Strategy of Pacific Island Inverts: Tahiti, Samoa and Fiji oh my!
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Just when you thought you couldn’t learn anything more incredible about invertebrates…
Amphidromy is a specialized form of anadromy, where a species lives for its juvenile and adult life in a tropical stream habitat but releases its larvae to the open ocean for development. Yes, you read that right: several species of molluscs and crustaceans (snails [...]... Read more »
Crandall, E., Taffel, J., & Barber, P. (2009) High gene flow due to pelagic larval dispersal among South Pacific archipelagos in two amphidromous gastropods (Neritomorpha: Neritidae). Heredity, 104(6), 563-572. DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2009.138
- April 8, 2010
- 02:57 PM
- 639 views
Third-party social etiquette: what to do when a female bites off more than she can chew
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
The ability of humans to develop and enforce social norms has been called one of the distinguishing characteristics of our species. Social norms can be loosely defined as behavioral standards that are enforced by third-party social interventions. For example, person A violates person B in some way. Person C is not [...]... Read more »
Raihani, N., Grutter, A., & Bshary, R. (2010) Punishers Benefit From Third-Party Punishment in Fish. Science, 327(5962), 171-171. DOI: 10.1126/science.1183068
- October 20, 2010
- 03:00 PM
- 638 views
Sex and the Urban Bird: Who Needs ‘Natural’ Selection Anyway?
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
It’s certainly no secret that Homo sapiens are in the business of altering natural landscapes. For the most part, where there are large densities of humans there have been drastic and irreversable changes to natural ecosystem function. In many cases such changes are associated with a decreased biological fitness of all organisms that were there [...]... Read more »
Moller, A. (2010) The fitness benefit of association with humans: elevated success of birds breeding indoors. Behavioral Ecology, 21(5), 913-918. DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arq079
- September 23, 2010
- 06:16 PM
- 627 views
Holy Mola Batman!
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Who needs a research question when you’ve got a super-sexy beast to play with??
Upon perusal of the recent offerings of one of my favorite journals, an article immediately caught my eye: Satellite tracking of giant sunfish! I read the abstract, and despite the fact that the research didn’t appear to have any clear biological [...]... Read more »
Dewar, H., Thys, T., Teo, S., Farwell, C., O'Sullivan, J., Tobayama, T., Soichi, M., Nakatsubo, T., Kondo, Y., & Okada, Y. (2010) Satellite tracking the world's largest jelly predator, the ocean sunfish, Mola mola, in the Western Pacific. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 393(1-2), 32-42. DOI: 10.1016/j.jembe.2010.06.023
- March 13, 2010
- 03:23 PM
- 623 views
Looking for a post-coital snack?
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Sexual partners do not always represent a healthy meal…
Sexual cannibalism, where a female preys on her male partner subsequent to copulation, is exhibited in several insect and arachnid species. Many hypotheses about the evolution of such a practice suggest that it is part due to the nutritional benefits to be had from chowing down [...]... Read more »
Wilder, S., & Rypstra, A. (2009) Males make poor meals: a comparison of nutrient extraction during sexual cannibalism and predation. Oecologia, 162(3), 617-625. DOI: 10.1007/s00442-009-1518-3
- March 22, 2011
- 02:43 PM
- 623 views
Hello Marine Biologists! What did you do at work today?
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
For those of you that may not be able to guess it from reading my blog – here’s a little factiod: I love, rather LOVE, biology. I’m often daydreaming about various organisms or landscapes – thinking about what it would be like to investigate certain phenomena. It would be nice [...]... Read more »
Zhu, B., Pan, K., & Wang, G. (2011) Effects of host starvation on the symbiotic dinoflagellates from the sea anemone Stichodactyla mertensii. Marine Ecology, 32(1), 15-23. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00405.x
Portnova, D., Mokievsky, V., & Soltwedel, T. (2011) Nematode species distribution patterns at the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano (Norwegian Sea). Marine Ecology, 32(1), 24-41. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00403.x
Lazar, B., Gračan, R., Katić, J., Zavodnik, D., Jaklin, A., & Tvrtković, N. (2011) Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) as bioturbators in neritic habitats: an insight through the analysis of benthic molluscs in the diet. Marine Ecology, 32(1), 65-74. DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00402.x
- October 14, 2010
- 04:41 PM
- 614 views
Abandoned Females in the Animal Kingdom: Is Single Mommydom Worth It?
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Single moms all over the animal kingdom do their best to raise offspring without the support of a partner…but is it enough?
Not if you’re a Nicaraguan cichlid. Recent research shows that adjustment of brood care in the absence of a mate is not enough to account for the care that would be provided by [...]... Read more »
Lehtonen, T., Wong, B., Svensson, P., & Meyer, A. (2010) Adjustment of brood care behaviour in the absence of a mate in two species of Nicaraguan crater lake cichlids. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-1062-5
- November 3, 2010
- 03:48 PM
- 608 views
He’s Having a Baby!
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Ok – he’s actually having 8400 babies, and it’s cramping his style.
Sea spiders among the few animal species that exhibit a reversal of traditional sex roles when it comes to parental investment: males, instead of females, care exclusively for incubating egg masses. The masses are attached on his ventral side, and it takes a great [...]... Read more »
Burris, Z. (2010) Costs of exclusive male parental care in the sea spider Achelia simplissima (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida). Marine Biology. DOI: 10.1007/s00227-010-1566-6
- April 6, 2011
- 02:12 PM
- 601 views
She’s having a baby! I think?! A promising new technique for pregnancy sampling in wild cetaceans…
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
Assessment of the reproductive status of wild cetaceans (dolphins, whales and porpoises) is difficult and therefore not often practiced or accomplished. Fecal and/or blood samples are effective techniques for use with captive and stranded individuals; however, these kinds of fluids aren’t so easy to obtain from specimens in their natural habitat. Researchers primarily rely on [...]... Read more »
Pérez, S., García-López, �., Stephanis, R., Giménez, J., García-Tiscar, S., Verborgh, P., Mancera, J., & Martínez-Rodriguez, G. (2011) Use of blubber levels of progesterone to determine pregnancy in free-ranging live cetaceans. Marine Biology. DOI: 10.1007/s00227-011-1676-9
Stephanis, R., Verborgh, P., Pérez, S., Esteban, R., Minvielle-Sebastia, L., & Guinet, C. (2008) Long-term social structure of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) in the Strait of Gibraltar. acta ethologica, 11(2), 81-94. DOI: 10.1007/s10211-008-0045-2
- February 7, 2011
- 12:26 PM
- 596 views
Messing with the minds of embryonic cuttlefish…
by Dr. Carin Bondar in Dr. Carin Bondar - Biologist With a Twist
an exploration into connections between the sensory modalities of a marine predator.
~~
Cephalopods are known as the ‘charismatic megafauna’ of the invertebrate world. We humans are generally fascinated by their stealth, their ability to camouflage, and their massive brains. The physical form of cephalopods is so different from our own that we find them [...]... Read more »
Guibé M, Boal JG, & Dickel L. (2010) Early exposure to odors changes later visual prey preferences in cuttlefish. Developmental psychobiology, 52(8), 833-7. PMID: 21157990
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