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Mimicry in the animal kingdom includes behaviors or features of one group (species or sex within a species) that imitates another group in order to gain some kind of advantage, whether that be protection, sexual attraction, or some other benefit. Intraspecific sexual … Continue reading
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Brood parasitic birds lay their eggs in the nests of host birds so as to avoid raising their own young, in turn, saving the energy and time associated with rearing offspring by passing this responsibility off to a host bird. … Continue reading
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Have you ever seen someone you’d rather not run into and wish you could just fade into the background? Well, Ariamnes cylindrogaster, a spider native to Japan, Korea, and China, can! You’ve probably heard of camouflage, an adaptation that … Continue reading
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We’ve all heard of the five senses: sight, touch, smell, sound, and taste. Some animals, such as certain types of fish, reptiles, or mammals, can also use an internal compass to navigate through their environment. This can be in the form … Continue reading
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Color polymorphisms are an interesting phenomenon especially when considered in the field of sensory ecology. A polymorphism is when two or more related traits appear within a single mating population, and in many cases this is seen as individuals expressing … Continue reading
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Cicada Acoustic Communication To communicate between and within their species, insects have evolved various ways to produce sound. Sound communication can play an important role in reproduction and sexual selection. In various cicada species, sound production informs mating behavior through … Continue reading
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“Adaptation” is a term that everyone is familiar with. In the scientific community, it refers to a change or the process of change by which an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment. Because of the diversity between … Continue reading
Ornamentation is the presence of a decorative structure, or ornament, with no functional purpose in an animal’s physiology/morphology. The use of ornamentation is commonly found in cases of sexual selection, where the ornament is used as a display to attract … Continue reading
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When Fruit Flies Have a Refined Taste Dillon Guynup Drosophila suzukii. Wiki Commons I’m sure we have all left fruit or veggies out of the fridge for too long. In addition to the brown spots on bananas, rotten strawberries, and mushy … Continue reading
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When the Second World War ended, the two superpowers developed their nuclear weapon programs in an “arms race.” This idea of one force putting pressure on another to change, improve, or adapt can be seen in nature as well. Predator-prey … Continue reading
