DISCOVERED THE FIRST FISH WARM-BLOODED

Just like Mammals and Birds (and, according to some theories, even some species of Dinosaur), the Kingfish or Opah (Lampris guttatus Brunnich, 1788), a sea fish belonging to the family Lampridae and order Lampridiformes, is warm-blooded. The discovery of some American researchers, recently published in Science, is sensational. It is…

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MANIPULATION

Blackbuck  (Antilope cervicapra, Linnaeus 1758)   Generally, animals do not exchange information on abstract concepts or objects not present in the environment: they communicate immediate events related to the issuer or its habitat. The signals can transmit information on body size, age and strength, or information concerning the environment, for…

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GIVE ME FIVE

The hand is an extraordinary appendix, but is not exclusive to human: we share it with all the primates, but also with bats, cats, frogs and even dolphins. Charles Darwin pointed out this strange coincidence in his The Origin of Species. “What’s more unique,” he wrote, “that the hand of…

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THE TREE OF LIFE

The modern biological science considers the theory of common descent as a fact: all forms of life on Earth are descended from a common ancestor (tree of life). This conclusion is based on the fact that many features of living organisms, such as the genetic code, seemingly arbitrary, are shared…

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WHO WEARS PANTS?

 Wattled Jacana – Jacana jacana  (Linnaeus, 1766) Who wear pants. We used to think that investing in the care of offspring is a female exclusive and that the courtship and reproductive behaviour of males are largely attempts to exploit the investment of resources for women. In some cases, however, the…

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