Animal Planet

[Henry J]

New Classification of Eukaryotes has implications for AIDS treatment, agriculture and beyond.

The first major higher level classification of all organisms (with the exception of bacteria), coordinated by the International Society of Protistologists, overturns previously held scientific assumptions.

The new classification recognizes 6 major clusters of organisms, rather than the 4 traditional Kingdoms.

What were the 4 traditional kingdoms? Plants, Animal, and Fungi, I suppose - were all the other Eukaryotes lumped into one "kingdom" for convenience of classification?

Looks like this might indicate some revisions to Eukaryotes on tree-of-life site as it lists 6 major groups (but not the same groups listed here), then links to a page listing several dozen other protists groups.

Henry

(And yeah, I know 5 of those 6 groups aren't animals and this topic is entitlled "animal planet" - what's yer point? )

[brian]

The five (where did they get four?) traditional kingdoms are Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plant and Animal.

More info can be found here: http://www.borg.com/~lubehawk/kingdms.htm

[Henry J]

Well, one point is that the article was talking about eukaryotes, and bacteria are prokaryotes, so that's why that one of the five wasn't listed as one of the four.

Apparently blue green algae are prokaryotes too? I didn't know anything called "algae" was in the prokaryote (eubacteria) group. Interesting.

Eubacteria
Cyanobacteria

Yeah, I figured with that number of "kingdoms" they were bunching all the protists together. Trouble with that is that protists differ among themselves somewhat more than animals differ from fungi. So they don't form a distinct clade like animals, plants, and fungi do.
Eukaryotes

Henry

[Henry J]

Picky female frogs drive evolution of new species in less than 8,000 years

Picky female frogs in a tiny rainforest outpost of Australia have driven the evolution of a new species in 8,000 years or less,

(Picky, picky, picky! And look where it got them! )

Henry

[brian]

^ Human females should take a page out of the frogs' book. Maybe then we'd have fewer mouth breathers around.

And on the road in front of me.

And producing Star Trek.

[Henry J]

Mice Sing In The Presence Of Mates, Researchers Discover

Scientists have known for decades that female lab mice or their pheromones cause male lab mice to make ultrasonic vocalizations. But a new paper from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis establishes for the first time that the utterances of the male mice are songs.

(Yeah, but do they know the words or are they just humming?)

Henry

[Henry J]

Monkey Math Machinery is Like Humans’

Monkeys have a semantic perception of numbers that is like humans’ and which is independent of language, Duke University cognitive neuroscientists have discovered. They said their findings demonstrate that the neural mechanism underlying numerical perception is evolutionarily primitive.

[Xjmt]

Monkeys/Evolution??

[Henry J]

Worms Know Bad Food When They Smell It

For most people, a whiff of food that made them sick in the past is enough to trigger a wave of nausea - and to prevent them from eating that food again. [...] Even worms, researchers have now shown, quickly learn to avoid smells associated with foods that have made them ill.

(But, they still have to avoid the early bird!)

Fossil Find: 'Godzilla' Crocodile Had Head Of A Dinosaur, Fins Like A Fish

Researchers have discovered evidence of an ancient sea creature that would have made Tyrannosaurus rex, think twice before stepping into the ocean. At the southern tip of South America , they found fossils of an entirely new species of ancient crocodile – one whose massive jaws and jagged teeth would have made it the most fearsome predator in the sea.

(Cue theme music from Jaws here... )

Hairy Feet Stick Better to Wet Ceilings

The gecko lizard is known as a master of climbing. It is the heaviest animal that can ‘stand’ on a ceiling, with its feet over its head. This is why scientists are intensely researching the adhesive system of the tiny hairs on its feet.

(Forget Spiderman - call Lizardman instead!)

--

[brian]

^ Um, velcro?

The Vulcans already provided us with that technology.

Hobbits should be great at ceiling walking.

[Henry J]

Genealogy of Scaly Reptiles Rewritten by New Research

The most comprehensive analysis ever performed of the genetic relationships among all the major groups of snakes, lizards, and other scaly reptiles has resulted in a radical reorganization of the family tree of these animals, requiring new names for many of the tree's new branches.

[Henry J]

Bats Use Touch Receptors on Wings

Bats have an “ear” for flying in the dark because of a remarkable auditory talent that allows them to determine their physical environment by listening to echoes. But an Ohio University neurobiology professor says bats have a “feel” for it, too.

John Zook’s studies of bat flight suggest that touch-sensitive receptors on bats’ wings help them maintain altitude and catch insects in midair.

(And they're cute, too! )

[Henry J]

Ability to capture large prey may be origin of army ants' cooperative behavior

Scientific insights come at the darnedest times.

Animal behaviorist Sean O'Donnell was having an afternoon cup of coffee when a giant earthworm exploded out of the leaf litter covering the jungle floor in an Ecuadorean nature preserve. The worm, later measured at nearly 16 inches long, was pursued by a column of hundreds of raiding army ants that quickly paralyzed or killed it.

(Ya don't want these guys (er, gals?) in yer pants!)

[lswot]

Another reason why NOT to go to Ecuador!

[Xjmt]

Yeah! Who'd want ants in their pants??