Interesting facts in Nature

[JohnC6]

I recently read two articles about behaviour in nature. One about giraffes and the other about flowers.

Re giraffes. Only the male giraffes fight each other and it's why the hair on their horns get ripped off. Not so with females but this is very interesting. It was observed that when the young ones engaged in practice-fighting there appeared to be a code of honour. They'd swing their necks and heads at each and this practice also helped to establish their position in the social heirarchy. The aim seemed to be to bully the opponent into submission but the researchers found that the match-ups seemed to be fair. In our boxing world there are weight divisions..heavyweight,welterweight, lightweight etc and so it is in the giraffe world. They only spa with those of their own size. The large ones do not pick on the smaller ones. Each giraffe has a clear preference when swinging its neck..either to the right or to the left. Same as boxing..southpaw (left-handed) and orthodox..right-handed. They will arrange themselves in such a way that neither has an unfair advantage. If two who swing to the left engage each other then they will line up head to tail. If they are opposites they will line up head to head.. If one of them ends up in the 'wrong' position due to momentum then he will be able to strike his opponent from a position of safety.If that happens they immediately stop and assume the correct position and then start again. There are even 'referees'. The older ones will intervene and break up the young fighters. The research was carried out at the Mogalakwena River Reserve in South Africa. Another similar study needs to be carried out in case this behaviour is unique to this location.

The other piece of research showed that when a bumblebee settled on the petal of a petunia it caused the plant to set off an electrical signal to release more scent to attract other pollinators..ie bees.. It's not the plant that has the electric charge but the bumblebee ..an incredibly small charge...and it's to ensure the pollen sticks to it during flight and some plants use it as a cue to to release more scent. The researchers think this action has evolved over time to maximise the effectiveness of the attractive chemicals they release, the main one being benzaldehyde.The plants only have a certain amount of these chemicals so it makes sense to release them only when a pollinator is around. Interestingly, re this point the scent trigger was only activated when a charge, equivalent to that carried by at least five bee visits, was made.The researchers wanted to distinguish between the bee's electrical charge stimulus and the mechanical stimulus as it landed on the petal so they used a grounded metal rod to touch a subset of petunias and the the plant didn't release anywhere near the same amount of scent. When they did the same with an electrically-charged nylon ball..a charge equivalent to that of five bees.. the amount of scent released was double. The researchers said that the influence of electrical fields on all biological systems is poorly understood.

So, next time a bumblebee on a petal is being photogrpahed you know what's going on...

 

[LCPete]

I’m continually amazed and still learning about nature there’s so much yet to learn
Thanks for sharing

 

[Box Brownie]

This Jim Al-Khalili interview might be of interest especially in regard to multi generational studies of Red Deer and Meerkats

BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific, Tim Clutton-Brock on meerkats, red deer and evolution

What makes meerkats so cooperative and why do sons cost mothers more than daughters?

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[JohnC6]

This Jim Al-Khalili interview might be of interest especially in regard to multi generational studies of Red Deer and Meerkats

BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific, Tim Clutton-Brock on meerkats, red deer and evolution

What makes meerkats so cooperative and why do sons cost mothers more than daughters?

www.bbc.co.uk

I heard that live this morning,Laurence. Really interesting especially the variety of alarm..'predator nearby' calls of the Meerkats especially the call from the lookouts meaning 'I think I've seen something moving but I'm not quite sure:". The call for the Jackal, a bird of prey and snakes. Plus, "There's a predator nearby but not yet a threat " and of course.."Predator,run for your lives"

I didn't realise that the 'mothers' were so ruthless.

When he got back to Cambridge..he'd secured a place after A levels... from a year with the Zambian Game dept in Zambia re anti-poaching he asked if he could change from studying British Constitutional History in the 17/18th century to study zoology as he'd always been a naturalist but he was turned down...twice.. as he had no science A Levels but a lecturer, who was a botanist, suggested he study archaeology and anthropology and he did. I'm mentioning this because time and time again we hear of people who have a particular bent in life being turned down in the academic world or anywhere,really and then someone with perception and vision suggests another route and people become successful. Good tutors have not only shaped the lives of those who know what they want to do but inspire so much that a young person will take up a particular interest and go on to be an expert.