Zoology

Trophic cascades occur in nature when predators in a food web alter the behavior of their prey or suppress their number, thereby indirectly affecting the next lower trophic level in a positive way. This theory has been shown to be important in understanding the effects of removing a keystone species from a food web. Many…

Several years ago, a team of wildlife researchers tested the effect of California’s 2008 lead ammunition ban on the blood lead levels of two scavenging birds, the Golden Eagle and the Turkey Vulture (Kelly, et al. 2011). The lead ammunition ban was enacted to aid the recovery of a critically endangered bird, the California Condor,…

The cassowaries are large, flightless ratite birds that are found in the rainforests of Papa New Guinea, Australia, and some of the surrounding islands (Sanft 1975). Weighing up to 85 kg, these birds are second in size only to the ostrich. Native peoples hunted the cassowaries and valued them as livestock; it was reported that…

Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) are 130-140g corvids that inhabit alpine environments in montane regions of the western United States and Canada. These corvids are extremely active during autumn, when plants are producing seeds in preparation for winter, and during this period; they can catch an estimated 22,000-33,000 pine seeds in over 5,000 different locations. These…

The Masked bobwhite quail is an extremely rare and fragile subspecies of the more popular and widespread Northern bobwhite. The Masked bobwhite is and has been endangered from the moment it was discovered. These quail are very susceptible to habitat loss. They are native to the desert grasslands of Arizona and Mexico, but have been…

Land hermit crabs are crustaceans known as Coenobita clypeatus. They live in the wild in the western Atlantic. Hermit crabs have three sections: a head, a body (cephalothorax), and an abdomen, which they protect with their shells. Hermit crabs have gills on their big claw in order to conserve moisture. Hermit crabs sometimes go for…

Land hermit crabs are crustaceans known as Coenobita clypeatus. They live in the wild in the western Atlantic. Hermit crabs have three sections: a head, a body (cephalothorax), and an abdomen, which they protect with their shells. Hermit crabs have gills on their big claw in order to conserve moisture. Hermit crabs sometimes go for…

We rejected our null hypothesis. All four crabs seem to actively choose shell type unequal to availability. Overall, the main shell occupied was Ilynassa. This is probably due to the large abundance of this shell, compared to other shell types, in the sample area. The biology of the crabs plays a part in their shell…

Blue crabs come from the family Portunidae a group of animals having jointed legs, segmented body, and a hard outer shell. (Capossela, 1990) It is a crustacean as are lobsters and shrimps. This crab stays in water although it could survive shortly out of it. The growth of blue crabs is slowed in areas of…

Awaking early, I decided to sit on the screened porch and watch the Florida sun come Within a very short time as I sat there, the sun peaked on the horizon as it gradually awakened from its night of slumber. The dew sparkled like diamonds as the sun’s rays tenderly caressed the grass. Off in…