Fish and Amphibians

The ability to detect threatening stimuli and initiate an escape response is critical for survival and under stringent evolutionary pressure. To detect predators, fish use a number of sensory systems including olfaction (smell) and vision, which contribute to the activation of arousal systems. Surprisingly, little is known about the neural mechanisms through which ecological perturbation shapes the evolution of escape response. When startled, do all fish respond the same way? A few fish, like Mexican cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus, have evolved in unique environments without any predators. To determine how this lack of predation impacts escape responses that are highly stereotyped across fish species, researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College explored the tiny A. mexicanus to determine if there are evolved difference in the species. A. mexicanus exist as surface fish that inhabit rivers in Mexico and S...

Credit: CC0 Public Domain The ability to detect threatening stimuli and initiate an escape response is critical for survival and under stringent evolutionary pressure. To detect predators, fish use a number of sensory systems including olfaction (smell) and vision, which contribute to the activation of arousal systems. Surprisingly, little is known about the neural mechanisms through which ecological perturbation shapes the evolution of escape response. When startled, do all fish respond the same way? A few fish, like Mexican cavefish, Astyanax mexicanus, have evolved in unique environments without any predators. To determine how this lack of predation impacts escape responses that are highly stereotyped across fish species , researchers from Florida Atlantic University's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College explored the tiny A. mexicanus to determine if there are evolved difference in the species. A. mexicanus exist as surface fish th...

In 1939, a population of orangutans was found in the Batang Toru jungle in South Tapanuli on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They were thought to be Sumatran orangutangs, but in 2017 scientists discovered they were an entirely new species – the Tapanuli orangutan . Five years earlier, in 2012, Indonesia had announced a US$1.6 billion hydropower project on the Batang Toru River. Some local jungle has since been cleared for the project, which is due to be completed in 2022. This has left the Tapanuli orangutan population, already critically endangered due to habitat fragmentation, facing complete collapse. In June 2018, 25 leading environmentalists wrote to Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, calling for a halt to further development in the area. Chinese financial institutions and businesses have prominent roles in the Batang Toru hydropower project , which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is just one example of the impact the BRI is having – or could have –...

[embedded content] Europe's alpine lakes are often very clear, very cold, and very deep. Many weird and wonderful creatures have evolved to bear the conditions, including very scary eagles, and lots of weird fish and amphibians. Originally titled Kühle Schönheiten: Alpenseen [Cool Places: Alpine Lakes] by Sigurd Tesche. Image: YouTube / Free High-Quality Documentaries https://ift.tt/3of9vMf

The majority of protected landscapes (81 percent) across the European Union have a poor or bad conservation status, and many of them continue to decline despite targets aimed at protecting them, a report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) revealed on Monday (19 October). In the 2013-2018 State of Nature in the EU report , grasslands, dunes, as well as bog, mire and fen habitats show notable deteriorating trends due to changes in land and sea use, over-exploitation and unsustainable management practices. Meanwhile, only a quarter of species have a 'good' conservation status - with forests, mammals, and birds being among the top beneficiaries of the conservation measures applied during the last decade. Nearly half (47 percent) of the bird species in the EU have 'good' status, but this represents a decline of five percent since the previous 2008-2012 reporting period - with some bird groups, such as falcons and harriers, still facing many threats. But fish ar...

Biodiversity is in critical decline across Europe and the world, experts say, raising the alarm about the devastating impact this will have on the global economy. 55% of global GDP, equal to $41.7 trillion, is dependent on high-functioning biodiversity and ecosystem services, according to a report published in September by Swiss Re , the Swiss reinsurance company. However, a fifth of the world’s countries are at risk of ecosystem collapse, the report adds, saying twenty countries around the globe are approaching a biodiversity “tipping point” where essential “services” like food provision risk being disrupted. And the problem is not limited to places like Brazil which are known for their high rates of deforestation, it also concerns Europe. Belgium and Spain were listed among the countries with a high risk to biodiversity and ecosystem services, alongside Australia, Israel, India and South Africa. Biodiversity is in rapid decline across Europe. The State of Nature report report p...

Until recently, it was something of an urban myth amongst Whistler’s environmental types and nature lovers that there are goldfish and koi—both invasive species—in Alta Lake and other local water bodies. “We had heard rumours for a few years that people had seen the occasional orange fish, and we never really got any photo evidence or confirmation of the species ID,” said Clare Greenberg, executive director of the Sea to Sky Invasive Species Council (SSISC). “Until, I think it was two years ago, one of the Whistler municipal staff members personally observed them [in Alta Lake].” This summer, numerous sightings of both fish (which can be hard to tell apart from a distance, Greenberg says) have been reported to the SSISC, prompting the organization to put together a fact sheet about the pesky invasives: ssisc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Goldfish-Factsheet-2020.pdf. The fish have been spotted in Alta Lake, Jordan Creek (between Alpha and Nita lakes) and even One Mile Lake in Pembe...

The Togo slippery frog lives amidst the waterfalls and forests of eastern Ghana. Just three inches long in adulthood, with skin the color of glistening mud, its nondescript appearance belies a fascinating history. It belongs to a family of frogs that dates back 70 million years to the late Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. Hunted for its meat so relentlessly over the last 5,000 years that for decades it was feared to be extinct, today it’s one of the most endangered amphibians on the planet. Alongside more than 100 other species in 50 countries around the world, the Togo slippery frog is protected by EDGE of Existence, which stands for “Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered” and is funded by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). EDGE is the only global initiative of its kind, training early-career conservationists and emphasizing local ownership of habitat protection — and ZSL, in turn, is one of the world’s most iconic zoological organizations. It...

MANOUSH ZOMORODI, HOST: And Mary Louise's hearing loss is actually pretty common. JIM HUDSPETH: In our society, about 10% of the populace - that's 30 million people - have significant hearing problems. By the time that we're on the order of 70 years old, about a quarter of us have significant hearing loss. And by 80, it's more than half. ZOMORODI: This is Jim Hudspeth. HUDSPETH: I'm a professor at Rockefeller University in New York City, and I'm a neuroscience researcher. So I work particularly on hearing. ZOMORODI: And Jim says to understand why hearing loss is so common, we need to understand how the ear works. HUDSPETH: Oh, yeah. So here we go. Sound is, of course, a vibration in the air, and that's really obvious when a jet plane, for example, rattles a window. (SOUNDBITE OF WINDOW RATTLING) HUDSPETH: There's energy or power flowing through the air. Sound energy hits the eardrum. It moves three little bones in the middle ear. And finally, it...

LOS ANGELES — Up until a few weeks ago, the West Fork of the San Gabriel River was one of the most abundant wildlife habitats in Los Angeles County, a secluded and rugged area defined by its steep peaks, lush canyons and mixture of rare and endangered species. Recently however, a team of federal biologists and forest rangers was aghast when it visited the stream following the Bobcat fire, which has burned more than 115,000 acres in the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Terrain that once resembled a High Sierra granite gorge now looked like ground zero after a nuclear explosion, and the usually clean mountain air was sharp with the stench of smoke. Particularly unsettling were the bare and ashen slopes that were now primed to dissolve under pounding winter storms. A heavy mudslide, experts said, could reverse decades of conservation efforts by inundating the last outposts for such federally protected species as the Santa Ana sucker fish and Southern California m...

At a time when society increasingly looks to science for answers, UC Davis experts weigh in on imparting knowledge that increases understanding, engages audiences and breaks down barriers. Photos by Karin Higgins and Gregory Urquiaga When Ben Young Landis ’03 was a student at UC Davis, he had a passion for science and a knack for storytelling — but he didn’t know how to combine those interests. “Talk of science communication wasn’t prevalent,” said Landis. “It wasn’t spoken in the same breath as academic development and technical training. But that has changed.” Over the past two decades, the science communication field has grown as modern scientists aim to share their science with a wider network — including the general public. Members of the UC Davis community — including faculty members and alumni — are part of an increasing number of science communicators who are carving out new roles in academia, industry and journalism. They have been working steadil...