Once hunted to near extinction, sea otters have returned to California. A new study reveals the key role these critters play in maintaining coastal ecosystems. Continue reading Sea otters protect coastlines from erosion
Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is home to a dizzying array of life, from colorful poisonous frogs to deadly jaguars. One resident is the Araguaian river dolphin, which was only recently discovered by scientists in 2014. Unlike playful ocean dolphins, the Araguaian river dolphin is relatively solitary. Mother dolphins interact frequently with their baby calves, but rarely do adults interact with each other. Because of the river … Continue reading River Dolphins Have a Surprisingly Large Vocabulary
Archaeologists learn about ancient humans by excavating and analyzing historical artifacts. While the use of tools was once thought to be a uniquely human trait, this is far from the case; many terrestrial animals, including chimpanzees, macaque monkeys, and even vultures use stone tools to hunt and gather food. For aquatic animals, however, these behaviors have been difficult to observe in the wild. One exception … Continue reading Sea Otters Leave an Archaeological Record of Their Tool Use
There are a multitude of signals that elegantly orchestrate the proper development of the heart. In this image of a 3-day-old zebrafish heart, the signal that is localized to the developing atrio-ventricular valve and smooth muscle is labeled in green using green fluorescent protein (GFP). This particular signal is important for the formation of the cardiac valves, which will allow blood to pass from the … Continue reading Cross-section of the Developing Zebrafish Heart
Here is the developing zebrafish heart at 3 days post-fertilization. Unlike mammals, which have four chambers, the zebrafish heart consists of only two: a single ventricle (left) and a single atrium (right). Despite the difference in the number of chambers, the heart is the first organ to form in both mammals and zebrafish. Can you guess why? The developing embryo needs nutrients and as its … Continue reading Zebrafish Heart – 3 Days Old
The image above shows a developing zebrafish eye 3 days after fertilization. From this perspective, we are staring directly into the eye of the zebrafish and can appreciate both its beauty and its complexity. At this stage, the cells that comprise and surround the zebrafish eye display an incredible organization. The dark circle that appears to be a hole in the middle of the eye … Continue reading Perspective II
The image above shows a developing zebrafish eye 3 days after fertilization. From this perspective, we are staring directly into the eye of the zebrafish and can appreciate both its beauty and its complexity. At this stage, the cells that comprise and surround the zebrafish eye display an incredible organization. The dark circle that appears to be a hole in the middle of the eye … Continue reading Perspective I
The Drosophila neuromuscular junction is a beautiful and yet powerful model synapse for in vivo studies of development, physiology, cell biology and plasticity. This illustration by Saskia Van Vactor shows a field of ventral longitudinal body wall muscles in red, as if stained with phalloidin to highlight filamentous actin, the main protein building block of muscle. Against this background, several branches of intersegmental nerve extend … Continue reading Branched synaptic arbor in fillet
by Patty Rohs figures by Anna Maurer New technology is allowing scientists to investigate natural history museum specimens in ways that we never thought were possible. To the public eye, these museums may seem like an unchanging archive of life on earth. But behind the scenes, the very same institutions are centers for cutting-edge research. Curators, who are highly experienced in research and are often … Continue reading What’s hiding in the museum?
Of all the beautiful and varied natural ecosystems on earth, few have inspired awe like coral reefs. And rightly so – these colorful structures found on shallow ocean bottoms in tropical and subtropical regions of the world are not only pretty to look at (Figure 1), but also support an incredible diversity of life and are thus often called “rainforests of the sea” [1]. Some … Continue reading Home is where the healthy reefs are: insights into coral recruitment