Category: Animal World
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Like Lucy, the mother of man who came out of Africa, the mother(s) of all domestic cats might have been a resident of the middle east. Don’t worry, this is not the start of Friday Cat Blogging – I refer to a paper to be published in the June 29 issue of Science which traces the…
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Here are links to some not so "Just So Stories" about animals – dead and alive. A Supersized Chicken: [link] The original Nature article requires subscription for full access. One of the world’s top fossil hunters has unveiled a previously unknown gigantic, chicken-like dinosaur that may change evolutionary theory on prehistoric animals. The remains of…
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Between cats and bad spelling, things can really get out of hand! So reports Dwight Silverman of the Houston Chronicle. Computer geeks have their own niche in pop culture. Sometimes, something crazed from that niche escapes and runs rampant among the masses. Now working its way into the popular consciousness is something far more bizarre…
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Jyothsnay, whom I first met through a heated debate about cats and dogs, points me to a perfect crime. But she suggested and I agree, that the animal roles are reversed. Download PerfectCrime.zip (hope the file opens)
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The mysterious disappearance of colonies of honeybees across several nations has alarmed commercial beekeepers who rent their services to a variety of large farming operations, due to what has been termed the Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Entomologists and apiologists have been proposing and testing hypotheses ranging from radiation from cell phones (‘Turn off your cell…
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Contrary to the conventional wisdom about the male of the species acting as hunter-gatherers, female chimpanzees in Senegal have been found not just hunting other primates for food but also fashioning the tools to do the killing. Use of tools by large apes, particularly chimpanzees, has been observed before, usually for poking anthills with slender…
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As an unapologetic cat lover, I have so far heroically resisted temptations to turn this site into a “kitty blog.” For example, I have not bombarded readers with pictures of my cats (except the one painting) nor endlessly described their unfailing cuteness. I find cats quite fascinating even when they are doing nothing, which is…
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Ruchira has animals on the brain, and now so do I. I thought immediately of her post "Liquid Explosives and Solid Lies" when I found this curious news item about trained bees being used to detect explosives. There go the hopes of all those corporations spending millions of dollars on developing complex detection equipment! And…
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Or the iguana, the civet cat, the monkey or the chinchilla? Pet ownership in affluent societies now goes far beyond Fido, the canine and Fluffy, the feline. Too far, may be. Exotic animals as household pets is a relatively new practice in normal households. The ever increasing demand for rare animals is fueled by celebrity…
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I have written two posts in quick succession about the hypocritical misuse of religion for war, strife, oppression and discrimination. Having got that off my chest, I am happy to present a kinder, gentler story on religion. This one warmed my theologically skeptical but animal friendly heart. (For a glimpse into our own animal nature,…
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As a lifelong, incorrigible aelurophile, I could not resist linking to this story. It is about a particular cat – the author’s ferocious cat Frederika. But there are enough interesting historical and scientific facts and factoids here about the frisky felines to warm the hearts of all cat lovers. It is interesting to note that…
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Read this for a clear perspective before you go out and buy cute animal cards for Mother’s Day. (Image from National Geographic photo galleries: Animal Mothers and Babies) Oh, mothers! Dear noble, selfless, tender and ferocious defenders of progeny all across nature’s phylogeny: How well you deserve our admiration as Mother’s Day draws near, and…
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For animal lovers, the joy of living with a companion animal is tempered by the knowledge that our pets most likely will die before us. We also know when we bring animals into our lives that some day we ourselves may be the instrument of their death – when disease, old age or some other…
Accidental Blogger 