Tag Zoology
Zebra mussels hang on while quagga mussels take over
The zebra mussels that have wreaked ecological havoc on the Great Lakes are harder to find these days - not because they are dying off, but because they are being replaced by a cousin, the quagga mussel. But zebra mussels still dominate in fast-moving streams and rivers.
Optimum running speed is stride toward understanding human body form
Runners, listen up: If your body is telling you that your pace feels a little too fast or a little too slow, it may be right.
Evolution, ecosystems may buffer some species against climate change
Although ecologists expect many species will be harmed by climate change, some species could be buffered by their potential to evolve or by changes in their surrounding ecosystems.
Study: Can nature’s leading indicators presage environmental disaster?
Economists use leading indicators - the drivers of economic performance - to take the temperature of the economy and predict the future. Now, in a new study, scientists take a page from the social science handbook and use leading indicators of the environment to presage the potential collapse of ecosystems.
Lowly Icelandic midges reveal ecosystem’s tipping points
A UW–Madison zoologist describes in the journal Nature an ecosystem population dynamics model built on the flies of Iceland’s Lake Myvatn, showing how even slight human-induced changes can irreversibly alter the balance of nature.
‘Glass menagerie:’ Museum unearths exotic stash of glass sea creatures
An ordinary mid-summer stroll through Noland Hall in 2005 led Paula Holahan to an extraordinary discovery: box after box filled with a sea of intricate glass sculptures of marine invertebrate animals.
Curiosities: Can dogs be trained not to bark?
"Yes, absolutely," said canine authority and UW–Madison adjunct associate professor of zoology Patricia McConnell. When confronting the natural tendency of our…