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Avian skills-Video
How a kingfisher hunts
Kingfishers True aquatic kingfishers are a generally secretive family (Alcedinidae) with dramatic feeding habits. Most are brightly colored, often solitary fishers. They usually nest in banks along the riverine habitats in which they live. A smaller number of kingfishers [...]
Cambrian
The Eyes of Anomalocaris
The lord and master of the Cambrian seas was the undulating predator Anomalocaris. It was likely highly efficient, and now we are learning, highly visual. It was considerably larger than any other creature in those shallow seas and must have [...]
Pterosaurs
Pterosaurs
These dramatic reptiles arose in the Triassic and continued a150 million-year sovereignty until the end of the Cretaceous. During this time they were uncontested champions of flight, and ruled the skies. Although often thought of as dinosaurs, they were but [...]
Sunlight-energy
Solar panel wasp
Oriental Hornet (Vespa orientalis) Photosynthesis is usually the province of the plants. Very few animals can actually make energy from sunlight. But, some few members of the animal kingdom have harnessed the sun by getting the necessary solar panels [...]
Visual chemistry
Cryptochromes
Cryptochromes Rhodopsin is a photoreceptive molecule composed of a Vitamin A derivative (retinal) and an opsin. Opsins are proteins that complement the retinal, and are “tuned” to certain wavelengths of light, and this means that they respond most vigorously to [...]
More Articles
To explain the Blog
Life first emerged approximately 3.75 billion years ago from the swirling broth of the prebiotic soup. The process leading to its appearance is only partially understood, but has several possibilities. The harsh conditions on earth at the time would have [...]
Jumping spiders and their magnificent eyes
Most spiders get a bad rap. Few would harm you, and only rarely are spiders aggressive towards humans. Most will defend themselves if threatened, of course, and a few are venomous. Most spiders, however, would prefer to ignore humans and [...]
