News stories tagged with "zoology"

(01/05/12) Horns and antlers are more than different variations on animal head gear. Antlers are temporary and contain no actual bone. Horns are for keeps. Martha Foley and Curt Stager discuss pointy-headed creatures.

(09/01/11) While the porcupine quill is hollow, like a feather, and is made from the same material, it is actually a modified hair. African porcupines can weigh as much as 60 pounds and have quills as thick as soda straws. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about "prickly" matters.

(08/18/11) The Japanese trap dragonflies with weighted silk threads, treasuring their association with the virtues of happiness, courage and strength. Dr. Curt Stager and Martha Foley continue their discussion of dragonflies and their habits.

(08/11/11) Dragonflies, the largest flying insect predators, can be startling, but are not known for biting humans. As Dr. Curt Stager tells Martha Foley, however, one is reported to have killed a hummingbird.

(05/12/11) Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss the manners and morals of avian mating.

(02/17/11) Kangaroos, and marsupials, are commonly known as mammals who use a pouch to raise their young. What most people might not know is that the birth of kangaroos in a pouch is in some ways more complex than the birth and development of other mammals. Martha Foley talks with Dr. Curt Stager about kangaroos.

(07/29/10) Animals, like humans, keep an eye on their fellows, particularly when the action is hot. Siamese fighting fish who witness a conflict treat the winners and losers differently. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about nosiness in nature.

(07/30/09) Black squirrels are becoming more common throughout the St. Lawrence Valley. They are a normal variation of the more familiar gray squirrel species. Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager discuss melanism, an increase in the pigmentation of some species that can be a response to environmental factors.

(06/04/09) Martha Foley and Dr. Curt Stager talk about trout biology and habitat in the Adirondacks.

(06/26/08) What's the difference between a salamander and a newt? Not too much, says Dr. Curt Stager. He talks with Martha Foley about how aquatic salamanders mature into the forest variety.