Our Blog
Note to readers: ‘Biological Expositions’ is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If a bio-bullet is likened to a starter, our routine blog-post could be seen as a light lunch and a biological exposition as a three course meal.
Cursory similarity between predatory hyena and predated wildebeest
Connochaetes gnou photo © Derek Keats BY 2.0, via Attribution-Share Alike and Crocuta crocuta photo © Bernard Dupont BY 2.0, via Attribution-Share Alike The spotted hyena and its...
Bridging the chasm between rockrubbers and rockhoppers?
Have rock hyraxes been shaped by a capricious Creator, or just recreational killing by baboons? Consider the pros and cons of being a rock-dwelling mammal. One pro is that...
Confounded kiwi caprices
Note to readers: Biological Expositions is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If bio-bullets are likened to a starter, blog-posts...
The first triangular mutualism: plant – ant – butterfly
A triad of reciprocity may bring out the best in social insects, lycaenids and legumes. In Australia there are many types of plants dispersed and sown by ants. The seeds of these...
The hypertail and the infratail: axes from the sublime to the ridiculous?
Note to readers: Biological Expositions is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If bio-bullets are likened to a starter, blog-posts...
Weeds that swim for fishes that don’t
Far out to sea there float patches of ‘seaweeds’ called sargassum – forms of macroalgae that possess floating bladders. Although sargassum is particularly associated with the...
Odours and attitude – a comparison of how two toughs get going
The honey badger embodies the drama of big game country, whereas the wolverine is a concentrate of Siberian emptiness. The honey badger and the wolverine are mustelids with...
The lion in a new spotlight
Note to readers: Biological Expositions is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If bio-bullets are likened to a starter, blog-posts...
Yours Cuprically
Some enzymes have bluer blood than others and this antioxidant is more electric than most. Robin: Welcome to you, Copper, in our interview series here at Exploring the Bio-edge....
I am Casuarina
These woodheads would rather burn at the stake than be called pines or oaks. Robin: Welcome, Casuarina, to our interview series here at Exploring the Bio-edge. In our series we...
Lobulated ears: natural selection gone bionic?
Note to readers: Biological Expositions is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If bio-bullets are likened to a starter, blog-posts...
Could the Australian tortoise trump the hare?
Tracking down the testudines missing from a whole continent demands plodding logic rather than leaping conclusions. Land tortoises[1] are fully terrestrial, mainly plant-eating...
An ogle to the classic predator
Large felids are watchable, perhaps mesmerising. And yet it has gradually dawned on us, during about three decades of watching the lion, watching biologists watch the lion, and...
New pelvic thrusts in a fishy world?
Note to readers: Biological Expositions is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If a bio-bullet is likened to a starter, our routine...
Was this marsupial a lion – or a pouch robbing, meat-browsing, cookie-cutting koala?
Note to readers: Biological Expositions is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If a bio-bullet is likened to a starter, our routine...
A best-kept secret of wild cats: the aposematic bar code
Domestic cat (Felis silvestris cactus) © Bramans Black-and-white armbands remind bullies that small cats can scratch above their weight. No mammalian family more thoroughly...
Clitoral communication
Note to readers: Biological Expositions is a series of blog-posts each of which is equivalent in content to a book chapter. If bio-bullets are likened to a starter, blog-posts...
Is butyric acid a new vitamin for humans?
Ball-and-stick model of butyric acid (butanoic acid) © Benjah-bmm27 in the public domain Butyric acid is an unlikely contender for a newly discovered vitamin in the human...
A biological secret of the Maasai
The Maasai of East Africa claim a staple[1] of bovine milk as their birthright. Such a diet in adulthood has no precedent among mammals. Furthermore, no physiological adaptation...
Salvation by the yellowest of tides in the bluest of seas
The most famous castaway of all time, Jose Salvador Alvarenga, estimated age 37 years, has now returned to obscurity in central America. The media circus has moved on, ready for...
Austral-avian intelligence
Although much richer in bird species, South America cannot match Australia's large, brainy passerines. With a relatively well-watered, reliable environment, it's not surprising...