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Showing posts with the label comparative

Piggy Smarts!

New in the world of pig cognition research, interesting results: Pigs Prove to Be Smart, if Not Vain By NATALIE ANGIER The New York Times Published: November 10, 2009 "Recent discoveries from the nascent study of pig cognition offered evidence that pigs were quick learners, slow to forget and similar to humans in many ways." Read the article

The Social Behavior of Spiders?

From the Associated Press, a report of curious cooperative behavior ... or merely a fluke: Spiders Create Giant Web By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS August 30, 2007 Filed at 7:02 a.m. ET WILLS POINT, Texas (AP) -- Entomologists are debating the origin and rarity of a sprawling spider web that blankets several trees, shrubs and the ground along a 200-yard stretch of trail in a North Texas park. Officials at Lake Tawakoni State Park say the massive mosquito trap is a big attraction for some visitors, while others won't go anywhere near it. ''At first, it was so white it looked like fairyland,'' said Donna Garde, superintendent of the park about 45 miles east of Dallas. ''Now it's filled with so many mosquitoes that it's turned a little brown. There are times you can literally hear the screech of millions of mosquitoes caught in those webs.'' Spider experts say the web may have been constructed by social cobweb spiders, which work together, or could be t...