The Rhinoceros: Saving an Icon

8526743557_5c3a36734eThe rhino is an iconic animal. With their tough demeanor and unforgettable horn, what’s not to love?

This majestic creature has been on earth more than 9.2 million years, according to a recent PLOS ONE article, where researchers describe a fossil belonging to a large two-horned rhinocerotine species in central Turkey.  This rhino was preserved in volcanic rock, a process which accounts for less than two percent of the earth’s fossils. The scientists believe an eruption similar to that of Mt. Vesuvius must be responsible for the impeccable preservation. This study gave us a sense of just how long these brilliant beasts have been among us; however their existence is in grave danger today.

Yesterday May 1st, was Save the Rhino day. The purpose of this day is to bring awareness to rhino conservation and the threats this animal faces in the wild. The rhinoceros does not have any known predators, except for us! Humans have been poaching the rhino at astounding rates for their distinctive horn. The horn is made of keratin, the same protein in our finger nails and hair, and is thought to offer health benefits in traditional medicine. The horn has also been poached for luxury items in other parts of the world.

Today, there are fewer than 29 thousand rhinos on earth, with the white rhino on the brink of extinction. In a recent PLOS ONE article, authors have investigated how potential losses in conservation efforts would affect the white rhino population in South Africa. The authors specifically looked into Kruger National Park where the rhino population increased from 1998 to 2008. Despite this increase, researchers have predicted that by 2015 more white rhinos will be poached than bred, bringing the species into a negative growth phase. Due to the high demand for rhino horns, the authors urge conservationists to find innovative approaches to curb the financial incentive driving the poaching.

Global awareness and conservation is desperately needed to ensure the rhinoceros continues to graze the earth for millions of years to come. For more research on conservation and the glorious rhinoceros, visit our site here.

 

Citations:

Citation: Antoine P-O, Orliac MJ, Atici G, Ulusoy I, Sen E, et al. (2012) A Rhinocerotid Skull Cooked-to-Death in a 9.2 Ma-Old Ignimbrite Flow of Turkey. PLoS ONE 7(11): e49997. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049997

Citation: Ferreira SM, Botha JM, Emmett MC (2012) Anthropogenic Influences on Conservation Values of White Rhinoceros. PLoS ONE 7(9): e45989. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045989

Image on Flickr by wwarby

Animal Heartbreakers? Animals, Behavior, and “Love”

Animal emotion remains a fairly contentious area of scientific research, but there is a growing body of evidence to support the idea that nonhuman animals can have feelings. The scientific community may not be ready to use the “L” word for animals, but we are beginning to understand that they do form relationships that are both more complex and insightful than they initially appeared.

While the birds and the bees don’t pre-order roses online or bust out heart-shaped boxes of chocolate for Valentine’s Day, many animal species—yes, even insects and spiders—exhibit courtship behavior to woo their mates (singing mice, anyone?). On the opposite end of the spectrum, animals can also be sneaky and engage in promiscuous behavior that rivals the latest plotline from your favorite soap opera. The physical, chemical, mental, and emotional drivers behind these behaviors are still under active investigation by the scientific community, and we have a few handy examples published in PLOS ONE.

In “Heaven It’s My Wife! Male Canaries Conceal Extra-Pair Courtships but Increase Aggressions When Their Mate Watches,” male domestic canaries, known to be socially monogamous, altered their courtship behavior toward females depending on the audience. Males were generally more aggressive with females around than with males or no one present. Males also courted other females more if their mates weren’t around, which the authors suggested may imply that there are costs (“divorce”) associated with courting other females while a mate watches. Tsk, tsk.

While canaries may be coy, some of our closest relatives display some of the fiercest aggressive and competitive behavior. In the recently published “Till Death (Or an Intruder) Do Us Part: Intrasexual-Competition in a Monogamous Primate,” owl monkey pairs were broken up by intruding “floater” monkeys, which in some cases, resulted in serious consequences for the ousted monkey: disappearance or death. These breakups also had a negative effect on the reproductive success of both the male and female monkey in the pair. Lasting monogamous owl monkey couples produced 25% more offspring than monkeys with two or more partners.

Are animals always heartbreakers? In what researchers consider an act of monogamy, pair-bonded California mice in this study refrained from scent marking when given the opportunity. This may not seem like a proud display of love and loyalty, but in the animal kingdom, scent marking can be a form of advertising for new females. The researchers also found that virgin male mice still participated in scent-marking behavior, providing further evidence that the other animals’ restraint was related specifically to pair bonding.

Just as we see behavioral differences in the animal kingdom, there’s certainly a lot of variety in human love and relationships. Regardless, we’d like to wish you all a happy Valentine’s Day!

Citations:

Hanson JL, Hurley LM (2012) Female Presence and Estrous State Influence Mouse Ultrasonic Courtship Vocalizations. PLoS ONE 7(7): e40782. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0040782

Panksepp J (2011) Cross-Species Affective Neuroscience Decoding of the Primal Affective Experiences of Humans and Related Animals. PLoS ONE 6(9): e21236. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0021236

Ung D, Amy M, Leboucher G (2011) Heaven It’s My Wife! Male Canaries Conceal Extra-Pair Courtships but Increase Aggressions When Their Mate Watches. PLoS ONE 6(8): e22686. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0022686

Fernandez-Duque E, Huck M (2013) Till Death (Or an Intruder) Do Us Part: Intrasexual-Competition in a Monogamous Primate. PLoS ONE 8(1): e53724. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053724

Image credit:

Monkey image, M. Corley/Owl Monkey Project

Graph, PLOS ONE paper, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053724