… and it appears that they are, what is the role of the brain in mediating intelligence? Spiders have rather different brains from vertebrates; much simpler, for one thing: Ronald R. Hoy, Cornell University professor of neurobiology and behavior, considers the spider “one of the smartest of all invertebrates.” But while its behavior is comparable Read More…
Tag: spiders
“Avalanche” of retractions of research papers on spider personalities
It will be interesting to see what impact the retractions have on claims about the evolution of animal behavior.
Discovery: Spiders fly hundreds of miles using electricity
They sense and manipulate Earth’s electric fields.
Half-billion-year-old predator is the mother of all spiders?
Researcher: “Evidence is converging towards picturing the Cambrian explosion as even swifter than what we thought,” says Aria. “Finding a fossil site like the Burgess Shale at the very beginning of the Cambrian would be like looking into the eye of the cyclone.”
Want more aggressive spiders? Look for hurricanes
Mainly fun. But seriously, the main question is, when the weather calms down, won’t the spiders tend to just stop being so aggressive? It’s interesting if this is what is meant by “robust evolutionary responses.”
Spiders and birds of Paradise use the same molecular strategy for mating displays
Convergent evolution
Spiders mimic two different ant types while growing (but secretly signal spidery mates)
Yeah, the story does sound like as plotline from Saturday night with popcorn at the old Downtown Grand but… From ScienceDaily: Viewed from above, the mimics look like skinny, three-segmented ants to fool predators. But in profile, the adult mimics retain their more voluptuous and alluring spider figure to woo nearby mates. UC researchers presented Read More…
Move over, mammals. Spiders provide milk for their young too
Researchers knew that jumping spider (Toxeus magnus) young didn’t leave the nest for twenty-one days and adults were not observed to bring back food for them. So they checked it out: They looked more closely and noticed that the mother was secreting a liquid from its upper abdomen onto the surface of the nest, which Read More…