Hypotheses regarding the selective pressures driving the threefold increase in the size of the hominid brain since Homo habilis include climatic conditions, ecological demands, and social competition. We provide a multivariate analysis that enables the simultaneous assessment of variables representing each of these potential selective forces.

About Bhutan - The Kingdom of Bhutan is wedged between India and China along the lofty mountains of the eastern Himalayas.

You can find environmental law blogs about news, developments, education, and more. Read on, and you’ll find 50 of the best blogs about environmental law.

Long-beaked echidnas (Zaglossus), which are endemic to New Guinea, are the largest and least-studied of the 3 extant genera of monotremes. Zaglossus is listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union and data regarding the natural history of long-beaked echidnas are critical to efforts to protect these animals. However, no detailed studies of the ecology of this genus have been published. From 2000 to 2005, I captured 22 Zaglossus bartoni in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea. Mean body masses for these animals were 6.5 kg ± 1.4 SD (n = 15, range: 4.2–9.1 kg) for adults and 4.3 ± 7.4 kg (n = 6, range: 3.2–5.1 kg) for juveniles. Eleven of the adults captured were followed via radiotelemetry for 1–12 months. The home ranges for these individuals varied in size from 10 to 168 ha. Home-range size was not correlated with body mass, age, or sex. Long-beaked echidna dens were most commonly located in underground burrows, although individual echidnas favored different types of den sites. Mean burrow length was 2.7 m ± 1.8 SD (n = 5, range: 1.3–4.9 m) and mean den depth was 0.48 m ± 7.8 SD (n = 5, range: 0.42–0.57 m) below the soil surface. Animals were never found foraging in daylight. Although no animals were found with eggs or young in the pouch, 1 individual was lactating when captured in April 2002 and again in April 2005. The data generated by this study provide valuable insights into echidna biology that will facilitate efforts to conserve populations of these unusual mammals.

I like autumn very much especially when leaves on trees get of red and yellow colour. But I never reflected why leaves change the colour. It seemed to me that is connected with weather to become colder, days shorter, and trees prepare for winter.

In the third report from UN “Water in a Changing World,” which was presented on Thursday at UN headquarters in New York stated that diseases related to poor quality water and poor quality of sanitary service,