Animals

Massive Bat Cave Stirs Texas-Size Debate Over Development

6:28pm June 11, 2013

by Ryan Loyd

Every night for thousands of years, bats have poured out of the Bracken Cave Reserve, near San Antonio, by the millions. But conservationists are worried that plans for a housing development nearby will disrupt the bats' rural habitat.

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City Life Disrupts Daily Rhythm Of Birds

7:08am June 10, 2013

by Rhitu Chatterjee

City life can be harsh on people. For example, it pushes people to work longer and sleep less. A new study suggests that city life can have a somewhat similar effect on birds too. It shows urban blackbirds wake up earlier and go to bed later than their forest dwelling cousins.

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Ancient Reptile Named After 'Lizard King' Jim Morrison

7:38am June 06, 2013

Though the species is named after twentieth century rock star Jim Morrison, the Doors front-man, it lived in the jungles of Southeast Asia 40 million years ago. The ancient lizard king was a gentle creature who ate only plants.

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Whenever a steer or cow leaves a farm in Michigan or goes to a slaughterhouse, it passes by a tag reader, and its ID number goes to a central computer that keeps track of every animal's location.

Michigan Tracks Cattle From Birth To Plate

10:54am June 04, 2013

by Dan Charles

Would you like to know the life history of that steak before you eat it? Technology exists to give you that information, at least in Michigan, where the state government requires all cattle to carry an electronic tag for tracking purposes.

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Channel-billed toucans are important seed dispersers in rain forests.

Science

Big-Mouthed Toucans Key To Forest Evolution

8:34am May 31, 2013

by Christopher Joyce

As humans have cut into Brazil's forests, the toucan population has taken a dive. The trees, in turn, have changed, too: Without large-billed birds to eat fruit with big seeds, only trees with small seeds thrive. Eventually, one scientist says, "the impacts on the forest could be quite dramatic."

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Scientists Say Species Is Earliest Known Bird

8:19am May 30, 2013

The creature has part bird and part reptile traits. An international team says it should now be considered a bird.

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Having a Dog May Mean Having Extra Microbes

2:57pm May 24, 2013

North Carolina State University biologist Rob Dunn and colleagues surveyed people's pillow cases, refrigerators, toilet seats, TV screens and other household spots, to learn about the microbes that dwell in our homes. Among the findings, reported in the journal PLoS One, homes with dogs had more diverse bacterial communities, and higher numbers of "dog-associated" bacteria.

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'Crazy Ants' Spreading In The Southeastern US

1:01pm May 24, 2013

In parts of the southeastern US, aggressive fire ants have been driven out by an even more recent arrival, the tawny crazy ant. Edward LeBrun, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, describes the newcomers and how one invasive species can out-invade another.

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'Morning Edition' Listeners Get Their Feathers In A Bunch

9:29am May 22, 2013

On the show Tuesday, we told you about some scientists in Canada whose research crops were destroyed by "Canadian geese." Listeners said we got the name wrong and they explained why.

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Climate Change Takes Flight in New Novel

3:11pm May 21, 2013

Writer Barbara Kingsolver is one of a handful of novelists with a science background, and she puts it to use in her new novel Flight Behavior. Kingsolver discusses the book and why she chose to look at the the issue of climate change in a fictional work set in rural Tennessee. This interview was originally broadcast on November 9, 2012.

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