Lmst

Why do most bats fly only at night? Is it because they're afraid of birds of prey? If so, do they try to avoid owls?

Turns out the answers are not that clear cut, as @JKRevell explains in the latest article on #Synapsida

(I like that parts of the old internet like the Synapsida blog are still going strong, and I can subscribe to their RSS feeds and read interesting and ad-free and AI-free content. *Big thanks* go to those that are still adding quality content to the internet with the aim of informing us instead of making money or manipulating what we think.)

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/06/i-aint-afraid-of-no-owls.html

#bats #biology #evolution #mammals #owls

"The bulk of the scientific literature on the species amounts to "ooh, we saw one!" followed by some locality where they hadn't been seen before."

I'm enjoying learning about deep ocean dolphins on the latest #Synapsida post by @JKRevell. That quotation is referring to "pygmy killer whales", which are dolphins that are not whales and not closely related to orcas. This open ocean dolphin is "one of the least likely dolphin species to be seen" and "we know essentially nothing about their mating habits and reproduction".

It's a vast blue world out there.

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/05/delphinids-dolphins-of-deep-seas.html

#cetacean #dolphin #MarineBiology #oceans

@JKRevell on his #Synapsida blog has an interesting (and alarming) new article on how a massive mass of warm water in the North Pacific affected Alaskan sea lions. It’s Sea Lions vs. The Blob. http://synapsida.blogspot.com/2025/05/sea-lions-v-blob.html #ClimateChange #MarineBiology

It's always time for a dik-dik pic, and here is one to accompany my recent blogpost on the subject.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/11/antilopine-antelopes-dik-diks.html
#Science #animals #Synapsida

A brief history of Ice Age cave bears:

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/10/from-dragon-to-cave-bear.html

#fossils #animals #IceAge #bear #science #Synapsida

I discuss some of the details of moulting in mammals (and not just marmots...)
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/10/moulting-marmots.html
#science #animals #Synapsida

A look at some of the science behind why horses and other hoofed animals groom one another...

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/10/you-scratch-my-back.html

#synapsida #animals #Science

How a series of 35 million-year-old deposits in Egypt reveals the early history of monkeys... and the existence of something much, much larger.
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/09/oligocene-pt-11-early-monkeys-and-two.html
#science #fossil #synapsida

This week, I take a look at the different types and functions of fur in mammals:
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/09/hair-fur-bristles-and-spines.html
#Science #synapsida #animals

My blog series on antelopes turns to some of the smaller antelopes of southern Africa:
#science #synapsida #animals
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/09/antilopine-antelopes-dwarf-antelopes-of.html

The most complete study yet of fossil seals reveals how they reached all of the world's oceans:
#fossils #science #Synapsida
https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/09/unravelling-history-of-seals.html

Allodesmus, an early fossil relative of true seals

While you might not expect to find gazelles in Tibet, they exist, and in this week's post, I take a look at them and their relatives in Outer Mongolia...

https://synapsida.blogspot.com/2024/08/antelopine-antelopes-almost-gazelles-of.html
#science #animals #Synapsida