From time to time, politicians and other rulers-of-men like to categorize the natural world not according to biology, but rather for convenience or monetary gain. Take, for example, the tomato. The progenitor of ketchup is a seed-bearing structure that grows from the flowering part of a plant. It is, by definition, a fruit. In 1893, [...]

There is a rich tradition in psychology and neuroscience of using animals as models for understanding humans. Humans, after all, are enormously complicated creatures to begin even from a strictly biological perspective. Tacking on the messiness that comes with culture makes the study of the human mind tricky, at best. So, just as biomedical scientists [...]

Original image by Charles M. Schulz/Peanuts.

Well, I’ve gone and submitted my dissertation to my committee. Like this San Diego Zoo polar bear, I intend to hibernate through the weekend. And then, we prepare the defense. Image: Polar Bear at the San Diego Zoo, copyright the author.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about a new study by Peter Cook and colleagues from the Pinniped Lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In their study, Cook claimed that Ronan the California sea lion was the first non-human mammal to show evidence of “rhythmic entrainment,” or the ability to synchronize the movements of [...]

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about wildlife conservation psychology, especially in light of last month’s TEDxDeExtinction event. How do we convince human animals that other animals are worth protecting? Modern, ethical zoos have long made claims about the effectiveness of zoo visits and their in-house educational programs on learning outcomes and on conservation attitudes. [...]

Ronan is the name of a the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) who can bob her head in time to music. She apparently dances to Boogie Wonderland, and the Backstreet Boys song Everybody. She can move her head in rhythm with the beats of a metronome. She’s in the news this week because a new [...]

#PHD2013 is getting closer and closer. In the meantime, here are some more portraits of San Diego Zoo residents, following on from last week’s post. Here’s an angolan colobus monkey, with some bits of breakfast stuck to its face. An African Grey Parrot, a conspecific of the famous Alex. A menacing Steller’s Sea Eagle, the [...]

Longtime readers of this blog know that I like to take photos, and I primarily take them of two types of subjects: nighttime cityscapes, and animals. When you’re shooting architecture, you can take your time, you can plan. You can set up your tripod and be reasonably certain what your photo will look like when [...]