Gifts In Nature

Throughout our lives we spend thousands, if not tens of thousands of pounds on gifts and presents to our loved ones. To those we aim to show love and affection some times gifts can reflect the way we feel or a proposal for a  life long commitment. There is an art to gift giving though; it’s not all about the money but the sentiment behind it. When a couple gets engaged a ring symbolises the commitment to the other person and the future they aim have together.  Though there aren’t exactly jewellers in animal world, gift giving to show this devotion is practised.  The males of the Satin Bowerbird species (PtilonorhynchidaeI violaceus), do offer an unusual gesture to attract a female. Males build a bower nest and surround it with items appealing to the females. In this species case the females love the colour blue. So just like any male in our species he gives the lady just what she wants, by surrounding his nest with anything blue from berries to bottle tops, if it’s blue he’ll take it.  If the female likes what she sees then she will pursue courtship with him. Though I’m not suggesting we all start getting our partners blue berries or bottle tops, getting our other halves gifts or making passionate gestures to show our affection or romantic intention is something found in many species.

Catfish: The Blog Post

Within our society we are fixated with social media and informing everyone on what we are doing every day. We put up pictures, statuses and comments about our selves in order to paint a picture of what we want the world to see.  There are those out there that seek to deceive those of the online community, using false names and images. This made me wonder about dishonesties in the wild. A desert flowering plant offered some insight into looking beneath the surface, both metaphorically and actually. Trailing krameria (Krameria lanceolata) are delicate pink flowing plants, with a slight resemblance to the flowering of some Orchids. However below the arid desert soil a network or deception pollutes the ground. This plant species is known as a hemiparasite and obtains the majority of its nutrition from “sucking the life” out of surrounding plants. You might say they were the root vampires of the plant world. So although your first impressions of them are that of great beauty, what occurs where you can’t see is far from what you imagined. Just like this enticing flower what truly lies beneath an Internet profile could be a completely different story.   

Love May Really Be All Around Us

Valentines Day is looming and it’s a time to celebrate our loved ones and express our love to them. I’m personally in love and she brings a lot of happiness to my life as I’m sure your partner or loved ones do for you. Though love is a very complex emotion, we might not be alone in feeling this way. There are many species that have monogamous relationships such as our own, allowing enough time to potentially develop this intense emotion. Though I’m not suggesting that animals feel what we know as “love” there may be a degree of caring between two partners. In the case of the Dik Dik (Madoqua kirki) the male will display certain behaviours in order to “prove his worth” to the female, for example he will hold his head in a down posture, as if to actually bow down to his potential mate. In the event that the pair successfully become an “item” he will then spend his life protecting her and help in raise there young. Could it be possible that there is a level of care or “love”between them because they stay true to each other or is it simply easier than finding continual mates? I like to believe the pair stays together out of a mutual care for each other, but that might just be the inner romantic in me. If it is true that animals can feel a sense of love then considering there is around 8.7 million species on earth, the planet it full of a whole lot of love.

The Germination Of A Blog

In a continually developing world, humankind becomes more and more distant from that of our neighbouring species. This blog aims to bridge the gap between our complex lives and interactions with the vast amount of species that inhabit this immense planet. You might be surprised in the unique, yet similar interactions that exists in the wild. Firstly I should probably tell you a little about myself. I am final year Bsc Conservation Biology student at the University of Lincoln, England, with a passion for just learning about what’s out there in the natural world. Be that from what’s in our back gardens to the depths of the Amazon. Hopefully you will enjoy reading my future posts and they illustrate the complexity of plants and animals from around the globe.