( portant basic research he says. Like...)Scientists journey to southern Africa to unravel the secret world of elephant communication

portant basic research," he says. "Like all creatures, humans perceive with limited spectra and sensory modes. We bias research with the unconscious and incorrect assumption that other animals 'see' the world as we do. Every time we discover otherwise, it expands the horizons of scientific knowledge and sends us the humbling and vital message that we are not, after all, 'the measure of all things.'"

Planthoppers and pachyderms

Larom met O'Connell-Rodwell in Etosha in 1992, the year she began her work at Mushara. "I started doing research on elephants for the Namibian Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism," she recalls. "I was looking for ways to help farmers keep elephants away from their crops. I wanted to see if there was something about elephant behavior, particularly their vocalizations, that we could use as a deterrent."

Having just earned a graduate degree in entomology at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, O'Connell-Rodwell noticed something about the freezing behavior of Etosha's 6-ton bulls that reminded her of the tiny insects back in the lab.

"I did my master's thesis on seismic communication in planthoppers," she says. "I'd put a male planthopper on a stem and play back a female call, and the male would do the same thing the elephants were doing: He would freeze, then press down on his legs, go forward a little bit, then freeze again. It was just so fascinating to me, and it's what got me to think maybe there's something else going on other than acoustic communication."

In 1995 she was accepted to the doctoral program in ecology at UC-Davis and began working with Professor Lynette Hart, an authority on the social behavior of large mammals. Their first goal was to prove to themselves, and to the scientific community, that elephants actually have the physical capability to send and receive low-frequency vibrations. To do that, they had to convince skeptical geophysicists, like Hart's brother, Byron Aranson.

"It was a
'"/>

Source:Stanford University

Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Related biology news :

1. Scientists ID molecular switch in liver that triggers harmful effects of saturated and trans fats
2. Scientists Replicate Hepatitis C Virus in Laboratory
3. Scientists detect probable genetic cause of some Parkinsons disease cases
4. Scientists find missing enzyme for tuberculosis iron scavenging pathway
5. Scientists seek answers on what activates deadly anthrax spores
6. Yale Scientists Find MicroRNA Regulates Ras Cancer Gene
7. Scientists collaborate to assess health of global environment
8. Scientists decipher genome of fungus that can cause life-threatening infections
9. Scientists discover the cellular roots of graying hair
10. Scientists rid stem cell culture of key animal cells
11. Scientists develop new color-coded test for protein folding