Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
The coconut crab, or “robber crab” (Birgus latro), is the largest terrestrial arthropod in the world, with individuals weighing up to four kg (about 9 pounds). They have a wide range: But because of their size and the fact that they’re tasty, they’ve been largely driven extinct by humans on populated islands. Here’s how big they are: They … Continue reading The mighty pinch of the coconut crab
Reader Dennis Hansen, whose photographs of Aldabra (a large coral atoll that’s part of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean) and its tortoises and crabs have appeared on this site before (see, for instance, here, here, here, and here), has now sent a video of his work on the island’s tortoises, “Ghosts, giants, and resurrection.” It’s a … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife video
Once again we’re lucky to have a video sent by a reader. Dennis Hansen, a biologist at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies in Zurich, has sent us pictures and videos before from islands in the Indian Ocean. Here we have a reptile from the Aldabra Atoll, with these notes: I am slightly disturbed … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos (and a video)
by Greg Mayer Dennis Hansen, our Aldabra correspondent, sent Jerry a very nice video of a swimming Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea). This immediately brought to mind what is, in my view, one of the most important recent papers in biogeography, “The first substantiated case of trans-oceanic tortoise dispersal” by Justin Gerlach, Catharine Muir, and … Continue reading More on swimming tortoises
Stephen Barnard, endemic to Idaho, is now fishing in New Zealand, and he sent me this photo of a New Zealand brown trout (Salmo trutta) with the caption, Is this wildlife? Your call. I deemed it wildlife and asked if he released it or ate it. His response was that he releases every fish he catches. This … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos
First we have an Honorary Cat™ (also known as a fox) sent by reader Graham with the note: As I’m typing this the fox is sitting in the garden, making itself at home and ignoring me. Photos taken with a Pentax K-500 with a Sigma 300 telephoto lens. Hope they’re good enough for your website … Continue reading Readers’ wildlife photos
What better way to conclude Darwin Day than with some pictures of giant tortoises—not from the Galápagos, mind you, but an independently evolved case of island gigantism on Aldrabra in the Indian Ocean. The pictures come from biologist and reader Dennis Hansen from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies in Zurich. His explanation: … Continue reading Giant tortoises FTW
Reader Dennis Hansen (see crab post below) has just uploaded a video to YouTube showing a bit of a color-choice experiment he’s doing with the giant tortoises of Aldabara, but then. . . well, I’ll let him describe it: What I do have a video of is a coconut crab interfering with a colour choice … Continue reading Moar on coconut crabs
Update: Reader Dennis Hansen, a biologist who works on the Indian Ocean island of Aldabra in the Seychelles, which (like the Galapagos) has giant tortoises, sends three coconut crab photos and a note: Here’s a few photos of coconut crabs from Aldabra, for your perusal. They leave the giant tortoises alone, it seems. At least … Continue reading Now that’s a crab
Mauritius is a small volcanic island of about 2000 square kilometers, located 900 km east of Madagascar. Because of its origin as an oceanic island that formed bereft of any life, it’s home to many rare and endemic species (some of which, like the dodo, are extinct). When I asked readers to send photos of … Continue reading Biology: a reader reports from Mauritius
