the southern pied babbler ( turdoides bicolor ) is a species of bird in the leiothrichidae family , found in dry savannah of botswana , namibia , south africa , and zimbabwe .

southern pied babbler

southern pied babbler ( turdoides bicolor ) is a species of bird in the leiothrichidae family .
chorus - call classification in the southern pied babbler : multiple call types given in overlapping contexts .
southern pied babbler nest with eggs , nylsvley area , south africa . [ photo warwick tarboton © ]
museum specimens indicate historical distributions . the map below shows locations from which museum specimens of southern pied babbler were collected . you can see more information on the individual museum specimens of southern pied babbler here .
nelson - flower , m . j . 2010 . kinship and its consequences in the cooperatively breeding southern pied babbler (
the pied babbler research project was established by me in 2003 and is based in the southern kalahari desert , south africa .
southern pied babblers , marakele national park , south africa . [ photo trevor hardaker © ]
pied babbler sentinel . image by alex thompson , cc by - sa 3 . 0 .
[ a southern pied babbler ( turdoides bicolor ) subordinate female immediately before dispersal to become dominant in a new group . dispersal is an important mechanism whereby southern pied babblers avoid inbreeding ; though there is no sex - bias in dispersal distance , individuals move twice as far from birth groups as from subsequent groups . southern pied babblers are found throughout the kalahari . . . [ show full abstract ]
golabek ka , radford an ( 2013 ) chorus - call classification in the southern pied babbler : multiple call types given in overlapping contexts . behaviour . pp . 1–22 .
nelson - flower mj ( 2010 ) kinship and its consequences in the cooperatively breeding southern pied babbler , turdoides bicolor cape town : university of cape town . 139 p .
humphries dj . 2013 . the mechanisms and function of social recognition in the cooperatively breeding southern pied babbler , turdoides bicolor . phd thesis , macquarie university , sydney , australia .
55 . engesser , s . , ridley , a . r . & townsend , s . w . 2016 . meaningful call combinations and compositional processing in the southern pied babbler .
[ 2 ] golabek k . 2011 . vocal communication and the facilitation of social behaviour in the southern pied babbler ( turdoides bicolor ) . phd thesis , university of bristol , bristol .
51 . ridley , a . r . 2016 . southern pied babblers : the dynamics of conflict and cooperation in a group living society . in
3 . ridley , a . r . & thompson , a . m . 2010 . dominatricks : reproductive conflict between female southern pied babblers .
happily for us there will be several presentations of our babbler research at the isbe conference in lund this year ( both pied and arabian babbler research ) . we look forward to presenting our babbler research to the behavioural ecology community . for a link to the isbe website , click
we welcome rute and robbie to the babbler project . both will be collecting data on pied babbler behaviour for several months over the summer breeding season and have done very will to learn the ropes so quickly .
ridley a , raihani n ( 2007 ) facultative response to a kleptoparasite by the cooperatively breeding pied babbler . behavioral ecology 18 : 324–330 .
a r ridley , a m thompson ( 2010 ) dominatricks : reproductive conflict between female southern pied babblers . africa birds & birding 15 , 30 - 34 [ magazine articles ]
distribution of southern pied babbler in southern africa , based on statistical smoothing of the records from first sa bird atlas project ( © animal demography unit , university of cape town ; smoothing by birgit erni and francesca little ) . colours range from dark blue ( most common ) through to yellow ( least common ) . see here for the latest distribution from the sabap2 .
du plessis , k . l . 2011 . heat tolerance of southern pied babblers in the kalahari desert - how will they respond to climate change ? msc thesis , university of cape town .
2 . ridley , a . r . & raihani , n . j . 2007 . facultative response to a kleptoparasite by the cooperatively breeding pied babbler .
the southern african bird atlas project ( sabap1 ) in namibia gathered a huge amount of distribution data between 1970 and 1993 .
may 2012 a new baby has been born to members of the pied babbler research community . congratulations to nichola and dave on the birth of their son joseph .
endemic to southern africa , where it is locally common in arid and semi - arid savanna woodland across northern namibia , botswana , zimbabwe and northern south africa . it is absent from more open habitats , such as that of the southern kalahari desert .
research on southern pied babblers was approved by the northern cape conservation authority and by the ethics committee , department of zoology , university of cape town ( aec no . 2006 / v15 / ar ) .
lyons , c . 2006 . the effect of environmental versus social factors on changes in territory size in the pied babbler . hons thesis , university of cape town .
a r ridley , n j raihani ( 2007 ) facultative response to a kleptoparasite by the cooperatively breeding pied babbler behavioral ecology 18 : 2 . 324 - 330 mar
24 . ridley , a . r . & thompson , a . m . 2011 . heterospecific egg destruction by wattled starlings and the impact on pied babbler reproductive success .
october 2012 a new baby has been born to members of the pied babbler research community ! congratulations to krys and neil on the birth of their beautiful baby son arun .
congratulations to sabrina engesser , who will also be joining the pied babbler research team this breeding season . sabrina won a phd scholarship to zurich university . we are delighted to have two new researchers join the pied babbler team ( james & sabrina ) , especially since dave humphries and alex thompson finished the fieldwork component of their phds this april !
nelson - flower mj , hockey par , o’ryan c , ridley ar ( 2012 ) inbreeding avoidance mechanisms : dispersal dynamics in cooperatively breeding southern pied babblers . journal of animal ecology 81 : 876–883 . pmid : 22471769
13 . radford , a . n . & ridley , a . r . 2008 . close - calling regulates spacing between foraging competitors in the group - living pied babbler .
[ 7 ] raihani n . j . & ridley a . r . 2008 . experimental evidence for teaching in the wild pied babbler . animal behaviour 75 : 3 - 11
58 . engesser , s . , ridley , a . r . & townsend , s . w . 2017 . element repetition rates encode functionally distinct information in pied babbler ‘clucks’ and ‘purrs’ .
april 2012 congratulations to james westrip , who will be joining the pied babbler research team this breeding season . james won a phd scholarship to edinburgh university and will be supervised by dr matt bell
[ 1 ] radford a . n . & ridley a . r . 2008 . close calling regulates spacing between foraging competitors in the group - living pied babbler . animal behaviour 75 : 519 - 527 .
my research interests are centred on avian social and breeding behaviour , and during the course of my phd ( supervised by dr . matt bell & dr . per smiseth ) i hope to investigate intra - and interspecific signalling and communication in the southern pied babbler . utilising playback and feeding experiments i aim to ascertain the amount of information use by babblers in a social context .
[ 11 ] ridley a . r . & raihani n . j . 2007 . facultative response to a kleptoparasite by the cooperatively breeding pied babbler . behavioural ecology , doi : 10 / 1093 / bebeco / ar1092
1 . ridley , a . r . 2006 . going gangbusters : group dynamics in pied babblers .
hockey par , dean wrj and ryan pg 2005 . roberts - birds of southern africa , viith ed . the trustees of the john voelcker bird book fund , cape town .
nelson - flower mj , hockey par , o ' ryan c , raihani nj , du plessis ma , ridley ar ( 2011 ) monogamous dominant pairs monopolize reproduction in the cooperatively breeding pied babbler . behavioral ecology 22 : 559–565 .
recently , i have been collaborating with mandy ridley to investigate the interspecific interactions that pied babblers have with other kalahari birds . to date this work has focused on cuckoo - host interactions between pied babblers and jacobin cuckoos (
collar , n . & robson , c . ( 2018 ) . southern pied babbler ( turdoides bicolor ) . in : del hoyo , j . , elliott , a . , sargatal , j . , christie , d . a . & de juana , e . ( eds . ) . handbook of the birds of the world alive . lynx edicions , barcelona . ( retrieved from urltoken on 9 july 2018 ) .
following this , i worked as a research assistant for dr mandy ridley at the pied babbler project ( 2011 - 2013 ) . i carried out playback experiments and collected and analysed sound data from individuals and groups , throughout the breeding seasons .
) are anything to go by , then pied babblers may live for more than 15 years in the wild .
raihani , n . j . 2008 . cooperation and conflict in pied babblers . phd thesis , cambridge university .
keynan , o . & yosef , r . 2010 . temporal changes and sexual differences of impaling behavior in southern grey shrike ( lanius meridionalis ) . behavioral processes 85 , 47 - 51 .
) over nest locations . more recently we have begun to investigate information transfer between pied babblers and scimitar - bills (
) , and the way in which pied babblers facultatively adjust their alarm calls to predators depending upon their reproductive stage .
graduated from the university of edinburgh in 2013 in zoology . she worked for eight months at the pied babbler research project , and is now studying biology , gender and philosophy independently while she figures out what to do next . blog coming soon at urltoken !
babbler with black bill , wings and tail . head and body are pure white , with brownish - black tail and wing . . .
36 . ridley , a . r . & van den heuvel , i . m . 2012 . is there a difference in reproductive performance between cooperative and non - cooperative species ? a southern african comparison .
25 . nelson - flower , m . j . , hockey , p . , o’ryan , c . raihani , n . , du plessis , m . & ridley , a . r . 2011 . monogamous dominant pairs monopolize reproduction in the cooperatively breeding pied babbler .
keynan , o . & yosef , r . 2010 . annual precipitation affects reproductive success of the southern grey shrike ( lanius meridionalis ) . the wilson journal of ornithology 122 ( 2 ) , 334 - 339 .
m j nelson - flower , p a r hockey , c o ' ryan , n j raihani , m a du plessis , a r ridley ( 2011 ) monogamous dominant pairs monopolize reproduction in the cooperatively breeding pied babbler behavioral ecology 22 : 3 . 559 - 565 may
ridley , a . r . 2003 . the causes and consequences of helping behaviour in the cooperatively breeding arabian babbler . phd thesis , cambridge university .
2016 . vocal cues to identity : pied babblers produce individually distinct but not stable loud calls . ethology 122 , 609 - 619 .
7 . ridley , a . r . & huyvaert , k . p . 2007 . sex - biased preferential care in the cooperatively breeding arabian babbler .
the reference for the information following is
roberts birds of southern africa
, 7th edition * edited by par hockey , wrj dean and pg ryan , published by
the trustees of the john voelcker bird book fund .
comprehensive observations of pied babbler group life histories and breeding attempts were collected from july 2003 to may 2008 at the kuruman river reserve , south africa ( lat 26°58′s , long 21°49′e ) ( for information on climate and vegetation , see raihani and ridley 2007 ) . twenty - three wild pied babbler groups were habituated to the close presence of a human observer at a distance of 2–3 m , allowing observational data to be collected without disturbing natural behavior ( for habituation techniques , see ridley and raihani 2007a ) . each individual in the population was ringed with a unique combination of colored leg rings .
11 . raihani , n . j . & ridley , a . r . 2008 . experimental evidence for teaching in wild pied babblers .
we would like to thank prof tim clutton - brock , prof marta manser and the kuruman reserve trust for access to their land . we would like to thank the percy fitzpatrick institute of african ornithology for supporting the pied babbler research project . we would also like to thank martha nelson - flower for her genetic research on parentage in the pied babbler population . this work was also funded by a macquarie university studentship . we thank the northern cape conservation authority for research permits . ethical clearance was provided by the university of cape town and approved under ethics number r2012 / 2006 / v15 / ar .
introduction : southern pied babblers ( turdoides bicolor ) are resident in namibia especially in semi - arid to arid savannah woodland with corkwood or acacia trees . although they are usually observed in tall woodland , lower black thorn , camelthorn and kalahari woodland also attracts this species . this is a sociable bird that roost and interact territorially year - round in groups of up to 15 .
babbler research on uk quiz show qi ! june 2014 the uk quiz show , qi ( hosted by stephen fry ) , recently aired a show featuring one of our research questions ! we are very excited by this type of media coverage in the public domain ! here is a link to the youtube clip of this show : the mention of babbler research kicks in at about 5 min 40 secs ( and yes , that is one of our babbler pics that is featured in the background ! ) . urltoken
53 . keynan , o & ridley , a . r . 2016 . component , group and demographic allee effects in a cooperatively breeding bird species , the arabian babbler (
. . . importantly , even in high - skew societies where dominants successfully monopolize reproduction , conflict between dominants and subordinates may impose costs on dominant reproductive success . southern pied babbler subordinate females engage in reproductive competition only when there are unrelated , potential breeding partners present in their group because they do not breed with relatives or with extra - group males [ 14 , 15 ] . based on the infrequency with which such competition is successful , however ( in terms of parentage of young ) , subordinate females enter into reproductive competition far more often than expected . . . .
a r ridley , k p huyvaert ( 2007 ) sex - biased preferential care in the cooperatively breeding arabian babbler journal of evolutionary biology 20 : 4 . 1271 - 1276 jul
martha j . nelson - flower , phil a . r . hockey , colleen o ' ryan , nichola j . raihani , morné a . du plessis , amanda r . ridley ; monogamous dominant pairs monopolize reproduction in the cooperatively breeding pied babbler , behavioral ecology , volume 22 , issue 3 , 1 may 2011 , pages 559–565 , urltoken
i possess a great passion for scientific research and conservation . having interned at the pied babbler research project in 2009 , i jumped at the opportunity to study the behavioural and physiological effects of temperature on pied babblers for my master’s degree . this research was especially fascinating as it combined components of multiple disciplines ( climate change , avian biology , behavioural ecology , physiology , and conservation biology ) to answer conservation questions . my supervisors on this project included : amanda ridley , rowan martin , susan cunningham , and phil hockey .
january 2013 a new baby has been born to members of the babbler research community . congratulations to martha and tom on the arrival of their beautiful baby girl tess , a sister for audrey .
for my phd i will investigate the occurrence of call combinations in pied babblers ' vocal repertoire , under the supervision of dr . simon townsend . specifically , i am interested whether pied babblers combine meaningful call types into meaningful compositions and if there exist any rules governing the formation of such syntactic compositions . to do this , i will combine behavioural observations and audio recordings with playback experiments . i will further conduct artificial grammar playback experiments to probe what cognitive mechanisms underlie the production and perception of vocal compositions in pied babblers .
this is but a taster of the work that has been going on at babbler project over the years . if this article has sparked your interest , check out the project website for news and publications .
3 . raihani , n . j . & ridley , a . r . 2007 . adult vocalisations during provisioning : offspring responses and post - fledging benefits in wild pied babblers .
i am 35 years old , married to adi and father to mayan & yaara . i received my bsc . ( honors ) from haifa university in 2005 and my msc from tel aviv university in 2009 . my masters thesis was on the impaling behavior and male - female interactions in the southern grey shrike (
conference representation for the research group august 2015 the behaviour 2015 conference in tropical cairns has been and gone , and we had several group members giving talks there . lizzie gave a talk about her phd research into the effects of extreme heat on parental care strategies in pied babblers , ben gave a talk about his phd research into the effect of ontogeny on individual performance at a cognitive task in cooperative magpies , and mandy gave a talk on the theoretical and empirical evidence for adaptive benefits of kidnapping in the pied babbler . congrats to all group members for giving great talks at the conference !
here , we provide evidence of reproductive competition between dominant and subordinate females and its effects on dominant reproductive success and aggression in southern pied babblers . female subordinates participate in pre - breeding behaviours only when potential breeding partners are available . these competitive subordinate females decrease the reproductive success of the dominant females of their groups , and in some groups infanticide is observed . subordinate female reproductive competitors are also the target of increased aggression by dominant females during the fertile period . these conflicts over reproduction are generally expressed and resolved very early in the breeding cycle—an aspect of reproductive competition in cooperative breeders that has often been overlooked . this early manifestation of competition highlights the importance of using behavioural observations , as well as genetic data , when investigating reproductive competition and success . using genetic data alone strongly underestimates the effects of female–female reproductive competition in southern pied babblers because competition is so rarely successful . importantly , even in high - skew societies where dominants successfully monopolize reproduction , conflict between dominants and subordinates may impose costs on dominant reproductive success .
in many cooperatively breeding societies , females compete strongly with one another for the scarce resources needed to breed ; although sexual selection has traditionally been perceived as having a greater effect on males , such selection may act equally strongly on females [ 60 , 61 ] . in southern pied babblers , subordinate females with potential breeding partners compete intensely with dominants for access to breeding opportunities . in addition , females ( but not males ) aggressively oust one another from breeding positions [ 16 ] and aggression in juvenile females ( but not males ) is an important factor in successful adult dispersal [ 62 ] . here , sexual selection for traits ( such as aggression ) that improve female competitive ability may play a role not only in dispersal and acquisition of breeding positions , but also in infanticide , suppression of potential reproductive competitors , and eviction of such competitors from the group . we suggest that the behaviour of southern pied babblers provides further evidence that intense competition among females may result in the evolution of sexually specific traits ( reviewed in [ 63 , 64 ] ) .
july 2013 we have recently had a paper accepted into functional ecology . in this paper we look at the interspecific interaction between pied babblers and the solitarily foraging scimitarbill . we find that scimitarbills , who not have a reliable vigilance system of their own , regularly follow babbler groups and eavesdrop on the predator information that babbler sentinels provide . by so doing , scimitarbills gain significant benefits - they spend less time vigilant , more time foraging , and can utilise a greater diversity of foraging habitats than when alone . title : the ecological benefits of interceptive eavesdropping . authors : ridley , a . r . , wiley , e . m . & thompson , a . m .
[ 5 ] raihani n . j . & ridley a . r . 2007 . adult vocalizations during provisioning : offspring response and postfledgling benefits in wild pied babblers . animal behaviour 74 : 1303 - 1309
huge congrats to oded , who got his examiner reviews back today and passed his phd with no corrections requested ! well done dr keynan , well deserved indeed . for further info on oded ' s success , please refer to the pied babbler facebook page , as that page is updated more regularly . oded currenty has a number of ms in review , so we will update any of his future success here or on the facebook page .
july 2012 a locally extinct bird that has not been seen in the arava for 20 years , the nubian nightjar , was sighted by arabian babbler researchers recently . for a news article related to this significant and unusual sighting , click here
may 2018 we welcome to the team a new phd student , camilla , who will be starting her research on the pied babblers at the end of 2018 . more details on her research to follow shortly .
july 2012 happily , the eminently skilled and experienced elizabeth wiley ( aka lizzy ) will be rejoining the pied babbler research project this season as a senior research assistant . she will take primary responsibility of the research activities onsite for several months . lizzy spent the entire summer onsite last season , and we are ecstatic that she is joining the research group again . to find out more about lizzy , visit her profile on the ' researchers ' page .
august 2012 isbe lund 2012 is now over , and it was a great meeting . well done to all babbler researchers , whose presentations and posters went really well and generated a good amount of interest among members of the behavioural ecology community .
september 2012 our first babbler researcher of the season , elizabeth wiley ( lizzy ) , has just turned up at the study site - and so marks the beginning of the new data season ! hope its not too hot this summer . . .
december 2015 it ' s finally here ! the bbc documentary series , the world ' s sneakiest animals , will air in the uk on bbc two on christmas day . no word yet on when the international release will happen , but when i find out dates i will post it here . here is the link to the documentary series website . if you click on galleries , and then behind the scenes gallery , pic 8 of 9 is the pied babbler study site .
20 . raihani , n . j . , nelson - flower , m . j . , browning , l . e . & ridley , a . r . 2010 . routes to breeding in cooperatively breeding pied babblers .
n j raihani , m j nelson - flower , k a golabek , a r ridley ( 2010 ) routes to breeding in cooperatively breeding pied babblers turdoides bicolor journal of avian biology 41 : 6 . 681 - 686 nov
citation : humphries dj , finch fm , bell mbv , ridley ar ( 2015 ) calling where it counts : subordinate pied babblers target the audience of their vocal advertisements . plos one 10 ( 7 ) : e0130795 . urltoken
m j nelson - flower , p a r hockey , c o ' ryan , a r ridley ( 2012 ) inbreeding avoidance mechanisms : dispersal dynamics in cooperatively breeding pied babblers . journal of animal ecology 81 : 876 - 883
the ability to discriminate kinship has previously been demonstrated in avian species , which utilise vocal [ 40 – 43 ] , visual [ 44 – 46 ] , and olfactory signals [ 47 , 48 ] to recognise kin . by avoiding kin as mating partners , an individual can limit the potentially damaging effects of inbreeding depression among resultant offspring , and therefore improve reproductive success [ 30 , 49 ] . genetic analysis of parentage in the pied babbler has previously found that breeding between familiar relatives is rare and that they are therefore likely to have a mechanism of recognising familiar kin which they utilise to avoid inbreeding [ 13 ] . our observations further support the idea that pied babblers can recognise kin and behaviourally discriminate relatives in their environment .
12 . ridley , a . r . , raihani , n . j & nelson - flower , m . j . 2008 . the cost of being alone : the fate of floaters in a population of cooperatively breeding pied babblers .
winter is always a tough time for the pied babblers - a time when group composition changes dramatically due not only to mortality , but also to reproductive conflict and dispersal attempts prior to the breeding season . recently cgmx , the dominant female
n j raihani , a r ridley , l e browning , m j nelson - flower , s knowles ( 2008 ) juvenile female aggression in cooperatively breeding pied babblers : causes and contexts ethology 114 : 5 . 452 - 458 may
the first babbler babies of the season have arrived ! this is super - early in the breeding season for the babblers , but lizzy has brought news from the field that rnb have already fledged two young . this is possibly the youngest ever fledglings for a breeding season .
n j raihani , m j nelson - flower , k moyes , l e browning , a r ridley ( 2010 ) synchronous provisioning increases brood survival in cooperatively breeding pied babblers journal of animal ecology 79 : 1 . 44 - 52 jan
the arabian babbler project was established by prof amotz zahavi in 1974 and is based in the negev desert , israel . both projects have been running continuously since establishment and use detailed observations of habituated populations to gain an insight into the dynamics and evolution of group - living behaviour .
14 . raihani , n . j . , ridley , a . r . , browning , l . e . & nelson - flower , m . j . 2008 . juvenile female aggression in cooperatively breeding pied babblers : causes and contexts .
i have been collecting data on the causes and consequences of cooperative behaviour in pied babblers since 2003 . my current primary interests are : the causes of variation in contributions to cooperative care , the short - and long - term consequences of helping behaviour
humphries , d . j . , finch , f . m . , bell , m . b . v . & ridley , a . r . 2015 . calling where it counts : subordinate pied babblers target the audience of their vocal advertisements .
a r ridley , n j raihani , m j nelson - flower ( 2008 ) the cost of being alone : the fate of floaters in a population of cooperatively breeding pied babblers turdoides bicolor journal of avian biology 39 : 4 . 389 - 392 jul
abstract : eavesdropping behaviour can increase the total amount of information available to an individual and therefore has the potential to provide substantial benefits . recent research has suggested that some species are â€˜information giversâ€™ , particularly social species with cooperative vigilance systems , and that these species may consequently affect community structure by influencing the behaviour and niche utilization of other species . here , using behavioural observations and playback experiments , we compared the behavioural change in a solitary species ( the scimitarbill ) and a social species ( the pied babbler ) , to the presence and alarm calls of one another . our results revealed that scimitarbills underwent significant behavioural changes in the presence of social pied babblers : they reduced their vigilance rate by over 60 % , increased their foraging efficiency and expanded their niche by moving into open habitat and excavating subterranean food items . in contrast , pied babblers â€“ who have an effective intraspecific sentinel system â€“ did not show significant behavioural changes to the presence or alarm calls of scimitarbills . these results suggest that interspecific interceptive eavesdropping can provide significant benefits , influencing the behaviour and habitat utilization of eavesdropping species .
18 . raihani , n . j . , nelson - flower , m . j . , browning , l . e . , moyes , k . & ridley , a . r . 2010 . synchronous provisioning increases brood survival in cooperatively breeding pied babblers .
the pied babbler research project sits nestled in the heart of the kuruman river reserve in the northern cape , south africa . today , ten years since its conception , it remains under the principle leadership of associate professor amanda ridley of the university of western australia , who founded the project with the help of her field assistant ( and now research colleague ) , dr nichola raihani in 2003 . the project is a prolific international operation , with researchers coming from institutions in australia , switzerland , the united kingdom and south africa to study the babblers and their associated species .
january 2013 with the third flood of the season , it is safe to say that the drought has truly broken at the arabian babbler project . this is fantastic news , after many years of poor rain and low breeding success , this bodes well for a bumper breeding season in 2013 . fingers crossed !
an additional aspect of my research involves understanding interspecific interactions and communication . originally i started investigating these interactions between pied babblers and fork - tailed drongos . more recently , i have begun investigating interspecific interactions in scimitar - bills , yellow - billed hornbills and wattled starlings .
grateful thanks to tim clutton - brock , marta manser , staff at krr and all colleagues , students and assistants on the babbler project . thanks also to the kotzes and the de bruins , who allowed land access . t . p . flower and s . a . kingma as well as two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments .
abstract : elaborate solicitation displays are a common feature of interactions between care - givers and offspring . these displays are interpreted as the phenotypic expression of the conflict of interests between parents and offspring over parental investment . offspring typically have siblings and thus do not exist in isolation . therefore , they may adjust their begging in response to their siblings ' begging , either competitively or cooperatively . alternatively , begging may be independent of the begging efforts of siblings . studies of avian begging have primarily focused on nestlings , where offspring are immobile and compete directly over the allocation of parental resources . we investigated the influence sibling begging had on individual fledgling begging in the cooperatively breeding pied babbler , turdoides bicolor . using experimental manipulations , we found that fledgling begging behaviour was negatively correlated with satiation and unrelated to the begging effort of siblings . pied babbler care - givers were able to target increased provisioning to individuals with artificially increased demand while maintaining provisioning rates to the rest of the brood . thus , fledglings were found to incur no provisioning costs or benefits from either increased or decreased begging by their siblings . we propose that the combination of targeted provisioning , flexible levels of provisioning and the dispersed nature of fledglings reduces the benefits of competitive or cooperative begging in this species .
may 2018 we have a number of pied babbler papers coming out in 2018 , all of which we think present really important findings . for full details of authors and titles , please see the publications tab . first up is the paper by nelson - flower et al in journal of animal ecology which tests prevailing hypotheses for the occurrence of cooperative breeding behaviour , and investigates the ecological and social contexts that influence dispersal decisions in pied babblers . second is the paper by nelson - flower et al in molecular ecology that looks at factors influencing reproductive skew , and finds different drivers of skew in males versus females . finally is the paper by wiley & ridley in ecology & evolution that looks at the pair bond as a predictor of reproductive success and group stability - a factor often overlooked in social species . all three of these papers used the long - term database to elucidate these behavioural trends - emphasising the value of long - term research !
this website provides information on the research my colleagues and i are currently conducting on pied and arabian babblers ( as well as other species these two ' focus ' species interact with ) . in these pages you will find details about our research , our study species , and any research opportunities currently available .
. . . pied babblers are a medium sized ( 75–95g ) passerine endemic to the kalahari , living in social groups of 2–15 individuals [ 31 ] . breeding within the social group is monopolised by a dominant pair [ 6 ] , and subordinate individuals will only achieve dominance within their natal territory if they can inherit vacant breeding positions without inbreeding [ 7 , 13 ] . prospecting in pied babblers is costly [ 22 ] , and long - term floating is rarely observed ( 80 . 0 % of prospectors return to their natal group within 30 days ; a . ridley , unpublished data ) . . . .
babbler society is highly dynamic - within our population we have evidence of eviction , divorce , infanticide and kidnapping . our long - term research suggests that these dramatic events are related to the continual struggle between group members for dominance and access to breeding opportunities . these struggles can sometimes result in a dominance overthrow or successful cuckoldry , but these events are relatively rare .
whilst others are foraging on the ground , often one babbler will take a higher position – up an acacia tree , say – and act as sentinel , watching for approaching for predators . while all is clear the watching babbler gives regular sentinel calls , which reassure the feeding birds that they can continue at ease , spreading out widely from each other without needing to look up as often to check for danger [ 3 ] . on sight of a predator , such as a mongoose or a pale chanting goshawk , the sentinel gives an alarm call that informs the rest of the group of the threat so that they can seek cover . the higher the predation risk in their environment , the more sentinel activity the babblers will undertake [ 4 ] .
. . . in red - winged fairywrens malurus elegans , females that have inherited a territory are more likely to seek egp , or seek egp from further away than females that have dispersed before breeding ( brouwer et al . , 2011 ) . similarly , superb fairy - wren malurus cyaneus , and pied babbler tur - doides bicolor females disperse further from their natal groups than non - natal groups ( cockburn et al . , 2003 ; nelson - flower et al . , 2012 ) . other potential rules may include discriminating against particular age groups likely to contain relatives , or based on previous mating experience , for example to avoid daughters of females that males previously mated with ( archie et al . , 2007 ) . . . .
in cooperatively breeding and other family living species , there are often more individuals of reproductive age than available breeding positions . asking how individuals attain reproductive status is therefore crucial if we are to understand the selection pressures that operate in these groups . here , we present data on routes to breeding in pied babblers turdoides bicolor , cooperatively . . . [ show full abstract ]
at the moment i am a second - year phd candidate in a joint supervision program ( cotutelle ) between tel aviv university , israel and macquarie university , sydney , australia , and i also work as the director of the arava birding center in the dead sea & arava science centre . my thesis title is
the effect of group size and composition on individual behaviour , group dynamics and population regulation in the arabian babbler (
one of the contexts in which loud - calling behaviour is observed is when the caller is in search of a mating partner , however , the calls are multi - functional and can be given in a wide range of contexts [ 34 ] . it is possible that the calling patterns we have observed are serving another function for the caller . for instance if the calls function for territorial defence , they may still occur at a higher frequency on boundaries with unrelated neighbouring groups . reduced aggression and a greater tolerance to related neighbours has been observed in a range of taxa including fish [ 50 ] , birds [ 51 ] , and mammals [ 52 – 55 ] . however , in the pied babbler territorial defence is usually undertaken as a group with all adult group members chorusing together [ 56 ] .
we have a fully - funded phd position based at the percy fitzpatrick institute , university of cape town , available . the position will be supervised by me ( amanda ridley ) , claire spottiswoode and susie cunningham . it would involve working with the babblers several months per year at our field site in the remote southern kalahari , and looks at the effects of group size on thermal tolerance limits , working on the hypothesis that in large groups , where each individual has to do less work , individuals will be better able to tolerate high temperatures . this phd combine behavioural ecology and physiological research . for more details , see : urltoken
) . to explore these relationships i conduct field experiments and observations on individual foraging success , foraging strategies and self versus social learning . together with this fieldwork i use the uniquely detailed 40 - year arabian babbler database to analyze long - term demographic effects . this database work involves finding what social or environmental factors promote group growth or extinction , and identifying critical group size effects in relation to eviction , dispersal and reproductive conflict behaviour .
with the help of a new research grant , i am beginning research on understanding long - term population dynamics in cooperative species , including factors that promote the expansion or extinction of groups . i will be using the long - term datasets of arabian and pied babblers to determine the influence of climatic changes ( heatwaves and droughts ) on social dynamics at both the group and population level
april 2012 unfortunately this year both our research populations have been hit by drought . in south africa the summer has now ended and after low rainfall over the rainy season pied babbler breeding success was very low . several of our groups failed to raise any young . our outstanding performers for the year were group xhosa , who bucked the trend and managed to raise five young to independence . in israel the breeding season is a few months in , and it is extremely dry ( oded reports only 7 mm of rain so far ) . many groups are still not breeding and it does not look like a promising breeding season . oded ( currently in - field ) brings happy news that one group currently has nestlings , and two groups have managed to fledge young - we ' ll cross our fingers that their fledglings manage to keep healthy .
our findings indicate that subordinates are maximising the potential of their loud - calling behaviour by using information regarding the composition of neighbouring groups . this information is likely to be obtained through several mechanisms . firstly , information may be exchanged during inter - group interactions . baboons , papio cynocephalus , use inter - group encounters to assess the number of opposite sex individuals within neighbouring groups [ 57 ] . pied babblers frequently engage in ritualised inter - group interactions and have many opportunities for information exchange [ 56 ] . during inter - group interactions , pied babblers often utilise sex - specific loud - calling behaviour [ 34 ] , which may provide a mechanism for assessing the number of opposite - sex individuals in neighbouring groups . secondly , information regarding the composition of neighbouring groups may be obtained from prospecting bouts , with information - gathering considered one of the primary functions of prospecting behaviour [ 58 , 59 ] . or thirdly , information may be gained through eavesdropping on neighbours [ 60 ] . great tits , parus major , are able to assess the quality of neighbouring males by eavesdropping on their calling behaviour [ 61 ] . eavesdropping may similarly provide a way of obtaining information about the composition of neighbouring groups in pied babblers .
here we have described how subordinate pied babblers , in addition to prospecting for breeding opportunities in the wider area [ 7 ] , also adopt a strategy of vocalising to neighbouring groups from within their natal territory . this strategy is maximised by using information regarding the composition of neighbouring groups to target an audience of potential breeding partners . importantly , subordinate loud - calling is not just given to any neighbouring group , nor focused towards the largest groups , but subordinate pied babblers are specifically targeting unrelated groups that contain a number of opposite sex individuals . our findings provide fresh insight into how subordinates within cooperatively breeding - societies , that are constrained in their opportunities to breed on the natal territory , appear to use information about the composition of neighbouring groups to inform the location of their vocal displays to target an audience of potential breeding partners .
august 2012 unfortunately , despite our high hopes , the drought in the negev desert resulted in a very poor breeding season for the arabian babbler population . although oded recorded a surprising amount of breeding activity given the dry conditions , very few of these young survived long enough to recruit to the adult population . there are now only a handful of juveniles around from the season ' s breeding activity , who face the struggle of making it through a difficult winter with little food around .
our findings that subordinate loud - calling behaviour is concentrated on the edges of territories , and specifically near to groups containing a number of unrelated , opposite sex individuals suggests that unsolicited loud - calling by subordinates functions for mate advertisement . importantly , it also suggests that pied babblers are capable of discriminating kinship and the number of potential mates within neighbouring groups , and can utilise this information to maximise the audience of their calling efforts .
june 2012 on the back of a dry summer with limited insect emergence , has come a very cold winter in the kalahari . tom , a research collaborator currently onsite working on drongo - babbler interactions , has reported that the babblers are suffering badly from the harsh combination of cold weather and limited food . many are steadily losing weight , and at this rate we can expect that some of our juveniles will not make it through their first winter . fingers crossed the toll will not be too high .
november 2012 finally some welcome rains have fallen at the arabian babbler study site ! after a very poor and very dry breeding season , flash floods have hit the arava . while these can be very dangerous in the short - term while they flow through the bone - dry river channels , they bring much needed water to a parched ecosystem , and are followed soon after by abundant germination . the picture to the right is a flash flood flowing along a wadi ( river channel ) that was previously completely dry .
february 2013 another breeding season has ended , but the tragedy this season was that it never really started . it was a scorching summer in the kalahari , but sadly for the animals , the rains never came . day after day of searing heat , but no rain respite made it the worst ever breeding season for the pied babblers . with very little food around , most groups did not bother to make any breeding attempts after december ( which was when the rains should have arrived ) . currently , we have only eight fledglings in the entire population . more groups did fledge young , but these have since been predated . seven of our groups have gone extinct , and with a harsh winter coming up , we expect more extinctions before the next breeding season starts . while this is a very sad event for us all at babbler project , on the bright side it is very interesting demographically , which helps us with the aims of our recent successful research grant !
one key focus of babbler research is their intelligent vocal capabilities . they communicate constantly using a diverse repertoire of sounds . whilst foraging for food , each individual gives low - pitch close calls , known as “chucks” to indicate its position to other group members . chuck calls function as a spacing regulator whilst foraging , so that individuals don’t encroach on each others’ feeding patches [ 1 ] . raising the pitch of the chuck a little tells the group that a large , shareable food source has been found [ 2 ] .
february 2018 i am delighted to announce that our latest research , on the effect of sociality on the evolution of intelligence , has been published in nature ! this work is from our study population that is the ' sister ' population to pied babblers : western australian magpies in perth . well done to phd student ben ashton on a great achievement . here is a media link to our article , including a clip of our research on the evening primetime news , here
phd submitted - congratulations to oded november 2014 congratulations to oded for submitting his phd thesis ! oded completed his phd thesis on individual and group dynamics in the cooperative breeding arabian babbler . oded has worked incredibly hard , and has produced a thesis to be proud of . each thesis submitted represents a huge amount of work by the student , and a lot of love and support from friends and family . oded and his family are returning back home soon , and they will be sorely missed from the friends they leave behind here in perth .
. . . unlike most birds , there is no sex - biased dispersal in pied babblers . females disperse slightly more often than males , but after accounting for the slight female - bias in the sex ratio , this higher rate is not signifi cant ( nelson - flower et al . 2012 ) . both males and females remain with their natal group as helpers for several years on average , and contribute to raising subsequent broods produced by the dominant pair . . . .
relatedness of mated and unmated pairs of opposite - sex adult pied babblers per year over 5 years of study . means ± standard error of the mean were generated from relatedness values calculated using the konovalov and heg ( 2008 ) algorithm within the program kingroup v2 _ 090218 ( konovalov et al . 2004 ) ; sample sizes are shown . a 2 - sample randomization / permutation test with 100 000 permutations within the program rundom pro 3 . 14 ( jadwiszczak 2009 ) was used to calculate significance
researchers have also discovered that babbler fledglings communicate with their parents non - vocally : in what is thought to be a display of blackmail , fledglings spend more time on the ground , where there is a higher risk of predation , than in the safety of trees when hungry . whilst on the ground , they are fed more by the foraging parents and helpers than when they are in the tree . thompson et al cite this as support for zahavi’s idea , that the fledglings risk their own mortality in order to attain higher provisioning rates by the parents [ 9 ] [ 10 ] .
we have recently had a manuscript accepted to global change biology . this manuscript , based on the msc fieldwork of kate du plessis , looks at the behavioural and body mass changes in pied babblers according to changes in temperature - the main focus of the paper is to investigate the potential ( sub - lethal ) effects of increasing temperature ( under predicted climate change ) on bird populations in semi - arid zones . congrats to the whole team ( kate was supervised by myself , phil hockey rowan martin & susie cunningham ) !
september 2012 it is with sadness that i announce the loss of a matriarch to the population , bmbo . originally from rainbow ( one of our first ever habituated groups ) , bmbo dispersed and founded her own group . her dispersal record remains the furthest that we have ever recorded a babbler dispersing within our study population . she founded the group called ngai tahu , and remained dominant from the start of the group three years ago until her recent disappearance . she is succeeded by her three daughters , one of whom may take the dominant female position ( she is unrelated to the current dominant male ) .
why do dominant females tolerate competitive subordinate females in their groups ? first , dominants may be able to moderate subordinate infanticidal activity through aggressive suppression during the fertile period ; such aggression is common when individuals are in reproductive conflict [ 4 , 9 , 11 , 18 , 24 – 27 ] . while there is no sufficient data to formally examine the relationship , a casual examination of current data appears to indicate a loosely inverse relationship between the amount of aggression observed and dominant female success . however , whether aggression occurs pre - emptively , or as a reaction to previous infanticide , or functions as another type of signal [ 52 ] is not clear . second , dominants may tolerate competitive subordinates because an additional helper substantially increases productivity in small babbler groups , reducing the high costs of breeding as a pair [ 31 ] . immigrant ( and completely unrelated ) subordinate females are very rarely found in large babbler groups ( m . j . nelson - flower 2008 , unpublished data ) , suggesting that when groups become large , these subordinates are either evicted by dominants or repelled if they attempt to immigrate , or that groups only become large when the absence of a competitor does not place limits on reproductive success .


osedax roseus is a species of bathypelagic polychaete worm that lives at abyssal depths and is able to sustain itself on the bones of dead whales .

the species is found in the north east pacific .

osedax roseus

figure 3a from rouse et al . 2008 , whale vertebrae covered in osedax roseus ( arrows ) .
acquisition of dwarf male “harems” by recently settled females of osedax roseus n . sp . ( siboglinidae ; annelida )
“… . receive your own plush , 100 % cotton dwarf male osedax roseus , complete with hooked chaetae… . ”
acquisition of dwarf male
harems
by recently settled females of osedax roseus n . sp . ( siboglinidae ; annelida ) .
figure 3 . mature female osedax roseus colonizing a whale bone . a larvae that lands on her will differniate into a male .
figure 4 . anatomy and size comparison of male and female osedax roseus . not the stark difference in size and morphology between the two sexes .
acquisition of dwarf male
harems
by recently settled females of osedax roseus n . sp . ( siboglinidae ; annelida ) . - pubmed - ncbi
both bonellia viridis and osedax roseus have similar biological mechanisms designs to facilitate environmental sex determination . a sexually undifferentiated larvae becomes male after contact with an adult female . if the larvae don’t interact with a female , then they differentiate into a female themselves . there are different environmental conditions that trigger sexual differentiation .
fish bone ( gzg . v . 20407 ) with osedax borings from the presumably late oligocene part of the makah formation , washington state , usa
um die evolutionsgeschichte des marinen , knochenfressenden wurms osedax zu verstehen , ist es wichtig zu wissen , zu welchen tiergruppen die knochen gehören , die er fressen kann . ursprünglich wurde osedax als wal - spezialist angesehen , weitere untersuchungen zeigten jedoch , dass er ein breites spektrum an wirbeltierresten , inklusive weichteile von walen und knochen von vögeln und fischen , konsumiert . hier werden zum ersten mal bohrspuren in walzähnen und fischknochen aus oligozänen tiefwasserablagerungen der makah , pysht und lincoln creek formationen im westen des us - bundesstaates washington dokumentiert , die solchen des rezenten osedax stark ähneln . die fossilien wurden mittels verdünnter säure aus kalkigen konkretionen herausgelöst und die bohrspuren wurden computer - tomographisch untersucht . diese und bereits bekannte bohrspuren von osedax aus dem westlichen washington zeigen , dass osedax schon im oligozän die gleiche bandbreite von wirbeltierresten besiedelt hat wie heute und auch die gleiche vielfalt an weichkörpermorphologien . diese ergebnisse stützen die these , dass ein breites nahrungsspektrum ein ursprüngliches merkmal von osedax ist .
osedax has a known depth range of 30–3000 m ( 7 ) and can be found in dense colonies that are able to consume an entire whale skeleton within a few years ( 19 ) . molecular clock estimates and the early oligocene boreholes presented here show that osedax has been destroying bones for most of the evolutionary history of whales . osedax has an impact on the taphonomy of whale skeletons that has significantly affected the quantity and especially the quality of fossil whales , as documented here . this previously unrecognized “ osedax effect” is especially well - illustrated in whale fossils that are preserved in deep - water strata where sedimentation rates are low , such as the bioeroded fossils from washington state .
rouse , g . w . ; worsaae , k . ; johnson , s . b . ; jones , w . j . ; vrijenhoek , r . c . 2008 . acquisition of dwarf male
harems
by recently settled females of osedax roseus n . sp . ( siboglinidae ; annelida ) . biol bull 214 ( 1 ) : 67 - 82 . , available online at urltoken [ details ]
rouse , g . w . ; worsaae , k . ; johnson , s . b . ; jones , w . j . ; vrijenhoek , r . c . 2008 . acquisition of dwarf male
harems
by recently settled females of osedax roseus n . sp . ( siboglinidae ; annelida ) . biol bull 214 ( 1 ) : 67 - 82 . , available online at urltoken page ( s ) : 71 [ details ]
teeth of two mysticete whales with osedax borings , oligocene , washington state , usa . a , b two teeth ( gzg . v . 20408 ) from the latest oligocene part of the lincoln creek formation . these were used for micro - ct ; renderings in fig . 3 are from specimen a . c – e three teeth ( usnm 539938 ) from the late early oligocene part of the pysht formation . note that osedax borings are restricted to the upper ( presumably exposed ) part of the teeth in c and d and that the broken edges in specimen e are angular and do not go through obvious osedax borings
zombie worms ( osedax roseus ) eat away at the bones of a dead whale that has fallen to the seafloor in sagami bay , japan . these bizarre worms rely on whale bones for energy and are what scientists call “sexually dimorphic”—the male and female forms are markedly different . in this case , the males are microscopic and live inside the bodies of the female worms ! this allows females to produce many , many eggs to disperse across the seafloor . few of these will land close enough to sunken bones to survive .
heck , i’ll pay $ 20 to the first knitter to put up the design for an anatomically correct osedax with a dwarf male ! plus i’ll pay for the shipping to have it . any takers ? i can email you the article .
a significant part of osedax’s diet is digesting the bones of whales . however , whale bones are difficult to find in the ocean . sexually undifferentiated larvae float in the ocean searching for whale bones , and conserving energy until they find their next meal . some people have called this their “zombie state” . once a bone is found , contact with a whale bone triggers the larvae to differentiate into a female ( rouse , 2008 ) . this process is accompanied by an increase in the body mass and anchoring their body into the bone by boring holes to start building a colony on the bone . sexual differentiation takes energy , so this processes does not occur until the osedax has found a food source .
we thank eva vinx ( universität hamburg ) for aid with photography , bob vrijenhoek ( monterey bay aquarium and research institute ) for inviting g . w . r . on cruises to collect live osedax , and gerardo gonzález - barba ( universidad autónoma de baja california sur ) for identifying fossil shark teeth . we also thank bob vrijenhoek and two anonymous reviewers for their efforts to improve the manuscript .
after the osedax have built a colony and females are extracting nutrients from the bone , sexually undifferentiated larvae that land on a female will differentiate to become a male . the larvae enters the female’s tube lumen . researchers are unclear about how the males find the tube lumen , the molecular triggers that facilitate the development of male sexual characteristics , and the role that hormones released by females may play in this process . that researcher still don’t understand . there is a preference for larger females , and increased size of a female is correlated with more dwarf males in their tube lume . ( rouse , 2008 ) .
as it is an annelid , i am fond of osedax . but i am disappointed . and i ' m calling it : this is the first definively - not - a - parasite - of - the - day in a long unbroken record of parasites of the day . you can ' t be a parasite of a dead thing , lest we include hagfish , cookie sleeper sharks , and osteopelta limpets from whale - fall ; or even the myriad and sundry critters that feed on other dead animal carcases . as foul as all of this may be , still i cry
foul
on parasite of the day .
osedax borings in a tooth of a mysticete whale from the latest oligocene part of the lincoln creek formation , washington state , usa ( gzg . v . 20408 ; same specimen as in fig . 2a ) . a–d micro - ct scan images showing cross sections with cavities and their entry holes ; arrow indicating the entry hole to the boring visualized in figs . e and f . e , f micro - ct - based rendering of the trace fossils indicated in fig . d , bone material in gray , and borehole in yellow . e the complete trace fossil seen from the top ( nearly the same orientation as in a–d ) . f longitudinal cross section through the trace fossil
osedax borings in a fish bone from the presumably late oligocene part of the makah formation , washington state , usa ( gzg . v . 20407 ; same specimen as in fig . 4 ) . a–c micro - ct - based rendering of a trace fossil , bone material in transparent blue , flower - like borehole in yellow , showing a vertical cross section including the entry hole ( a ) , the jagged underside ( b ) and a top view with the circular entry hole on the bone’s surface ( c ) . d , e micro - ct images showing the same cross section as in a ( d ) and a cross section with two borings including their entry holes ( e )
the x - ray microcomputed tomography scans of the whale bone that contains the traces of osedax was done using the skyskan1172 system ( skyscan ) at the institut für geowissenschaften , christian - albrechts - universität , kiel , germany . the fossilized bone was scanned with a beam energy of 100 kv , a flux of 100 μa , and a 0 . 5 - mm - thick aluminum filter at a detector resolution of 8 . 7 μm / pixel using a 180° rotation with a step size of 0 . 6° . to study cavity morphology details , a second scan under identical beam conditions was performed , using a 360° rotation with a step size of 0 . 45° at a detector resolution of 8 . 0 μm .
cavity morphology in early oligocene rib fragment ( usnm 539939 ) . ( a ) reconstructed image of a ct scan through holes 1 and 3 in fig . 1 a and e . note destroyed trabecular bone just below the left borehole . ( b ) micro - ct–based rendering of a cavity in solid bone ; only a single borehole leads into it , and it is assumed to have been excavated by a single individual of osedax . note the difference between the long and thin vascular canals and the thicker and more irregularly shaped root lobes . ( c ) reconstructed image of a ct scan of the same cavity as in b ; the three small , elliptical holes in the upper half are vascular canals . ( d ) micro - ct–based rendering of another cavity in solid bone . b , borehole on bone ' s surface ; rl , root lobe ; sb , solid bone ; tb , trabecular bone ; vc , vascular canal of the bone .
read , g . ; fauchald , k . ( ed . ) ( 2018 ) . world polychaeta database .
rouse , worsaae , johnson , jones & vrijenhoek , 2008 . accessed through : world register of marine species at : urltoken ; = 588636 on 2018 - 07 - 09
is commonly known as the
bone worms
, although some endearingly call them
zombie worms
as well . these marine polychaete worms were discovered only in 2002 in the deepest parts of monterey bay , california . what were they doing ? if you guessed
parasitizing zombies
, you ' d be sadly wrong . you should put down your comic book and pick up
. if you guessed eating bones from dead whales , you ' d be correct ( you should continue reading also in case there are more gratifying questions to come ) . the animals were
rooted
( like tiny trees ) into the bones and a large
trunk
of the animal above the bone waving in the current .
so at this point you ' ve figured out that they ' re not a whale parasite because the whale is seriously ' belly - up ' at this point . so
is in fact a decomposer . but when rouse took a close look at these worms , he found that they appeared to have no guts whatsoever . so where were they getting their nutrients ? being an expert on marine polychaetes he knew that some deep sea worms had the ability to garner bacteria that derive nutrients from geochemical vents or seeps . as it turns out
was doing something very similar . inside the
roots
of the animal , which are inside the whale bone , the bacteria are helping to digest the yummy fats left by the whale .
you ' d need to turn off the television and pick up a book . if you guessed ,
living as a harem inside the body of the female
you ' d be correct ! rouse initially thought these microscopic
bags of sperm
were parasitic ( yeah ! ) inside the females , surviving on the nutrients she and her endosymbiont bacteria were producing . however , at closer examination they appear to actually be larvae that never develop feeding structures at all , just living off the yolk for the egg sac . never the less , they are able to provide sperm to fertilize the female ' s eggs !
ok , i know what you ' re thinking ,
its icky and it not even a parasite , why am i still reading ? ” because it ' s fascinating ! survival in a vast ocean where there are relatively few dead whales on which to live is a tricky thing ; reproduction is even trickier . the
dwarf males
can disperse over large distances , because the only part of the life cycle that isn ' t attached to a whale bone is the larva . rouse thinks that the sex is environmentally determined : if larvae land on a bone , they become a female , if they land on a female , they become male . if this species only relied on a male settling next to a female to breed , it would seriously diminish the gene pool .
is icky and but it ' s not a whale parasite , though the males are sort of parasites of the females . . . so it is completely fascinating !
has evolved surprising and strange means to eke out an existence at the bottom of the sea where few organisms ( even zombies ) fear to tread .
see also : rouse et al , 2008 . acquisition of dwarf male
harems
by recently settled females of
one more thing , the
males are sort - of parasites of the females
no more than are gestating offspring .
i ' m standing by this . not only is it a cool invert , but i think that these little males , living solely within and living off their mate ' s nutrients and protective body constitutes a parasite enough ( more sexual parasites are coming ) . and , besides , it ' s all about celebrating diversity , especially the fact that we ' re still discovering really wacky and interesting critters every day .
i don ' t check this blog for a few days and what do we have here ? there ' s certainly no shortage of whale parasites to warrant throwing in the famous
bone - eater
here . while i am somewhat disappointed by this , i suppose if one is to look for legal loopholes , you can always say it ' s about the symbionts that live in that worm ' s rootlets . . . even then they are technically mutualists . . . perhaps we can make a bonus double - parasite day in the future to make up for this - there is absolutely no shortage of fascinating * parasites * . . .
i still like this . it ' s not as though
parasite
is a monophyletic group , after all . and yes , tommy - many of the entries pack enough parasite in their punches ( how ' bout them p ' s ? ) to warrant highlighting a cool worm that can drill into bones and suck out the fat !
i just came across this site . great blog . parasites interest me . don ' t know why but either gross - out or evolution factor . another evolution - related interest is the deep sea so i thought i ' d point out on some female anglerfish what was thought to be a parasite was actually a male anglerfish . urltoken urltoken
no they don ' t - to be honest this was the only time on this blog when we featured a creature that wasn ' t actually a parasite ( see the debate above ) . these worms only colonise the bones of carcasses - and carcasses in the deep sea for that matter - so no , they won ' t be present in a human bones .
no tiago . please refer to the discussion above your comment - it ' s not even really a parasite - see the comment by mark siddall .
hint : you ' re just looking at the tip of the iceberg . . .
if you think you or your pets have a parasite , please seek the appropriate care you need from your own doctor or veterinarian .
why parasite of the day ? ( if it ' s not every day . . . )
the united nations declared 2010 the international year of biodiversity . in celebration of the enormous diversity of parasites and to highlight their importance , we created this blog , which showcased a species of parasite every day . now that 2010 is over , we will continue to add more parasites from time to time , and write about any newly published research on parasite species that we have posted about yet .
see this post from the start of 2011 where we discuss the sheer scale of parasite biodiversity , and this post from the end of 2011 pretty much summarizes the mission of this blog .
got parasites ? the american society of parasitologists is interested . we invite you to share with us your observations , ideas and questions about parasites . our members and the journal of parasitology represent a wide range of research interests including ecology , evolution , systematics , immunology , biochemistry and molecular biology . please post any aspect of parasitology you wish to share with us on our facebook group page . please go to our home page at
bush , albert , gerald esch and jacqueline fernandez . parasitism : the diversity and ecology of animal parasites . cambridge university press .
combes , claude . the art of being a parasite . university of chicago press .
desowitz , robert . new guinea tapeworms and jewish grandmothers . norton & company .
desowitz , robert . the malaria capers : tales of parasites and people . norton and compay .
moore , janice . parasites and the behavior of animals . oxford university press .
zuk , marlene . riddled with life : friendly worms , ladybug sex , and the parasites that make us who we are . mariner books
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an adult bonellia viridis female excretes the signaling hormone bonellin ( figure 1 ) to attract larvae ( malard , 2013 ) . bonellin is found only in females , and is also a biocide that kills prey that the worm eats . it’s most important role is to signal that a female is ready to mate . being in the presence of bonellin attracts the undifferentiated larvae to enter a hole in the female’s proboscis .
figure 1 . the chemical structure of bonellin , the signaling horomone that regulates the feeding and reproductive habits of bonellin .
once inside the proboscis , the larvae travels toward a tube filament in female’s uterus , which has been affectionately called the “little man room” . ( gauthier , 1983 )
the larvae experiences physiological changes to differentiates into a male like developing gonads that allow him to start producing sperm to fertilize the female’s eggs . more research is needed to understand the specific genes that are activated to allow the larvae to transition from an undifferentiated sex to a male . in exchange for fertilizing the female’s eggs , the male receives protection from predators and a steady food source by living inside the female .
figure 2 . the male bonellia viridis lives inside the tube lumen of the mature female .
edited by robert c . vrijenhoek , monterey bay aquarium research institute , moss landing , ca , and accepted by the editorial board march 19 , 2010 ( received for review february 22 , 2010 )
) , depending on the rate used , but these estimates have not yet been corroborated by fossil evidence .
) . the symbionts are housed mainly in tissue that forms a “root system” extending into the bone . the action of the roots and associated bacteria results in the destruction of the bone interior . the roots are connected to the main body of the worm that emerges from the bone via a circular hole on the bone surface (
in the geologic past . here we report oligocene whale bones that show such traces .
the scan to survey the rib fragment ( 326 transmission images ) was reconstructed in a 1 , 832 × 900 matrix of 2 , 029 slices with a resolution of 8 . 7 μm / voxel using the skyscan software nrecon running on a cluster of three networked pcs . the program uses a modified feldkamp algorithm . the segmentation of bone and boreholes was done with the skyscan software ct analyzer . before the subsequent generation of the 3d models by adaptive rendering , the data sets were downsized to one - third with an isotropic voxel resolution of 26 . 0 μm in a 610 × 300 matrix of 677 slices . visualization of the 3d models was done by the skyscan software ctvol . for the study of cavity morphology details , 800 transmission images were reconstructed in a 2 , 088 × 1 , 136 matrix of 1 , 998 slices . segmentation and rendering were done on volumes of interest with a resolution of 8 . 0 μm / voxel .
author contributions : s . k . designed research ; s . k . and j . l . g . performed research ; w . - a . k . and g . w . r . analyzed data ; and s . k . , j . l . g . , w . - a . k . , and g . w . r . wrote the paper .
this article is a pnas direct submission . r . c . v . is a guest editor invited by the editorial board .
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researchers used field data from 2012 to 2015 to study mortality and allele frequency changes in the sea star pisaster ochraceus during a mass mortality event in northcentral california , and found that surviving adult and juvenile sea stars experienced 81 % mortality and allele shifts , according to the authors .
a survey of more than 4 , 600 american adults conducted in 1995 - 1996 and in 2011 - 2014 suggests that among individuals of low socioeconomic status , negative affect increased significantly between the two survey waves , whereas life satisfaction and psychological well - being decreased .
a study of cognitive ability in norwegian males born from 1962 to 1991 suggests that environmental factors rather than changing genetic composition of families likely account for most of the change in norwegian population iq .
the mathematical tools behind recent gerrymandering cases have brought a modicum of precision into the political arena—but this rigor hasn’t always been enough to spur policy changes .
these chicas are freaky . but if you lived on a whale vertebrae and eat through bone , perhaps you’d be a little on the kinky side too , right ?
, the “bone - devouring” worm is weird . now , i know long time deep sea news readers will be a little used to us talking about odd critters in the ocean , maybe you’ve come to expect it and are no longer shocked . we have even
. but this is one critter that would infuse the pope with fear and disgust .
, complete with hooked chaetae ( see photo below ) while supplies last . what is really cool is that all whale bone - eating worms appear to have dwarf males .
“mature sperm gather anteriorly in the body of the male and a sperm duct runs into the head ( fig . 7c ) , where sperm presumably exit the body” .
yep , the dwarf males of the bone - eating worms jizz out of their heads . disgusting . its like puking up your sperm or impregnating your wife by spitting on her ovaries .
fig . 7b : “differential interference contrast micrograph of male , 172 μm showing three of the posterior hooks and an anterior ( putative ) prototroch . early spermatids or spermatogonia are visible anterior to later spermatids . ”
) males fruiting around inside of a female in what is akin to an internal bukkake - fest with the female enthralled in her detestable orgy , covered in the love ooze of her harem . in fact , rouse
. followed the worms through time and found that the larger , older ladies had a larger harem size . i wonder what the relationship between male size and female age is . are males smaller in younger , smaller females or is there no detectable difference in male size ( or sperm output / spermatozoa size ) across all size ranges / ages of females ?
“many … males fruiting around inside of a female in what is akin to an internal bukkake - fest with the female enthralled in her detestable orgy , covered in the love ooze of her harem . ”
“its like puking up your sperm or impregnating your wife by spitting on her ovaries . ”
oh my goodness ! i certainly was not expecting to run across that when i checked the scienceblogs this morning .
so the males live inside the female on top of everything else ? what is it with deep sea living and parasitic males ? so polyandrous , dead whale bone eating , parasitic males… . kinkiest species ever !
er…looking at the micrographs in the paper and roughing the dimensions , this one would be hard for a knitter to pull off keeping them roughly to scale with each other . since he’s such a tiny wimp comparatively… 1 / 60 to 1 / 80th of her size . either the female would be 6m long for a 2cm male or the male would be only a few knots for a 20cm female .
i can’t help with the knitting but i’d certainly add my $ 20 to kevin’s . please note kevin said “anatomically correct” which doesn’t necessarily mean to scale !
the views , opinions , and language of kevin zelnio do not reflect the views , opinions , and language of deep - sea news , its sponsors , … .
i throw in some money if somebody wants to make me one too . in reality i have always wanted a crouchet giant isopod . any takers ? where is ellie ( urltoken ) at ?
yes i’m serious . i’ll write you a check or via paypal , $ 20 to put the designs up on the web for anyone to use . we can put it up here at deep sea news if you don’t have a website or blog of your own . i want a female bone - devouring worm with dwarf male . dwarf male must have hooked chaetae and females must have all typical zombie worm appearances . i can envision maybe a flap you can turn that reveals the dwarf male attached to the female’s oviduct ? lol
not quite what you’re asking for . . . but here are a couple of marine animal knitters :
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are marine annelids with the ability to exploit bones on the seafloor for nutrition , presumably by living in symbiosis with collagenolytic bacteria ( rouse et al .
is able to exploit has been the matter of a controversial debate ( glover et al .
) because it has an important implications for its origin , diversification and dispersal . most
pointed to an eocene origin , coincident with the rise of whales ( rouse et al .
can colonize other substrates as well , including spermaceti , soft tissue and blubber of whales ( fujikura et al .
had to have the ability to consume substrates other than whale bones , at least early in its evolutionary history . here we document traces of
in fossil whale teeth and fish bones from oligocene deep - water sediments in western washington state , usa ( fig .
traces in oligocene whale and bird bones from this area ( kiel et al .
fossil locality map . a sekiu river ( uwbm loc . c1660 ) . b murdock creek ( lacmvp loc . 5412 ) . c knappton ( lacmvp loc . 4510 )
gzg : geoscience museum , university of göttingen , germany . lacm : natural history museum of los angeles county , invertebrate ( ip ) and vertebrate ( vp ) paleontology sections , los angeles , ca , usa . usnm : smithsonian natural history museum , washington , d . c . , usa . uwbm : university of washington , burke museum , seattle , wa , usa .
a jaw fragment including several teeth ( gzg . v . 20408 ) , possibly from a small , toothed mysticete whale , was collected in a concretion on the north shore of the columbia river , pacific county , washington state , usa , in the northern part of the bay between grays point and knappton , in the latest oligocene ( prothero et al .
) part of the lincoln creek formation . the locality is in section 9 , t9 n , r9 w , knappton quadrangle ( usgs ) , 7 . 5 min series , 1949 ( photo revised 1984 ) , pacific county , washington ; this is lacmvp locality 4510 . the sediments in this area were deposited in water depths between 300 and 900 m based on benthic foraminifera ; estimates based on mollusk and fish assemblages give slightly shallower depths ( moore
) . bones and teeth were etched from the concretion using dilute ( 5–10 % ) formic acid ; two teeth were used for micro - ct analysis .
further whale teeth are from a small , toothed mysticete ( usnm 539938 ) from the late early oligocene part of the pysht formation . we have previously reported
borings from a rib fragment and other bones of this specimen ( kiel et al .
) . it was collected on the beach terrace east of murdock creek in clallam county , washington state , usa ( lacmvp loc . 5412 and lacmip loc . 6295 ) , from deep - water sediments that are well - known for their vertebrate fossils , mostly whales ( goedert et al .
) , citing local and regional problems with the biostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy , have shown it simply as oligocene .
another cetacean specimen ( uwbm 95841 ) in which the teeth show boreholes is from the late oligocene part of the makah formation , from the same area as the fish bones described herein ( uwbm loc . c1660 ) . it consists of a fragment of a nodule with a skull fragment and either a fragment of dentary or maxilla , or both , and at least six teeth . it is possibly part of a toothed mysticete , and the roots of two of the teeth show the same curve and posterior extension as the tooth from usnm 539938 in fig .
the x - ray micro - computed tomography scans of the fish bone fragment ( gzg . v . 20407 ) and the two whale teeth ( gzg . v . 20408 ) were done using the skyskan1172 system ( skyscan , belgium ) . the fossil fragments were scanned with a beam energy of 100 kv , a flux of 100 μa , and a copper–aluminum filter at a detector resolution of 7 . 45 μm per pixel using a 360 - degree rotation with a step size of 0 . 6 degrees . the scan to survey the specimen ( 600 transmission images ) was reconstructed in a 3 , 124 × 3 , 600 matrix of 3 , 408 slices with a resolution of 7 . 45 μm per voxel using the skyscan software nrecon running on an intel - based macintosh computer employing the multi - boot utility boot camp . the program nrecon uses a modified feldkamp algorithm . the segmentation of bone / tooth and boreholes was done with the skyscan software ct analyzer . for the study of cavity morphology details of the fish bone , a volume of interest in a 1 , 471 × 1 , 609 matrix of 1 , 851 slices was chosen . cavities inside the whale tooth were studied in a volume of interest in a 1 , 524 × 1 , 998 matrix of 2 , 801 slices . visualization of the 3d models was done by the skyscan software ctvol .
the jaw fragment from lacmvp loc . 4510 near knappton was heavily corroded before being fossilized ; the associated teeth have their crowns corroded away , and also the roots show strong traces of corrosion ( fig .
a , b ) . boreholes are mostly circular with sharp edges , have diameters up to 0 . 5 mm , although most are smaller , and are concentrated on the upper half of the teeth but are also present on the lower half . micro - ct scans show that the boreholes penetrate the teeth to a depth of about 0 . 5 mm or more before they start to broaden or to branch in various directions ; the maximum length of individual cavities is around 3 mm ( fig .
) . similar boreholes were seen on the surfaces of three teeth and two tooth roots from a toothed mysticete ( usnm 539938 ) from lacmvp loc . 5412 at murdock creek ( fig .
c , d ) . as in the sample from knappton , the borings are restricted to the upper half of the teeth , have sharp edges , two reach 0 . 5 mm in diameter , but most are smaller than 0 . 3 mm . a few such boreholes are also seen on the crown , typically in areas that also show traces of physical abrasion ( or wear ) , for example , at tips of the cusps of the teeth . bones , possibly part of a toothed mysticete ( uwbm 95841 ) from the late oligocene part of the makah formation ( uwbm loc . c1660 ) , were strongly corroded before being fossilized , and the teeth that are well exposed because of weathering ( additional preparation has not been done ) all show some borings . in two teeth that are exposed in cross section , the entire crown has been destroyed , with borings down into the root as well .
the preserved surface of the micro - ct scanned fish bone fragment shows 28 holes with a diameter > 0 . 1 mm and at least another 15 holes with an often considerably smaller diameter ( fig .
) . most holes are nearly circular and have sharp edges , and the micro - ct scans show that these boreholes lead through a short tunnel into cavities within the bone ( fig .
) . the cavities are of various shapes including shallow - radiating ( fig .
) , branching , or like clusters of grapes , and they are frequently , but not always , interconnected . the figured single cavity reaches a width of 6 . 5 mm and a depth of 2 mm .
in modern and fossil bones typically show a short tunnel leading from a circular hole in the surface of the bone into a cavity in the interior of the bone ( fujikura et al .
) ; this characteristic can also be seen in the traces documented here . while
often colonizes bones in such dense aggregations that their root systems form large cavities inhabited by many individuals , cavities with only a single borehole leading into them ( single cavities ) are thought to reflect the shape of the root system of an individual animal and are thus of particular diagnostic value ( kiel et al .
, bottom of their fig . 6b ) and to cavities documented from a pliocene whale in italy ( higgs et al .
borings . however , the shape of the root system can vary significantly within species and appears to be controlled mainly by differences in bone structure ( kiel et al .
) , makes rock - boring sponges the more likely candidate for these borings . although we did indeed find only interconnected cavities with multiple boreholes leading into them in the bird bones , this does not exclude
) . such high borehole densities are thus an invalid argument for reinterpretation of the borings seen in the oligocene bird bones as sponge borings . furthermore , mollusk shells collected at the same locality as the bored bird bones ( e . g . , squires and goedert
’ - type borings . it seems unlikely to us that rock - boring sponges would colonize bird bones but not the co - occurring mollusk shells .
, however , would certainly show such a behavior . therefore , we maintain our view that the boreholes in the oligocene bird bones were made by
species found at 1 , 000 m depth in monterey canyon colonized a turkey carcass deployed roughly 10 m from an existing whale - fall ( r . c . vrijenhoek , pers . comm . 2012 ) .
many of the whale teeth have their crowns corroded away . this may seem strange considering that they are made of hard enamel ( calcium phosphate with little organic matrix ) , whereas the root is covered by a thin layer of softer cementum ( maas
) and should therefore be easier to attack . however , the enamel is very thin on these teeth , and a specimen where the crown is corroded but not totally destroyed shows that the broken edges are straight or angular , but do not go through any of the few boreholes ( fig .
) . a similar scenario seems possible for the corroded teeth : boreholes are concentrated just underneath the crown , indicating that the teeth were attacked while still in situ . thus , if some predator had attacked the
specimens that had colonized the enclosing jaw bone , the thin crown could have been broken as ‘collateral damage . ’ the common scratch marks in this area ( fig .
was reported from the teeth of sperm whales ( suborder odontoceti ) that were sunk off the coast of japan ( fujiwara et al .
) after a mass stranding event . interestingly , in the vertebrate remains from the oligocene strata in western washington , we have so far not observed
borings in bones or teeth positively identified as being from odontoceti ( e . g . , barnes and goedert
, as well as those in bones from oligocene deep - water sediments in western washington previously reported by us ( kiel et al .
) , exhibit a wide variety of shapes , including radiating and flower - like , grape - like and irregular - branching , and they frequently merge to form large cavities with multiple entry holes . this diversity of shapes does not necessarily imply species diversity , but shows that the morphological diversity seen in the root systems of extant
) was already developed by the oligocene time . similarly diverse as the shape of the root system of
is the range of substrates that it was able to colonize by the oligocene : whale bones and teeth , and fish and bird bones . to summarize , fossil
, and from three different rock units with a stratigraphic age spanning most of the oligocene . this shows that
was well established in the northeastern pacific ocean by the oligocene time and supports the view of rouse et al . (
we thank gerhard hundertmark and thomas dinter ( göttingen ) for photography , bettina reichenbacher ( munich ) , giorgio carnevale ( torino ) and norbert micklich ( darmstadt ) for help identifying the fish remains , and shannon johnson and bob vrijenhoek ( moss landing ) for access to whale bones in their collection and for stimulating discussions . nick higgs ( london ) and andrzej kaim ( warsaw ) are thanked for their constructive reviews that helped to improve the manuscript . financial support was provided by the deutsche forschungsgemeinschaft through grant ki802 / 6 - 1 to sk .
this article is distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license which permits any use , distribution , and reproduction in any medium , provided the original author ( s ) and the source are credited .
barnes , l . g . , and j . l . goedert . 2001 . stratigraphy and paleoecology of oligocene and miocene desmostylian occurrences in western washington state , usa .
braby , c . e . , g . w . rouse , s . b . johnson , w . j . jones , and r . c . vrijenhoek . 2007 . bathymetric and temporal variation among
bone worms and associated megafauna on whale - falls in monterey bay , california .
fujikura , k . , y . fujiwara , and m . kawato . 2006 . a new species of
fujiwara , y . , m . kawato , t . yamamoto , t . yamanaka , w . sato - okoshi , c . noda , s . tsuchida , t . komai , s . s . cubelio , t . sasaki , k . jacobsen , k . kubokawa , k . fujikura , t . maruyama , y . furushima , k . okoshi , h . miyake , m . miyazaki , y . nogi , a . yatabe , and t . okutani . 2007 . three - year investigations into sperm whale - fall ecosystems in japan .
glover , a . g . , k . m . kemp , c . r . smith , and t . g . dahlgren . 2008 . on the role of bone - eating worms in the degradation of marine vertebrate remains .
goedert , j . l . , r . l . squires , and l . g . barnes . 1995 . paleoecology of whale - fall habitats from deep - water oligocene rocks , olympic peninsula , washington state .
goffredi , s . k . , v . j . orphan , g . w . rouse , l . jahnke , t . embaye , k . turk , r . lee , and r . c . vrijenhoek . 2005 . evolutionary innovation : a bone - eating marine symbiosis .
higgs , n . d . , a . g . glover , t . g . dahlgren , and c . t . s . little . 2011 . bone - boring worms : characterizing the morphology , rate , and method of bioerosion by
higgs , n . d . , c . t . s . little , a . g . glover , t . g . dahlgren , c . r . smith , and s . dominici . 2012 . evidence of
jones , w . j . , s . b . johnson , g . w . rouse , and r . c . vrijenhoek . 2008 . marine worms ( genus
kiel , s . 2010 . on the potential generality of depth - related ecologic structure in cold - seep communities : cenozoic and mesozoic examples .
kiel , s . , and j . l . goedert . 2007 . six new mollusk species associated with biogenic substrates in cenozoic deep - water sediments in washington state , usa .
kiel , s . , j . l . goedert , w . - a . kahl , and g . w . rouse . 2010 . fossil traces of the bone - eating worm
kiel , s . , w . - a . kahl , and j . l . goedert . 2011 .
maas , m . c . 2007 . the histology of bones and teeth . in
moore , e . j . 1984 . molluscan paleontology and biostratigraphy of the lower miocene upper part of the lincoln creek formation in southwestern washington .
nesbitt , e . a . , r . a . martin , n . p . carroll , and j . grieff . 2010 . reassessment of the zemorrian foraminiferal stage and juanian molluscan stage north of the olympic mountains , washington state and vancouver island .
okoshi , k . , fujiwara , y . , and the scientific shipboard party , 2011 . r / v kaiyo + rov hyper - dolphin 3000 cruise report , ky11 - 01 leg 2 cruise in sagami bay , jamstec .
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, ed . prothero d . r . , 377–394 . the pacific section sepm .
prothero , d . r . , j . m . hoffman , and j . l . goedert . 2008 . paleomagnetism of the oligocene and miocene lincoln creek and astoria formations , knappton , washington .
rouse , g . w . , s . k . goffredi , s . b . johnson , and r . c . vrijenhoek . 2011 . not whale - fall specialists ,
rouse , g . w . , s . k . goffredi , and r . c . vrijenhoek . 2004 .
snavely , p . d . j . , a . r . niem , n . s . macleod , j . e . pearl , and w . w . rau . 1980 . makah formation—a deep - marginal - basin sequence of late eocene and oligocene age in the northwestern olympic peninsula , washington . u . s .
vrijenhoek , r . c . , p . collins , and c . l . van dover . 2008 . bone - eating marine worms : habitat specialists or generalists ?
vrijenhoek , r . c . , s . b . johnson , and g . w . rouse . 2009 . a remarkable diversity of boneworms (


the rock darter ( etheostoma rupestre ) is a species of darter endemic to the southeastern united states where it is found only in mobile bay drainage .

it is an inhabitant of swiftly flowing riffles of creeks to medium-sized rivers .

this species can reach a length of 8.3 centimetres ( 3.3 in ) tl though most only reach about 6 centimetres ( 2.4 in ) .

rock darter

range included the alabama and tombigbee river systems ( mobile bay drainage ) , alabama , mississippi , georgia , and extreme southeastern tennessee ( page and burr 2011 ) . this darter is common , especially near the fall line where rapids prevail ( page and burr 1991 ) . it is common in the black warrior and cahaba systems of alabama , rarer and spotty elsewhere , especially in the lower parts of the mobile bay drainage ( lee et al . 1980 ) .
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thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on the iucn red list of threatened species website , we are grateful for your input .
justification : listed as least concern in view of the fairly large extent of occurrence , large number of subpopulations and locations , and large population size , and because the species probably is not declining fast enough to qualify for any of the threatened categories .
this species is represented by a large number of occurrences ( subpopulations ) . total adult population size is unknown but presumably exceeds 10 , 000 . trend over the past three generations is uncertain but probably relatively stable or slowly declining .
habitat includes swift riffles over rocky bottom or bedrock in creeks and small to medium rivers ( lee et al . 1980 , page and burr 2011 ) .
habitat in larger rivers has been much reduced by impoundments , but most habitat and populations in creeks and medium rivers are secure ( boschung and mayden 2004 ) .
currently , this species is of relatively low conservation concern and does not require significant additional protection or major management , monitoring , or research action .
to make use of this information , please check the < terms of use > .
greek , etheo = to strain + greek , stoma = mouth ; rafinesque said
various mouths
, but jordan and evermann suggest the name might have been intended as
heterostoma ( ref . 45335 )
north america : found only in mobile bay drainage of georgia , alabama , mississippi and extreme southeastern tennessee in the usa .
maturity : l m ? range ? - ? cm max length : 8 . 3 cm tl male / unsexed ; ( ref . 5723 ) ; common length : 6 . 0 cm tl male / unsexed ; ( ref . 12193 )
inhabits fast rocky riffles of creeks and small to medium rivers ( ref . 5723 ) .
page , l . m . and b . m . burr , 1991 . a field guide to freshwater fishes of north america north of mexico . houghton mifflin company , boston . 432 p . ( ref . 5723 )
phylogenetic diversity index ( ref . 82805 ) : pd 50 = 0 . 5000 [ uniqueness , from 0 . 5 = low to 2 . 0 = high ] .
bayesian length - weight : a = 0 . 00501 ( 0 . 00201 - 0 . 01253 ) , b = 3 . 14 ( 2 . 92 - 3 . 36 ) , in cm total length , based on lwr estimates for this ( sub ) family - body shape ( ref . 93245 ) .
trophic level ( ref . 69278 ) : 3 . 3 ±0 . 5 se ; based on size and trophs of closest relatives
resilience ( ref . 69278 ) : high , minimum population doubling time less than 15 months ( preliminary k or fecundity . ) .
vulnerability ( ref . 59153 ) : low vulnerability ( 18 of 100 ) .
- - natureserve explorer is a source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50 , 000 plants , animals and ecological communtities of the u . s and canada . natureserve explorer provides in - depth information on rare and endangered species , but includes common plants and animals too . natureserve explorer is a product of natureserve in collaboration with the natural heritage network .
itis reports - - itis ( the integrated taxonomic information system ) is a source for authoritative taxonomic information on plants , animals , fungi , and microbes of north america and the world .
fws digital media library - - the u . s . fish and wildlife service ' s national digital library is a searchable collection of selected images , historical artifacts , audio clips , publications , and video .
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click here to download an adobe acrobat version of the above map that also includes streams .
the information provided here is free of charge . if you would like to support this and other similar projects provided by the georgia museum of natural history , consider making a donation . ( click here ) .