Ability to capture large prey may be origin of army ants' cooperative behavior

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A front view of the army ant Cheliomyrmex, showing its fearsome jaw and teeth. Michael Kaspari, U of Oklahoma
Scientific insights come at the darnedest times. Animal behaviorist Sean O'Donnell was having an afternoon cup of coffee when a giant earthworm exploded out of the leaf litter covering the jungle floor in an Ecuadorean nature preserve. The worm, later measured at nearly 16 inches long, was pursued by a column of hundreds of raiding army ants that quickly paralyzed or killed it.


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All News summaries for December 16, 2005

Study explores plausibility of bulbs and tubers in the diet of early human ancestors

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(PhysOrg.com) -- It was a dirty job, but somebody had to do it. Anthropologist Nathaniel J. Dominy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has advanced the investigation of the diet of early human ancestors ...

Wealth Does Not Dictate Concern for the Environment

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It has been a long-held assumption that poor nations will not support efforts to protect the environment since their citizens are too preoccupied with meeting basic needs, such as food and housing. However, a new study in ...

Construction workers unearth mammoth bones in Minsk

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Workers building a business centre in Minsk came across the bones of two mammoths thought to be between 25,000 and 45,000 years old, an official from Belarus' Academy of Sciences told AFP on Friday.

Women's access to credit affects efficiency in rural households

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Rural strategies designed to induce economic growth often emphasize the need to improve access to capital for poor households. However, this approach implicitly assumes that family members pool all their resources and allocate ...

Colonial heritage metaphors used in US military conflicts

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The historical reference to "Indian Country" presents a complex metaphor. For many Native Americans it signifies home, family, and territory; however, for others the term can refer to colonialism and Native American land ...
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