2010 September 30 — The Sticky Tongue Project

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Resource Restoration Planning Process Begins for BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Department of the Interior, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the co-trustees for natural resources affected by the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill announced today they have started the injury assessment and restoration planning phase of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment, a legal process to determine the type and amount of restoration needed to compensate the public for harm to natural resources and their human uses as a result of the spill.

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Global showdown chooses six panda caretakers

Six lucky candidates have been awarded the highly coveted opportunity to work as panda caretakers for one month, after an intense three-hour live showdown on China’s largest television network, CCTV.

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For the first time, monkeys recognize themselves in the mirror, indicating self-awareness

Typically, monkeys don’t know what to make of a mirror. They may ignore it or interpret their reflection as another, invading monkey, but they don’t recognize the reflection as their own image. Chimpanzees and people pass this “mark” test — they obviously recognize their own reflection and make funny faces, look at a temporary mark that the scientists have placed on their face or wonder how they got so old and grey.

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Protection Sought for Black-backed Woodpeckers Under California Endangered Species Act

The John Muir Project and the Center for Biological Diversity today submitted a scientific petition to list the black-backed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) as a threatened or endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act. The protection of this rare woodpecker species is likely to have large-scale implications for post-fire logging policies in California.

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Report Casts World’s Rivers in ‘Crisis State’

The world’s rivers, the single largest renewable water resource for humans and a crucible of aquatic biodiversity, are in a crisis of ominous proportions, according to a new global analysis.

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Squirrels Masturbate in the Name of STD Protection

There’s a famous picture that has probably been burned into the retinas of anyone who spends a lot of time on the internet. It’s a squirrel, standing up, with a surprisingly huge pair of testicles dangling beneath him. That’s a Cape ground squirrel and the image isn’t a fake. Males have a scrotum that’s 20% of their body length (excluding the tail) and their penis is more than twice as long.

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New plan to save Mediterranean biodiversity

An alliance of conservationists and international donors on Wednesday unveiled a map of six areas on the Mediterranean rim aimed at guiding policy for preserving precious habitats and threatened species.

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Biodiversity Photo Of The Day: Liben Lark

The Liben Lark, Heteromirafra sidamoensis, is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. Found only in one small area of open grassland in southern Ethiopia, this little-known bird has a tiny population, and could well become extinct within just a few years. Its occurrence in a single small, unprotected area, the Liben Plain just outside Negele, makes the Liben Lark highly vulnerable to any threats. Currently, the greatest threat to the species is habitat loss, [...]

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