June 2012: In the first week of May this year, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) provided the world with a one of a kind treat – the first-ever video footage captured of cross river gorillas. Shot in the Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary of Cameroon, the video features eight gorillas walking through the forest. In an exciting climax, one of the gorillas, a male silverback, charges at…

June 2012: A study by Professor Robert Barclay, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada has revealed that bats produce twice as many females as males in years when spring comes early. He says, “The early-born females are able to reproduce as one year olds, whereas male pups can’t.

June 2012: A study conducted by Dr. Mathieu Lihoreau of the National Centre of Scientific Research in Rennes, France, has brought to light a new side of the much-maligned house pest, the cockroach. His study, conducted primarily on two species, the German cockroach Blattella germanica and the American cockroach Periplaneta american reveals a highly advanced social…

June 2012: Female water-skimming bugs or pond skaters are known for resisting males they do not think make good mates. A team of Canadian scientists, in partnership with Dr. Abderrahman Khila and Professor Ehab Abouheif from the McGill University in Montreal, used a high-speed video to analyse the male’s response to this behaviour.

June 2012: The small-eye pygmy shark may not have the fearsome jaws of the great white but it has found a way to drive away predators – a well-lit belly! Julien Claes from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium, studied the shark and learnt that its underside is covered in tiny light-emitting photophores.

June 2012: The natural world is never short of surprises. A frog has been discovered in western Panama that, incredibly enough, leaves scientists’ hands yellow after they handle it! Named Diasporus citrinobapheus, it is a member of the large rain frog family. These frogs do not go through a tadpole stage, they emerge from their eggs as tiny froglets.

June 2012: A recent sample study from Tamil Nadu has revealed the existence of two distinct populations under the Scalidognathus genus of trapdoor spider in the Southern Western Ghats. The region is commonly known for being a biodiversity hotspot, rich in endemic invertebrate fauna of which little is known. The trapdoor spider in particular is inadequately documented and in the last…

January 6, 2012: Intensive botanical explorations for taxonomic studies on the members of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) in India by V.P. Thomas and M. Sabu of the University of Calicut, have resulted in the discovery of an interesting species of Amomum (Cardamom) from Silent Valley National Park on the Western Ghats of Kerala.

A survey conducted of 10 squid species living at depths of between 984 and 3,937 feet (300 and 1,200 m.), revealed a host of unusual mating rituals and techniques.