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Orangutan proves he can talk the talk
RYAN HEFFERNAN / AURORA PHOTOS
IN BRIEF Orangutan proves he can talk the talk
End of the genetic line for the poor English bulldog? THE future looks dire for the English bulldog, one of the most popular – and illness-prone – dog breeds in the UK and US. Among other problems, English bulldogs have difficulty breathing, moving and mating. These traits are a result of how we have selectively bred the dogs to promote characteristics like their shortened muzzle and stature. Decades of heavy inbreeding have also caused autoimmune diseases and allergies. To see if these problems could be corrected in future generations, Niels Pedersen at University of California,
Davis, and his team analysed the DNA of more than 100 English bulldogs. They found alarmingly low genetic diversity among the dogs (Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, doi.org/bm6t). The results suggest that dog breeders are unlikely to be able to reverse the negative effects of extreme selection through careful matching of genetically different English bulldogs. In an attempt to inject some healthy diversity back into the breed’s gene pool, Swiss breeders have begun crossing the English bulldog with a US breed known as the Olde English Bulldogge. Outbreeding in this way can be beneficial to the health of struggling breeds. But some breeders worry that this practice could mean that the true English bulldog is lost for good.
Hellish world of parasites in the deep sea DEEP below the ocean’s surface, parasitic crustaceans are latching on to fish that eke out a living. Video from the ocean depths has revealed their diversity and range for the first time. Parasites may be an indicator of a healthy ecosystem, as they can regulate animal populations and keep them from growing out of control, says Andrea Quattrini at Harvey Mudd College in 14 | NewScientist | 6 August 2016
Claremont, California. “And yet virtually nothing is known about their importance in the deep sea,” she says. “The first step is really just to document their diversity, and how many and what species are being infected.” Quattrini and Amanda Demopoulos at the US Geological Survey studied films collected by a remotely operated underwater vehicle surveying the sea floor off
the coast of the north-eastern US. One third of the fish species spotted – and up to half of fish of some species – had up to several dozen visible parasites: isopods and copepods. Some of these have hooks on the ends of their legs that they embed into the fish. Others bury their head into the flesh. One parasitic copepod even had parasites of its own: eight leeches clung to it (International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, doi.org/bm7c).
AN ORANGUTAN named Rocky has shown a talent for emulating human speech. The feat brings us closer to understanding how speech developed from the calls of ancestral great apes. Adriano Lameria from the University of Durham, UK, and his team played a game with Rocky, getting him to mimic the pitch and tone of human sounds and make vowel-like calls. His sounds were quite different from those in recordings of wild and captive orangutans. Rocky astonished the team by producing word-like sounds in a “conversational context” (Scientific Reports, doi.org/bm6v). “It has been presumed that sounds made by great apes are driven by arousal over which they have no control,” says Lameria. “Our research proves that orangutans have the potential capacity to control the action of their voices.”
Pesticides kill off honeybee sperm MALE bees have been taking contraceptives – inadvertently. It could be a factor in the alarming decline in bee populations across North America and Europe over the past 15 years. Neonicotinoid pesticides, neurotoxins used in agriculture that kill many types of insects, also cut honeybees’ live sperm count by almost 40 per cent, found Lars Straub of the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and his colleagues (Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, doi.org/bm6x). However, we can’t yet be sure if this is the main reason behind the major decline in bee populations, he says, because many factors are probably playing a part.
IN BRIEF Orangutan proves he can talk the talk
End of the genetic line for the poor English bulldog? THE future looks dire for the English bulldog, one of the most popular – and illness-prone – dog breeds in the UK and US. Among other problems, English bulldogs have difficulty breathing, moving and mating. These traits are a result of how we have selectively bred the dogs to promote characteristics like their shortened muzzle and stature. Decades of heavy inbreeding have also caused autoimmune diseases and allergies. To see if these problems could be corrected in future generations, Niels Pedersen at University of California,
Davis, and his team analysed the DNA of more than 100 English bulldogs. They found alarmingly low genetic diversity among the dogs (Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, doi.org/bm6t). The results suggest that dog breeders are unlikely to be able to reverse the negative effects of extreme selection through careful matching of genetically different English bulldogs. In an attempt to inject some healthy diversity back into the breed’s gene pool, Swiss breeders have begun crossing the English bulldog with a US breed known as the Olde English Bulldogge. Outbreeding in this way can be beneficial to the health of struggling breeds. But some breeders worry that this practice could mean that the true English bulldog is lost for good.
Hellish world of parasites in the deep sea DEEP below the ocean’s surface, parasitic crustaceans are latching on to fish that eke out a living. Video from the ocean depths has revealed their diversity and range for the first time. Parasites may be an indicator of a healthy ecosystem, as they can regulate animal populations and keep them from growing out of control, says Andrea Quattrini at Harvey Mudd College in 14 | NewScientist | 6 August 2016
Claremont, California. “And yet virtually nothing is known about their importance in the deep sea,” she says. “The first step is really just to document their diversity, and how many and what species are being infected.” Quattrini and Amanda Demopoulos at the US Geological Survey studied films collected by a remotely operated underwater vehicle surveying the sea floor off
the coast of the north-eastern US. One third of the fish species spotted – and up to half of fish of some species – had up to several dozen visible parasites: isopods and copepods. Some of these have hooks on the ends of their legs that they embed into the fish. Others bury their head into the flesh. One parasitic copepod even had parasites of its own: eight leeches clung to it (International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, doi.org/bm7c).
AN ORANGUTAN named Rocky has shown a talent for emulating human speech. The feat brings us closer to understanding how speech developed from the calls of ancestral great apes. Adriano Lameria from the University of Durham, UK, and his team played a game with Rocky, getting him to mimic the pitch and tone of human sounds and make vowel-like calls. His sounds were quite different from those in recordings of wild and captive orangutans. Rocky astonished the team by producing word-like sounds in a “conversational context” (Scientific Reports, doi.org/bm6v). “It has been presumed that sounds made by great apes are driven by arousal over which they have no control,” says Lameria. “Our research proves that orangutans have the potential capacity to control the action of their voices.”
Pesticides kill off honeybee sperm MALE bees have been taking contraceptives – inadvertently. It could be a factor in the alarming decline in bee populations across North America and Europe over the past 15 years. Neonicotinoid pesticides, neurotoxins used in agriculture that kill many types of insects, also cut honeybees’ live sperm count by almost 40 per cent, found Lars Straub of the Institute of Bee Health at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and his colleagues (Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, doi.org/bm6x). However, we can’t yet be sure if this is the main reason behind the major decline in bee populations, he says, because many factors are probably playing a part.