Tag Archives: evolutionary tactics

“Herp Talk” with local amphibian biologist Katy Greenwald

By Mark | June 23, 2019

Over the past few weeks, I’ve posted here about both tadpoles and frogs that my son and I had found in Riverside Park. Well, as a result of these posts, I’ve come into contact with Eastern Michigan University amphibian biologist Katy Greenwald, who, I guess, felt professionally obligated to write in and correct me, informing […]

Posted in Environment, Mark's Life, Michigan, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Ambystoma, amphibian biology, amphibian fungus, amphibian sex, amphibians, Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation, Anura, Arlo, Arnold Lobel, Australia, biology, Bufonidae, bullfrog, Cane toad, cats, Central America, chickens, children's literature, chytrid, chytridiomycosis, critters, cryptozoology, cultural impact study, Diplocaulus, earth science, Eastern Michigan University, EMU, environmental impact study, evolution, evolutionary biology, extinction, faking death, faking one's death, flying frogs, Frog and Toad, frog-eating, frogamander, frogs, frozen frogs, gay characters in children's literature, Georgia, Gerobatrachus, Goro Furuta, habitat management, habitat preservation, HCI, herpetology, Heterodon platyrhinos, historic archeology, Historic Conservation and Interpretation, hognose snakes, Huron River, hybrid salamanders, immigration interview, invasive species, Karen Warkentin, Katy Greenwald, Kelly's Island, landscape architecture, Lepospondyls, Loveland Frog, Madagascar, Mark's frog pond, mass extinction, metamorphosis, nontraditional sex, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, OCD, Paleocene, pit viper, Population Viability Analysis, predators, Ranidae, relocating wetlands, reproduction, reptiles, restoring wetlands, Rick Shine, ringneck snake, Rutherford Pool, salamanders, Science Friday, sentinel species, Skyline high school, smeet, snakes, South America, sperm-stealing, tadpoles, Temnospondyls, the canary in the cole mine, toads, treefrogs, twofold cost of males, unisexual, University of Michigan natural history museum, vernal pool, warts, wetlands, Ypsi immigration interview, zoospores | 27 Comments

Do cock-blocking babies have an evolutionary advantage?

By Mark | April 24, 2014

According to the research of Harvard’s David Haig, it’s conceivable that babies evolved to cry at night not necessarily because they need to be fed, but because, by doing so, they could well delay the arrival of siblings who would invariably compete for scarce resources. In an attempt to explain why babies, especially those that […]

Posted in Science | Also tagged babies, breastfeeding, cock-blocking, David Haig, evolution, evolutionary biology, Harvard, I love science, infertility, intercourse, lactational amenorrhea, Science, scientific research, sex | 9 Comments

Hereditary shyness

By Mark | June 26, 2011

I had an interesting conversation with Clementine yesterday, between buckets of beer at German Park. I’d been encouraging her to go over and play with the nieces of a friend, who were about her age, and sitting at the base of a tree, building a lunch room for some tiny rubber hamster type things that […]