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A Shark Swallowed Whole by a Wreckfish | Okeanos Explorer/NOAA (2019)

July 12, 2019 at 4:03 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations

The remotely operated vehicle Deep Discoverer (D2) and the telepresence capabilities of NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, brought a quite rare biological occurrence for Humans to observe. During the Dive 07 of the Windows to the Deep 2019 expedition viewers watching live have witnessed this fascinating predation in action taking place in the deep ocean. D2 was following a straight-line on a small topographic rise originally thought to be a shipwreck at about 450 meters (1,476 feet) of depth. As D2 […]

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A Giant Forest Ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) Worker Foraging in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

January 30, 2019 at 12:24 pm / Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

This short observation was filmed on Nov 23rd 2016 in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore. Malaysian giant forest ant (Dinomyrmex gigas) is a central place forager. The colony structure is described as polydomous. Workers communicate efficiently and recruit effectively to optimize foraging yield. Large workers have evolved ergonomy to be self-sufficient in most tasks. Its diet is mostly honeydew and excrements but can also prey on insects. These ants have been reported to have up to 14 subterranean nests and […]

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The White Pine Weevil’s Life Cycle – Ray Asselin

August 1, 2018 at 1:43 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Tree architecture is affected by many factors. Genetics is a major determinant. Hundreds of genes coordinate to determine the stature of a tree. Conifers have strong apical dominance in their growth and plant hormones such as the auxin play a lead role in its maintenance. When the apical dominance is lost due to loss of the apical meristem located at the top of shoot tip the branching pattern of a tree changes. Apical meristem can be lost due to physical […]

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Gray Triggerfish Nesting Behavior – Mert Gökalp | AQUADIARIES (2018)

July 31, 2018 at 6:05 am / Natural history, Short Observations

The evolutionary origins of nest building behavior in vertebrates are deep rooted and go all the way back to the fish. The behavior can be very complex with stunning results such as that of the Japanese puffer fish. Here in this short observation an underwater cameraman and filmmaker Mert Gökalp captures a few distinct scenes from the Gray Triggerfish nesting behavior in the Eastern Mediterranean town of Kaş. This fish colonized the Mediterranean through the Gibraltar and reached the farthest […]

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A Stunning Artwork by the Japanese Puffer Fish – BBC Life

July 30, 2018 at 1:45 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

The evolutionary origins of nest building behavior in vertebrates are deep rooted and go all the way back to the fish. The behavior can be very complex with stunning results such as that of the Japanese puffer fish. When the behavior was documented for the first time by Japanese divers it created a big excitement among biologist. Here in this short observation the selective pressures on the male puffer fish exceeds those from predation and nest parasitism but purely sexual. […]

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Seed Dispersal by Dung Mimicry – Nature (2015)

July 20, 2018 at 3:47 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Plant-animal interactions have not always evolved to become mutualistic win-win strategies like birds dispersing seeds of palms while feeding on the fruits. Plants can be rather deceptive. They can hijact sensory vulnerabilities of animals. Secondary metabolites such as nicotine, caffeine, codeine can be rather addictive. Plant chemicals can also be used as deterrent. A sub-Saharan desert plant taily weed (Ochradenus baccatus) detonates a mustard bomb in the mouths of seed predators who dare to chew and destroy its seeds. Plant […]

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A Copperhead Snake Taking Its First Breath – Copperhead Institute (2015)

July 12, 2018 at 8:25 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video

In this short observation you can see a juvenile copperhead individual taking its first breath filmed by The Copperhead Institute in South Carolina. Copperheads are ovoviviparous, that is babies are born alive. Eggs incubate inside the mother’s body instead of being oviposited like many other reptiles such as turtles. Copperheads mate in the spring. This results upto 18 offspring in late summer or fall. Snakes may seem as asocial however, prior to giving birth female copperheads may gather in certain […]

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A Bumblebee Mimic Robber Fly (Laphria macquarti) Hunting

June 28, 2018 at 4:55 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

A Bumblebee Mimic Robber Fly (Laphria macquarti) hunting. June 26th 2018, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD. Robber flies (Asilidae) are predatory insects. Adult forms of both sexes launch grasping aerial attacks on other insects, including stinging insects such as bees and wasps. For this reason they are also known as ‘bee catchers’. Foraging occurs in sunny habitats. They are seldom found in deep woods where it is dark. Here in this observation, the habitat is an exposed sunny edge […]

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An Agouti Eating Pulp of the Dipteryx panamanensis Seed Coat

April 14, 2018 at 2:27 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

Agoutis are rodents exclusive to forested and wooded lands of the American tropics. Their habitats include rainforests and savannas. Some species have even adapted to live in cultivated fields. They are active during daytime. At night they hide in hollow tree trunks or in burrows among roots. Here in this short observation recorded at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Barro Colorado Island, Panama you can see an agouti feeding on the outer pulp of the one of the […]

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First Footage of Deep-sea Angler Fish Mating – Kirsten & Joachim Jakobsen / Science (2018)

March 22, 2018 at 1:44 pm / Evolution, Natural history, Short Observations, Video

A video recording of a female anglerfish attached to her mate created a wave of excitement among marine biologists. Anglerfish have a quite striking look for most people. This deep-sea adapted fish is well known by the public with their scary huge teeth and a light emitting lure. There are about 160 species of anglerfish worldwide. Most of what we know about these fishes have almost invariably came from dead specimens. Nobody has ever observed these animals in their natural […]

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Hungry Polar Bear Ambushes Seal | The Hunt | BBC Earth (2017)

March 9, 2018 at 10:55 am / BBC documentaries, Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, Short Observations, Video

Being a predator is very difficult. The “one in twenty” success rate is almost a universal rule of thumb to describe predator hunting efficiency. Prey defines the terms of engagement. Predator has to play catch up and therefore has to be stronger, faster more agile and perhaps more clever in planning a successful attack. We know this relationship from studies that have exquisitely measured predator-prey related physical parameters in Cheetahs and Lions hunting Impalas and Zebras. Connections between apex predators […]

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A Malayan Colugo and Her Baby in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore (2016)

February 13, 2018 at 9:28 pm / Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

This Malayan colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) carrying a baby was observed on November 25th 2016 in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, Singapore. The observation has been registered to iNaturalist database. No Malayan colugos have been successfully bred in captivity. Oldest known captive individual lived 17.5 years. Malayan colugos belong to the “skinwing” mammal order called Dermopterans. They are also known as Sunda flying lemurs. They are strictly arboreal, spending their time in the treetops of tropical rainforests entirely. The name “flying” is […]

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A Sunfleck Over a Sapling in Barro Colorado Island

January 19, 2018 at 10:25 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

Recorded during the dry season on Jan 26th 2017 at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Barro Colorado Island, Panama. A short duration sunfleck passes over a sapling of Nectandra cissiflora (Lauraceae). Plants growing in the forest understory habitats can be exposed to fast microclimatic changes. Although light is essential for plants, sudden exposure to high light can be detrimental to shade adapted leaves. Sunflecks can be destructive for the photosystem II (PSII), a component of the photosynthetic apparatus […]

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Largest Egg Mass Ever Observed – Lütfü Tanrıöver (2015)

January 9, 2018 at 12:55 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations

On July 9th 2015, a Turkish underwater videographer Lütfü Tanrıöver encountered a curious semi-transparent gelatinous mass at a depth of 22 meters (72 feet) while diving with his friends near his hometown of Fethiye on the Mediterranean coast of Anatolia. As every citizen scientist instinctively would, he explored and successfully recorded this observation of huge biological importance on film. It didn’t take long before the BBC Wildlife Service reached out to him about the observation. According to Dr. Michael Vecchione […]

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Chain Forming Leptogenys Ants from Cambodia – Stephane de Greef (2014)

November 15, 2017 at 10:00 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

The ant behavior described in these observations were first recorded by citizen scientists in Cambodia (see the original recording at the end of this post) where ants have been shown to form chains to transport large prey. The level of cooperation is so striking that myrmecologists scrambled to find out whether it is genuine. Two researchers have successfully documented the behavior by filming them in Angkor Thom, Siem Reap, Cambodia. Self-assembling cooperation in ants is known to take many interesting […]

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