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An Illustrated Introduction to Natural Selection & Sexual Selection – Cornell Lab of Ornithology (2013)

March 10, 2013 at 1:04 am / Evolution, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Cornell Bird Lab produced a series of quite informative teaching materials to provide scientific explanation for how new species have evolved (and are evolving). Evolution is not only a struggle for existence, it is also an effort to pass on genes to next generation. Modern biology has described mechanisms of evolution with fine details and this video effectively tells how natural selection works with three cartoonified traits in an island setting at the first few minutes. In many animals females […]

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American Eagle – PBS Nature (2008)

March 6, 2013 at 11:33 pm / PBS Nature, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

This PBS Nature documentary outlines the life cycle and biology of the iconic Bald Eagle. The plot is centered around two breeding pairs in Iowa and Minnesota. Both nests were installed webcams and have attracted millions of viewers from all over the world. The nests are still active and pairs are now preparing for the breeding season. The nest in Iowa is next to Decorah Fish Management Station. As a top predator highly adapted for fish prey the location provided […]

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Revealing the Origins of Life – PBS (2011)

March 6, 2013 at 11:28 pm / Evolution, Molecular Nature, Nova Documentaries, Video

How life began is a very fundamental question. This short documentary is an outstanding primer for scientific explanation of the origin of life. Featuring Nobel prize winner Jack Szostack of Harvard University and John Sutherland of University of Manchester, it explains the chemical evolution leading to the formation of RNA. Scientists all agree that formation of basic building blocks of life is suprisingly very easy. The burning question is how do they react to form complex molecules? RNA world hypothesis […]

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Hammer Eyed Fly (Richardia telescopica)

March 6, 2013 at 11:25 pm / Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

On September 9th 2001, I encountered this hammer-eyed fly (Richardia telescopica) on STR trail (~600m mark) at La Selva Biological Field Station in Costa Rica. I was rushing on my bicycle to my field site one morning. I had to make an abrubt stop because my path was blocked by a tree fall which I believe was a Hampea appendiculata (Malvaceae). I noticed the fly on one of the branches of the downed tree. I rushed to get the camera […]

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Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air – PBS (2010)

March 6, 2013 at 5:03 pm / Evolution, Natural history, PBS Nature, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Hummingbirds. Today they are strictly found on American continent but there are hummingbird-like fossil specimens from Germany hinting that this group might have been more widespread in its evolutionary past. More than 8000 species of plants have evolved to get their pollination services from hummingbirds. In 2013 a 50 million year old fossil showed the earliest ancestor of hummingbirds. With a heart beating at 600 beats per minute hummingbirds are champions of survival. The PBS documentary explores a rich repertoire […]

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Carolina Cranesbill (Geranium carolinianum) Flower Self-pollination

January 24, 2013 at 10:30 am / Evolution, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Video

Dr. Rebecca Shirk has studied genetic diversity and adaptation in native and invasive populations of Carolina cranesbill (Geranium carolinianum) during her PhD project in Department of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia in Athens. Flowers of this genus has a quite diverse pollination strategy. Flowers come in a staggering diversity of forms. There are huge flowers; tiny flowers; flowers that never open; flowers with patterns that can’t be seen by the human eye; and extremely specialized flowers that are […]

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One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue – Carl Sagan (1980)

January 23, 2013 at 11:22 pm / Evolution, Molecular Nature, Video

The Cosmos, is a thirteen part documentary produced written and presented by Carl Sagan aiming to expand public understanding of science. It is one of the most successful series and is perhaps the best one for telling the fascinating history of science reaching audiences in 60 countries since it has been aired. It inspired generations to become scientists from all over the world. It was written with such poetic vigor that in title of every episode there is an attractive […]

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Kozmik Bestede Bir Nota – Carl Sagan (1980)

January 23, 2013 at 11:15 pm / Evolution, Video

Carl Sagan 1980’li yıllarda televizyonu olan pek çok evin salonuna misafir olmuş Amerika’lı bir astronomdur. Onüç bölümden oluşan Kozmoz dizisi 6.3 milyon dolarlık bir bütçe ile hazırlanarak 60’dan fazla ülke televizyonunda yayınlandı. Gelmiş geçmiş en başarılı bilim belgeselinin tarzı öylesine şiirseldir ki, bölümlerin başlıkları bile işlenen konuyu kavramada yardımcı derin benzetmeler içeren özenle seçilmiş kelimelerden oluşur. Carl Sagan, “kişisel bir yolculuk” olarak nitelediği eserinde bizleri yolculuğuna yoldaş eder. Bilim tarihinde nefes kesici bir gezintiye çıkarız birlikte. Dizi içinde bir biyolog […]

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Mud Dauber Wasps Constructing Nests

December 8, 2012 at 9:54 am / NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

Insects never have boring lives. Mud daubers set a great example. These busy wasps build their nest chambers out of mud. Here in two separate videos you can see the two stages of nest construction: [1] Gathering mud by Sceliphron caementarium filmed in Athens, GA, USA. [2] Construction of the nest chambers by Sceliphron destillatorium from Canary Islands. The genus Sceliphron is found in all of the temperate and tropical continental areas of the world and on many islands (some […]

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Sinsi Yamyamlar mı? Yoksa Yemeyip Yediren Babalar mı?

October 25, 2012 at 8:54 pm / Video

Canlılığın sürekli değişen sorunlara karşı geliştirdiği evrimsel çözümleri anlayabilmek için alışılmışın dışındaki üreme biçimlerini mercek altına almakta yarar var. Doğada genel olarak dişiler yavru bakımının getirdiği yük nedeniyle seçici roldedir. Erkekler, dişilerin seçici süzgecine takılabilmek için pek çok kılığa bürünür. Bu yazıda üç ayrı balık türünde babaların yavru bakımında üstlendiği evrimsel olarak kararlı davranış biçimlerini inceliyeceğiz. Birbirine evrimsel açıdan yakın akraba olan denizatı (Hippocampus) ve deniz iğnesi (Syngnathus) türlerinde doğada görmeye alışkın olduğumuz eşeysel roller değişmiştir. Deniz iğnelerinde hamileliği erkekler […]

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Total Solar Eclipse in Brazil and Turkey – Sunrise Earth – David Conover (2006)

September 19, 2012 at 7:23 pm / Global Patterns, Video

A total solar eclipse recorded in two countries on the same day of March 29th, 2006 by the Sunrise Earth team. The Sunrise Earth series belongs to a genre known as “Experiential TV”, developed by David Conover. The genre was also precursor to the Slow TV genre famously popularized by the Norwegian director Thomas Hellum. In this poetical recording, the eclipse starts in Baia Formosa of Natal, Brazil and moves towards the east to Aspendos of Antalya, Turkey. You can […]

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A Biography of Edward O. Wilson – Lord of the Ants (2008)

September 5, 2012 at 11:01 am / Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Edward O. Wilson is one of the leading myrmecologists of our time. However, he is best known as a sociobiologist which in his words is “the extension of population biology and evolutionary theory to social organization”. Sociobiology didn’t gain major recognition as a concept until 1975. That year, the publication of his book, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis created a lot of rattle in public space. It quickly drew arrows from prominent scientists of their field including evolutionary biologists. In a […]

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Tropical Migratory Freshwater Shrimps

August 30, 2012 at 7:59 pm / Short Observations, Video

These migratory shrimp were filmed in the Peje River, along the border of La Selva Biological Station in April of 2009 by aquatic ecologist Dr. Marcia Snyder. She studied them by measuring their habitat preferences, densities, growth rates and secondary production. She used capture mark recapture technique to estimate their densities and growth rates. Shrimp are largely nocturnal to avoid predators that like to eat them including otters, caiman and fish. During the day, they are often found hiding under […]

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After Death: Fossil Carrion Beetles

July 30, 2012 at 3:32 pm / Evolution, Video

Until very recently the oldest known carrion beetle fossils were 50 million years old. The fossil discoveries coming from Daohugou and Jehol rock deposits in Northeastern China extended our knowledge further back till 160 million years ago. During Jurassic period dinosaur abundance had a cascading influence on animal world. When a dinosaur died its carcass became a protein rich multi-generational feeding island. Insects including carrion beetles most certainly exploited this opportunity. Therefore carrion beetle evolution took a new turn leading […]

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Two Braconid Wasps Competing to Oviposit

July 22, 2012 at 1:14 pm / Short Observations, Video

On 7th of July 2011, I noticed these two female parasitoid wasps (Braconidae) while walking along the Orange Trail of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. They were fighting with each other to lay their eggs inside a crack of a log using their long ovipositors. One had a pretty good grip. The other was very grumpy for not having access to the crack. These wasps are said to parasitize a sphingid moth species the Rosy Maple Moth (Dryocampa rubicunda). […]

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