The big word of the month is neoteny. Neoteny is a term from developmental biology that refers to the retention of juvenile traits into adulthood. Humans display neoteny compared to our living primate relatives like chimpanzees. Our heads remain relatively large throughout our lives, for instance. I was inspired to write about this issue by the response to our new baby opossums living in Carolina Wildlife. I think everyone that sees them usually utters the word “cute” within 30 seconds.Read more
Posts tagged: #BWOM
BWOM: Biogeochemical cycle
The Big Word of the Month is biogeochemical. You can probably figure out the meaning if you break down the root words. Scientists use the term to refer to the processes by which chemicals like nutrients move through biological (bio) and non-biological (geology and chemical) parts of the Earth’s ecosystem. One of the most important biogeochemical cycles is the Nitrogen cycle. Nitrogen is critical for animal and plant life because it is a constituent of proteins and nucleic acids (likeRead more
BWOM: Accuracy or Precision?
This month’s Big Word of the Month post involves two words that are not very big but have very specific meanings in science. Take a look at our collections of hygrometers/thermometers from the reptile room. The electronic and analog meters are in very close agreement on temperature, all around 79°F. There is a little more disagreement in the measurements of relative humidity. The electronic ones are in the 20’s while the analog one is reading around 50%. So which oneRead more
BWOM: Odontochelys
The Big Word of the Month, Odontochelys, is a mouthful and is the genus name of the a newly discovered fossil turtle. It was found in China in late 2008. Odontochelys semitestacea is the oldest known example of turtles and the specimen differs from modern turtles in two important ways. First, the species has a toothed mouth rather than the toothless beak of present day turtles. The “odonto” in the name comes from the Greek word for “teeth”. Secondly, thisRead more
Big Word of the Month: Zoonosis
When a disease causing organism passes from an animal to a human, scientists refer to it as a zoonosis. Rabies is a familiar zoonotic infection and is most often caused by an animal bite that introduces the virus into a person’s body. Rabies infections cause nearly 100% mortality in humans and bites by suspect animals require immediate medical attention. Because of the deadly nature of the disease, great measures are taken in the United States to vaccinate pets against theRead more
Big Word of the Month: Parthenogenesis
Parthenogenesis is a word of Greek origin that roughly translates into “virgin creation”. You may remember learning about asexual reproduction at some point and recall that it involves an organism producing offspring without mating or exchanging genetic material with another individual. Parthenogenesis is a special type of asexual reproduction seen in organisms that produce seeds or embryos. You might be surprised to learn how widespread this type of reproduction is in the Animal Kingdom. In the Invertebrate world (90% ofRead more