Study Sheds Light on How Birds Navigate by Magnetic Field

Study Sheds Light on How Birds Navigate by Magnetic Field - Two researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have identified cells in pigeons’ brains that serve as a kind of biological compass.

Birds are famously good navigators. Some migrate thousands of miles, flying day and night, even when the stars are obscured. And for decades, scientists have known that one navigational skill they employ is an ability to detect variations in the earth’s magnetic field.

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Pigeons are able to record detailed information on the earth's magnetic field, according to a new study.

How this magnetic sense works, however, has been frustratingly difficult to figure out.

Now, two researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, Le-Qing Wu and David Dickman, have solved a central part of that puzzle, identifying cells in a pigeon’s brain that record detailed information on the earth’s magnetic field, a kind of biological compass.

“It’s a stunning piece of work,” David Keays of the Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna wrote in an e-mail. “Wu and Dickman have found cells in the pigeon brain that are tuned to specific directions of the magnetic field.”

Their report appeared online in Science Express on Thursday. Kenneth Lohmann at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who also studies magnetic sensing, said in an e-mail that the study was “very exciting and important.”

Navigating by magnetism includes several steps. Birds have to have a way to detect a magnetic field, and some part of the brain has to register that information; it seems likely that another part of the brain then compares the incoming information to a stored map.

The Baylor researchers have offered a solution to the middle step. They identified a group of cells in the brainstem of pigeons that record both the direction and the strength of the magnetic field. And they have good, but not conclusive, evidence to suggest that the information these cells are recording is coming from the bird’s inner ear. Dr. Dickman said this research “is still something we want to pursue.”

They did not work on the third step, but Dr. Dickman said a good candidate for the location of that map was the hippocampus, the brain region involved in memory of locations in both birds and humans.

A well-known and often-mentioned study of London taxi drivers showed that experienced drivers with a mental map of London had a hippocampus larger in one area than people without their experience. In some birds that hide seeds and return later to their caches with astonishing accuracy, the hippocampus grows and shrinks seasonally, presumably as they map their hiding spots.

Efforts to understand the magnetic sense in birds have gone in several directions. Some researchers have offered evidence for chemical reactions in the eyes sensitive to magnetic signals, while others have looked at neurons in the beak that they thought contained minute amounts of magnetite, a mineral that is affected by magnetic fields.

Just a few weeks ago, Dr. Keays and colleagues reported in the journal Nature that the idea of neurons in the beak was a nonstarter.

The Baylor researchers did a kind of step-by-step tracking of what areas in pigeons’ brains were responding to variations in an artificial magnetic field that they created. They focused on activity in the brainstem, one of the most primitive parts of the brain, partly because in earlier work they had shown that this area of the brain received signals from a part of the inner ear.

By looking at specific neurons in this part of the brain, the researchers found that the bird’s orientation determined which neurons were active. Each neuron was tuned to respond to signals from one direction. The neurons also registered the strength of the magnetic field.

Other brain regions are also active in response to magnetic stimulation and may be involved in the magnetic sense, Dr. Dickman said. And although he does not provide an answer to how birds detect magnetism, the research clearly falls on one side of a debate over whether magnetite is involved, or whether chemical reactions in the eye may be the key.

Dr. Keays said the research gave strong support to the magnetite idea and the hypothesis that “a population of undiscovered magnetoreceptive cells reside in the pigeon’s ear.”

As Dr. Lohmann said, the discovery “will no doubt inspire much additional work in the future.” ( nytimes.com )

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: April 30, 2012

An article on Friday about a magnetic sense that helps birds navigate misidentified an iron-containing substance found in a recent analysis of beaks.

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Kenya to toughen poaching sentences to save elephants

Kenya to toughen poaching sentences to save elephants - Kenya plans to bolster current lenient sentences for convicted wildlife poachers or ivory smugglers in a bid to stamp out a spike in elephant killings, the government said on Saturday.

"We intend to fight poachers at all levels to save our elephants," government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said in a statement.

A major obstacle to this is that Kenyan courts are currently limited in their powers to jail or fine those convicted of wildlife crimes, he said.

AFP/AFP/File - An elephant at the Amboseli game reserve in Kenya on December 30, 2012. Kenya plans to bolster current lenient sentences for convicted wildlife poachers or ivory smugglers in a bid to stamp out a spike in elephant killings, the government said

"One of the major setbacks are lenient penalties and sentencing for wildlife crime by the courts," he said.

"The government is concerned about this and has facilitated the process of reviewing the wildlife law and policy with a view to having more deterrent penalties and jail terms."

Poaching has recently risen sharply in east Africa, with whole herds of elephants massacred for their ivory. Rhinos have also been targeted.

Passing tougher wildlife laws will be made a priority for Kenya's parliament, elected last month but which has yet to begin business.

"We look forward to... parliament giving priority to passing of a new wildlife law and policy," Kariuki added.

Kenya's current wildlife act caps punishment for the most serious wildlife crimes at a maximum fine of 40,000 Kenyan shillings (470 dollars, 365 euros), and a possible jail term of up to 10 years.

Last month, a Chinese smuggler caught in Kenya with a haul of ivory was fined less than a dollar (euro) a piece.

The smuggler, who was arrested carrying 439 pieces of worked ivory while in transit in Nairobi as he travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Hong Kong, was fined $350 (270 euros) and was then set free.

Such fines pose little if any deterrence, with experts suggesting a kilogramme of ivory has an estimated black market value of some $2,500.

Last year poachers slaughtered 384 elephants in Kenya, up from 289 in 2011,according to official figures, from a total population of around 35,000. This year, poachers have already shot dead 74.

Tourism is one of Kenya's most important foreign currency earners.

In addition, a thousand new wildlife officers "will soon be recruited to beef up the ranger force" as part of strengthening operations "with a view to stamping out the poaching menace", Kariuki added.

The illegal ivory trade is mostly fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle East, where elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns are used to make ornaments and in traditional medicine.

Trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after elephant populations in Africa dwindled from millions in the mid-20th century to some 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

Africa is now home to an estimated 472,000 elephants, whose survival is threatened by poaching as well as a rising human population that is encroaching on their habitat.

Kenya is also a transit point for ivory smuggled from across the region.

In January, officials in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa seized more than two tonnes of ivory, which had reportedly come from Tanzania and was destined for Indonesia. ( AFP )

READ MORE - Kenya to toughen poaching sentences to save elephants

Whale found dead in Wash. had swallowed golf ball

Whale found dead in Wash. had swallowed golf ball — A gray whale found dead in Washington state's Puget Sound had been feeding on shrimp and also had some debris, including a golf ball, in its stomach, but scientists don't know what killed the animal.

The stomach examination Monday found the shrimp, woody debris, algae, pieces of rope and plastic, the golf ball and some flat spongy material, NOAA Fisheries said.

The garbage was minimal and not the cause of death, which remains under investigation with tissue tests, spokesman Brian Gorman said. It's common for whales to pick up debris near urban areas because they are filter feeders. There were no signs of trauma or entanglement on the whale, he said.

This photo provided by Cascadia Research, biologists and volunteers examine a dead gray whale on April 23, 2012 at Camano Island, Wash. The initial exam found no trauma or obvious cause of death. The whale had swallowed some debris, including a golf ball, but it wasn’t enough to kill the 37-foot male. The garbage was minimal and not the cause of death, which remains under investigation with tissue tests, said spokesman Brian Gorman. It's common for whales to pick up debris near urban areas because they are filter feeders. There were no signs of trauma or entanglement on the whale, he said. (AP Photo/Cascadia Research)

This photo provided by Cascadia Research, biologists and volunteers examine a dead gray whale on April 23, 2012 at Camano Island, Wash. The initial exam found no trauma or obvious cause of death. The whale had swallowed some debris, including a golf ball, but it wasnít enough to kill the 37-foot male. The garbage was minimal and not the cause of death, which remains under investigation with tissue tests, said spokesman Brian Gorman. It's common for whales to pick up debris near urban areas because they are filter feeders. There were no signs of trauma or entanglement on the whale, he said. (AP Photo/Cascadia Research)

The carcass was spotted Sunday on the west side of Camano Island and towed to a secure location at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, about 50 miles north of Seattle for the necropsy by biologists and volunteers from Cascadia Research, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

The skeleton of the 37-foot sub adult male will be cleaned and sent to the Smithsonian Institution.

"We don't get these that often that are the right size and in good shape," Gorman said Tuesday.

A representative of the Smithsonian will help oversee the cleaning, said Kristin Wilkinson, marine mammal stranding coordinator for the Northwest region with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Whale skeletons, baleen and other marine mammal bones or seal and sea lion pelts, are commonly made available to schools or institutions for education and outreach, she said.

Even with results of tests for contaminants and diseases, the cause of the Camano whale's death may never be known, Wilkinson said.

"Sometimes we're able to put pieces of the puzzle together and other times those samples don't shed any light on cause of death," she said.

The Camano whale's death is unusual because the body was in good condition with oily blubber. The two to 10 gray whales that typically die each year in Washington waters usually are in poor health or have lost weight.

"It's puzzling, there's no apparent cause of death," said John Calambokidis of Olympia-based Cascadia Research.

"It doesn't seem to be the typically emaciated animal we normally see," said Calambokidis, who often responds but was not with the Cascadia Research group that helped with the Camano Island whale.

He noted there was less debris in the whale's stomach than in a whale that was found dead off west Seattle in April 2010. Its stomach contents included plastic bags and a pair of sweat pants. That whale's skeleton was preserved and is now on display at Highline Community College's Marine Science and Technology Center in Des Moines.

The Camano whale is the third stranded gray whale in Washington so far this year and the first in inland waters, NOAA Fisheries said. The gray whales most often die during the spring months during the migration from their breeding grounds off Baja California, Mexico, to feeding grounds in the Bering Sea, off Alaska.

Gray whales can pick up debris because of the way they feed, scooping up sediment from the sea floor and filtering it through baleen. They eat ghost shrimp in Washington waters, Wilkinson said.

"Whatever trash and debris sitting on the sea floor in that sediment is trapped inside the mouth, and it will then swallow," she said. ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Whale found dead in Wash. had swallowed golf ball

Dangerous Asian Mosquito Nears The Bay Area

Dangerous Asian Mosquito Nears The Bay Area — Vector control officials here in the Bay Area are taking steps to halt any northern migration of a pest that has begun showing up in Southern California.

(Photo by Jack Leonard/New Orleans Mosquito and Termite Control Board/Getty Images)

"The Asian Tiger Mosquito is a real game changer," said Russ Parman, acting director of the Santa Clara County Vector Control District. "That's because it's a container breeder — which means it will breed in any container — from a saucer with a quarter inch of water, to potted plants, anything that holds water."

That makes the bug hard to corral and kill, which is very important because this little bug can be deadly.

"It's a very efficient vector of some nasty human diseases, one of which is Dengue Fever," said Parman. "And another is Chikungunya, which means 'bent over' in the native tongues."

The Asian Tiger Mosquito is smaller than the typical ones we find in the Bay Area, and it's distinct in that it has a very visible white line down its back.

Parman said that they've been found in large numbers in Southern California, after hitchhiking over from Asia.

None have been found here yet, but Parman said that they are taking precautions to make sure that the nasty bugs aren't allowed to make their new home permanent. ( CBS San Francisco )

READ MORE - Dangerous Asian Mosquito Nears The Bay Area

Pilot whales beach in South Africa

Pilot whales beach in South Africa — Six of 19 pilot whales that were stranded Sunday on a beach in the South African city of Cape Town have died and authorities said they planned to euthanize some of the surviving whales.

Police and other rescue workers had hosed down the surviving whales at Noordhoek Beach to try to keep them alive.

Associated Press/Schalk van Zuydam - A dead whale covered with sand at Noordhoek beach near the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, March 24, 2013. South African officials say 19 pilot whales have beached in Cape Town and five of them have died. Police and other rescue workers are hosing down the surviving whales at Noordhoek Beach to try to keep them alive. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

A rescue volunteer, right, covers the blow hole of a whale to prevent water from entering at Noordhoek beach near the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, March 24, 2013. South African officials say 19 pilot whales have beached in Cape Town and five of them have died. Police and other rescue workers are hosing down the surviving whales at Noordhoek Beach to try to keep them alive. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

The South African Press Association quoted Craig Lambinon, a spokesman for the National Sea Rescue Institute, as saying authorities had considered whether to try and refloat the whales, which washed up on the beach on Sunday morning.

"Seven are in poor health," SAPA quoted Lambinon as saying. "We are still trying our best to save them, but those that can't be saved will be humanely euthanized."

One whale was being transported to a naval base and will be taken out to sea, according to authorities.

"At this stage the first whale is on its way on a trailer to the naval base," Lambinon said. "There are a remaining five whales in good health and we are going to attempt to do the same for them."

He appealed to the public to stay away from the beach because enough workers are there, trying to help the whales.

In 2009, authorities in the Cape Town area removed the carcasses of 55 whales that beached themselves and had to be shot despite the frantic rescue efforts of hundreds of volunteers. ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Pilot whales beach in South Africa

Punxsutawney Phil Indicted For Poor Forecast

Punxsutawney Phil Indicted For Poor Forecast - World-famous weather-predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, has found himself on the wrong side of the law.

A prosecutor in Ohio is seeking the death penalty for the rodent who wrongly predicted an early spring when he emerged from his Gobbler's Knob home in Pennsylvania on February 2.

As much of America still struggles with unseasonable temperatures and snowstorms, Butler County attorney Mike Gmoser issued his official-looking indictment.

"The offence of MISREPRESENTATION OF EARLY SPRING, is an Unclassified Felony, and against the peace and dignity of the State Of Ohio," he alleged.

Phil acted "purposely, and with prior calculation and design, (to) cause the people to believe that spring would come early," he added.

"The people further find and specify that due to the aggravating circumstances and misrepresentation to the people that the death penalty be implemented to the defendant, Punxsutawney Phil."

The legend has it that if the rodent does not see his shadow then an early spring is on the way.

Spring officially began on Wednesday.

But the National Weather Service predicts no imminent improvement in the weather for northeastern states, with isolated snow showers expected into the middle of next week.

Mr Gmoser admits the indictment is more than a little tongue-in-cheek, but that did not stop Phil's handlers rushing to his defence.

John Griffiths declared the groundhog was innocent and would be acquitted.

He pointed to several defences, including the fact that, since February 2, there have been some spring-like temperature spikes. ( Sky News )

READ MORE - Punxsutawney Phil Indicted For Poor Forecast

Monkey long believed extinct found in Indonesia

Monkey long believed extinct found in Indonesia — Scientists working in the dense jungles of Indonesia have "rediscovered" a large, gray monkey so rare it was believed by many to be extinct.

They were all the more baffled to find the Miller's Grizzled Langur — its black face framed by a fluffy, Dracula-esque white collar — in an area well outside its previously recorded home range.

The team set up camera traps in the Wehea Forest on the eastern tip of Borneo island in June, hoping to captures images of clouded leopards, orangutans and other wildlife known to congregate at several mineral salt licks.

The pictures that came back caught them all by surprise: groups of monkeys none had ever seen.

With virtually no photographs of the grizzled langurs in existence, it at first was a challenge to confirm their suspicions, said Brent Loken, a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University in Canada, and one of the lead researchers.

In this undated photo released by Ethical Expeditions, a Miller's Grizzled Langur sits on the forest floor in Wehea forest in eastern Borneo, Indonesia. Scientists working in the dense jungles of Borneo have rediscovered the large, gray monkey so rare it was believed by many to be extinct. (AP Photo/Ethical Expeditions, Eric Fell) MANDATORY CREDIT, NO SALES

The only images out there were museum sketches.

"We were all pretty ecstatic, the fact that, wow, this monkey still lives, and also that it's in Wehea," said Loken.

The monkey, which has hooded eyes and a pinkish nose and lips, once roamed the northeastern part of Borneo, as well as the islands of Sumatra and Java and the Thai-Malay peninsula. But concerns were voiced several years ago that they may be extinct.

Forests where the monkeys once lived had been destroyed by fires, human encroachment and conversion of land for agriculture and mining and an extensive field survey in 2005 turned up empty.

"For me the discovery of this monkey is representative of so many species in Indonesia," Loken told The Associated Press by telephone.

"There are so many animals we know so little about and their home ranges are disappearing so quickly," he said. "It feels like a lot of these animals are going to quickly enter extinction."

The next step will be returning to the 90,000 acre (38,000 hectare) forest to try to find out how many grizzly langurs there are, according to the team of local and international scientists, who published their findings in the American Journal of Primatology on Friday.

They appear in more than 4,000 images captured over a two-month period, said Loken, but it's possible one or two families kept returning.

"We are trying to find out all we can," he said. "But it really feels like a race against time."

Experts not involved in the study were hugely encouraged.

"It's indeed a highly enigmatic species," said Erik Meijaard, a conservation scientist who spent more than eight years doing field research in the area.

In the past they were hunted to near extinction for their meat and bezoar "stones," he said, which can, on occasion, be found in their guts.

Bezoars, as Harry Potter fans know from lectures given by Prof. Snape to first year students, are believed by some to neutralize poison.

Meijaard said the animal has long been considered a subspecies of the Hose's Leaf Monkey, which also occurs on the Malaysian side of Borneo, but it now looks like that may not be the case.

"We think it might actually be a distinct species," he said, "which would make the Wehea discovery even more important." ( Associated Press )

READ MORE - Monkey long believed extinct found in Indonesia

How to make a crocodile smile

How to make a crocodile smile: Swim in a pool full of deadly salties with just a perspex cage for protection - Tourists to this unusual theme park are sure to get some holiday snaps with a difference.

Inspired by the popularity of cage shark-diving, a tourist attraction has opened that allows adrenalin junkies the chance to swim with killer crocodiles.

And, as these incredible pictures show, participants can get up close and personal with one of the worlds deadliest creatures.

Definitely no running, ducking bombing or petting in this pool: Face to face with one of the 125 stone monsters

All that separates thrill-seekers from the huge saltwater crocodiles is a five-inch thick perspex box that has, we are assured, undergone 'extensive' safety testing.

Fearless participants climb into the clear container - nicknamed the Cage of Death - which is suspended on a monorail track that runs above four crocodile enclosures.

Two grated doors lock into position on the top of the 10ft tall box which is then lowered into the water and comes to rest 2ft beneath the surface.

To ensure that the paying customers get their money's worth, chunks of meat are tied to the bottom of the cage. The crocodiles instantly drawn to it when it enters the water.

The results vary from the crocs 'eye-balling' the swimmer, rubbing against the cage or going into a full on 'aggressive attack' against it.

Snappy snaps: Holiday photos from this resort will be just a little different

Customers pay about £100 to spend 20 minutes swimming alongside the crocs; the largest of the beasts measures a whopping 18ft and weighs over 125 stone,

One of the mighty reptiles at the Crocosaurus Cove park in Darwin, Australia, is named Burt. Film buffs might remember him from the first Crocodile Dundee movie - he's the one who nearly ate Linda Koslowski's character.

Sallie Gregory, spokeswoman for the park, said: 'Many people find the opportunity of getting to within a few inches from the jaws of these crocodiles exhilarating.'

'People often get activity ranging from an aggressive attack to a casual eye-balling and swim past where the crocs are so close that they rub against the cage.'

'Most of the women who take part say they are happy just to watch the crocodiles while guys tend to want the action and attack.'

Smile please: Two thrill-seeking tourists get up close and personal with one of the saltwater crocodiles at the Crocosaurus Cove park in Darwin, Australia

She added: 'One of our directors who has extensive experience with crocodiles wanted a concept that allowed people to get up close to these ultimate predators in a safe environment.'

'The cage runs on a overhead monorail system, suspended over the enclosures and is lowered into up to four separate enclosures as part of the 20 minute experience.'

'The perspex is about 135mm thick and extensive testing in both the manufacturing and the way the crocodiles would react to the cage were carried out prior to the testing team entering the cage.'

The 'Cage Of Death' has been extensively tested for safety. With one of these prehistoric killers just inches away, one might hope so..

'The top of the cage has two grated doors to stop anything entering the cage and a back up motor and separate chain operates to ensure that in the event of a malfunction, the cage can continue to operate.'

'The cage generally allows about two feet from the surface of the water though this can be adjusted if people are not strong swimmers and would prefer to keep their head above water.'

Among the crocodiles people can swim alongside are the mating pair of Houdini and Bess as well as Chopper, Denzel and of course movie star Burt.

But one of the most popular crocs is Wendell - he's the biggest and is named after muscular Australian rugby star Wendell Sailor.

Crocodile attacks in the wild are quite rare these days. However, during the Japanese army's retreat from Ramree Island in February 1945, saltwater crocodiles are thought to have been responsible for the deaths of 400 Japanese soldiers.

British troops encircled the swampland through which the Japanese were retreating, resigning the Japanese to a night in a mangrove swamp which was home to thousands of saltwater crocodiles.

The Ramree crocodile attacks are listed as 'The Greatest Disaster Suffered from Animals' in The Guinness Book of Records

Saltwater crocodiles are the largest reptiles on the planet. Their main habitat is northern Australia and New Guinea, Indonesia and Borneo. They have been known to kill and eat horses, water buffalo, and even sharks as well as the occasional human. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - How to make a crocodile smile

Mammoths had a form of "anti-freeze" blood to keep their bodies supplied with oxygen at freezing temperatures

Mammoths had a form of "anti-freeze" blood to keep their bodies supplied with oxygen at freezing temperatures.

Nature Genetics reports that scientists "resurrected" a woolly mammoth blood protein to come to their finding.

This protein, known as haemoglobin, is found in red blood cells, where it binds to and carries oxygen.

The team found that mammoths possessed a genetic adaptation allowing their haemoglobin to release oxygen into the body even at low temperatures.

The ability of haemoglobin to release oxygen to the body's tissues is generally inhibited by the cold.

The resulting haemoglobin molecules are no different than 'going back in time' and taking a blood sample from a real mammoth

Kevin Campbell University of Manitoba

The mutation may have helped mammoths survive in the Ice Age

The researchers sequenced haemoglobin genes from the DNA of three Siberian mammoths, tens of thousands of years old, which were preserved in the permafrost.

The mammoth DNA sequences were converted into RNA (a molecule similar to DNA which is central to the production of proteins) and inserted into E. coli bacteria.

The bacteria faithfully manufactured the mammoth protein.

"The resulting haemoglobin molecules are no different than 'going back in time' and taking a blood sample from a real mammoth," said co-author Kevin Campbell, from the University of Manitoba in Canada.

Scientists then tested the "revived" mammoth proteins and found three distinctive changes in the haemoglobin sequence allowed mammoth blood to deliver oxygen to cells even at very low temperatures.

This is something the haemoglobin in living elephants cannot do.

"It has been remarkable to bring a complex protein from an extinct species back to life and discover important changes not found in any living species," said co-author Alan Cooper, director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at the University of Adelaide.

Without their genetic adaptation, mammoths would have lost more energy in winter, forcing them to replace that energy by eating more.

The ancestors of woolly mammoths and modern-day elephants originated in equatorial Africa.

But between 1.2 and 2.0 million years ago, members of the mammoth lineage migrated to higher latitudes.

Writing in Nature Genetics, the scientists say that this genetic specialisation may have been crucial in allowing the ancestors of mammoths to exploit new, colder environments during Pleistocene times.( bbc.co.uk )

READ MORE - Mammoths had a form of "anti-freeze" blood to keep their bodies supplied with oxygen at freezing temperatures

Feeding the birds may alter their futures

Feeding the birds may alter their futures. Scientists seeing 'profound' evolutionary impact from human handouts. By feeding birds, you could alter their evolutionary future, with changes visible in the very near term, scientists now conclude.

Due to winter bird-feeding, what was once a single population of birds has, in fewer than 30 generations, been split into two groups that do not interbreed, despite the fact that they continue to breed side by side in the very same forests.

Beat Walser.

The European blackcaps (a male is shown here) have split into two non-breeding populations due to one group relying on wintertime feeding by humans.

"Our study documents the profound impact of human activities on the evolutionary trajectories of species," said researcher Martin Schaefer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Freiburg in Germany. "It shows that we are influencing the fate not only of rare and endangered species, but also of the common ones that surround our daily lives."

Over the course of three-and-a-half years, the scientists followed birds known as blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) in Central Europe after humans began offering food to them. A recent divide has sprung up, with two groups following distinct migration routes in the winter — one southwest in Spain, the other northwest in the United Kingdom.

"The new northwest migratory route is shorter, and those birds feed on food provided by humans instead of fruits as the birds that migrate southwest do," Schaefer said.

"As a consequence, birds migrating northwest have rounder wings, which provide better maneuverability but make them less suited for long-distance migration." They also have longer, narrower bills that are less equipped for eating large fruits like olives during the winter.

Geographic separation needed?

This discovery, detailed online Dec. 3 in the journal Current Biology, speaks to a long-standing debate in evolution about whether geographic separation is necessary for new species to develop.

By now, the level of reproductive isolation between these populations, which live together for part of the year, is now stronger than that of other blackcaps that are always separated from one another by distances of 500 miles (800 km) or more.

"This is a nice example of the speed of evolution," Schaefer said. "It is something that we can see with our own eyes if we only look closely enough. It doesn't have to take millions of years."

If such isolation and differentiation continues, they can ultimately become separate species.

"The initial steps in speciation — that is, the evolution of reproductive isolation, have rarely been studied," Schaefer said. "This is because speciation is necessarily a historic process, and it is extremely difficult to analyze the selective pressures that lead to speciation in hindsight. Here, we can witness those initial steps."

Other species affected

Schaefer doubts these groups of birds will become different species, because the habits of humans will tend to change over time. Still, he expects humanity will continue to influence the evolution of common species.

"For example, introducing honeybees for securing pollination in crop species has the potential to influence plant-pollinator interactions," Schaefer said. "Plants might adapt to the relative lower importance of native pollinators and change to a more generalistic floral design that could be more efficiently exploited by honeybees."

When it comes to the evolutionary potential of species to adapt to modern impacts on the environment, such as ones caused by climate change, "We know that many of the species are likely unable to adapt quickly to such changes," Schaefer said.

"However, I think that the blackcap provides a good example that some species are able to adapt quickly to contemporary ecological changes. This, I believe, is an important and positive result in the current debate, although I need to caution that we cannot extrapolate it easily to other species." (Livescience.com )

READ MORE - Feeding the birds may alter their futures

Surf's up! Hawaiian sea turtles take to the waves

Surf's up! Hawaiian sea turtles take to the waves. He has eaten a big lunch and had a snooze on the beach. So this turtle is looking for a nice quiet journey home.

Rather than be crashed about on the breakers as he makes his way back out to sea, he ducks down to the sand for a smoother ride.

The Hawaiian green sea turtle makes the same journey every day to and from the Laniakea Beach in Hawaii, where he munches on seaweed and takes his rest.

Here comes the wave: A giant Hawaiian sea turtle prepares to ride the surf

He and his friends have been caught on camera by surf photographer Clark Little.

Mr Little, 40, took the pictures this summer while shooting waves from below sea-level.

He said: 'The turtles often travel through the breaking waves. I usually run into them after they have been eating. What they try and do is swim under the wave, to avoid a thrashing.

Splash down: The creatures barrel through the surf in their quest to reach the shore

'The turtles come to the shore to get the seaweed that grows there. They also swim in to sleep.'

The creatures are so used to the routine, it is easy to imagine them enjoying the same laid-back surfer’s lifestyle as the turtles in Finding Nemo.

Sea faring: The Hawaiian sea turtles are reminiscent of the band of surfing turtles in 2003's Finding Nemo

Clark, who specialises in capturing images of the inside of breaking waves, has released the shots as part of a new book.

The father-of-two gets his shots of the turtles by swimming in seas and crouching down with his waterproof camera to capture rarely seen views.

Clark, from Oahu, Hawaii, says he often risks his life to capture the photographs.

He said: 'I love the ocean - I am addicted to the waves. I'm always in the water before dawn to try and snap that perfect picture as the sun rises.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Surf's up! Hawaiian sea turtles take to the waves