Kimberley frogs prove vulnerable to lungworms 19/9/2014

HOPES of using a parasite as a new biological control for cane toads have been dashed, as it has proven fatal to one of the Kimberley’s tree frog species.

Click on this image to read the story

Click on this image to read the story

University of Sydney herpetologist Rick Shine says lungworm infected and killed splendid tree frogs during laboratory trials.

“Not only did the parasite infect the frog and find its way to the lungs but it killed the frog very quickly,” Professor Shine says.

“[This happened] much more quickly than it affected the cane toads.”

This story first appeared in Science Network WA [read this story]. The Kimberley Echo republished it on 9 October 2014. I am planning another story about how the parasite passes from toad to frog which I will post when available.

Bat wing practice maximises flight efficiency 13/8/2014

AUSTRALIAN bats developed a high-speed flying technology some 50 million years before aircraft engineers.

Click on this image to read the story

Click on this image to read the story

A zoologist and an aerodynamics engineer have found several bat species employ the same principle used in a stealth bomber.

This is a story about flat-plate aerodynamics in bats, published in Science Network and republished in The Pilbara Echo.

Science Network [read this story]