Words About Things

A recent study of  avian specimens in Australia has found that various species are becoming smaller over time. The research, which was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, shows that successive generations of birds have smaller wingspans.

Birds which live in warmer regions around the equator tend to be smaller than their counterparts in cooler regions. This helps the birds to conserve heat but now it appears that climate change has begun to have an effect on wingspans. As temperatures rise the average size of birds, such as the fairy-wren, is reducing.

“We show for the first time that the size of birds have changed geographically with rising temperatures. Birds of a size once found near Brisbane now occur near Sydney – seven degrees further south… Our study is important because it shows a generalized response to some major environmental change over the last 100 years, probably global warming.”

Dr Janet Gardner, of the Australian National University in Canberra

More details here.

One of those things which always turns up on various ’50 things to do before you die’ lists is swimming with Dolphins but that is just so last year. This year it’s all about swimming with Tigers.

A centre in Miami called The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, or TIGERS has trained it’s tame tigers to swim with people in a specially designed pool. Personally I prefer the idea of swimming with Tigers to swimming with Dolphins, those smiles creep me out. Having said that I would worry that I might end up being little more than a light snack and a gory video clip on Youtube.

Bhagavan Antle, the Director of TIGERS has said:

“At the institute we feel that swimming with the big cats gives them a closer bond between the animal and their human companions. We found that in the water people and tigers were on a more equal footing when the tiger was swimming around on the top.”