by Gregory McNamee

“Tie me kangaroo down, sport…” Only us superannuated types might remember that Rolf Harris song of 1957, but it bears reviving given this bit of news: researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in London, the University of Queensland, and the University of Western Australia have set lasers

to the task of figuring out how kangaroos bounce the way they do. Reports the BBC, most animals grow more upright as their body mass increases, a strategy that helps distribute extra weight. Kangaroos do not; instead, they seem to lean into their heft. And when they run—or, better, hop—they do so with astounding efficiency, a process aided by the joints in their hind limbs and in their tails. The marsupials show range and variety in their movement, notes one researcher, “but all of them are more economical than you might predict.”

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Speaking of big things that hop: you might not want to have been a blade of grass in the Balearic Islands 4 million years ago. Report researchers from the Institut Català de Paleontologia in Barcelona, writing in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, at that time a giant rabbit—well, giant by comparison with its modern kin, anyway—lived on Minorca, luxuriating in all its 26 pounds of glory. This rabbit king, Nuralagus rex, thus weighed in at about six times the size of the common European rabbit today, but was even larger than its mainland cousin of the time, thereby illustrating what biologists call the “island rule” in mammals: on islands, big animals get smaller and small animals get bigger. That’s all to the good, but the lead researcher is thinking only bigger; reports the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, he is now hoping that Minorca adopts the giant rabbit as mascot and tourism lure. Hippety hop! continue reading…

by Kara Rogers

Cats are meticulous groomers, and it turns out that their obsession with tidiness extends even to the way they drink. Indeed, according to new research, when cats lap, they take advantage of the mechanical motion of fluids, swiftly drawing liquid up into the mouth while simultaneously keeping whiskers and chin clean and dry.

And this unusual drinking strategy, both gravity-defying and inertia-exploiting, is not unique to the domestic cat, Felis catus. Big cats, including lions and tigers, employ the same strategy, suggesting that the biophysical agency of cat lapping is embedded in feline evolution.

The latest findings on the physics of cat lapping are the result of a collaborative effort between researchers Jeffrey M. Aristoff from Princeton University, Sunghwan Jung from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Pedro M. Reis and Roman Stocker from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their study, published in a November [2010] issue of the journal Science, indicates that the secret to cat lapping is a balance between fluid inertia and gravity. continue reading…

With Lack of Ice and Increased Quotas, Seal Pups Cling to Whatever They Can

by Sheryl Fink, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Seals Program

The International Fund for Animal Welfare seal team is on Canada’s East Coast to document the opening of the 2011 commercial seal hunt. Some of the worst ice conditions on record in the Gulf of St Lawrence mean that few pups are expected to survive their first weeks of life. Sadly, Canada’s Fisheries Minister Gail Shea announced an increased allowable catch of 400,000 this year, assuring that any surviving pups can be slaughtered for their fur. continue reading…

Each week the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) sends out an email alert called “Take Action Thursday,” which tells subscribers about current actions they can take to help animals. NAVS is a national, not-for-profit educational organization incorporated in the State of Illinois. NAVS promotes greater compassion, respect and justice for animals through educational programs based on respected ethical and scientific theory and supported by extensive documentation of the cruelty and waste of vivisection. You can register to receive these action alerts and more at the NAVS Web site. This week’s “Take Action Thursday” looks at proposals to hamper the protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat around the country. continue reading…

by Michael Markarian

A journalist goes to prison for broadcasting undercover video footage. A worker is persecuted for blowing the whistle on sexual harassment. It’s not the Middle East—it could happen right here in America.

In the Middle East and North Africa, people are jeopardizing their lives for freedom, and included among the most basic rights are freedom of expression and of the press. The global struggle for democracy should remind us about the greatness of America and value of free speech here, including in Iowa and Florida.

Unfortunately, some lawmakers in those states don’t seem to care much about these rights. They want to shield one industry—animal agribusiness—from open dialogue about animal cruelty, food safety problems, worker abuse, and toxic pollution. continue reading…