Gassing up takes on a different meaning for at least one species of mammal
Q. Looking at the really big picture, we are all part of the lucky 1% on Earth. How so? A. We are the 1% of species not yet extinct, answers Gemma Tarlach in “Discover” magazine. “For the last 3.5 billion or so years, about 99% of the estimated four billion species that ever evolved are no longer around.” Based on data from fossil records, researchers have identified five mass extinctions, defined as the loss of at least 75% of species during each event. Multiple calamities, including ocean acidification and spikes in land temperatures, might be involved. However, the actual catalysts are sometimes unclear, though one usual suspect is large-scale volcanic activity spread across an entire region.
In fact, volcanic activity in Siberia was likely the catalyst for the third and mightiest of mass extinctions some 250 million years ago, when about 96% of species died off. Yet despite all the destruction, adds Tarlach, one upside is that ecological hierarchies are toppled and “in that vacuum, surviving species often thrive, exploding in diversity and territory.” For instance, the fifth extinction some 65.5 million years ago saw the demise of the dinosaurs, opening newly vacated ecological niches to quickly adaptive mammals.
Now, most scientists believe we are in the midst of a “sixth extinction” brought on by human activity. As famed paleontologist Richard Leakey observed over 20 years ago, “Homo sapiens might not only be the agent of the sixth extinction but also risk being one of its victims.” Q. Dogs, gorillas, horses, hyenas, sloths, giraffes, whales, herrings and snakes — just one of these mammals does not fart. Do you know which one? A. Sloths don’t do it, answers Steve Mirsky in “Scientific American” magazine. Though their gut flora produce plenty of methane, “it is absorbed through the gut and into the bloodstream before being breathed out, say zoologist Dana Rabaiotti and ecologist Nick Caruso in “Does It Fart: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence.”
In fact, almost all mammals fart. A list of the noes include sea anemones, sea cucumbers, Portuguese man-of-war, goldfish, octopuses, soft-shelled clams and the 10,000 species of birds. “Nevertheless, parrot owners have reported what sound like loud expulsions coming from their birds.” But, Mirsky concludes, “keep in mind that parrots are excellent mimics.” Q. What’s in a name, you ask? Something you might not expect, the researchers say. What might that be? A. Respect. When they looked at some 4,500 online reviews by college students rating their professors in five disciplines at 17 universities, they uncovered some gender disparity, reports “Science” magazine. The students were “56% more likely to refer to male professors than female professors by their last name alone, and that form of address may confer greater respect.”
Computer science showed the greatest difference, with male professors being referred to only by surnames 48% of the time, compared with 18% for female professors (“Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”).
In related studies, Cornell University’s Stav Atir and Melissa Ferguson found that men garnered more surname-only recognition in other contexts, such as talk-show pundits discussing politicians. It appears that people regard scientists mentioned by last name alone as more famous and eminent than those mentioned by full name. As the authors conclude, “women may be short-changed on professional benefits such as research funding based on nothing more than how people utter their names.”