What topics suit Zoology rather than the Nature forum?

snowstreams

I enjoy reading the nature and birdwatching forum regularly.
But ive often found that certain topics might not be suited in nature so maybe they would have been posted here in Zoology, had this forum existed!

So what general questions/topics should be posted here?
I recently had an encounter with a large number of basking sharks in irish waters.
I had a few photos of one the sharks jumping. I ended up posting the photos into the nature forum, but i was thinking that maybe this forum would have suited better? Or should this forum only be used for scientific type questions?

steddyeddy

Well lots of things really. Zoology includes animal genetics, animal biology, pharmazoology (animal use of food for a theraputic effect; eg chimps using certain leaves to prevent fungal infections*), animal evolution, animal navigation, animal intelligence, biochemistry unique to certain animals (toxic proteins ect) and ethology (animal behavior).

This is just the tip of the iceberg. I was doing a project on the biochemistry of animal navigation for instance and would have loved to post my work in progress in a zoology forum to get peoples opinions.













*this is theory

steddyeddy

snowstreams wrote: »

I enjoy reading the nature and birdwatching forum regularly.
But ive often found that certain topics might not be suited in nature so maybe they would have been posted here in Zoology, had this forum existed!

So what general questions/topics should be posted here?
I recently had an encounter with a large number of basking sharks in irish waters.
I had a few photos of one the sharks jumping. I ended up posting the photos into the nature forum, but i was thinking that maybe this forum would have suited better? Or should this forum only be used for scientific type questions?

Again just to say of course wildlife like basking sharks would be of interest in a zoology forum. zoology is a tree from the macro which would be a basking shark in its envoiroment to the micro which would be the metabolisim of the basking shark would all be relevent to zoology. The macro informs the micro.

For instance we can talk superficially about animal apearance, then we can examine its teeth for example to determine it taxonomic group and after that we can genetically determine its correct relationships to other animals.

snowstreams

Thats why I would have liked to have posted my photos here.
I saw the shark jump about 3 times.
I was unaware that basking sharks jumped and so was unable to identify the species.
Luckily the thread was spotted by someone from IWDG and they confirmed that it was a basking shark.
It seems to be an unstudied behaviour about basking sharks.
Thankfully their concentration on the west coast of ireland seems to be on the rise. They seem to be a regular visitor now at achill island every spring.

steddyeddy

snowstreams wrote: »

Thats why I would have liked to have posted my photos here.
I saw the shark jump about 3 times.
I was unaware that basking sharks jumped and so was unable to identify the species.
Luckily the thread was spotted by someone from IWDG and they confirmed that it was a basking shark.
It seems to be an unstudied behaviour about basking sharks.
Thankfully their concentration on the west coast of ireland seems to be on the rise. They seem to be a regular visitor now at achill island every spring.

Thats amazing Im going to have to look that picture up. I dont know a huge amount about sharks or that basking sharks jump* but for all we know this forum could attract people with an interest in marine biology! Amzing sighting keep up the good work. A mate of mine studied marine biology and she tells me the best thing to do when getting to know the local sea life is to ask the local fishermen as they will have the best idea.









*(I know great whites do but the basking shark is a plankton feeder)

snowstreams

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72004823

Thats the thread there.
The photo isnt great, we missed the shark at the height of the jump. Thats why it was so hard to identify.
It jumped 3 times in a row, everyone at the beach got out of the water, even a seal that was there hid in the shallows for a while! So i was wondering if it was a great white!

Apparently basking sharks have only recently been spotted jumping in ireland. And so most people mistake them for breaching whales!

EDIT: Actually I was thinking that a good place to mention this Zoology forum would be on the nature forum.

steddyeddy

snowstreams wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=72004823

Thats the thread there.
The photo isnt great, we missed the shark at the height of the jump. Thats why it was so hard to identify.
It jumped 3 times in a row, everyone at the beach got out of the water, even a seal that was there hid in the shallows for a while! So i was wondering if it was a great white!

Apparently basking sharks have only recently been spotted jumping in ireland. And so most people mistake them for breaching whales!

EDIT: Actually I was thinking that a good place to mention this Zoology forum would be on the nature forum.

Its a great photo considering the animal in question and how difficult wildlife photgraphy is! Well basking shark jumping would be covered under ethology, that is the study of animal behaviour. Please help advertise this forum that would be a great idea but I would be careful advertising it in a particular forum as some people dont like you detracting people from their forum.

snowstreams

steddyeddy wrote: »

... Please help advertise this forum that would be a great idea but I would be careful advertising it in a particular forum as some people dont like you detracting people from their forum.

Yep, i'll take your advice on board. I'll be careful advertising it in the wrong situations so.

steddyeddy

snowstreams wrote: »

Yep, i'll take your advice on board. I'll be careful advertising it in the wrong situations so.

Thanks snowstreams. Im looking forward to seeing this forum growing!