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Why seed dispersers matter, an interview with Pierre-Michel Forget, chair of the FSD International Symposium
There are few areas of research in tropical biology more exciting and more important than seed dispersal. Seed dispersal—the process by which seeds are spread from parent trees to new sprouting ground—underpins the ecology of forests worldwide. In temperate forests, seeds are often spread by wind and water, though sometimes by animals such as squirrels and birds. But in the tropics the emphasis is far heavier on the latter, as Dr. Pierre-Michel Forget explains to mongabay.com. "[In rainforests] a majority of plants, trees, lianas, epiphytes, and herbs, are dispersed by fruit-eating animals. […] As seed size varies from tiny seeds less than one millimetres to several centimetres in length or diameter, then, a variety of animals is required to disperse such a continuum and variety of seed size, the smaller being transported by ants and dung beetles, the larger swallowed by cassowary, tapir and elephant, for instance."
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Octopus pretends to be flounder to avoid predators
Marine researchers have discovered the Atlantic longarm octopus mimicking not only the color and appearance of the peacock flounder, but also its unique style of swimming in order to convince predators it's something it's not.
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Prehistoric snake gobbled-up dinosaur babies
A fossilized snake has been discovered inside a titanosaur nest in India, leading researchers to conclude that the snake fed on newly-hatched dinosaur babies, rather than their eggs like modern snakes. Paleontologist and snake expert Jason Head says that the snake, known as Sanajeh indicus, lacked the wipe-jaws needed to swallow eggs, but just-hatched baby titanosaurs would have been perfect prey for the 3.5 meter (nearly 12 feet) long serpent. Titanosaurs belong to the sauropods, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs which includes the world's largest animals to ever walk the land.
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Common pesticide changes male frogs into females, likely devastating populations
One of the world's most popular pesticides, atrazine, chemically castrates male frogs and in some instances changes them into completely functionally females, according to a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors conclude that atrazine likely plays a large, but unsuspected role in the current global amphibian crisis.
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Galapagos fur seals exploit warmer waters to establish colony off Peru
As suggested by their name, the Galapagos fur seals were once endemic to the Galapagos island chain off the coast of Ecuador. But in a warming world species are on the move, and the Galapagos fur seal is no exception. According to a recent story in Reuters the Galapagos fur seals have established what appears to be a permanent colony off the coast of Peru, 900 miles from their home.
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Grizzly bears move into polar bear territory, threatening polar cubs
Two of the world's largest land carnivores are converging on the same territory, according to data recently published in Canadian Field Naturalist. Grizzly bears ( Ursus arctos horribilis) are moving into an area that has long been considered prime polar bear habitat in Manitoba, Canada. Although polar bears ( Ursus maritimus) are bigger than their grizzly relatives—they are the world's largest land carnivores—biologists are concerned that grizzlies will kill polar cubs, further threatening the polar bear, which is already thought to be imperiled by ice loss in the Arctic.
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Staff
Dr.
Ciribassi was born and grew up in Jersey City, NJ, attended Southern
Illinois University and graduated with a BS in Biology from the
University of Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois
College of Veterinary Medicine in 1984. After graduation he practiced
dairy medicine in Pennsylvania along with his wife, Elise, also a
veterinarian. In 1988 Dr. Ciribassi returned to Illinois with Elise and
they opened the Gary at North Veterinary Center, a companion animal
practice in Carol Stream (a western suburb of Chicago). In 1998, he
began the process of board certification with the American College of
Veterinary Behaviorists. Soon after he began the Chicagoland Veterinary
Behavior Consultants, a animal behavior specialty practice. In 2002 Dr.
Ciribassi, along with Elise and another veterinary classmate (Dr. Marty
Johnson) purchased the 
