BiologyCoachOnlineBlog

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, we wish to shine our spotlight on the Mexican green rattlesnake (Crotalus basiliscus). Not much is known about this pit-viper species native to coastal western Mexico. The specific name is derived from the Greek word for king (basiliskos) and refers to this snake's large size and poten...

A rhinoceros (or "nose horn") is one of any five living species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae native to both Africa and Southern Asia. The rhinos are characterized by their large size, their herbivorous diet, their thick protective skin (formed of layers of collagen), their (relatively) small brains-for large mammals, and their charac...

In honor of our newest symbol of these great United States of America, we would like to shine our spotlight on the American buffalo:

The American bison (Bison bison), also called the American buffalo, is a species of bovid that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds. They became nearly extinct mainly due to c...

In honor of national Save the Frogs Day, we would like to shine the spotlight on the bullfrog.

The American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) is member of the family Ranidae (e.g. “true frogs”;). The bullfrog has an olive green back, brownish-blotched sides, and a white underside spotted with yellow or grey. The bullf...

A tapir is a relatively large, herbivorous mammal. Most tapirs are about 6.5 feet (2m) long and they stand about three feet (1m)high. Tapirs weigh between 350 and 700 pounds (150-300 kg). They are similar in shape to a pig and they have a distinctive short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeastern Asia. Their closest relatives are other odd-toed ungulates including horses, donkeys, zebras, and rhinoceri. Their coats ...

Haplodiploidy is a sex-determination system in which males develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid (n) and females develop from fertilized eggs and are diploid (2n). Haplodiploidy determines the sex in all members of the insect order Hymenoptera (bees, ants, and wasps).

The haplodiploid sex-determination system has a number of peculiarities. For example, a male has no father and cannot have sons (but he has a grandfather and can have grandsons). ...

On this Earth Day, 2016, we would like to highlight The Great Pacific garbage patch. The "patch" is an area located in the central North Pacific Ocean and is characterized by exceptionally high relative concentrations of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. It consists primarily of microscopic particles suspended in the upper water column.

Environmental scientists believe that The Great Pacifi...

First celebrated in 1970, Earth Day is an annual celebration during which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 193 countries. Today, April 22, 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, China, and 120 other countries to satisfy a key requirement of the historic climate protection treaty adopted by consensus at the 2015 U...

We are almost ready to publish our next course, Anatomy of a Pandemic: Ebola Virus Disease in the 21st Century. Stay tuned for further details and notifications. In the meantime, we have posted several lessons from the course on YouTube so that you can get a preview of the course content. You can check them out by going to YouTube and searching for our channel HeyBiologyCoach or BiologyCoachOnline or Anatomy of a Pandemic. 

And don't f...