Mireya Mayor discovered the smallest primate species before the age of 30, she has swum with giant squids, great whites, followed in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley during his expedition down the Congo River, been in a plane crash, chased by elephants and trekked to the most remote corners of the globe. She is a primatologist, and more importantly she is an explorer.
All posts by Sarah Bell
odd animal profile: Sunda wrinkled hornbill
Yippee! It’s time for hornbills! This one is from Southeast Asia, not Africa, and they are gorgeous! Honestly every single time I see a hornbill (any species) I heard my dad laughing and shouting “Look at the head on that rooster!” which he says to every ridiculous looking bird. It never fails to make me smile. Well, enough about me! Let’s get to the bird!
Continue reading odd animal profile: Sunda wrinkled hornbill
liar, liar, not extinct
It seems that lately Ecuador has been giving up a lot of its secret species. The fabulous Olinguito was recently discovered roaming the tree tops of Ecuadorean cloud forests, and now a new species has popped up from the mist. The Pinocchio lizard has been suspected extinct since sightings of the little anole stopped some 50 years ago, but once it was spotted again in 2005, then recently on an expedition to Ecuador it was found that these little lizards are alive and well.
my shot
orange october
What a better way to celebrate fall rolling in, pumpkins on front porches, halloween coming to town and, obviously, pumpkin ice-cream, than by celebrating orangutans! The Sumatran Orangutan Society, or SOS, is campaigning to make october all about orangutans and has provided you with 31 things to do to be a great OranguFan.
5 rhinos forever
Happy world rhino day! This years theme is #5rhinosforever, and personally I really like the theme. Many people don’t know that there are rhinos in Asia because they always think of African rhinos. So in the name of conservation education lets learn a bit about each species. And don’t forget to spread the hashtag!
drones over the rain forest
Many of us hear the word drone and cringe; we picture the military using drones to drop bombs and other negative things. But recently drones are become cheaper and cheaper as the technology becomes commonplace, so what better path for the drone to take than to aide in conservation!
odd animal profile: crested black macaque
I fall more and more in love with Indonesia at every turn. I am by no means an expert on it, (not yet anyway) just someone who dreams of living the rest of their life in the jungles of Borneo. It seems every time I fall in love with a new species they are close neighbors of the orangutans, whether it be the beautiful hornbills (O.A.P. to come), or even the ever-curious black crested macaque.
Want to be a citizen scientist?
Gregg Treinish is described by National Geographic as an adventurer and conservationist. Avid hiker and explorer turned biologist, Treinish began to work doing field research. After wandering the globe studying many species, from sturgeon to lynx, he founded Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation. If you dream of being an avid conservationist but don’t have the wallet, this is a great way to get involved.
spontaneous classification
A new study suggests that orangutans (and one young gorilla) may be more capable of identifying types of animals than we had previously given them credit for. In the 1700’s Carolus Linneaus gave two names to each species, organizing species for the first time. He classified them in a hierarchical system, starting broad with kingdom, phylum, class, then getting more specific with family, genus, and finally the most specific, species. It took humans an embarrassingly long time to become so organized and look more critically at the animals we share our planet with.
Endangered Living 