Copyright 2008 Medical News Today Latest Veterinary News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/veterinary/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125406.php The study of birds, especially the Galapagos finches, was important to Darwin in the development of the theory of evolution by natural selection. Birds have also been at the center of a recent reformulation in understanding cerebral evolution and the substrates for higher cognition. Veterinary Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125400.php The British government has collected data on the movement of every cow in the UK since the 1990s. Mathematical models of these movements have proved valuable in understanding how the movement of cattle contributes to the spread of cattle diseases. Veterinary Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125409.php In their struggle for life, many animals have evolved a fascinating mechanism to avoid being eaten: sacrificing a body part. When a prey animal is grasped by a predator, the body part is amputated so that the animal itself can escape. Despite the obvious short-term survival benefit, there are long-term costs like reduced lifespan. These costs were traditionally explained by reduced locomotion after limb loss. Veterinary Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125138.php Several rabid bat reports in Idaho are prompting public health officials to warn people throughout the state to take precautions around bats and make sure that their dogs, cats, and horses are adequately vaccinated against rabies. Two rabid bats were recently discovered from Ada County, as well as two rabid bats from Kootenai County. Every year rabid bats are reported from across Idaho, last year 12 rabid bats were reported from sites across the state. Veterinary Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125104.php Following reports earlier this year of rabid skunks circulating in eastern counties of Colorado, the state lab at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has confirmed a rabid skunk in the vicinity of Sloan's Lake in Northwest Denver. According to epidemiologists at the state health department, this is the first rabid skunk found in the metro area since 1976. Veterinary Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125095.php A Flash Eurobarometer study, presented by the European Commission today, reveals that European citizens have a generally negative perception of animal cloning for food production. The study was carried out to assess citizens' attitudes towards animal cloning. It indicates firstly, that the vast majority of citizens has a good degree of knowledge of what is animal cloning ( eight out of 10 stated correctly that "cloning is making an identical copy of an existing animal). Veterinary Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125061.php Scientists have confirmed the second-ever case of a "virgin birth" in a shark, indicating once again that female sharks can reproduce without mating and raising the possibility that many female sharks have this incredible capacity. This compelling new study will be published today in the latest issue of the Journal of Fish Biology, a leading international journal. Lead author Dr. Veterinary Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124882.php Google is an indispensable tool for any researcher, according to Bruce Murphy of the Université de Montréal Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. You can find anything on Google - even stem cells. "I recently ordered some," says Murphy, director of the UdeM's Animal Reproduction Research Centre, one North America's largest hubs of its kind, which is based in Saint-Hyacinthe. "Not a day goes by during which I don't use Google. IT / Internet / E-mail Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124803.php In light of recent news reports focusing on the potential health risks to children less than 5 years of age from nontraditional pets, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is reminding the public that no matter what your age and no matter what species your pet, good hygiene practices greatly reduce the spread of disease and lead to happier and healthier relationships between people and their pets. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124675.php In the majority of animals vision needs to serve two key demands simultaneously: (1) the detection of predators that are remote from the animal, and (2) the control of accurate behaviours, such as the procurement of food, at close quarters. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124670.php Exposure to maternal stress is commonly thought to be bad for offspring, but is it always? Researchers experimentally increased yolk levels of the stress hormone corticosterone in European starling eggs to mimic the 'signal' offspring receive that they will be raised in a low quality environment. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124674.php The origin of the turtle shell has long puzzled scientists, mostly because the early fossil record of the group is so poor. A team of scientists led by Walter Joyce at Yale University recently discovered a new fossil turtle from New Mexico that sheds light on this problem. The new turtle is extremely thin-shelled and consequently did not preserve easily. Furthermore, the ribs are not tightly connected with the remaining shell as seen in living turtles. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124726.php VGX Animal Health Inc. (VGXAH) and its parent company, VGX Pharmaceuticals (VGXP), announced today the execution of an exclusive Distribution and Marketing Agreement for its LifeTide™ SW 5 GHRH gene therapy product for pigs in Australia with Country Vet Wholesaling Pty Ltd (CVW). Under the Agreement, CVW has the exclusive right to market, promote, sell and distribute the Product in Australia. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124667.php Parrots and songbirds are similar to primates in having proportionately large forebrains. Striedter and Charvet show that parrots and songbirds also resemble primates in a key aspect of forebrain development: all three groups of animals have enlarged telencephalic subventricular zones, which contain specialized forebrain progenitor cells. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124662.php One of the oldest theories of animal camouflage predicts that apparently conspicuous markings enhance concealment. Such 'distraction' marks may draw the viewer's attention away from salient features, such as the body outline, that would otherwise reveal the animal. However, the theory has never been tested. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124664.php Antagonistic interactions between naturally occurring endangered species pose unique problems for conservation biology. Herein, we report a seven year decline in breeding males of the endangered Leon Springs pupfish, Cyprinodon bovinus. We also examine a direct conflict between endangered species, demonstrating that endangered Pecos gambusia, Gambusia nobilis, cluster around C. bovinus spawning events. As a known egg predator, our results suggest that G. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124707.php PharmaCom BioVet, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: PHMB) is pleased to announce their corporate vision to research, treat and compassionately care for companion animals afflicted with cancer. PharmaCom BioVet, Inc. is dedicated to advancing the medical care industry for companion animals by establishing state-of-the-art treatment centers for lymphoma and other forms of cancer throughout the country. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124659.php Muscles are commonly assumed to have uniform activations across their bellies. Yet animal studies have shown that different regions across a muscle can vary in their architecture, fibre-type, activation levels and the transfer of forces to the bones and tendons. This study shows how variations in the magnitude and timing of activity occur across the gastrocnemius muscles in man and how these patterns of variation depend on the movement being performed. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124660.php This study investigated the basal metabolic rate (BMR) in individual zebra finches as they aged in captivity. BMR is a measure of the energy consumption of organisms when they are at rest. In captivity we could measure the same individuals repeatedly when they were 1, 3 and 5 years of age. This covered a substantial proportion of the maximum lifespan of this small bird species. Interestingly, the results showed that BMR decreased as they aged. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124661.php The Land sensitivity equation is a well known tool for comparing optical performance between eyes. Despite this, the equation has never been experimentally tested. Here we present the first experimental validation of the equation. We have experimentally tested the equation for insect species active at different intensities, and possessing different types of compound eyes. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124651.php Imulan BioTherapeutics, LLC (IMULAN) announced they have launched a new clinical trial website, http://www.IMULANtrials.com, to accommodate their growing comparative research and clinical trial program. Veterinary Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124657.php We show that larger-brained birds and mammals have a lower lifetime reproductive capacity. This finding has two major consequences. First, larger-brained species should be more extinction-prone. Thus, brain size, not body size, is responsible for the rule that larger animals are more extinction prone. Second, each lineage has a maximum viable brain size ("grey ceiling"), which can only be surmounted if mothers receive energetic inputs. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 08 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124658.php Large carnivores are important components in functional ecosystems. However, they are also prone to extinction resulting in much conservation effort. We examined recent large carnivore extinctions and their impact on continental assemblages of carnivores, thereby generating suggestions for global prioritizations of carnivore conservation. Europe, North and South America have depleted carnivore assemblages while Africa and Asia have suffered fewer species extinctions. Biology / Biochemistry Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124500.php GeneThera, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: GTHR) announced today that it is in negotiations with the University of New Mexico for world wide development and distribution rights to a vaccine developed there that is designed to significantly inhibit the carriage and shedding of the E.coli bacteria in cattle. Veterinary Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/124478.php Owners of small or backyard poultry flocks are invited to attend a free information session on how to help prevent and detect poultry diseases such as avian influenza. The session is being hosted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (BCMAL). Area bird owners and the general public are welcome to join from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m. Bird Flu / Avian Flu