The extent to which animals other than humans can reason about physical problems is contentious. The benchmark test for this ability has been the trap-tube task. We presented New Caledonian crows with a series of two-trap versions of this problem. Three out of six crows solved the initial trap-tube. These crows continued to avoid the trap when the arbitrary features that had previously been ass...

Early increased sophistication of human tools is thought to be underpinned by adaptive morphology for efficient tool manipulation. Such adaptive specialisation is unknown in nonhuman primates but may have evolved in the New Caledonian crow, which has sophisticated tool manufacture. The straightness of its bill, for example, may be adaptive for enhanced visually-directed use of tools. Here, we e...

While geologists suggest that New Caledonian main island (Grande Terre) was submerged until ca 37 Ma, biologists are struck by the presence of supposedly Gondwanan groups on the island. Among these groups are the Oreosycea fig trees (Ficus, Moraceae) and their Dolichoris pollinators (Hymenoptera, Agaonidae). These partners are distributed in the Paleotropics and Australasia, suggesting that the...

The granulite facies assemblages of the anorthositic rocks of the Bergen Arcs (stable at 800 -900°C and 10 kbar) have been transformed to eclogite facies assemblages (stable at 700 -750°C and 16-19 kbar) in the vicinity of Caledonian shear zones. This section of the root zone of the Caledonian mountain chain reveals a deep polymetamorphic crust where Precambrian granulites (mean density 3.02 g ...

A molecular typing study on Vibrio strains implicated in shrimp disease outbreaks in New Caledonia and Japan was conducted by using AP-PCR (arbitrarily primed PCR). It allowed rapid identification of isolates at the genospecies level and studies of infraspecific population structures of epidemiological interest. Clusters identified within the species Vibrio penaeicida were related to their area...

A crucial stage in hominin evolution was the development of metatool use -- the ability to use one tool on another [1, 2]. Although the great apes can solve metatool tasks [3, 4], monkeys have been less successful [5-7]. Here we provide experimental evidence that New Caledonian crows can spontaneously solve a demanding metatool task in which a short tool is used to extract a longer tool that ca...

9 10 This paper makes a review of the interpretations of the tectonic evolution of SW Japan 11 during the last three decades. In the late 1970s, the dominant model was the so-called 12 ―Pacific-type orogeny‖, emphasizing the purported absence of nappes and the contrast with 13 the alpine chains, and interpreting the evolution as due to a steady oceanic subduction since 14 the Paleozoic time. In...

A new sesquiterpene, 9-hydroxyfurodysinin-O-ethyl lactone, has been isolated from a New Caledonian Dysidea arenaria, along with three known compounds. The possible incorporation of the ethyl ether from the extraction solvent is discussed.

9 10 This paper makes a review of the interpretations of the tectonic evolution of SW Japan 11 during the last three decades. In the late 1970s, the dominant model was the so-called 12 ―Pacific-type orogeny‖, emphasizing the purported absence of nappes and the contrast with 13 the alpine chains, and interpreting the evolution as due to a steady oceanic subduction since 14 the Paleozoic time. In...

This study aimed to develop a clinical test of face perception which is applicable to a wide range of patients and can capture normal variability. The Caledonian face test utilises synthetic faces which combine simplicity with sufficient realism to permit individual identification. Face discrimination thresholds (i.e. minimum difference between faces required for accurate discrimination) were d...