PLOS ONE’s Top 5 Videos of 2014
Throughout the year we highlight research images that are worth a thousand words. For this year-end list, we’d like to extend the category to our research videos. Here, we’ve highlighted some of this year’s most popular videos, published in the Supporting Information of research articles.
To read the full research article associated with each video, click the links in the descriptions below them.
Nighttime Chimp Raids
What monkey business are these chimps up to at night? Wild chimpanzees living in disturbed habitats may raid nearby agricultural fields for maize at night to avoid detection by their human neighbors.
Tracking Dino Tracks
Perhaps a dinosaur chase is up to your speed? This model of a dinosaur chase was digitally reconstructed from theropod and sauropod footprints excavated 70 years ago.
Otter Talk
These giant otters communicate with one another using different calls in a surprisingly diverse vocal repertoire. Young giant otters beg for food from the adults using a contact call in this video.
Say Hello to the Hemihelix
Scientists define and describe a new shape using rubber bands—and they have the video evidence to show how it forms. This shape, a hemihelix, is rarely seen in Nature and could provide clues for fabricating 3D shapes from flat parts.
New Caledonians Rule
This video soars above all others as the most popular video from 2014, with 377,000 views at the time of this post. A New Caledonian crow drops objects of different sizes and densities into tubes of water, demonstrating that it may understand water displacement at the same level as a 5-7 year-old child.
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Citations
Video 1: Krief S, Cibot M, Bortolamiol S, Seguya A, Krief J-M, et al. (2014) Wild Chimpanzees on the Edge: Nocturnal Activities in Croplands. PLoS ONE 9(10): e109925. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109925
Video 2: Falkingham PL, Bates KT, Farlow JO (2014) Historical Photogrammetry: Bird’s Paluxy River Dinosaur Chase Sequence Digitally Reconstructed as It Was prior to Excavation 70 Years Ago. PLoS ONE 9(4): e93247. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093247
Video 3: Mumm CAS, Knornschild M (2014) The Vocal Repertoire of Adult and Neonate Giant Otters (Pteronura brasiliensis). PLoS ONE 9(11): e112562. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0112562
Video 4: Liu J, Huang J, Su T, Bertoldi K, Clarke DR (2014) Structural Transition from Helices to Hemihelices. PLoS ONE 9(4): e93183. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0093183
Image and Video 5: Jelbert SA, Taylor AH, Cheke LG, Clayton NS, Gray RD (2014) Using the Aesop’s Fable Paradigm to Investigate Causal Understanding of Water Displacement by New Caledonian Crows. PLoS ONE 9(3): e92895. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092895
All videos are published under a Creative Commons Attribution license, and may be freely reused or remixed.