Even bugs as small as woodlice can disperse seeds they eat, setting a new record for smallest animal recorded to do so. The Kobe University discovery underscores the crucial yet often overlooked ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-woodlice-smallest-dispersers-ingested-seeds.html
A short but robust little shrimp may have died out over 330 million years ago during the Carboniferous period, but the rare Scottish shellfish has been revitalized as a new species to science and...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-discovery-ancient-glaswegian-shrimp-fossil.html
CABI scientists have led research with collaborations from the University of Toronto and University of Guelph, both in Canada, to update a model which predicts the future spread of the box tree m...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-future-tree-moth-north-america.html
In the "sky islands" of the Soutpansberg Mountains of South Africa, two closely related species of primate jostle for space. One is the thick-tailed greater galago (Otolemur crassicaudatus), also...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-south-africa-tiny-primates-struggle.html
Chimpanzees continue to learn and hone their skills well into adulthood, a capacity that might be essential for the evolution of complex and varied tool use, according to a study published May 7 ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-chimps-shown-tool-skills-adults.html
Insects and microorganisms that feed on plants, cut up leaves, modify leaf tissue or produce leaf spots and other kinds of damage, are usually known as pests and considered harmful, yet interacti...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-loss-large-herbivores-affects-interactions.html
Plants' ability to sense light and temperature, and their ability to adapt to climate change, hinges on free-forming structures in their cells whose function was, until now, a mystery.
Infanticide and adoption in the animal kingdom have long puzzled scientists. While both males and females of many species are known to kill the babies of their rivals to secure sexual or social a...
Blue whales are the largest animals on Earth, measuring up to 30 meters long and weighing up to 200 tons—as much as a Boeing 787. Yet it's the sound they make, not their size, which gives their...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-giants-elusive-antarctic-blue-whale.html
How well bees tolerate temperature extremes could determine their ability to persist in a changing climate. But heat tolerance varies between and within populations, so a research team led by Pen...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-bee-body-mass-pathogens-local.html
Even in the deepest and most remote parts of the ocean, beaked whales cannot escape the harmful effects of human activity. From military sonar, targeted hunting and ship strikes to climate change...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-human-impacting-world-remote-whale.html
The outbreak of a deadly disease called stony coral tissue loss disease is destroying susceptible species of coral in the Caribbean while helping other, "weedier" organisms thrive—at least for ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-stony-coral-tissue-loss-disease.html
Scientists of the Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with University of Liverpool have found the genetic mechanism that determines whether individuals of the butterfly sp...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-male-female-scientists-genetic-mechanism.html
A team of researchers from Texas A&M University and other institutions has made a surprising discovery about rising mercury levels in Steller sea lion pups that may have detrimental effects on th...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-mercury-contribute-declining-steller-sea.html
Recent findings that plants employ a drought-survival mechanism to also defend against nutrient-sucking pests could inform future crop breeding programs aimed at achieving better broadscale pest ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-drought-stress-hormone-block-snacking.html
A new study reveals that cooperation by bumblebees isn't simply a result of accumulated individual efforts. Rather, these miniature-brained creatures are not just hard-working pollinators, but al...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-lego-bumblebees-reveal-insect-collaboration.html
A multi-institutional team of animal behaviorists, snow impact specialists and biologists from Alaska, Montana, Switzerland and Canada has found that large numbers of wild mountain goats die ever...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-large-wild-mountain-goats-year.html
As a result of the climate crisis, global warming is driving up temperatures around the world—and bumblebees, like humans, are struggling to cope with homes that can't beat the heat.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-bumblebee-overheating-due-climate-threatening.html
As the sun sets and the sweltering heat gives way to a balmy evening, there's one sound that fills the air, both beloved and bothersome: the rhythmic symphony of chirping crickets. However, human...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-human-noise-negatively-impacts-cricket.html
Seagull species that have bigger brains are more likely to nest on coastal cliffs and may also be better adapted to breed in urban environments such as on the roofs of buildings.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-bigger-brains-cliff-seagull-species.html
New research published in Current Biology sheds light on how animals create and maintain internal spatial maps based on their surroundings.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-mice-virtual-reality-environment-reveal.html
Even though there is evidence of certain self-medication behaviors in animals, so far it has never been known that animals treat their wounds with healing plants.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-wound-treatment-wild-animal-pain.html
Pet parrots given the choice to video-call each other or watch pre-recorded videos of other birds will flock to the opportunity for live chats, new research shows.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-pet-parrots-video-pre-videos.html
Play is widespread, but far from ubiquitous, across the animal kingdom. Especially common in mammals, play is also known to occur in taxa as diverse as birds, fish, octopuses, and even insects. B...
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-male-chicks-play-females-distant.html
Urea—the main component of human urine—plays an important role in the timing of maturation of sharks, rays and other cartilaginous fish.
https://phys.org/news/2024-05-marine-sharks-rays-urea-delay.html
It's a common belief that purebred dogs are more prone to disease than mixed-breed dogs, but a new study led by researchers at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-dispels-myth-purebred-dogs-prone.html
In winter 2021, Australia's frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ourselves because of COVID lockdowns...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-pesticides-australian-frogs-mass-deaths.html
A team of ecologists, environmentalists and biologists from several institutions in China, working with a colleague from Nepal and another in the U.S., has found an instance of mimicry in a speci...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-mimicry-lesser-necklaced-laughingthrush-birds.html
A pair of biologists from Mount Holyoke College, working with a colleague from North American Camelid Studies Program, the Nunoa Project, has found that the male alpaca thrusts his penis all the ...
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-alpacas-mammal-inseminate-uterus.html
New research has discovered that lemurs, the small primates native to Madagascar, are capable of exaggerating their size thanks to the unique structure of their larynx.
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-recreate-lemurs-kind-vocal.html