Biology News

Jul 5, 2013 by Natali Anderson

New research, reported in the open-access journal PloS ONE, has yielded a surprising result: an Indonesian species of parrot known as Goffin’s Cockatoo, Tanimbar Corella or Goffin’s Corella (Cacatua goffiniana), can solve complex mechanical problems that involve undoing a series of locks one after another. Goffin’s Cockatoo (© Ian Parberry / Virginia Holt / CSE UNT) “We cannot prove that the birds understand the physical structure...

Jul 3, 2013 by News Staff

A genetic analysis of the Vietnamese white toothed shrew fauna, reported in the open access journal ZooKeys, has revealed a new species in the genus Crocidura,...

Jul 2, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Marine biologists from Taiwan and New Zealand have identified four new species of deep-sea fish in the anglerfish genus Chaunax. The Yellowspot frogmouth,...

Jun 29, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Biologists have described three new fungi species in the genus Gymnopus from New Zealand. Gymnopus ceraceicola (Jerry Cooper) The newly discovered species,...

Jun 28, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Japanese biologists have described a new species of spoon worm from the sandy tidal flat Hachi-no-higata of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan. Spoon worm Arhynchite...

Jun 27, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

According to biologists led by Dr Bryan Fry from the University of Queensland, the oral flora of Komodo dragons does not differ from any other carnivore. A...

Jun 26, 2013 by Natali Anderson

A multinational team of ornithologists has discovered a new bird species in Phnom Penh, the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Cambodian Tailorbird...

Jun 24, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Scientists led by Dr Thomas Gilbert from the University of Copenhagen have used DNA from a museum specimen collected in 1955 to study what may be a distinct...

Jun 22, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

The herbal extract of a yellow-flowered perennial plant known as Golden Root has been shown in a study reported in the journal PLoS ONE to extend the lifespan...

Jun 20, 2013 by News Staff

According to scientists writing in the journal Langmuir, the mystery of how pearls form into the most perfectly spherical large objects in nature may have...

Jun 18, 2013 by News Staff

A multinational team of biologists writing in the open-access journal PLoS ONE has identified a new species of fungus that causes life-threatening infections...

Jun 18, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Scientists from the Netherlands, Vietnam and United Kingdom, reporting the journal mBio, have described a new cyclovirus in the viral family Circoviridae. Left...

Jun 12, 2013 by Natali Anderson

African starlings, a diverse group of primarily brightly colored birds known for their metallic sheens, change color about ten times faster than their...

Jun 10, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Australian biologists have found that male superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) coordinate song with dance as part of an elaborate mating ritual. Superb...

Jun 7, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

The giant oarfish Regalecus glesne has been caught on film in the deep waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Top: Regalecus glesne observed on February...

Jun 7, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

Biologists reporting in the open-access journal Zookeys have identified a new scorpion species from the extraordinarily biodiversity rich region of the...

Jun 6, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Marine scientists from the Smithsonian Institution’s Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP) have discovered a beautiful new species of tiny fish in...

Jun 3, 2013 by News Staff

Scientists at the Natural History Museum, UK, have discovered that a strange knob-like ball on the wings of an extinct bird species called the Rodrigues...

May 30, 2013 by News Staff

A first laboratory study of the heat-loving Pompeii worm reported in the open access journal PLOS ONE has confirmed that this deep-sea creature ranks among...

May 29, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

Entomologists have described a new butterfly species with striking olive green eye color. Ministrymon janevicroy (Robbins RK / Glassberg J.) The new species...