Biology News

Study: Eyes of Arctic Reindeer Change Color with Seasons

Arctic reindeer. Image credit: Jon Nickles / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Oct 31, 2013 by News Staff

According to a new study of Arctic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), their eyes change color through the seasons from gold to blue to help animals spot predators in the winter whilst there is little light. Arctic reindeer. Image credit: Jon Nickles / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The study authors from Britain and Norway were interested in how these animals see in the perpetual darkness. The Arctic reindeer has a layer of tissue in the eye called the...

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This 1882 illustration from Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London shows the Mortlock Islands flying fox.

Mortlock Flying Fox: Study Reveals New Info on World’s Least-Studied Bat

Oct 31, 2013 by News Staff

A new study reported in the open-access journal ZooKeys provides details on the taxonomy, biology, and population status of the Mortlock flying fox (Pteropus...

New Dolphin Species Found in Australian Waters

Oct 30, 2013 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has announced the discovery of a new species of humpback dolphin in the waters off northern Australia. A newly identified...

Speleonectes tulumensis. Image credit: University of Bonn.

Speleonectes tulumensis: First Known Venomous Crustacean

Oct 27, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

Marine biologists reporting in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution say that they have identified the world’s first venomous crustacean –...

Grasshopper mice are essentially numb to the pain, scientists have found, because the scorpion toxin acts as an analgesic rather than a pain stimulant. Image credit: Ashlee Rowe.

Grasshopper Mice: Rodents with Immunity to Scorpion Venom

Oct 25, 2013 by News Staff

According to new research reported in the journal Science, potentially deadly stings of scorpions are nothing more than a slight nuisance to grasshopper...

Arremon kuehnerii. Image credit: Navarro-Sigüenza AG et al / the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.

Guerrero Brush Finch: New Bird Species Found in Mexico

Oct 25, 2013 by Natali Anderson

An international team of ornithologists led by Dr Townsend Peterson from the University of Kansas’ Biodiversity Institute has discovered a new species...

Gyronotus perissinottoi at the Umthamvuna Nature Reserve, South Africa. Image credit: Lynette Clennell.

Two New Species of Mysterious Scarab Beetles Found in Southern Africa

Oct 22, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

Entomologists Dr Renzo Perissinotto from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and Dr Philippe Moretto from France...

Dracaena kaweesakii and its flowers. Credit: Warakorn Kasempankul / Parinya Siriponamat / Paul Wilkin.

New Dragon Tree Species Found in Burma, Thailand

Oct 17, 2013 by News Staff

Dr Paul Wilkin from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and his colleagues from Thailand, the Netherlands and Poland have described a remarkable new species of...

Chimpanzee vocalising, Budongo Forest, Uganda. Image credit: Anne Schel.

Scientists Find Striking Similarities between Alarm Calls of Chimpanzees and Human Language

Oct 17, 2013 by News Staff

New research on vocalizations of wild chimpanzees has demonstrated that their alarm calls have numerous hallmarks of intentional communication. Chimpanzee...

Baconia katieae. Image credit: Caterino MS, Tishechkin AK.

Entomologists Discover 85 New Species of Jewel-Like Baconia Beetles

Oct 16, 2013 by News Staff

Dr Michael Caterino and Dr Alexey Tishechkin, both from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, have described 85 new species in the genus Baconia,...

Young bonobo embraces a distressed companion during postconflict consolation at the Lola ya Bonobo Sanctuary, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Image credit: Zanna Clay.

Young Bonobos Comfort Each Other Like Human Kids

Oct 15, 2013 by News Staff

Scientists reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences have discovered similarities between the emotional development of bonobos (Pan...

Arapaima leptosoma (adapted from Donald Stewart, Copeia 2013; background: the Meyers).

New Species of Giant Fish Arapaima Discovered in Brazil

Oct 11, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Prof Donald Stewart from Department of Environmental and Forest Biology at State University of New York has described a new species of arapaima from the...

Curcurbit beetle, shown here, the true armyworm moth and the potato aphid can predict adverse weather conditions. Image credit: Melinda Sullivan and Edward Jones, USDA APHIS.

Insects Can Predict Adverse Weather, Entomologists Say

Oct 7, 2013 by Natali Anderson

According to a study published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, insects modify calling and mating behavior in anticipation of storms. Curcurbit beetle,...

Saltuarius eximius: New Species of Leaf-Tailed Gecko Found in Australia

Oct 6, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Two Australian biologists have described a new species of leaf-tailed gecko in the genus Saltuarius. The Cape Melville Leaf-tailed Gecko with regenerated...

False killer whale, Pseudorca crassidens.

False Killer Whales Can Form Partnerships with Bottlenose Dolphins to Defend from Predation

Oct 4, 2013 by News Staff

A population of false killer whales, Pseudorca crassidens, in waters off northeastern New Zealand developed a relationship with bottlenose dolphins to...

Chaco costai, male. Image credit: Montes de Oca L, Pérez-Miles F.

Two New Spider Species Found in Uruguay

Oct 4, 2013 by News Staff

Entomologists have described two new species of the nemesiid spider genus Chaco from Rocha Province, Uruguay. Chaco costai, male. Image credit: Montes...

Deep Lake, Antarctica. Image credit: © Rob 'Angry' Cullen.

Gene-Shuffling Microbes Found in Deep Lake, Antarctica

Oct 1, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has for the first time been able to get a complete...

Doryphora paykulli female with eggs and first instar larvae under a leaf of Prestonia seemanii. Image credit: Suzanne Lanckowsky.

Some Beetles Have Maternal Instincts, New Study Says

Sep 30, 2013 by News Staff

Entomologists from Panama, Europe, Canada and Brazil have teamed up to describe in detail the different degrees of maternal instincts present within eight...

Akawaio penak. Image credit: Hernán López-Fernández.

Akawaio penak: New Species, Genus of Electric Fish Found in Guyana

Sep 27, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Biologists from Canada, the United States, Colombia and Guyana have described a new species and genus of electric knifefish from South America. Akawaio...

An Audubon's warbler, Setophaga coronata auduboni. Image credit: David P. L. Toews.

Audubon’s Warblers May Have Borrowed DNA from Fellow Bird Species

Sep 24, 2013 by News Staff

Audubon’s warblers (Setophaga coronata auduboni) may have acquired genes from fellow migrating songbirds in order to travel greater distances, say...

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