Biology News | Sci.News

Oreophryne cameroni from Keki Lodge, Adelbert Mts. Image credit: Fred Kraus.

Three New Frog Species Found in Papua New Guinea

Sep 23, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Dr Fred Kraus from the University of Michigan has described three new species of frogs in the genus Oreophryne from Papua New Guinea. Oreophryne cameroni...

Anniella pulchra. Image credit: Marlin Harms / CC BY 2.0.

Four New Species of Legless Lizards Discovered in California

Sep 20, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Two herpetologists, Dr Theodore Papenfuss of the University of California at Berkeley and Dr James Parham of California State University in Fullerton,...

This is a false-color micrograph of Pygsuia biforma. Scale bar - 2 µm. Image credit: Matthew W. Brown et al / Proc. R. Soc. B.

Pygsuia biforma: Biologists Discover New Amoeba-like Organism in Massachusetts

Sep 19, 2013 by News Staff

Scientists from Canada and the United States have isolated a new unicellular anaerobic eukaryote from brackish estuarine sediment collected just below...

Three ground-warbler species from Philippines: Bicol Ground-Warbler, top, the newly discovered Sierra Madre Ground-Warbler, center, and Cordilleran Ground-Warbler. Image credit: Marco A. Pineda M. / The Condor.

Sierra Madre Ground-Warbler: New Species of Bird from Philippines

Sep 17, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of ornithologists has discovered a new species of ground-warbler on Luzon Island of the Philippine archipelago. Three ground-warbler...

The cave-dwelling snail Zospeum tholussum. Image credit: J. Bedek.

New Snail Species with Semi-Transparent Shell Discovered in Croatia

Sep 16, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Dr Alexander Weigand of the Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany, has described a new species of cave-dwelling snail from the Lukina Jama–Trojama cave...

Hodgson Lake: 100,000 Year Old Life Found in Antarctic Subglacial Lake

Sep 11, 2013 by Natali Anderson

British researchers have discovered evidence of diverse life forms, dating back more than 100,000 years, in sediments of a subglacial lake on the Antarctic...

The deep-sea squid Grimalditeuthis bonplandi (Hendrik J. T. Hoving et al / MBARI).

Marine Biologists Capture First Footage of Deep-Sea Squid Grimalditeuthis bonplandi

Sep 6, 2013 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) has filmed for the first time the deep-sea squid Grimalditeuthis bonplandi...

Biswamoyopterus laoensis, female, ventral view (adapted from Daosavanh Sanamxay et al).

Biswamoyopterus laoensis: New Species of Flying Squirrel from Laos

Sep 6, 2013 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of biologists from Thailand, UK and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has described a new species of flying squirrel in...

Brachyhypopomus bennetti, female, 8.5 inches / 21.5 cm long. Scale bar - 1 cm (Sullivan JP et al).

Two New Species of Electric Knifefishes Discovered in Central Amazon

Sep 5, 2013 by News Staff

Scientists have reported the discovery of two new species of toothed electric knifefishes that live under rafts of unrooted grasses and water hyacinth...

Image of Nycticeinops schlieffenii which is represented by a new species in Senegal (© Natalie Weber).

Five New Bat Species Found in Africa

Sep 4, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of biologists has described five new species of Vesper bats from Senegal. Image of Nycticeinops schlieffenii which is represented...

The team has found that three songbirds from New Zealand - the Whitehead, shown in this image, the Yellowhead and the Brown Creeper - belong to a new bird family. Image credit: Andrew Hardacre / CC BY 2.0.

Ornithologists Describe New Songbird Family from New Zealand

Aug 30, 2013 by News Staff

Scientists from New Zealand, Ecuador, Australia and the United States have identified a new songbird family – the Mohouidae – in New Zealand. The...

Bamboo shark Hemiscyllium halmahera (© Mark Erdmann).

Hemiscyllium halmahera: New Species of ‘Walking’ Shark from Indonesia

Aug 25, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Dr Gerald Allen, a research associate at the Western Australian Museum, and his colleagues from Australia have described a new species of shark from eastern...

Oldeania alpina looks like a Phyllostachys species from China, but is very different under the ground and in its branching. It is found on mountains from Cameroon across to Ethiopia (© Chris Stapleton).

Two New Bamboo Genera Found in Africa

Aug 23, 2013 by News Staff

Biologist Dr Chris Stapleton from the United Kingdom has described two new genera of African mountain bamboos. Oldeania alpina looks like a Phyllostachys...

Nile crocodiles. Image credit: University of Minnesota.

Crocodiles, Alligators Eat Fruits, Say Biologists

Aug 22, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Nile crocodiles, American alligators and other crocodilians enjoy fruits along with their normal meat-heavy diets of mammals, birds, and fish, according...

Cooper the chimp was raised by humans and had learned to swim (Renato Bender / Nicole Bender).

Chimpanzees, Orangutans Can Swim and Dive, Biologists Prove

Aug 16, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Two biologists reporting in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology say that they have documented for the first time the swimming and diving behavior...

The Olinguito, Bassaricyon neblina, in the wild. Photo credit: Mark Gurney.

Olinguito: New Species of Mammal Found in Colombia, Ecuador

Aug 16, 2013 by News Staff

Biologists from the United States, Ecuador and Panama have described a new species of carnivore from the cloud forests of Ecuador and Colombia, and named...

Lethocerus patruelis, the largest European true bug (Mario Langourov).

Scientists Amazed as Larva of Biggest European Water Insect Attacks, Kills Fish

Aug 10, 2013 by Enrico de Lazaro

A study by entomologists from Bulgaria and Russia provides new interesting information on the life habits and the distribution of the giant water bug Lethocerus...

Seven Precambrian thioredoxins and the extant E. coli and human thioredoxins (Ingles-Prieto et al).

Scientists Resurrect, Analyze Seven Precambrian Proteins

Aug 9, 2013 by News Staff

Spanish researchers have analyzed X-ray crystal structures of seven previously ‘resurrected’ 1 – 4 billion year old thioredoxins, small...

The new study suggests contagious yawning in dogs may be empathic. Image credit: John Syme, Davidson College.

Pet Dogs Yawn Contagiously along with Owners, Says New Study

Aug 8, 2013 by Natali Anderson

According to Japanese scientists, pet dogs yawn contagiously when they see a person yawning, and respond more frequently to their owner’s yawns than...