Biology News

Study: Chickens Have Smaller Brains than Their Junglefowl Relatives

Adult red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). Image credit: Per Jensen.
Sep 1, 2020 by News Staff

The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), a species of tropical bird found in south-east Asia, is the primary ancestor of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). Its domestication likely began in India and China approximately 8,000 years ago and geographically expanded along with trade to the countries of the Mediterranean region. A new study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, shows that when ancient humans selected the tamest...

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Light microscope images of Melinnopsis gardelli: (A) holotype, lateral view of complete specimen; (B) holotype, dorsal view of anterior region, arrow indicates postbranchial dorsal membrane; (C) holotype prostomium, arrow indicates slightly raised lip; (D) lateral view of anterior region, arrows indicate acicular neurochaetae and (E) ventral view of anterior region showing ventral shields. Scale bars - 1 mm. Image credit: Gunton et al, doi: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.72.2020.1763.

Two New Species of Deep-Sea Worms Discovered

Aug 26, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of marine biologists has described two new species of the polychaete worm genus Melinnopsis from deep waters off the east coast of...

Tasmanian tigers (Thylacinus cynocephalus) in captivity. Image credit: University of Melbourne / Museums Victoria.

Thylacine Was Smaller Than Previously Estimated

Aug 24, 2020 by News Staff

Until its extinction, the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was the largest living carnivorous marsupial, but little data exist regarding its body mass,...

Platymantis navjoti male in life. Image credit: Cameron Siler, University of Oklahoma.

New Species of Forest Frog Discovered in Philippines

Aug 24, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of field biologists has described a new species of the frog genus Platymantis from Leyte and Samar islands, the Philippines. The...

A Somali sengi (Galegeeska revoilii) at the Assamo locality in Djibouti. As is observed in other sengi species, Somali sengis have some variation in pelage colors. These differences seem to correspond to the color variation of substrates between occurrence localities. At the Assamo site, in the extreme southeastern corner of Djibouti, sengi habitats are comprised of rocks with more rusty coloration than elsewhere in the country. Compared to other Djiboutian sites, sengis from Assamo have dorsal pelage hairs with more pronounced reds. Image credit: Steven Heritage.

Scientists Rediscover Long-Lost Species of Mammal: Somali Sengi

Aug 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers from the United States and the Republic of Djibouti has rediscovered the elusive Somali sengi (‘Elephantulus’ revoilii) over...

Mother-pup pair of the greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata) in their daytime roost. The pup (dark fur color) is holding on to the mother’s belly (light fur color). Image credit: Michael Stifter.

Mother Bats Use ‘Baby Talk’ to Speak to Their Offspring, New Study Shows

Aug 20, 2020 by News Staff

A special form of vocal feedback in humans, infant-directed speech — also known as motherese or ‘baby talk’ — facilitates language learning...

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). Image credit: Michael Van Woert / NOAA NESDIS / ORA.

Genetic Researchers Reconstruct Evolutionary History of Penguins

Aug 18, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study, an international team of scientists used 22 newly-sequenced genomes from 18 extant species of penguins to reconstruct the history of their...

An American grasshopper with an improved brain sensor implant. Image credit: Raman Lab / Washington University in St. Louis.

Grasshoppers Can Discriminate Between Different Explosives’ Smells, Study Finds

Aug 14, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study published this month in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X, a team of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis showed...

Most taste cells selectively respond to a specific stimulus type while broadly responsive cells respond to multiple taste qualities. Image credit: Jhanna Flora / Kathryn Medler.

Researchers Discover New Type of Taste Receptor Cells

Aug 13, 2020 by News Staff

Scientists have discovered a new population of taste cells that can detect multiple types of stimuli, including chemicals from different taste qualities. Most...

Eight New Colonies of Emperor Penguins Discovered in Antarctica

Aug 12, 2020 by News Staff

Using images from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, a team of researchers from the British Antarctic Survey has spotted 8 new colonies of emperor...

Spores of Tuber luomae. Image credit: Joyce Eberhart.

New Species of Truffle Discovered: Tuber luomae

Aug 4, 2020 by News Staff

A team of mycologists from Oregon State University, the USDA Forestry Sciences Laboratory and Michigan State University has discovered a new species of...

A larval sunfish (Mola sp.) collected off New South Wales coast, Australia. Image credit: Kerryn Parkinson / Australian Museum.

Giant Sunfish Develop from Tiny Larvae, Marine Biologists Say

Aug 4, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of marine biologists has for the first time genetically identified a larva of the bump-head sunfish (Mola alexandrini). A larval...

Tetragonula carbonaria worker bees are observed to spend time clustered at the growing edges of terraces. Image credit: Tim Heard.

Chemists Find Biologically Active Sugar in Honey of Stingless Bees

Aug 3, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

An unusual bioactive disaccharide called trehalulose is a major component of stingless bee honeys from Malaysia, Australia and Brazil, according to a new...

Researchers Observe Formation of Four-Stranded DNA in Living Human Cells

Jul 30, 2020 by News Staff

DNA usually forms the classic double helix shape — two strands wound around each other. Several other structures have been formed in the lab, but...

The buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Marta Boroń / CC BY 2.0.

Study: Floral Vibrations by Buzz-Pollinating Bumblebees More Powerful Than Their Flight or Defensive Buzzes

Jul 29, 2020 by News Staff

Buzzing by buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris audax) workers during pollen foraging is much more powerful than that used for defense or flight, according...

The Jonah’s mouse lemur (Microcebus jonahi). Image credit: Stephen D. Nash / IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group / D. Schüßler.

Scientists Discover New Species of Mouse Lemur

Jul 29, 2020 by Natali Anderson

A species of mouse lemur believed to be new to science has been found in the tropical forests of northeastern Madagascar. Outer morphology of the Jonah’s...

Magnified image showing microbes revived from 101.5 million-year-old (Cretaceous period) sediment. Image credit: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

Biologists Revive 101.5-Million-Year-Old Microbes

Jul 28, 2020 by News Staff

A team of biologists from Japan and the United States has successfully revived aerobic microbes found in 101.5-million-year-old sediments from the abyssal...

Overview of bacterial biotransformation of the odorless physiological malodor precursor Cys-Gly-3M3SH, which is secreted onto the surface of skin by underarm apocrine glands, subcutaneously located in the hypodermis. In Staphylococcus hominis, Cys-Gly-3M3SH is actively transported by the di-/tri-peptide transporter (DtpT) along with the movement of protons (1). Once inside the cell the terminal glycine is cleaved by a dipeptidase (PepA) to release Cys-3M3SH (2), which is metabolized by a C-S β-lyase liberating volatile 3M3SH (3), which diffuses or is exported out of the cell (4). The catabolism of Cys-Gly-3M3SH provides carbon and nitrogen as nutritional incentive in the form of glycine, ammonia and pyruvate. Image credit: Rudden et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-68860-z.

Key Enzyme behind Human Underarm Malodor Identified

Jul 28, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers from the University of York, the University of St Andrews and Unilever R&D has discovered a unique enzyme responsible for the...

Tetragonula carbonaria worker bees are observed to spend time clustered at the growing edges of terraces. Image credit: Tim Heard.

Stingless Tetragonula Bees Build Their Combs Like a Crystal

Jul 27, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

According to a new study led by University of Cambridge researchers, the processes that drive atoms or molecules to aggregate as a crystal have the same...

The Cinder Cones seep, the Ross Sea, Antarctica: the white microbial mats are telltale signs of areas where methane may be released from underground methane deposits. Image credit: Andrew Thurber, Oregon State University.

Scientists Discover Antarctica’s First Active Methane Seep

Jul 24, 2020 by News Staff

A team of marine ecologists from Oregon State University has described the formation and development of a new methane seep — a location where methane...

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