Biology News

Microbiologists Discover Bacterium that Eats Manganese

This SEM image shows manganese oxide nodules generated by Candidatus Manganitrophus noduliformans. The nodules are generally about 0.1 to 0.5 mm in diameter. Image credit: Hang Yu / Caltech.
Jul 21, 2020 by News Staff

A team of microbiologists at Caltech has discovered a species of bacterium that feeds on manganese, one of the most abundant elements on Earth. This SEM image shows manganese oxide nodules generated by Candidatus Manganitrophus noduliformans. The nodules are generally about 0.1 to 0.5 mm in diameter. Image credit: Hang Yu / Caltech. “These are the first bacteria found to use manganese as their source of fuel,” said lead author Professor Jared...

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Two New Cryptic Species of Australian Sugar Gliders Discovered

Jul 21, 2020 by News Staff

A research team led by Charles Darwin University biologists has identified and raised two additional species within what is currently designated as the...

Desmacella hyaline. Image credit: Sally Leys.

New Species of Glass Sponge Discovered

Jul 20, 2020 by Natali Anderson

A research team led by University of Alberta marine biologists has discovered a new species of sea sponge living off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. Desmacella...

This deep-sea dragonfish Idiacanthus sp. has ultra-black skin capable of absorbing the bioluminescent light that might blow its cover. Image credit: Karen Osborn, Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

Biologists Identify 16 Deep-Sea Fish Species with Ultra-Black Camouflage

Jul 16, 2020 by News Staff

In a paper published today in the journal Current Biology, a team of marine biologists from the United States and the United Kingdom investigated the distribution...

Calumma tjiasmantoi. Image credit: Prötzel et al, doi: 10.26049/VZ70-1-2020-3.

Scientists Discover Three New Species of Chameleons

Jul 15, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of herpetologists from Germany and Madagascar has discovered and described three new species of chameleons from the Calumma nasutum...

A young female Andean condor (Vultur gryphus) in Argentina. Image credit: Hugo Pédel / CC BY-SA 3.0.

World’s Heaviest Soaring Bird Flaps Wings for Only 1% of Flight Time

Jul 15, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study, a team of researchers from the United Kingdom, Germany and Argentina deployed high-tech flight-recorders on the world’s heaviest extant...

Extremely Rare Cross River Gorillas Caught on Camera in Nigeria

Jul 14, 2020 by News Staff

Camera traps placed in the Mbe Mountains of Nigeria have captured stunning photos of a group of Cross River gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) with a number...

O’Corry-Crowe et al analyzed the relationship between group behaviors, group type, group dynamics, and kinship of beluga whales in 10 locations across the Arctic. Image credit: Lisa Barry / NOAA / NMFS / AFSC / MML.

Beluga Whales Form Complex Societies

Jul 13, 2020 by News Staff

Beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) have social systems to rival our own, according to new research led by marine biologists from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic...

The suprachiasmatic nucleus of a mouse. Image credit: McGill University.

Sodium Regulates Circadian Clock in Mice, New Study Shows

Jul 10, 2020 by News Staff

A new study published this week in the journal Nature shows that injecting mice with a salt solution (hypertonic saline) leads to the activation of neurons...

Wang et al created an oligo-capture system to characterize the dog DNA methylome, targeting syntenic regions of the genome conserved across all mammals. Image credit: Ideker Lab, University of California, San Diego.

One Dog Year Is Not Equivalent to Seven Human Years, Study Shows

Jul 8, 2020 by News Staff

The conventional wisdom that every year in a dog’s life equates to seven human years is wrong, according to a paper published in the journal Cell Systems....

Enamel is made up of tightly bunched, oblong crystals that are about 1,000 times smaller in width than a human hair. Image credit: Karen DeRocher, Northwestern University.

Researchers Capture Human Dental Enamel in Unprecedented Detail

Jul 6, 2020 by News Staff

A research team led by Northwestern University scientists has uncovered the structural makeup of human dental enamel at unprecedented atomic resolution,...

Structure of the upper jaw and lower jaw of the ringed caecilian (Siphonops annulatus). Image credit: Mailho-Fontana et al, doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101234.

Researchers Find Snake-Like Venom Glands in Caecilian Amphibians

Jul 3, 2020 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Brazil and the United States has found the specialized oral glands in the jaws of the ringed caecilian (Siphonops annulatus),...

Humans can smell in stereo. Image credit: Petra Pezibear.

Humans Navigate with Stereo Sense of Smell

Jun 30, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Humans have a stereo sense of smell that subconsciously guides navigation, according to new research from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy...

This is a dolphin ‘shelling.’ Image credit: Sonja Wild / Dolphin Innovation Project.

Study: Bottlenose Dolphins Learn Foraging Skills from Their Peers

Jun 29, 2020 by News Staff

Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) are not only capable of learning new ways to catch prey, but they are also motivated to learn from...

This snailfish (bottom-left of the image) at 8,145 meters is a record for the deepest fish ever filmed; small amphipods are visible in the center. Image credit: University of Aberdeen.

Scientists Find Anthropogenic Mercury in Earth’s Deepest Oceanic Trenches

Jun 23, 2020 by News Staff

Two teams of marine biologists have found methylmercury, a potent toxin that bioaccumulates in marine food webs, in sediments and endemic fauna from Mariana,...

Rhombophryne ellae. Image credit: Mark Scherz.

New Species of Diamond Frog Discovered in Madagascar

Jun 16, 2020 by News Staff

German herpetologist Mark Scherz has discovered a new species of diamond frog living in northern Madagascar. Rhombophryne ellae. Image credit: Mark Scherz. The...

Paaru, one of the red pandas tracked by the study. Image credit: James Houston, Red Panda Network.

Researchers Use GPS Collars to Track Red Pandas

Jun 14, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of scientists has conducted a GPS tracking collar study on red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) in eastern Nepal. This is the first time...

The Shirai’s spurdog (Squalus shiraii): lateral (A-C) and ventral (D, E) views. Scale bars - 50 mm. Image credit: Viana & Carvalho, doi: 10.3897/zse.96.51962.

New Species of Deep-Water Dogfish Shark Discovered

Jun 12, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

Marine biologists have discovered a new species of the shark genus Squalus in the tropical waters off southern Japan. The Shirai’s spurdog (Squalus shiraii):...

High-resolution microCT image of the chimpanzee’s os cordis. Image credit: Moittié et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66345-7.

Some Chimpanzees Have Tiny Bone in Their Heart

Jun 11, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers in the UK has discovered that some individuals of the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), particularly those affected by myocardial...

A bright pink lesser flamingo shoving a paler bird. Image credit: Paul Rose.

Pinker Lesser Flamingos are More Aggressive, New Study Says

Jun 10, 2020 by News Staff

Lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor), a species of flamingo found in sub-Saharan Africa and India, do not have a breeding season — they breed when...

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