Biology News

Male Costa’s Hummingbirds ‘Sing’ with Their Tail Feathers

Male Costa’s hummingbirds (Calypte costae), like the one shown here, court females using a high-speed dive in which they sing with their tail feather. Image credit: Alan D. Wilson / CC BY-SA 2.5.
Apr 16, 2018 by News Staff

The Costa’s hummingbird (Calypte costae) is a small species of hummingbird endemic to the far west region of the United States and Mexico. During breeding season, male Costa’s hummingbirds perform a high-speed dive during which they ‘sing’ to potential mates using their tail feathers. Unlike related species, male Costa’s perform their dives to the side of females, rather than in front of them. In a new study, a duo of scientists from the...

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Stonefish are packing switchblades in their faces. Image credit: Frank am Main / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Stonefish Have Switchblade-Like Defensive System, Researchers Say

Apr 13, 2018 by News Staff

A team of marine biologists from the University of Kansas and the Field Museum, Chicago has discovered a remarkable defensive system — ‘lachrymal...

CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing can cause hundreds of unintended mutations. Image credit: Lisichik.

‘Junk’ DNA Plays Crucial Role in Holding Genome Together: Study

Apr 12, 2018 by News Staff

A new study published online in the journal eLife indicates that satellite DNA — commonly called ‘junk’ DNA — performs the vital function...

Incredibly sophisticated series of vocal repertoires and acoustic systems of beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) suggest that they are capable of forming very complex relationships and groups. Image credit: Lisa Barry, NOAA / NMFS / AFSC / MML.

Beluga Whales Value Culture and Family Ties: Study

Apr 10, 2018 by News Staff

In a groundbreaking genetic kinship study, a research team led by the Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute is the first...

Shi et al revealed diverse virus-host associations across the entire evolutionary history of the vertebrates. Image credit: Monoar Rahman Rony.

New Research Changes Understanding of Virus Origins and Evolution

Apr 9, 2018 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Australia and China has found that many of the viruses infecting us today have ancient evolutionary histories that date back...

African breadfruit (Treculia africana) sharing: a party is gathered around the owner (a male). Image credit: LuiKotale Bonobo Project / Barbara Fruth.

Study Documents First Observation of Bonobos Sharing Meat with Neighbors

Apr 6, 2018 by News Staff

Bonobos (Pan paniscus) are willing to share meat with members of neighboring communities. This unusual behavior, documented in a study in the journal Human...

Study: Japanese Macaques Bathe in Hot Springs to Reduce Cold-Climate Stress

Apr 4, 2018 by News Staff

Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata), also known as snow monkeys, are the world’s most northerly species of non-human primates. They have been enjoying...

Mature BsV virion: DNA containing core is surrounded by two membranous layers; the capsid consists of at least two proteinaceous layers; the bright halo hints to the presence of short fibers; the top vertex of the virion contains a possible stargate structure. Scale bar - 100 nm. Image credit: Deeg et al, doi: 10.7554/eLife.33014.

Bodo saltans Virus: Researchers Find Microzooplankton-Infecting Giant Virus

Apr 2, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of British Columbia in Canada has isolated and characterized the Bodo saltans virus, a giant virus that infects...

Athanasiadou et al show that the nanostructure of the eggshell changes during egg incubation, weakening the shell for chick hatching. Image credit: Ilona Couleur.

Scientists Describe Nanostructure, Mechanical Properties of Chicken Eggshell

Apr 2, 2018 by News Staff

Over their short lifetimes though, bird eggshells change their strength: they get thinner and weaker before hatching begins. Now, an international team...

A green turtle swiping the stinging jellyfish (Cyanea barkeri) in the water column at Hook Island, Queensland, Australia, taken June 2017. Image credit: Fujii et al, doi: 10.7717/peerj.4565.

Study: Marine Turtles Use Their Flippers to Manipulate Prey

Mar 29, 2018 by News Staff

According to a new study published online in the journal PeerJ, foraging marine turtles use flippers to handle prey despite the limbs being evolutionarily...

The bootlace worm (Lineus longissimus). Image credit: Cédric Audibert / AnimalBase Project Group, www.animalbase.uni-goettingen.de.

Bootlace Worm: Earth’s Longest Animal Produces Powerful Toxin

Mar 27, 2018 by News Staff

The bootlace worm (Lineus longissimus) — the longest animal on Earth — produces a neurotoxin that can kill both crabs and cockroaches, a team...

A pair of fanfin anglers (Caulophryne jordani). Image credit: Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation.

First-Ever Footage of Mating Anglerfish Stuns Marine Biologists

Mar 26, 2018 by News Staff

A newly-released video, captured in the waters around Portugal’s Azores islands, shows a pair of deep-sea anglerfish called the fanfin angler (Caulophryne...

Pilot et al showed that around 60% of Eurasian grey wolf genomes carried small blocks of the DNA of domestic dogs, suggesting that wolves cross-bred with dogs in past generations. Image credit: J. C.

New Study Reveals Extent of Cross-Breeding between Domestic Dogs and Wolves

Mar 22, 2018 by News Staff

University of Lincoln researcher Malgorzata Pilot and colleagues have found small blocks of dog ancestry in the genomes of 62% Eurasian grey wolves. Published...

The Waorani dog-faced bat (Cynomops tonkigui) in Ecuador. Image credit: Diego Tirira.

Two New Dog-Faced Bat Species Discovered

Mar 19, 2018 by News Staff

Two new species of dog-faced bats have been discovered in the tropical forests of Central and South America. Both new species are described in the March...

The hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus). Image credit: Brian Gratwicke / CC BY 2.0.

Hogfish Can ‘See’ with Its Skin

Mar 13, 2018 by News Staff

Researchers have long suspected that color-changing animals like hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) don’t just rely on their eyes to tune their appearance...

This image is the crystal structure of Photosystem I. Image credit: Tanai Cardona.

Oxygenic Photosynthesis May Have Originated Earlier than Thought

Mar 7, 2018 by News Staff

Dr. Tanai Cardona, a researcher with Imperial College London, UK, studied molecular machines responsible for oxygenic photosynthesis and found the process...

The South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa). Image credit: OpenCage / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Primitive Air-Breathing Fish Share Mechanisms Controlling Heart with Mammals

Mar 6, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has discovered that systems enabling the South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa) to control blood flow during...

Saxifraga sempervivum, a species of alpine plant in Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, ‘produces pure vaterite.’ Image credit: Paul Aston.

Biologists Find Rare and Unstable Mineral Vaterite in Alpine Plants

Mar 6, 2018 by News Staff

A team of biologists from the University of Cambridge, UK, has found that a very rare and unstable mineral called vaterite is a dominant component of the...

Macrobiotus shonaicus. Scale bars in μm. Image credit: Stec et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192210.

New Species of Tardigrade Found in Japan

Mar 5, 2018 by Natali Anderson

An international team of biologists from Poland and Japan has discovered and described a new species of tardigrade. Details of the micro-animal’s discovery...

Borowicz et al found that the Danger Islands have 751,527 pairs of Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) -- more than the rest of the entire Antarctic Peninsula region combined. Image credit: Rachael Herman, Louisiana State University / Stony Brook University.

Scientists Find Mega-Colony of Adélie Penguins in Antarctica

Mar 5, 2018 by News Staff

A recent expedition to the Danger Islands, a chain of remote islands off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, used new technologies to discover...

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