Biology News

Bees Have Profound Influence on Plant Evolution, Researchers Say

The study by Florian Schiestl and Daniel Gervasi focuses on the role insect pollinators can play in plant evolution, and how speedy that evolution can be. Image credit: Alexas.
Mar 14, 2017 by News Staff

After only nine generations, the same plant species is larger and more fragrant if pollinated by bumblebees rather than flies, according to University of Zurich evolutionary biologists Florian Schiestl and Daniel Gervasi. The study by Florian Schiestl and Daniel Gervasi focuses on the role insect pollinators can play in plant evolution, and how speedy that evolution can be. Image credit: Alexas. For their experiments, Gervasi and Prof. Schiestl used...

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Young Tasmanian devil. Image credit: Keres H. / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Researchers Find Potential Cure for Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease

Mar 13, 2017 by News Staff

A study led by University of Tasmania researchers Cesar Tovar and Gregory Woods has shown that immunotherapy can cure Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii)...

Castle-Miller et al have discovered how animals link the change in seasons to their fertility.

Researchers Discover How Animals Measure Annual Time to Reproduce

Mar 8, 2017 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals the link between breeding season and the hormone melatonin,...

True’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus). Image credit: Roland Edler, Duisburg Zoo.

Extremely Rare True’s Beaked Whale Caught on Video

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

The True’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus) is a poorly known member of the family Ziphiidae, second largest family of cetaceans (which includes whales,...

Avicularia merianae, female. Image credit: H.-W. Auer.

Three New Tarantula Species Discovered in South America

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

Brazilian taxonomists have discovered and described three new species of the ‘bird-eating’ tarantula genus Avicularia from Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Avicularia...

According to Yovanovich et al, frogs can see color in extreme darkness, down to the absolute threshold of the visual system. Image credit: Sonja Pauen / CC BY 2.0.

Frogs Have Unique Ability to See Color in Extreme Darkness, Study Shows

Mar 6, 2017 by News Staff

Frogs have the ability to see color even when it is so dark that humans are not able to see anything at all, according to a new study published in the...

African elephants. Image credit: Ro Dobby.

Shortest-Sleeping Mammal? African Elephants Sleep Only Two Hours Per Day

Mar 2, 2017 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal PLoS ONE has revealed that wild African elephants (Loxodonta africana) sleep an average of two hours a day and regularly...

Fructose, a simple sugar, is generated in the human brain, according to Hwang et al. Image credit: Pete Linforth / Sci-News.com.

Study: Brain Produces Fructose from Glucose

Feb 24, 2017 by News Staff

According to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers, fructose is converted in the human brain from glucose. The finding, published in the journal...

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). Image credit: Jason Buchner.

Researchers Find Antimicrobial Substances in Komodo Dragon Blood

Feb 23, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the College of Science at George Mason University has detected 48 antimicrobial peptides in the blood plasma of Komodo dragons...

The 12.2-mm-long Nyctibatrachus robinmoorei sitting on the Indian 5-rupee coin (24 mm diameter) is one of the new species discovered from the Western Ghats of India. Image credit: SD Biju.

Seven New Species of Night Frogs Discovered in India

Feb 21, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Seven new species of the genus Nyctibatrachus (Night frogs) have been discovered in the Western Ghats global biodiversity hotspot in India. Seven new species...

According to Brian Chin et al, married people have lower cortisol levels and steeper slopes than the unmarried ones. Image credit: Olessya.

Study: Married People Have Lower Levels of Stress Hormone Cortisol

Feb 14, 2017 by News Staff

A study led by Carnegie Mellon University researchers provides the first biological evidence to explain how marriage impacts health. According to Brian...

Model depicting the FLP-7/NPR-22 neuroendocrine axis that underlies the 5-HTergic control of body fat loss. In the nervous system, an integrated 5-HT and octopaminergic circuit stimulates body fat loss. In this study, we report the discovery of a tachykinin signalling system that underlies the 5-HTergic control of body fat loss in C. elegans. The FLP-7 neuroendocrine peptide is secreted from the ASI neurons in response to 5-HT and Oct-mediated signalling. The nutrient sensor AAK-2/AMPK acts in the ASI neurons via the CREB co-regulator CRTC-1 to regulate FLP-7 release in response to 5-HT-encoded signals of food availability. Upon release, FLP-7 acts in the intestine via the NPR-22/NK2R receptor to stimulate the ATGL-1 lipase, which drives fat loss. The identification of FLP-7 and NPR-22 addresses a long-standing question about the molecular basis of the central effects of 5-HT on fat loss in peripheral tissues. Image credit: Lavinia Palamiuc et al, doi: 10.1038/ncomms14237.

Scientists Identify Brain-Signaling Molecule that Triggers Fat Burning

Feb 8, 2017 by News Staff

A research team led by Scripps Research Institute scientist Dr. Supriya Srinivasan has identified a brain hormone that appears to trigger fat burning in...

Geckolepis megalepis in life. Image credit: Frank Glaw.

Geckolepis megalepis: New Gecko Species Has Exceptionally Large, Fish-Like Scales

Feb 7, 2017 by News Staff

A bizarre new species of the fish-scale gecko genus Geckolepis has been found living in the ‘tsingy’ karst formations of northern Madagascar. Geckolepis...

The Sheth’s dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus shethi) at Ankarana Special Reserve, Madagascar. Image credit: Richard Randriamampionona.

Cheirogaleus shethi: New Species of Dwarf Lemur Found in Madagascar

Feb 6, 2017 by Natali Anderson

A new dwarf lemur species has been discovered in the dry and transitional forests of northern Madagascar, according to a paper published in the latest...

Close-up of critically endangered Dryas monkeys (Cercopithecus dryas) now inhabiting the Lomami National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Image credit: Pablo Ayali, Lukuru Foundation.

Critically Endangered Dryas Monkeys Caught on Video

Feb 3, 2017 by News Staff

Using camera traps, primatologists from the Lukuru Foundation Tshuapa-Lomani-Lualaba (TL2) Project are the first to capture video footage of a previously...

A northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens) catches a cricket. Image credit: Candler Hobbs.

Unique Reversible Saliva Keeps Frog Tongues Sticky

Feb 2, 2017 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, a frog’s saliva is thick and sticky during prey capture, then turns...

CO2-dependent dye loading of HeLa cells expressing Cx26 from human. The top images (green) show the CO2-dependent loading of 5(6)-CBF at three different levels of PCO2. The Cx26 was tagged at the C-terminal with mCherry. The bottom images (red) in each panel show the mCherry fluorescence and hence Cx26 expression corresponding to the cells that were loaded in the images above. Image credit: Elizabeth de Wolf et al, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2723.

Biologists Identify Crucial Molecule that Regulates Breathing

Feb 2, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of Warwick, UK, has identified Connexin26 (Cx26) as a key molecule that reacts to carbon dioxide (CO2) in our bodies...

At an extremely high magnification of 44,818x, this colorized scanning electron microscopic (SEM) image reveals some of the morphologic details displayed by Escherichia coli. Image credit: Janice Haney Carr / CDC.

Stable Semi-Synthetic Bacterium Created

Jan 25, 2017 by News Staff

Researchers from the United States, China and France have created what they say is the world’s first stable semi-synthetic microorganism. The research...

A pair of thylacines, a male and female, c. 1905. Image credit: Smithsonian Institutional Archives / E. J. Keller, National Zoological Park.

Thylacine Had Brain Structure Suited to Predatory Life Style

Jan 19, 2017 by News Staff

A duo of researchers from the United States and Australia has used an imaging technique to reconstruct the brain architecture and neural networks of the...

The ruby seadragon (Phyllopteryx dewysea). Image credit: Scripps Institution of Oceanography / Western Australia Museum.

Ruby Seadragon Filmed Alive in Ocean for First Time

Jan 16, 2017 by Natali Anderson

A team of marine biologists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Western Australia Museum has captured on video the first-ever field sighting...

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