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This family tree of Earth’s lifeforms is considered a first draft of the 3.5-billion-year history of how life evolved and diverged. Colors represent proportion of lineages represented in databases of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Image credit: Cody E. Hinchliff et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1423041112.

Researchers Create Tree of Life for More Than Two Million Species

Sep 21, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from eleven institutions in the U.S. has produced a first draft of the ‘tree of life’ for 2.34 million species...

New Genus, Four New Species of Huntsman Spiders Discovered in Southern Africa

Sep 16, 2015 by News Staff

German arachnologists have described a new genus and four species of huntsman spiders from South Africa and Namibia. May bruno. Image credit: Dirk Kunz. Only...

Tasiilaq, Greenland. Image credit: Christine Zenino / CC BY 2.0.

New Study Finds Mosquitoes Thriving in Greenland

Sep 16, 2015 by News Staff

Warming temperatures are causing mosquitoes in Greenland to grow faster and emerge earlier, boosting their population and threatening the caribou they...

Green turtles swimming in the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Image credit: © Troy Mayne.

Marine Populations in Serious Decline Worldwide: WWF Report

Sep 16, 2015 by News Staff

WWF’s Living Blue Planet Report provides the most accurate picture of the state of the ocean, and the results are not very good. The report, released...

A pair of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) at Bird Kingdom, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Image credit: Keith Gerstung / CC BY 2.0.

Speed-Dating for Zebra Finches Reveals Evolutionary Importance of Love

Sep 15, 2015 by News Staff

A new study is attempting to answer one of mankind’s oldest questions: why does love exist? A pair of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) at Bird Kingdom,...

The Kimberley death adder (Acanthophis cryptamydros). Image credit: Ryan J. Ellis.

New Species of Venomous Snake Discovered in Australia

Sep 14, 2015 by News Staff

Scientists have discovered a new species of snake in the Kimberley region, north-western Australia. The Kimberley death adder (Acanthophis cryptamydros)....

Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) off the coast of Mauritius. Image credit: Gabriel Barathieu / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Sperm Whales Have Their Own Culture, Marine Biologists Say

Sep 11, 2015 by News Staff

Culture in animal societies is a highly debated topic. Some scientists think it’s clear enough, while others don’t think the word ‘culture’ should...

Mollivirus sibericum particle at a late assembly stage. The particle is crowned with several fuzzy rings, and different tegument layers are visible. Image credit: Matthieu Legendre et al.

Mollivirus sibericum: Scientists Discover New Giant Virus

Sep 9, 2015 by News Staff

The saga of giant Acanthamoeba-infecting viruses started in 2003 with the discovery of Mimivirus. Two additional types of giant viruses have been discovered...

A New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) uses a twig. Image credit: Jolyon Troscianko.

Scientists Find Evidence of Social Learning among New Caledonian Crows

Sep 9, 2015 by News Staff

New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) make and use tools, and tool types vary over geographic landscapes. How the birds transmit knowledge to each...

Common degus (Octodon degus). Image credit: Arjan Haverkamp / CC BY 2.0.

Huddling Rodents Behave as ‘Super-Organism,’ Researchers Say

Sep 8, 2015 by News Staff

Rodents such as rats and mice huddle together to keep warm. In a new study published in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology, scientists...

In-situ image of giant file clams Acesta cryptadelphe, from the Gully, located approximately 140 miles off Nova Scotia, to the east of Sable Island, on the edge of the Scotian Shelf. Image credit: Jean-Marc Gagnon et al.

New Species of Giant File Clam Discovered

Sep 7, 2015 by News Staff

A team of marine biologists from Canada has described a new cryptic species of giant file clam, Acesta cryptadelphe, originally collected from the waters...

The new study shows that while dogs perceive their owners as a safe base, the relationship between people and their cats appears to be quite different. Image credit: Kitty Green / CC BY-SA 2.0.

New Study Shows Why Domestic Cats Are More Independent than Dogs

Sep 7, 2015 by News Staff

Adult cats (Felis silvestris catus) are typically quite autonomous, even in their social relationships, and not necessarily dependent on others to provide...

This photo shows the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus). Image credit: Shiny Things / CC BY 2.0.

Fishing Cat Spotted in Cambodia for First Time in More Than Decade

Sep 4, 2015 by News Staff

Spotted by researchers from Cambodia’s Centre for Biodiversity Conservation, the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) – a medium-sized wild cat...

Tushi used a stick to attack the drone; behind her Raimee is also sitting with a long stick. Image credit: Jan A. R. A. M. van Hooff / Bas Lukkenaar.

Scientists: Chimpanzees Are Able to Plan Ahead, Use Tools as Weapons

Sep 4, 2015 by News Staff

In April 2015, a TV crew was filming at the Royal Burgers Zoo in the Netherlands. It was the intention to film chimps in the enclosure from close-by and...

Scientists estimate that about 1.39 trillion trees exist in tropical and subtropical forests, 0.74 trillion in boreal regions and 0.61 trillion in temperate regions.

Study: Earth Has More Than 3 Trillion Trees

Sep 2, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published today in Nature, there are 3,041 billion trees on our planet, but over 15 billion trees are cut down each year, and...

The physonect siphonophore Nanomia bijuga. Image credit: John H. Costello et al.

Colonial Siphonophores are Multi-Jet Swimming Machines, Say Scientists

Sep 2, 2015 by News Staff

In a paper published online in Nature Communications, scientists detail how colonial siphonophores – gelatinous planktonic organisms related to jellyfish,...

Australian and British scientists have assessed how widespread the threat of plastic is for the world’s seabirds, including albatrosses, shearwaters and penguins. Image credit: Brian Gratwicke / CC BY 2.0.

Majority of Seabird Species Have Plastic in Their Stomachs, Study Finds

Sep 1, 2015 by News Staff

Nearly 60% of all seabird species, including albatrosses, shearwaters and penguins, have plastic in their gut, according to a new study published in the...

Leucothoe eltoni, male. Image credit: James Thomas.

New Species of Shrimp-Like Crustacean Named after Elton John

Aug 27, 2015 by News Staff

A newly-discovered species of leucothoid amphipod has been named after British singer and composer Sir Elton John. Leucothoe eltoni, male. Image credit:...

This false-color image shows household dust under a microscope. Image credit: NIAID.

Scientists: House Dust Can Reveal Region, Gender Ratio of Residents, Presence of Pet

Aug 26, 2015 by News Staff

The dust in our homes contains more than 5,000 different species of bacteria and around 2,000 species of fungi, according to a team of scientists who investigated...