Biology News

Nov 6, 2012 by Natali Anderson

A Goffin’s cockatoo named Figaro makes and uses stick-type tools to rake in food, manufacturing them from different materials and displaying different steps and techniques, biologists from the University of Oxford and the University of Vienna say. Figaro, the cockatoo that makes and uses stick-type tools to rake in food (Alice M.I. Auersperg et al) Figaro, who has been reared in captivity and lives near Vienna, uses his powerful beak to cut...

Nov 5, 2012 by Natali Anderson

A team of scientists led by Dr Lonny Lundsten of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Moss Landing, California, has discovered an extraordinary...

Nov 2, 2012 by Natali Anderson

According to an international team of biologists, an Asian elephant named Koshik can imitate human speech. This image shows Dr Angela Stoeger and Dr Daniel...

Nov 1, 2012 by Natali Anderson

A new study led by Monash University’s Dr Kaspar Delhey has provided new insights into why some birds of the Maluridae family are radiantly blue. Birds...

Oct 31, 2012 by Natali Anderson

Dr Rogério Bertani, a tarantula specialist with the Instituto Butantan in Sao Paulo, has reported the discovery of nine species of tree-dwelling tarantulas. Female...

Oct 30, 2012 by Natali Anderson

The elusive West African Seahorse, Hippocampus algiricus, has been filmed for the first time off the coast of Senegal by Imperial College London’s student...

Oct 29, 2012 by Natali Anderson

Australian National University biologists have found a new species of skink hidden among the sand dunes of Western Australia’s coastline. The Coastal...

Oct 26, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

A team of scientists at the University of Helsinki, Finland, has discovered stem cells that play a decisive role in new blood vessel growth. This image...

Oct 25, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

A new species of egg-eating sea snake has been recently discovered in a formalin-filled jar in the Copenhagen Natural History Museum, Denmark. This is...

Oct 23, 2012 by Natali Anderson

A new genus of ferns found in Central and South America, Mexico, Arizona and Texas, has been named for Lady Gaga, an American singer and songwriter. Lady...

Oct 22, 2012 by Natali Anderson

Researchers at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego have discovered that white whales can imitate the voices of humans. The beluga or white...

Oct 22, 2012 by Natali Anderson

A team of biologists has discovered a new species of bubble-nesting fighting fish in Samut Sakhon Province, Thailand. Male B. mahachaiensis displaying...

Oct 19, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro

Australian scientists have shown that an enzyme called tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), which plays a vital role in the removal of blood clots,...

Oct 18, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

An arachnologist from Germany has discovered a harvestman with a leg span of more than 13 inches (33 cm) during a research trip to Laos. This is a harvestman...

Oct 16, 2012 by Natali Anderson

A coral specialist from the Netherlands has reported the discovery of a new coral species that lives on the ceilings of caves in Indo-Pacific coral reefs. This...

Oct 11, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of biologists led by Dr Yuen Ip of the National University of Singapore has discovered that Chinese soft-shelled turtles, Pelodiscus sinensis, effectively...

Oct 2, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of entomologists has discovered a potentially dangerous new malaria-transmitting mosquito. A study, published in the journal Emerging...

Oct 1, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to marine biologists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), a ‘vampire squid’ called Vampyroteuthis infernalis uses two...

Sep 27, 2012 by Natali Anderson

With a bulbous body and spiky scales, a shaggy lure dangling from its head, and foot-like fins that it uses to walk along the seafloor, the deep-sea anglerfish...

Sep 24, 2012 by Natali Anderson

An international team of microbiologists has discovered that some gut microbes increase the absorption of dietary fats, allowing the host organism to extract...