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A gloomy octopus (Octopus tetricus) projects silt and kelp through the water. Image credit: Godfrey-Smith et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276482.

Octopuses Witnessed Throwing Silt, Shells and Algae around Themselves and at Each Other

Nov 10, 2022 by News Staff

Wild gloomy octopuses (Octopus tetricus), a medium-sized benthic octopus species common in temperate waters around Australia and New Zealand, frequently...

Macrobiotus naginae. Scale bar - 100 μm. Image credit: Daniel Stec.

New Species of Sand Dune-Dwelling Tardigrade Discovered in Finland

Nov 10, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Scientists have described a new species of the Macrobiotus pseudohufelandi complex from sand dunes of inland Finland. Macrobiotus naginae. Scale bar –...

Cymatioa cooki. Image credit: P. Valentich-Scott & J.H.R. Goddard, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1128.95139.

Fossil Clam Species Found Living Off Southern California

Nov 8, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Cymatioa cooki, a species of small bivalve mollusk previously only known from the Pleistocene period, has been found living intertidally near Santa Barbara,...

Asgard archaeon. Scale bar - 500 nm. Image credit: Imachi et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1916-6.

Human Enzyme Evolved from Ancient Single-Celled Organisms, Study Suggests

Nov 7, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

AK6, an enzyme found in the nucleus of human cells, contains clear traces of single-celled organisms called Asgard archaea, according to new research led...

Thismia mantiqueirensis, detail of flower in diagonal view, evidencing the upper disc of the floral tube and perianth lamellae. Image credit: E. Muscat.

New Species of Fairy Lantern Found in Brazilian Rainforest

Nov 3, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Scientists have described a new species of the flowering plant genus Thismia from a forest in the Mantiqueira mountains in southeast Brazil. Thismia mantiqueirensis,...

This colorized photo shows American President Theodore Roosevelt standing behind the carcass of a rhinocerous. Image credit: U.S. Library of Congress.

Rhino Horns Have Gradually Decreased in Size over Past Century, Image-Based Study Shows

Nov 2, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Rhinos are among the most charismatic and well-known mammals on Earth, but they face extinction because of human activities. To learn how to save rhinos,...

The Principe scops-owl (Otus bikegila): an adult rufous morph (left) in the typical posture and an adult gray-brown morph (right) in a stress posture, when it raises the ear tufts to increase the efficiency of camouflage. Image credit: Marco N. Correia.

New Species of Scops-Owl Discovered in Africa

Nov 1, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Ornithologists have discovered a new species of the scops-owl genus Otus inhabiting the forests of Príncipe Island, part of the Democratic Republic of...

Dravidacris annamalaica: (a) dorsal view, (b) lateral view, (c) dorsal view of the horn and head, (d) frontal view of horn and head, (e) lateral view of horn and head. Image credit: H Sankararaman.

Newly-Identified Grasshopper Species Has Sword-Like Head

Nov 1, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Scientists in India have described a new genus and species of unicorn pygmy grasshopper from Tamil Nadu, one of the southern Indian states. Dravidacris...

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis). Image credit: David Harin / Duke Lemur Center.

Aye-Ayes Use Their Elongated Fingers to Pick Their Nose, Scientists Say

Oct 31, 2022 by News Staff

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a species of strepsirrhine primate closely related to lemurs and the largest nocturnal primate in the world. The...

Leioproctus zephyr. Image credit: Kit Prendergast.

Newly-Described Species of Australian Native Bee Has Dog-Like ‘Snout’

Oct 31, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Curtin University researcher Kit Prendergast has named the new bee species Leioproctus zephyr, after her pet dog Zephyr after noticing a protruding part...

Ball-rolling action by a buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Dona et al., doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.013.

Behavioral Phenomenon in Bumblebees Resembles Object Play

Oct 28, 2022 by Natali Anderson

New research led by Queen Mary University of London shows that rolling of wooden balls by buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) fulfils behavioral...

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Chances of Finding Ancient Bacteria on Mars are Better than Previously Expected: Study

Oct 27, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Radiation resistance of microbes is a key parameter in considering survivability of microbes over geologic times on the frigid, arid surface of Mars that...

A pup of the harbor seal (Phoca vitulina). Image credit: Ian Capper / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Seals Have Sense of Rhythm, New Research Reveals

Oct 27, 2022 by News Staff

In a new study published this week in the journal Biology Letters, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and elsewhere tested...

Choanate vertebrates’ acoustic communication ancestral state reconstruction analysis: tree includes 1,800 choanatian species assigned either with the character presence or absence of acoustic communication; pie charts at ancestral nodes indicate likelihood of each character state; colors in the spectrograms represent sound intensity, with warm colors representing high intensity and cold colors (i.e. blue) representing low intensity or absence of sounds. Image credit: Jorgewich-Cohen et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33741-8.

Acoustic Communication May Have Appeared as Early as 407 Million Years Ago

Oct 26, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Acoustic communication, broadly distributed among vertebrates, plays a fundamental role in parental care, mate attraction and various other behaviors....

A male Wakatobi sunbird. Image credit: Nicola Marples & David Kelly, Trinity College Dublin.

Scientists Discover Several New Species of Sunbirds

Oct 25, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Ornithologists from Trinity College Dublin and the Universitas Halu Oleo have identified several cryptic species in two sunbird genera, Cinnyris and Leptocoma. A...

Cats can discriminate speech specifically addressed to them from speech addressed to adult humans. Image credit: D.L. JackieLou.

Cats Know When Their Owners are Talking to Them, Study Suggests

Oct 25, 2022 by News Staff

A study performed on a cohort of 16 companion cats suggests that cats can discriminate speech specifically addressed to them from speech addressed to adult...

Honeybee swarm and atmospheric electricity. Image credit: Ellard Hunting.

Insect Swarms Contribute to Atmospheric Electricity, New Research Shows

Oct 25, 2022 by News Staff

The Earth’s atmosphere is always electrified to a greater or lesser extent, even in fair weather away from thunderstorms. By measuring the electrical...

Danaus plexippus. Image credit: Gyulche1.

Study: Ancient Junk DNA Contributes to Diversity of Butterfly Wings

Oct 25, 2022 by News Staff

In the 1920s, biologists proposed that butterfly wing pattern diversity evolved as variations of a ground plan of pattern elements that vary in color,...

Drone image of car driving through the NamibRand Nature Reserve, one of the fairy-circle regions in Namibia where Getzin et al. undertook grass excavations, soil-moisture and infiltration measurements. Image credit: Stephan Getzin.

Plant Water Stress Causes Fairy Circles in Namib Desert, Study Says

Oct 24, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research led by University of Göttingen scientists shows that grass death in fairy circles occurs immediately after rainfall due to plant water stress...