Biology News

Researchers Create 3D Atlas of Dodo’s Skeletal Anatomy

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) by Frederick William Frohawk, 1905.
Mar 25, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational team of scientists has created the first 3D atlas of the skeletal anatomy of the dodo (Raphus cucullatus), based upon two exceptional skeletons. The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) by Frederick William Frohawk, 1905. The dodo is an extinct flightless bird that lived on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. It was about 1 m tall, weighed 10-23 kg, and had blue-gray plumage, a big head, a long bill, small useless wings, stout yellow legs, and...

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Myloplus zorroi: female (upper image) and male. Image credit: Douglas Bastos / Andrade M.C. et al.

Myloplus zorroi: New Species of Pacu Discovered in Rio Madeira Basin

Mar 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Scientists led by Dr. Marcelo Andrade of the Universidade Federal do Para report that they have discovered a new species of omnivorous freshwater fish...

This electron micrograph shows particles of the Phoenix provirus resurrected from human DNA in 2006. Scale bar - 200 nm (Marie Dewannieux et al).

Nineteen New Pieces of Ancient Retroviral DNA Found in Human Genome

Mar 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Nineteen previously unidentified pieces of non-human DNA — left by retroviruses that first infected human ancestors hundreds of thousands of years...

The Barbados bullfinch (Loxigilla barbadensis). Image credit: Postdlf / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Urban Birds are Smarter than Their Rural Counterparts, Say Ornithologists

Mar 22, 2016 by News Staff

Birds living in urban environments are smarter than their country counterparts, says a group of ornithologists at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The...

Scientists Find ‘Fairy Circles’ in Australia

Mar 16, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Stephan Getzin of the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Germany, has announced the exciting...

New Species of Shieldtail Snake Discovered in India

Mar 12, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of snake, named the Khaire’s black shieldtail (Melanophidium khairei), has been discovered in India. The Khaire’s black shieldtail (Melanophidium...

Ideonella sakaiensis. Image credit: Shosuke Yoshida et al.

Ideonella sakaiensis: Newly-Discovered Bacterium Can Break Down, Metabolize Plastic

Mar 11, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

According to a group of biologists in Japan, the newfound species — named Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6 — breaks down the plastic by using two...

Retrovirus particles budding from rhesus macaque placenta cells. Image credit: Dorothy Feldman, via aacrjournals.org.

Biologists Uncover History of Ancient Retroviruses as Far Back as 33 Million Years Ago

Mar 9, 2016 by News Staff

A group of scientists at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, has reconstructed the natural history of a specific retrovirus lineage — ERV-Fc — that...

The white hydra (Hydra vulgaris). Image credit: Corvana / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Researchers Discover How Tiny Hydra Opens Its Mouth

Mar 9, 2016 by News Staff

Researchers at the University of California have uncovered in detail the dynamic process that allows the hydra — a simple freshwater animal famous...

New study provides the first experimental evidence for compositional syntax in a wild animal species, the Japanese tit (Parus minor). Image credit: Toshitaka Suzuki.

Scientists: Japanese Tits Speak in Phrases

Mar 8, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Japanese tits combine their calls using specific rules to communicate important compound messages, says an international group of ornithologists led by...

According to Dr. Vecchione and his colleagues, this ghostlike octopus is an undescribed species. Image credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Hohonu Moana.

Previously Unknown Species of Octopus Caught on Camera near Hawaii

Mar 7, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A team of marine scientists working off the northeast coast of Necker Island, the Hawaiian Archipelago, has encountered a new-to-science species of deep-sea...

Image credit: Anthony Parenti et al.

Scientists Discover New Kind of Stem Cell: iXEN

Mar 4, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers led by Michigan State University biochemist and molecular biologist Amy Ralston has discovered a new kind of stem cell — induced...

An American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) attempting to catch a raccoon (Procyon lotor) on a bait station in southwest Florida. Image credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Breeding Birds and Alligators Help Each Other in Everglades, Say Researchers

Mar 3, 2016 by News Staff

Long-legged wading birds that nest above resident American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) for protection from mammalian nest predators may also...

This false-color image shows human chromosomes (green) capped by telomeres (red). Image credit: U.S. Department of Energy Human Genome Program.

Aging Begins in Womb, New Study Suggests

Mar 2, 2016 by News Staff

A new study in rats led by Dr. Beth Allison of the University of Cambridge, UK, suggests that the aging clock begins ticking even before we are born and...

Rafflesia consueloae. Image credit: Edwino S. Fernando.

Rafflesia consueloae: New Species of Giant Rafflesia Discovered

Feb 27, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A new species of the plant genus Rafflesia – R. consueloae — has been described from the Philippine Island of Luzon by a team of scientists led...

The dodo (Raphus cucullatus) by Frederick William Frohawk, 1905.

Dodo Bird Was Not So Stupid After All

Feb 24, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

According to a new study in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, an extinct bird known as the dodo (Raphus cucullatus) was in fact relatively...

A Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) in Vienna Zoo, Austria. Image credit: Robert F. Tobler / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Single Birds Are Healthier Than Those in Pairs, Say Ornithologists

Feb 23, 2016 by News Staff

According to a team of ornithologists led by University of Vienna scientist Didone Frigerio, laying eggs and raising chicks can have a negative effect...

The Iberian grass snake (Natrix astreptophora). Image credit: Wolfgang Böhme.

Iberian Grass Snake: Cryptic New Species of Snake Identified

Feb 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists from Czech Republic, France and Germany has identified a cryptic new species of grass snake living in the North African...

The sea butterfly (Limacina helicina). Image credit: Russ Hopcroft, Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks / NOAA.

Sea Butterflies Swim Like Flying Insects, Scientists Say

Feb 20, 2016 by News Staff

Zooplanktonic sea butterflies (Limacina helicina) ‘fly’ underwater using the same technique as tiny flying insects, beating their wings in a figure-of-eight...

Electron microscopy of the bat cell line identifies viral particles that appear to be BGHV8: black and red boxes highlight enlarged regions directly below the image above; both areas identify budding and fully budded herpesvirus virions. Image credit: Reed S. Shabman et al.

Scientists Discover Novel Herpes Virus in Bats

Feb 18, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists, led by Dr. Reed Shabman of the J. Craig Venter Institute and Prof. Christopher Basler of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,...

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