Biology News

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Protection for African Lion

The African lion (Panthera leo leo) in Namibia. Image credit: Kevin Pluck / CC BY 2.0.
Oct 28, 2014 by News Staff

Specialists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have proposed to list the African lion (Panthera leo leo) – a symbol of majesty, courage and strength since earliest times – as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, due to habitat loss, loss of prey and increased human-lion conflicts. The African lion (Panthera leo leo) in Namibia. Image credit: Kevin Pluck / CC BY 2.0. African lions are still found across a large range in Africa,...

read more...
The Andean cock-of-the-rock (Rupicola peruviana), a species in the family Cotingidae. Image credit: Jerry Thompson / CC BY 2.0.

Ornithologists Map Family Tree of Mysterious Cotinga Birds

Oct 21, 2014 by News Staff

Yale University ornithologists Prof Richard Prum and Jacob Berv have mapped out the first large-scale evolutionary family tree for the Neotropical cotingas...

This image shows an unpigmented larva of the gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus). Image credit: Erica Staaterman.

Scientists Record Voices of Fish Larvae for First Time

Oct 18, 2014 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Biology Letters is the first to document that fish larvae produce sound. This image shows an unpigmented larva of...

A group of Nile crocodiles in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Image credit: David R. Tribble.

Crocodiles, Alligators Hunt in Groups, Scientist Says

Oct 14, 2014 by News Staff

Crocodiles and their relatives such as alligators and caimans often work in teams to hunt their prey, according to a study carried out by Dr Vladimir Dinets...

Aegista diversifamilia. Image credit: Huang C et al.

New Land Snail Species Discovered in Taiwan

Oct 13, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr Wen-Lung Wu of the Academia Sinica’s Biodiversity Research Center in Taipei has described a new species of land snail...

Minor worker of Cephalotes specularis walking on a tree in the type-locality; note the bright blue sky and clouds mirrored on the gaster. Image credit: Scott Powell.

Entomologists Discover New Form of Social Parasitism in Ants

Oct 7, 2014 by News Staff

The Mirror turtle ant (Cephalotes specularis) – an insect recently discovered in Brazil by entomologist Dr Scott Powell of the Columbian College of Arts...

The Small-spotted catsharks (Scyliorhinus canicula). Image credit: Thomas Ernst / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Sharks Have Personalities, Say UK Scientists

Oct 3, 2014 by News Staff

A new study, led by Dr David Jacoby of the Institute of Zoology in London, UK, has shown for the first time that the fearsome predators of the deep blue...

Young female of the Sonso chimp community using a moss-sponge - a behavior she learned by observing her mother. Image credit: Catherine Hobaiter.

Researchers Document Social Learning in Wild Chimps

Oct 1, 2014 by News Staff

For the first time ever, an international team of primatologists has witnessed the spread of a new tool-use behavior in a wild population of chimpanzees. Young...

The Pissinatti’s bald-faced saki (Pithecia pissinattii), at Juma Jungle Lodge, Brazil, adult male. Image credit: Crijnfotin.

Five New Species of Saki Monkeys Discovered

Sep 30, 2014 by News Staff

Primate ecologist Dr Laura Marsh of the Global Conservation Institute in Santa Fe, NM, has described five new species of the genus Pithecia (saki monkeys)...

A group of bottlenose dolphins in Xcaret, Mexico.

Bottlenose Dolphins Can Sense Magnetic Fields

Sep 30, 2014 by News Staff

Bottlenose dolphins are magnetoreceptive animals, says new research reported in the journal Naturwissenschaften. A group of bottlenose dolphins in Xcaret,...

Global wildlife populations have declined by more than half in just 40 years as measured in the Living Planet Report 2014.

Earth’s Wildlife Populations Dropped by More than Half in 40 Years – WWF Report

Sep 30, 2014 by News Staff

According to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2014, global wildlife populations have declined by 52 per cent in 40 years. Global wildlife populations have...

Andinobates geminisae. Image credit: Cesar Jaramillo / Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

Andinobates geminisae: New Species of Poison Dart Frog Discovered in Panama

Sep 29, 2014 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Germany, Colombia and Panama led by Prof Andrew Crawford of the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota has described a new species...

The Emerald rockcod (Trematomus bernacchii) is a common notothenioid species. Image credit: Zureks / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ice Crystals inside Antarctic Fishes May Never Melt

Sep 23, 2014 by News Staff

U.S. scientists headed by Dr Chi-Hing Christina Cheng of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign have discovered that the so-called ‘antifreeze’...

Bahian Mouse-Colored Tapaculo: New Bird Species Discovered in Brazil

Sep 22, 2014 by Natali Anderson

An international team of ornithologists led by Dr Marcos Bornschein of the Mater Natura-Instituto de Estudos Ambientais in Curitiba has described an endangered...

Dendrogramma: Two Unclassifiable Deep-Sea Animals Discovered off Australia

Sep 7, 2014 by Natali Anderson

According to a team of scientists from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, two species of sea-dwelling, mushroom-shaped organisms discovered off Australia...

Banded archerfish (Toxotes jaculatrix) jetting water at an insect. Image credit: Ingo Rischawy / Schuster lab / University of Bayreuth.

Excellent Sharpshooting Skills of Archerfish Amaze Ichthyologists

Sep 6, 2014 by News Staff

According to a duo of German ichthyologists reporting in the Current Biology, archerfish are much more adaptable and skillful target-shooters than previously...

Greenhouse camel cricket, Diestrammena asynamora. Image credit: © Andrew Blanchard.

Asian Cricket Invades Eastern United States, Study Finds

Sep 3, 2014 by News Staff

A non-native species of camel cricket known as the Greenhouse camel cricket (Diestrammena asynamora) has spread into homes across the eastern United States,...

Aquitanian Pike: New Fish Species Discovered in France

Aug 30, 2014 by Sergio Prostak

French ichthyologists led by Dr Philippe Keith of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris have described a new species of pike from the Charente...

The Senegal bichir, Polypterus senegalus. Image credit: © Cam Gillman, via cichlids.com.

‘Walking’ African Fish Holds Clues to Terrestrialization of Vertebrates

Aug 28, 2014 by News Staff

A study on an African fish called the Senegal bichir (Polypterus senegalus) led by Dr Hans Larsson of McGill University shows what might have happened...

This false-color scanning electron microscopy image shows a microbial cell (arrow) with coccoid morphology found in a sample from Lake Whillans. Scale bar - 2 μm. Image credit: Brent C. Christner et al.

Diverse Microbial Ecosystem Discovered in Antarctic Subglacial Lake Whillans

Aug 21, 2014 by Natali Anderson

A team of researchers from the United States, Italy and the United Kingdom, has discovered a complex assemblage of bacteria and archaea in the waters and...

© 2011-2025. Sci.News. All Rights Reserved. | Back to top