Biology News

New Study Reveals Language Precursors in Australian Babblers

Chestnut-crowned babblers (Pomatostomus ruficeps), SW Queensland, Australia. Image credit: Aviceda / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Jun 30, 2015 by News Staff

A new study led by Dr Sabrina Engesser from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has revealed that the chestnut-crowned babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps) – a highly cooperative bird of the Australian arid zone – is able to generate new meaning by rearranging combinations of meaningless sounds in its calls. This babbler bird communication is reminiscent of the way humans form meaningful words. Chestnut-crowned babblers (Pomatostomus ruficeps),...

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The rosy-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis). Image credit: David González Romero.

Lovebirds Can Rotate Their Heads at Lightning Fast Speeds

Jun 25, 2015 by News Staff

High-speed flight recordings of lovebirds making quick in flight turns reveal how these birds improve sight and shorten blur by rotating their head at...

Kiwa tyleri, female (left) and male (right). Scale bar – 5 cm. Image credit: Thatje S et al.

Kiwa tyleri: Marine Biologists Discover New Species of Yeti Crab

Jun 25, 2015 by News Staff

Marine biologists from British Antarctic Survey and the University of Southampton, UK, have described the first species of yeti crab known from the Southern...

Prionopelta seychelles paratype worker, head in full-face view. Image credit: Overson R & Fisher BL.

Six New Species of ‘Dracula’ Ants Discovered in Seychelles, Madagascar

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

 California Academy of Sciences entomologists, Dr Rick Overson and Dr Brian Fisher, have described six new species of bizarre underground ants in the...

Earth at night seen from space. Image credit: NASA.

Earth Entering 6th Great Mass Extinction

Jun 22, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Science Advances, Earth’s biota is entering a sixth ‘great mass extinction.’ Earth at night seen...

A troop of Olive baboons (Papio anubis). Image credit: Harvey Barrison / CC BY-SA 2.0.

‘Democratic’ Decision-Making Drives Baboon Troop Movements, New Study Finds

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published online in the journal Science, troops of Olive baboons (Papio anubis) decide where to move democratically. A troop of...

A nest of the Saharan silver ants (Cataglyphis bombycina) in Erg Chebbi, Morocco: outside the nest some ants are feasting on a camel tick; at the entrance to the nest is a piece of dry camel dropping. Image credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 3.0.

How Saharan Silver Ants Cope with Torrid Heat of African Desert

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of entomologists from the United States and Switzerland is the first to demonstrate that the Saharan silver ants (Cataglyphis bombycina)...

A red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) manipulating food with one hand. Image credit: Andrey Giljov / National Geographic Society.

All Kangaroos Are Lefties, Scientists Say

Jun 18, 2015 by News Staff

Kangaroos and other macropod marsupials display left-hand preference at the population level for everyday tasks in the wild, says a team of scientists...

Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), Red Sea, Egypt. Image credit: Alexander Vasenin / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Biologists Surprised by Unique Strategy of Self-Repair Discovered in Moon Jellyfish

Jun 16, 2015 by News Staff

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, marine biologists have found that, upon amputation, the moon jellyfish...

A hawkmoth (Manduca sexta) clings to a robotic flower used to study the insect’s ability to track the moving flower under low light conditions. Image credit: Rob Felt / Georgia Tech.

Hawkmoths Can Slow Their Brains to Improve Vision in Low Light

Jun 15, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published online in the journal Science suggests that both the sight and flight of the dusk-foraging hawkmoth (Manduca sexta) likely evolved...

A young chimpanzee named Malik at Walter Zoo, Gossau, Switzerland. Image credit: Emmanuel Keller / CC BY-ND 2.0.

Chimpanzees Can Vary Smiles like Humans, Says New Study

Jun 12, 2015 by News Staff

Chimpanzees have the same types of smiles as humans when laughing, says a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE. The study also found that chimpanzees...

The Snapshot Serengeti project asked citizen scientists to review over 1.2 million camera trap images from Serengeti. Image credit: www.snapshotserengeti.org.

Citizen Scientists Help Reveal Secret Lives of Serengeti

Jun 9, 2015 by News Staff

More than 28,000 volunteers have helped scientists create a catalogue of more than 1.2 million camera trap images from Serengeti National Park, a UNESCO...

The buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Kintaiyo / CC BY 3.0.

Aluminum May Be Causing Alzheimer’s-like Disease in Bumblebees, Study Suggests

Jun 9, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published online in the journal PLoS ONE has found significant contamination of bumblebee pupae by the metal aluminum — a known neurotoxin...

Brachycephalus sp. from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Image credit: Luiz Fernando Ribeiro / CC BY SA.

Seven New Species of Diminutive Frogs Discovered in Brazil

Jun 4, 2015 by News Staff

A group of scientists led by Prof Marcio Pie of the Universidade Federal do Paraná in Brazil has described seven new species of the frog genus Brachycephalus...

Male Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul) licking his nose. Image credit: Emmanuel Keller / CC BY-ND 2.0.

New Study Explains Why Cats Such Picky Eaters

Jun 3, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published online in the journal BMC Neuroscience, taste receptors of felines respond in a unique way to bitter compounds compared...

The brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla). Image credit: Patrick K59 / CC BY 2.0.

Brown Thornbill Mimics Alarm Calls of Other Birds to Scare off Predators

Jun 3, 2015 by News Staff

A tiny Australian bird, the brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla), mimics the hawk warning calls of neighboring bird species to protect its nest from predators...

Chimpanzees at Miami Metrozoo. Image credit: Matthew Hoelscher / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Chimpanzees Possess Cognitive Skills Needed to Cook, Study Suggests

Jun 3, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, humans’ cognitive capacity for cooking is shared by chimpanzees (Pan sp.)....

The Tasman Peninsula Dusky Antechinus (Antechinus vandycki). Image credit: Gary Cranitch / Queensland Museum.

Two New Antechinus Species Discovered in Australia

Jun 2, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr Andrew Baker from Queensland University of Technology has described two new species of carnivorous marsupials from Australia. The...

The smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata). Image credit: Forrest Samuels / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Scientists Find ‘Virgin Birth’ in Smalltooth Sawfish

Jun 1, 2015 by News Staff

A new study, led by Dr Demian Chapman from Stony Brook University, documents the first known cases of parthenogenesis – the ability of sexually reproducing...

The Mexican Jay. Image credit: M. Fuszara.

Mexican Jays Can Detect Nut Properties, Ornithologists Say

May 26, 2015 by News Staff

Using slow-motion video-recording and experiments, an international team of ornithologists has found that the Mexican Jays are able to ‘weigh’ peanuts...

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