Biology News

Study: Human-Driven Sixth Mass Extinction is Eliminating Entire Animal Genera

Simple schematic representation of the mutilation of the Tree of life because of generic extinctions and extinction risks. The bottom half of the tree depicted as dead branches shows examples of the extinct genera, and the upper half shows examples of genera at risk of extinction. Extinct genera: (I) lower row left - Delcourt’s giant gecko (Hoplodactylus, left), of which the only specimens known were found in a museum without a label, but probably they were found in New Zealand; and saddle-backed Rodrigues giant tortoise (Cylindraspis, right) from Rodrigues Island in the Indian Ocean. Lower row right - Yunnan Lake newt (Cynops, left) from China; and the gastric brooding frogs (Rheobatrachus, right) from rainforests in Queensland, Australia. (II) Second bottom-up row left - thylacine (Thylacinus, left), the largest carnivorous marsupial, last known from Tasmania; and Yangtze River dolphin or baijii (Lipotes, right) from China, one of very few freshwater dolphins. Second bottom-up row right - elephant birds (Aepyornis, left), the largest birds surviving to modern times, represent also both an extinct genus and family (Aepyornithidae) endemic to Madagascar; and Moho birds (genus Moho, right) represent also both an extinct genus and family (Mohidae) from Hawaii. Endangered genera: (III) Third bottom-up row left - King cobra (Ophiophagus, left) from Asia; and gavial (Gavialis, right) from India and Nepal. Third bottom-up row right - Alpine newt (Ichthyosaura, left) from Europe; and Mahogany frog (Abavorana, right) from the Malay Peninsula. (IV) Upper row left: volcano rabbit (Romerolagus, left) known from few mountains close to Mexico City, and elephant (Loxodonta, right) from Africa. Upper row right - ‘i’iwi or scarlet honeycreeper (Drepanis, left) from Hawaii; and kakapo (Strigops, right) a flightless parrot from New Zealand. Image credit: Marco Antonio Pineda.
Sep 18, 2023 by News Staff

Mass extinctions during the past 500 million years rapidly removed branches from the tree of life and required millions of years for evolution to generate functional replacements for the extinct organisms. We are in the sixth mass extinction event. Unlike the previous five, this one is caused by a single species, Homo sapiens. Beyond any doubt, it is more severe than previously assessed and is rapidly accelerating. A duo of scientists from Stanford...

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The infected Formica polyctena ant climbs up and clamps its powerful jaws onto the top of a blade of grass, making it more likely to be eaten by grazers such as cattle and deer. Image credit: University of Copenhagen.

Brain-Encysting Liver Flukes Alter Behavior of Infected Zombie Ants to Avoid High Temperatures

Sep 18, 2023 by News Staff

The brain-encysting lancet liver fluke Dicrocoelium dendriticum induces Formica polyctena ants to climb and bite to vegetation by the mandibles in a state...

This ‘golden orb’ was found at a depth of about 3,300 m in the Gulf of Alaska. Image credit: NOAA Ocean Exploration, Seascape Alaska.

Unidentified Golden, Dome-Shaped Object Found in Gulf of Alaska is ‘Biological in Origin’

Sep 12, 2023 by News Staff

Marine researchers aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer found the still-unidentified specimen at a small seamount in the Gulf of Alaska on August 30, 2023,...

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). Image credit: Alex Wild / University of Texas Insects Unlocked program.

Entomologists Find Population of Invasive Red Fire Ants in Italy

Sep 12, 2023 by News Staff

The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is one of the worst invasive alien species and the fifth costliest worldwide, impacting ecosystems, agriculture...

Austrospirachtha carrijoi. Image credit: Bruno Zilberman & Carlos Pires-Silva, doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5336.3.8

New Rove Beetle Species Mimics Termites to Steal Their Food

Sep 11, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Entomologists from the Universidade de São Paulo have identified a new species of the termitophilous rove beetle genus Austrospirachtha (tribe Corotocini)...

Sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys). Image credit: Luke Fannin, Dartmouth College.

‘Downclimbing’ from Trees Played Role in Early-Human Evolution

Sep 7, 2023 by News Staff

Early humans and apes likely evolved free-moving shoulders and flexible elbows to slow their descent from trees as gravity pulled on their heavier bodies,...

The eclipse-spot razor wrasse (Iniistius bakunawa) from Panay Island, Philippines. Image credit: H. Motomura.

New Species of Razor Wrasse Discovered in Pacific Ocean

Sep 5, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Marine biologists have discovered a new species of the wrasse genus Iniistius living in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean. The eclipse-spot razor wrasse (Iniistius...

An overview of the ecology of Ptiloglossa arizonensis in southeastern Arizona, showing major nectar (Agave) and pollen (Solanum) sources used to provision the larvae. Image credit: Hammer et al., doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1114849.

Cellophane Bees ‘Brew’ Liquid Food for Their Offspring, New Study Finds

Sep 4, 2023 by News Staff

Cellophane bees of the genus Ptiloglossa culture multiple species and strains of Apilactobacillus bacteria (family Lactobacillaceae), which circulate among...

A representative image from animal-borne camera of prey (mackerel, Trachurus spp.) captured by a little penguin (Eudyptula minor). Image credit: Petrovski et al., doi: 10.1098/rsos.221595.

New Study Provides Insights into Feeding and Energetic Behaviors of Little Penguins

Aug 30, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Using animal-borne video cameras, marine scientists have investigated the type, duration and energetic consequences of predator-prey interactions in little...

Live adult female leaf insects showing intergeneric and intraspecific color variability: (A) Pulchriphyllium anangu photographed near Agumbe, India on May 17, 2022 by iNaturalist user vishwanathgowda; (B, C) Phyllium ortizi reared and photographed by Maxime Ortiz from France in captivity: (B) brown form female, (C) green form female. Image credit: Vishwanath Gowda / Maxime Ortiz / Cumming et al., doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1173.104413.

Entomologists Discover Seven New Species of Leaf Insects

Aug 29, 2023 by Natali Anderson

An international team of entomologists has described seven new species in the leaf insect genera Phyllium and Pulchriphyllium from Philippines, Vietnam,...

Dynamic color change of hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus). Image credit: Schweikert et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40166-4.

Hogfish Can Monitor Its Own Skin as It Changes Color, New Study Shows

Aug 22, 2023 by News Staff

The hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus), a common fish in the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to Brazil, is known for its color-changing skin. The...

The African wildcat (Felis lybica) by John Anderson in Zoology of Egypt.

How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa

Aug 21, 2023 by The Conversation

The African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) is the ancestor of our beloved household pets. And despite changing very little, their descendants have become...

Archaic human peptides display in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activities with low host toxicity. Image credit: Ella Marushchenko.

Scientists ‘Resurrect’ Extinct Antimicrobial Peptides of Neanderthals and Denisovans

Aug 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Molecular de-extinction could offer avenues for drug discovery by reintroducing bioactive molecules that are no longer encoded by living organisms. Archaic...

The golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) in British Columbia, Canada. Image credit: Alejandro Erickson / CC BY 2.0.

Golden-Crowned Sparrows Home In on Close-Knit Flockmates: Study

Aug 9, 2023 by News Staff

The golden-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) is a large species of New World sparrow found in the western part of North America. University of...

The tigrina or oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus). Image credit: Groumfy69 / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Cat Species Discovered in Museum Collection is Probably Already Extinct

Aug 7, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The only known specimen of the small spotted cat species Leopardus narinensis was found on the Galeras Volcano in southern Colombia in 1989. The tigrina...

Interest in local bird feeding appears to have ramped up in countries all over the world during the pandemic lockdowns, even in countries not historically noted for bird feeding practices. Image credit: Victor Pogson.

Study: Interest in Wild Bird Feeding Surged in 115 Countries during COVID-19 Lockdowns

Aug 3, 2023 by News Staff

The global extent of supplementary bird feeding is unknown but has consequences for bird conservation and human well-being. Using a measure of search intensity...

Bread wheat (left) has been bred over thousands of years to have large grain size, and be easy to harvest, but it has lost much of the resilience still maintained in the wild, ancient einkorn wheat (right). Image credit: Kimbra Cutlip / University of Maryland.

Wild and Domesticated Einkorn Genomes Sequenced

Aug 2, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) was the first domesticated wheat species, and was central to the birth of agriculture and the Neolithic Revolution in the...

Plant-herbivore interactions from the Cenozoic fossil record: (A) meta-network of plant-herbivore interactions, based on 10,714 damaged leaves from 21 fossil floras; colored bars represent the total interaction frequencies of host plants and herbivores; the ten most abundant plant orders are labeled; gray lines represent pair-wise interactions, with more frequent interactions being thicker and less transparent; (B) examples of damage types: (a and b) mines mainly produced by moths; (c and d) galls mainly produced by gall midges; (e-h) external foliage feeding including hole feeding, margin feeding, surface feeding, and skeletonization; (i) endophytic oviposition; (j) in situ preservation of armored scale insects. Scale bars - 10 mm. Image credit: Albrecht et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2300514120.

Fossil Leaves with Insect Imprints Reveal Drivers of Herbivore Functional Diversity during Cenozoic Era

Aug 2, 2023 by News Staff

Plant-eating insects are the most diverse group of multicellular organisms on Earth. The most discussed drivers of their inordinate taxonomic and functional...

The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus). Image credit: University of Melbourne.

Study: Brain of Tasmanian Tiger Was Typical of Carnivorous/Scavenger Marsupials

Aug 1, 2023 by News Staff

The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is the largest of modern-day carnivorous marsupials and was hunted to extinction by European settlers in Australia....

Heterodontus marshallae. Image credit: Sci.News / White et al., doi: 10.3390/d15070849.

New Species of Hornshark Discovered Off Australia

Jul 31, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Marine biologists have described a new species of the shark genus Heterodontus from northwestern Australia based on six whole specimens and a single egg...

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