Biology News

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

Sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys). Image credit: Luke Fannin, Dartmouth College.
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, acording to new research. When early humans left forests for the grassy savanna, their versatile appendages were essential for gathering food and deploying tools for hunting and defense. Sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys). Image credit: Luke Fannin, Dartmouth College. “The forelimbs of hominoid...

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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...

Discoscapa apicula; the bee is carrying four beetle triungulins. Image credit: George Poinar Jr. / College of Science, Oregon State University.

Bees Originated in Western Gondwana before Breakup of Africa and South America, Study Suggests

Jul 31, 2023 by News Staff

Bees are the most significant pollinators of flowering plants. This partnership began approximately 120 million years ago, but the uncertainty of how and...

General morphology of Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, female. Image credit: Shatilovich et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010798.

Researchers Sequence Genome of 46,000-Year-Old Soil Nematode from Siberian Permafrost

Jul 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Precise radiocarbon dating indicates that Panagrolaimus kolymaensis, a species of soil nematode new to science, remained in cryptobiosis for about 46,000...

Australian honeypot ants (Camponotus inflatus) are found throughout the central desert region of Australia. Image credit: Danny Ulrich.

Honey from Australian Honeypot Ants Has Unique Antimicrobial Properties

Jul 26, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Honey produced by the Australian honeypot ant (Camponotus inflatus) is valued nutritionally and medicinally by Indigenous peoples. In a new study, scientists...

Caecilians are a group of limbless, vermiform or serpentine amphibians. Image credit: Marco Mancuso.

Biologists Discover Unprecedented Resistance to Snake Venom in Caecilians

Jul 25, 2023 by News Staff

Living amphibians include frogs and salamanders and the limbless worm-like caecilians (order Gymnophiona). Caecilians have cylindrical bodies with a compact,...

Hoaxed photo of the Loch Ness ‘monster’ from April 21, 1934.

Loch Ness Monster: If It’s Real, Could It Be Giant European Eel?

Jul 24, 2023 by News Staff

The ‘eel hypothesis’ proposes that the anthrozoological phenomenon at Loch Ness in Scotland can be explained in part by observations of large-bodied...

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