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The whale shark (Rhincodon typus). Image credit: Andre Rerekura, Whaleshark Research.

Whale Shark is World’s Largest Omnivore, New Study Shows

Jul 25, 2022 by News Staff

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus), which have been reported up to 18 m long, is the largest known extant fish species. This creatrure is a filter feeder...

Gloydius lateralis. Image credit: Sheng-chao Shi.

Researchers Discover New Species of Venomous Snake in China

Jul 25, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered a new species of the...

A molecular phylogeny of Lepidoptera indicating antipredator ultrasound production across the order. Image credit: Barber et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2117485119.

Moths Produce Ultrasonic Defensive Sounds to Fend Off Bat Predators

Jul 22, 2022 by News Staff

Scientists from Boise State University and elsewhere have tested 252 genera from most families of large-bodied moths. Their results show that ultrasound-producing...

An assistant referee with a flag. Image credit: Chiraphat Phaungmala.

Soccer’s VAR Technology Is Not Precise Enough to Make Accurate Offside Decisions, Study Says

Jul 20, 2022 by News Staff

New research suggests that Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in soccer is useful for preventing obvious mistakes but is not precise enough to give...

Desmognathus gvnigeusgwotli in life, from Straight Fork, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina. Image credit: Todd Pierson, Kennesaw State University.

Three New Cryptic Salamander Species Discovered

Jul 20, 2022 by News Staff

All of the three new species belong to the salamander genus Desmognathus and are found in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States,...

Li et al. systematically examined horizontal gene transfer in 218 high-quality genomes of diverse insects and found that they acquired 1,410 genes exhibiting diverse functions, including many not previously reported, via 741 distinct transfers from non-metazoan donors. Image credit: Li et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.06.014.

Insects Carry 1,410 Horizontally-Transferred Microbial Genes: Study

Jul 19, 2022 by News Staff

In new research, a team of scientists from Zhejiang University and Vanderbilt University examined horizontal gene transfer — an important evolutionary...

New Tardigrade Species Discovered in Kyrgyzstan

Jul 16, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Cornechiniscus mystacinus has catfish-like ‘barbels’ and can be found in the Jalalabat region of Kyrgyzstan. Cornechiniscus mystacinus. Image credit:...

Van Wassenbergh et al. found that woodpecker heads behave very stiffly during pecking impacts. Image credit: Van Wassenbergh et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.052.

Heads of Woodpeckers Function as Stiff Hammers during Pecking, Says New Study

Jul 15, 2022 by News Staff

The skull of a woodpecker has long been hypothesized to serve as a shock absorber that minimizes the harmful deceleration of its brain upon impact into...

Insects Probably Can Feel Pain, Researchers Say

Jul 12, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists from the Queen Mary University of London argue that insects most likely...

Selden & Putz argue that by promoting root growth in their tunnels and then cropping those roots, southeastern pocket gophers (Geomys pinetis) are employing a low-level food production system that may qualify as farming. Image credit: John Woodhouse Audubon / New York Public Library.

Pocket Gophers are First Non-Human Mammals Known to Farm for Living

Jul 11, 2022 by News Staff

According to new research from the University of Florida, roots grow into the humid tunnels of southeastern pocket gophers (Geomys pinetis) where they...

https://cdn.sci.news/images/2022/07/image_10968-Victoria-boliviana.jpg

New Species of Giant Waterlily Identified

Jul 5, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Victoria boliviana marks the first discovery of a giant waterlily species in over a century and breaks the record as the largest in the world. Wild population...

Liu et al. show that in normal mouse skin, Scube3 is expressed only in dermal papillae of growing, but not in resting follicles. SCUBE3 protein microinjection is sufficient to induce new hair growth, and pharmacological TGF-β inhibition rescues mutant hair hyper-activation phenotype. Moreover, dermal-papilla-enriched expression of SCUBE3 and its growth-activating effect are partially conserved in human scalp hair follicles. Image credit: Liu et al., doi: 10.1016/j.devcel.2022.06.005.

Newly-Discovered Signaling Molecule Stimulates Hair Multiplication and Growth

Jul 1, 2022 by News Staff

SCUBE3 potently stimulates hair growth and may offer a therapeutic treatment for androgenetic alopecia. Liu et al. show that in normal mouse skin, Scube3...

Zhang et al. observed that Aedes mosquitoes preferred to seek and feed on mice infected by dengue and Zika viruses. Image credit: Zhang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.05.016.

Flaviviruses Make Their Hosts Smell Tastier to Mosquitoes: Study

Jul 1, 2022 by News Staff

New research demonstrates that mosquito-transmitted flaviviruses such as Zika and dengue can manipulate skin microbiota of their hosts to produce a scent...

Lower pitchers of Nepenthes pudica under a moss mat. Image credit: Dančák et al., doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.201.82872.

Meet Nepenthes pudica, Carnivorous Plant that Produces Underground Traps

Jun 30, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Nepenthes pudica, a new species of pitcher plant from the lower montane rainforests of North Kalimantan, Indonesia, produces well-developed, fully functional...

Model of Asgard viral infection mechanisms and protein similarity with other viruses: (a) genes identified in Asgard viruses involved in infection (i), replication (ii), transcription (iii) and translation (iv); Asgard viruses are shown as different colored hexagons, Asgard hosts as different colored circles, and host transcription machinery is labeled with ovals color coded by function (see legend); (b) distribution of 35 genes (lower x axis) among Asgard viruses (y axis); filled circles indicate annotated orthologues, while white circles indicate that an orthologue was not identified. Image credit: Rambo et al., doi: 10.1038/s41564-022-01150-8.

Mysterious Asgard Archaea-Infecting Viruses Discovered

Jun 30, 2022 by News Staff

Asgard archaea are globally distributed microorganisms related to eukaryotes — complex organisms including animals, plants, fungi, and amoeba. However,...

Wood et al. hope that the BirdNET app and similar projects will enable new opportunities for avian research and conservation. Image credit: Ashakur Rahaman / K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

BirdNET: Free App Identifies Bird Species by Sound

Jun 29, 2022 by News Staff

The BirdNET app is a free bird sound identification app for Android and iOS that includes over 3,000 bird species. Ornithologists hope this app will reduce...

Bergström et al. provide insights into long-standing questions on the origin of dogs. Image credit: Jessica Rae Peto.

Dogs were Domesticated in Eastern Eurasia, Ancient DNA Study Suggests

Jun 29, 2022 by News Staff

The gray wolf (Canis lupus) was the first species to give rise to a domestic population, and they remained widespread throughout the latest Ice Age when...

Underwater photograph of the thrush sneaky wrasse (Pteragogus turdus), adult individual, Ishigaki-jima Island. Image credit: K. Nishiyama.

New Species of Wrasse Discovered

Jun 29, 2022 by Natali Anderson

A team of ichthyologists from the Kagoshima University and the Kagoshima University Museum has discovered a new species of the fish genus Pteragogus living...

Péter et al. describe the appearance and subsequent spread of well-digging behavior in a previously apparently naïve community of wild East African chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Image credit: Péter et al., doi: 10.1007/s10329-022-00992-4.

Forest-Living East African Chimpanzees are Digging Wells for Cleaner Water: Study

Jun 28, 2022 by News Staff

Digging wells to access or filter drinking water is a relatively rare behavior in the animal kingdom — only a handful of species have been documented...