Biology News

Bat Pups Babble Like Human Infants, Researchers Find

Mother-pup pair of the greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata) in their daytime roost. The pup (dark fur color) is holding on to the mother’s belly (light fur color). Image credit: Michael Stifter.
Aug 20, 2021 by News Staff

Babbling is a production milestone in infant speech development. Evidence for babbling in non-human mammals is scarce. In a new study, researchers from the Museum für Naturkunde at the Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, the Freie Universität Berlin and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have recorded the vocalizations of greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata) pups in the wild and found clear evidence of babbling...

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Snyder et al. show that distinct populations of phagocytic cells in cauliflower corals (Pocillopora damicornis) and starlet sea anemones (Nematostella vectensis) engulf bacteria, fungal antigens, and beads. The image shows a cauliflower coral cell challenged with Staphylococcus aureus. Yellow arrow shows an internalized, pH-activated Staphylococcus aureus particle that fluoresces bright green at a low pH. White arrows indicate the cocci bacterial particles. Staphylococcus aureus particles are fluorescent after the fusion of the bacteria with the lysolitic vesicle, which leads to lowered pH. Scale bar - 10 μm. Image credit: Snyder et al., doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.662803.

Marine Biologists Find Live Immune Cells in Corals and Sea Anemones

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

Corals and sea anemones have at least two populations of immune cells and that these specialized cells make up about 3% of the total cell population, according...

Hantak et al. tested three hypotheses of body size variation across urbanization gradients: urban heat island effects, habitat fragmentation, and resource availability. Image credit: TeeFarm.

Urbanization is Causing Mammals to Grow Bigger, New Study Says

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

A research team led by Florida Museum of Natural History scientists has compiled 140,499 body size records of over 100 North American mammals to test how...

Life may have begun shortly after Earth formed 4.54 billion years ago. Image credit: Hadeano.

Life on Earth Arose Multiple Times and in Multiple Ways, New Theory Says

Aug 17, 2021 by News Staff

In a new theoretical paper, researchers from the Santa Fe Institute provide a new perspective on the origin of life by arguing that life has emerged many...

Domestic cats (Felis catus) would rather eat from a tray of easily available food rather than work out a simple puzzle to get their food. Image credit: Delgado et al., doi: 10.1007/s10071-021-01530-3.

Cats Prefer Freely Available Food over Food that Requires Effort, Study Says

Aug 17, 2021 by News Staff

When tested, many animals will work for food when similar food is freely available, a phenomenon known as contrafreeloading. In a new study published in...

Apis mellifera ligustica. Image credit: Scaccabarozzi et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253838.

Angry Bees Produce Richer, More Protein-Dense Venom, Study Finds

Aug 16, 2021 by News Staff

Chemists have analyzed protein diversity in venom produced by Apis mellifera ligustica in the marri (Corymbia calophylla) ecosystem in southern-western...

Three New Orchid Species Discovered in Ecuador

Aug 16, 2021 by Natali Anderson

An international team of botanists has discovered three new endemic species of the orchid genus Lepanthes in the highlands of Ecuador. Lepanthes oro-lojaensis...

The Schneider’s marmoset (Mico schneideri). Image credit: Rodrigo Costa-Araújo.

Scientists Discover New Species of Amazonian Marmoset

Aug 13, 2021 by Natali Anderson

A new, pseudo-cryptic species of the Amazonian marmoset genus Mico has been identified by a team of researchers led by Dr. Rodrigo Costa-Araújo of the...

Nicotiana insecticida uses a sticky substance to trap and kill insects. Image credit: Maarten Christenhusz.

Botanists Discover Seven New Tobacco Species in Australia

Aug 12, 2021 by News Staff

Nicotiana insecticida, one of the newly-discovered species, is remarkable in its insect trapping abilities. Nicotiana insecticida uses a sticky substance...

Joint action structure of chimpanzees and bonobos resembles that of humans. Image credit: Emilie Genty.

Study: Great Apes Use ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ Signals to Begin and End Social Interactions

Aug 12, 2021 by News Staff

In a paper published this week in the journal iScience, an international team of researchers documented chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan...

Euoplos schmidti. Image credit: Jeremy Wilson.

Five New Species of Golden Trapdoor Spiders Discovered

Aug 11, 2021 by News Staff

The newly-discovered species of golden trapdoor spiders are from south-eastern Queensland, Australia. Euoplos schmidti. Image credit: Jeremy Wilson. Australian...

Flower of the western false asphodel (Triantha occidentalis) at Cypress Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. Image credit: Danilo Lima.

New Lineage of Carnivorous Plants Discovered

Aug 10, 2021 by News Staff

The newly-identified lineage of carnivorous plants is represented by the western false asphodel (Triantha occidentalis), a species of flowering plant from...

A black-crested titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) stealing fur from a sleeping fox. Image credit: YouTube channel Texas Backyard Wildlife / University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Some Birds Pluck Hair Directly from Live Mammals, Scientists Say

Aug 5, 2021 by News Staff

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul have observed several bird species exhibiting...

A group of giraffes. Image credit: Zoe Muller.

Giraffes are Socially Complex Animals, Says New Review

Aug 3, 2021 by News Staff

Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) exhibit many of the features typical of mammals with complex cooperative social systems and matrilineal societies, according...

Feeding bumblebees caffeine helps them better remember the smell of a specific flower with nectar inside. Image credit: Arnold et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.068.

Bumblebees Work Better after Caffeine Intake, New Study Shows

Jul 29, 2021 by News Staff

Caffeine is a widely occurring plant defense chemical that occurs in the nectar of some plants, e.g., coffee and citrus, where it may influence pollinator...

Honeybees begin constructing honeycombs in multiple locations, which they will eventually bridge together. Image credit: Michael Smith / Cornell University.

Honeybees are Skilled Architects, New Research Confirms

Jul 27, 2021 by News Staff

Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are renowned for constructing perfect hexagonal honeycombs, hailed as the pinnacle of biological architecture for its ability...

Identifying the raw material used by wild New Caledonian crows for manufacturing hooked stick tools: (A) New Caledonian crow holding a hooked stick tool manufactured from Desmanthus virgatus at site-2; (B) satellite photograph showing study sites on the west coast of Grande Terre, New Caledonia; (C) timeline of animal-centered approaches employed while attempting to identify the tool material used at site-3, with short explanations for their limited success; (D) timeline of the artifact-centered, DNA barcoding approach which ultimately led to successful material identification; (i) hooked stick tool recovered at site-3; (ii) Mimusops elengi trees, with close-up of a forked terminal branch, which would be suitable for tool manufacture; (iii) simplified maximum-likelihood ITS phylogenetic tree detailing clustering of tool samples and a subset of reference data; (iv) ‘refit’ of a hooked stick tool made from Mimusops elengi material by a temporarily captive crow from site-1: the tool is displayed along with stem and plant debris which were discarded by the crow during the manufacture process. Scale in mm. Image credit: Steele et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2020699118.

Scientists Use DNA Barcoding to Identify Tool Materials of New Caledonian Crows

Jul 27, 2021 by News Staff

Using a taxonomic method called DNA barcoding, researchers have identified, from just a few recovered tool specimens, the plant species New Caledonian...

A sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) opening the lid of a household waste bin using one of many different opening techniques; this bird holds the lid with the bill and its left foot; a second bird is observing it closely. Image credit: Klump et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abe7808.

Study: Sulphur-Crested Cockatoos Spread Bin-Opening Behavior through Social Learning

Jul 26, 2021 by News Staff

Ornithologists from Germany and Australia have documented the emergence of a cultural adaptation to urban environments — opening of household waste...

Jaquemontia chuquisacensis. Image credit: John Pink.

Five New Species of Flowering Plants Discovered in Bolivia

Jul 23, 2021 by News Staff

A team of U.K. botanists has discovered five new species in the plant genus Jacquemontia in the Andes of Bolivia. Jaquemontia chuquisacensis. Image credit:...

Yao Tandong, left, and Lonnie Thompson, right, process an ice core drilled from the Guliya ice cap in the Tibetan Plateau in 2015. Image credit: Lonnie Thompson.

Scientists Find 14,400-Year-Old Microbes and Viruses in Tibetan Glacier Ice

Jul 20, 2021 by News Staff

Microbiologists at the Ohio State University have found that the ancient bacteria and their phages (bacteria-infecting viruses) from Tibetan glacier ice...

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