Biology News

Sea Sponge from Great Barrier Reef Unravels 700-Million-Year-Old Mystery of Evolution

Amphimedon queenslandica. Image credit: University of Queensland.
Nov 17, 2020 by News Staff

Humans, mice, zebrafish, and most likely other animals, share enhancers — DNA regions that help to regulate gene expression and evolve rapidly — with Amphimedon queenslandica, a species of sea sponge from the Great Barrier Reef, according to new research. Amphimedon queenslandica. Image credit: University of Queensland. “Some elements of the human genome — an organism’s complete set of DNA — functioned in the same way as...

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The Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa). Image credit: Thaung Win.

New Species of Primate Discovered in Myanmar

Nov 12, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of biologists and taxonomists has discovered a new species in the langur genus Trachypithecus living in the forests of Myanmar. The...

Petauroides volans, the southern species of the greater glider. Image credit: Steven Kuiter.

Australia’s Greater Glider is Actually Three Different Species

Nov 9, 2020 by Natali Anderson

The greater glider (Petauroides volans), a large, nocturnal gliding marsupial endemic to Australia, isn’t one species, but rather three distinct ones. Petauroides...

This image is a digital reproduction of a painting by John Lewin of a platypus in 1808.

Ultraviolet Fluorescence Discovered in Platypus

Nov 6, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The fur of the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus), one of only five extant species of monotremes (egg-laying mammals), absorbs ultraviolet light at wavelengths...

Examples of leaf-cutter bee use of a sumac leave and two pieces of plastic flagging. Image credit: Wilson et al.

Leaf-Cutter Bees Use Plastic in Nest Construction, Study Says

Nov 5, 2020 by News Staff

Leaf-cutter bees, members of the genus Megachile, are among the most recognizable solitary bees due to their habit of cutting out small circles of leaves...

New Study Reveals There Are Four Distinct Species of Gentoo Penguins

Nov 5, 2020 by News Staff

Gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua) have previously been recognized to be a single species divided into several subspecies. However, a study led by University...

Meroglossa gemmata. Image credit: James Dorey, Flinders University.

Researchers Find Two Species of Low-Light-Foraging Bees in Australia

Nov 2, 2020 by News Staff

Two Australian bee species, Reepenia bituberculata and Meroglossa gemmata, have adapted their vision for night-time conditions, according to a paper published...

Morrison et al. suggest that mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) show weak territoriality and that, as in humans, this territoriality is sensitive to differences in social relationships. Image credit: Veronica Vecellio.

Mountain Gorillas are Friendly to Familiar Neighbors, New Study Finds

Oct 29, 2020 by News Staff

Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) live in tight-knit groups, foraging, resting and sleeping together around a core home range and a wider peripheral...

The Muisca antpitta (Grallaria rufula). Image credit: Nigel Voaden / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Six New Bird Species Discovered in South America

Oct 13, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

A team of ornithologists from the United States, Colombia and Denmark has described six new cryptic species in the rufous antpitta (Grallaria rufula) complex...

An artist’s illustration of Colomys lumumbai. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski, Field Museum.

Two New Species of Semi-Aquatic Mice Discovered in Africa

Oct 12, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has discovered two new species of the murine genus Colomys living in Africa: one in Liberia and Guinea and one in...

Lucas et al. find that the prevalence of the persistent median artery in postnatal life approximately tripled over the last 125 years. Image credit: C.M. Da Silva.

Humans are Evolving Extra Artery in Forearm: Median Artery

Oct 12, 2020 by News Staff

The median artery of the human forearm is an example of microevolutionary changes in the internal anatomy of the human body, according to new research...

When faced with the risk of drowning, black imported fire ants (Solenopsis richteri) used sand to siphon liquid food out of containers. Image credit: Zhou et al.

Black Imported Fire Ants Adapt Tool Use to Avoid Drowning

Oct 8, 2020 by News Staff

Black imported fire ants (Solenopsis richteri) have the remarkable ability to adapt its tool use: when provided with small containers of sugar water, they...

Guttation droplets are an important but underexplored feature in plants, with profound implications for insects in agricultural and natural ecosystems. Image credit: Pablo Urbaneja-Bernat.

Study: Plant Guttation Droplets are Nutrient-Rich Food for Many Insects

Oct 1, 2020 by News Staff

Plant guttation, a fluid from xylem and phloem sap secreted at the margins of leaves from many plant species, serves as a reliable and nutrient-rich food...

Broken Hysterangium bonobo fruiting body revealing brown gleba and columella at the center. Image credit: Alexander Georgiev.

New Species of Truffle Found in Congo, Thanks to Mushroom-Munching Bonobos

Sep 30, 2020 by News Staff

Fungi play a significant role in the diets and nutrition of diverse vertebrates. Many fungi, particularly truffle-like species, have evolved close associations...

Knott et al. created a two-enzyme system for PET deconstruction, which employs one enzyme (PETase) to convert the polymer into soluble intermediates and another enzyme (MHETase) to produce the constituent PET monomers. This SEM image shows amorphous PET film after 96 h enzyme treatment at 30 degrees Celsius. Image credit: Knott et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2006753117.

Researchers Create Plastic-Degrading Enzyme Cocktail

Sep 29, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

In 2018, University of Portsmouth’s Professor John McGeehan and colleagues engineered an enzyme that can digest polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the...

Litviňuková et al created the first atlas of human heart cells. Image credit: Litviňuková et al.

Researchers Create Detailed Map of Human Heart

Sep 24, 2020 by News Staff

A multinational team of scientists led by Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Max Delbrück Center for...

Stinging nettles of the genus Dendrocnide produce potent neurotoxins: (A) sign at a North Queensland National Park advising caution around stinging trees; (B) Dendrocnide excelsa petioles are covered in stinging hairs; (C) scanning electron micrograph of trichome structure on the leaf of Dendrocnide moroides; (D-G) cutaneous reaction resulting from an accidental sting with Dendrocnide moroides documented with an iPhone XR and NEC G120W2 thermal imager, illustrating almost immediate local piloerection (arrowheads in D), development of wheals where stinging hairs penetrate the skin (arrows in E), as well as a long-lasting axon reflex erythema (arrows in F and G) and associated local increase in skin temperature (degrees Celsius); (H) HPLC chromatogram of trichome extract from Dendrocnide excelsa; diamonds indicate nocifensive responses elicited by intraplantar administration of individual fractions in vivo in C57BL6/J mice, with a single late-eluting peak identified as the main pain-causing fraction. Image credit: Irina Vetter, Thomas Durek & Darren Brown, University of Queensland.

Australian Stinging Trees Make Spider- and Cone Snail-Like Venom

Sep 18, 2020 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Queensland and King’s College London has found that the venom of Australian Dendrocnide trees contains previously...

Five types of human leukocytes. Image credit: Syed H. Shirazi et al, doi: 10.3233/THC-161133.

Human Leukocytes Use Molecular Paddles to Swim, New Study Shows

Sep 16, 2020 by News Staff

Human white blood cells, or leukocytes, swim using a newly-described mechanism called molecular paddling, according to new research led by University Grenoble...

Meekan et al found evidence that male whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) attain asymptotic sizes of around 8.5-9 m at Ningaloo Reef, which suggests that females are more likely to reach the largest sizes (over 12 m) observed in the species. Image credit: Andre Rereuka / Australian Institute of Marine Science, University of Western Australia.

Female Whale Sharks Overtake Males to Become World’s Largest Fish

Sep 16, 2020 by News Staff

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the world’s largest fish, growing to maximum known sizes of 18 m (59 feet) total length. A new study led by University...

Abronia morenica on a tree branch. Image credit: Adam Clause.

New Species of Alligator Lizard Discovered in Mexico

Sep 14, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of researchers has discovered a new species of the lizard genus Abronia living in the forests of western Chiapas, Mexico. Abronia...

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