Biology News

Cat Owners Fall into Five Categories, Study Shows

Crowley et al conducted a Q-methodological study to investigate the views of domestic cat owners in the UK on the roaming and hunting behaviors of their pets; they identified five distinctive cat-owner perspectives: (1) Concerned Protectors focus on cat safety, (2) Freedom Defenders prioritize cat independence and oppose restrictions on behavior, (3) Tolerant Guardians believe outdoor access is important for cats but dislike their hunting, (4) Conscientious Caretakers feel some responsibility for managing their cats’ hunting, and (5) Laissez-faire Landlords were largely unaware of the issues surrounding roaming and hunting behavior. These photos show the Q-sorting procedure, with assistance from several cats: (a) participants read each of the 62 statements and place each statement card into one of three piles (‘agree,’ ‘disagree,’ and ‘neutral’); (b) participants then arrange the statement cards in relation to a constrained distribution from ‘most agree,’ through ‘neutral,’ to ‘most disagree;’ (c) a completed Q-sort, with cards turned over to show unique statement numbers on the reverse side; the alphanumeric code C03 in the lower-left corner (written over the photograph) is a participant ID code. Image credit: Crowley et al, doi: 10.1002/fee.2254.
Sep 4, 2020 by News Staff

A team of scientists from the University of Exeter has surveyed 56 cat owners, some from rural parts of the UK (mostly in south-west England) and some from urban areas (Bristol and Manchester), and found they ranged from ‘conscientious caretakers’ concerned about cats’ impact on wildlife and who feel some responsibility to ‘freedom defenders’ who opposed restrictions on cat behavior altogether; ‘concerned protectors’ focused on cat safety,...

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A young adolescent next to an older male African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) in the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, Botswana. Image credit: Connie Allen.

Oldest Bulls Play Key Role in Leading All-Male Groups of African Savannah Elephants: Study

Sep 3, 2020 by News Staff

By analyzing leadership patterns of all-male African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) traveling groups along elephant pathways in the Makgadikgadi...

The European mole (Talpa europaea). Image credit: Michael David Hill / CC BY-SA 3.0.

European Moles Hate Eating Sand, New Study Finds

Sep 2, 2020 by News Staff

European moles (Talpa europaea) appear to avoid chewing on sand when eating earthworms because it is likely that they find the sensation as repulsive as...

Adult red junglefowl (Gallus gallus). Image credit: Per Jensen.

Study: Chickens Have Smaller Brains than Their Junglefowl Relatives

Sep 1, 2020 by News Staff

The red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), a species of tropical bird found in south-east Asia, is the primary ancestor of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus...

Light microscope images of Melinnopsis gardelli: (A) holotype, lateral view of complete specimen; (B) holotype, dorsal view of anterior region, arrow indicates postbranchial dorsal membrane; (C) holotype prostomium, arrow indicates slightly raised lip; (D) lateral view of anterior region, arrows indicate acicular neurochaetae and (E) ventral view of anterior region showing ventral shields. Scale bars - 1 mm. Image credit: Gunton et al, doi: 10.3853/j.2201-4349.72.2020.1763.

Two New Species of Deep-Sea Worms Discovered

Aug 26, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of marine biologists has described two new species of the polychaete worm genus Melinnopsis from deep waters off the east coast of...

Tasmanian tigers (Thylacinus cynocephalus) in captivity. Image credit: University of Melbourne / Museums Victoria.

Thylacine Was Smaller Than Previously Estimated

Aug 24, 2020 by News Staff

Until its extinction, the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) was the largest living carnivorous marsupial, but little data exist regarding its body mass,...

Platymantis navjoti male in life. Image credit: Cameron Siler, University of Oklahoma.

New Species of Forest Frog Discovered in Philippines

Aug 24, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of field biologists has described a new species of the frog genus Platymantis from Leyte and Samar islands, the Philippines. The...

A Somali sengi (Galegeeska revoilii) at the Assamo locality in Djibouti. As is observed in other sengi species, Somali sengis have some variation in pelage colors. These differences seem to correspond to the color variation of substrates between occurrence localities. At the Assamo site, in the extreme southeastern corner of Djibouti, sengi habitats are comprised of rocks with more rusty coloration than elsewhere in the country. Compared to other Djiboutian sites, sengis from Assamo have dorsal pelage hairs with more pronounced reds. Image credit: Steven Heritage.

Scientists Rediscover Long-Lost Species of Mammal: Somali Sengi

Aug 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers from the United States and the Republic of Djibouti has rediscovered the elusive Somali sengi (‘Elephantulus’ revoilii) over...

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.

Mother Bats Use ‘Baby Talk’ to Speak to Their Offspring, New Study Shows

Aug 20, 2020 by News Staff

A special form of vocal feedback in humans, infant-directed speech — also known as motherese or ‘baby talk’ — facilitates language learning...

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). Image credit: Michael Van Woert / NOAA NESDIS / ORA.

Genetic Researchers Reconstruct Evolutionary History of Penguins

Aug 18, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study, an international team of scientists used 22 newly-sequenced genomes from 18 extant species of penguins to reconstruct the history of their...

An American grasshopper with an improved brain sensor implant. Image credit: Raman Lab / Washington University in St. Louis.

Grasshoppers Can Discriminate Between Different Explosives’ Smells, Study Finds

Aug 14, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study published this month in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics: X, a team of scientists at Washington University in St. Louis showed...

Most taste cells selectively respond to a specific stimulus type while broadly responsive cells respond to multiple taste qualities. Image credit: Jhanna Flora / Kathryn Medler.

Researchers Discover New Type of Taste Receptor Cells

Aug 13, 2020 by News Staff

Scientists have discovered a new population of taste cells that can detect multiple types of stimuli, including chemicals from different taste qualities. Most...

Eight New Colonies of Emperor Penguins Discovered in Antarctica

Aug 12, 2020 by News Staff

Using images from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, a team of researchers from the British Antarctic Survey has spotted 8 new colonies of emperor...

Spores of Tuber luomae. Image credit: Joyce Eberhart.

New Species of Truffle Discovered: Tuber luomae

Aug 4, 2020 by News Staff

A team of mycologists from Oregon State University, the USDA Forestry Sciences Laboratory and Michigan State University has discovered a new species of...

A larval sunfish (Mola sp.) collected off New South Wales coast, Australia. Image credit: Kerryn Parkinson / Australian Museum.

Giant Sunfish Develop from Tiny Larvae, Marine Biologists Say

Aug 4, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of marine biologists has for the first time genetically identified a larva of the bump-head sunfish (Mola alexandrini). A larval...

Tetragonula carbonaria worker bees are observed to spend time clustered at the growing edges of terraces. Image credit: Tim Heard.

Chemists Find Biologically Active Sugar in Honey of Stingless Bees

Aug 3, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

An unusual bioactive disaccharide called trehalulose is a major component of stingless bee honeys from Malaysia, Australia and Brazil, according to a new...

Researchers Observe Formation of Four-Stranded DNA in Living Human Cells

Jul 30, 2020 by News Staff

DNA usually forms the classic double helix shape — two strands wound around each other. Several other structures have been formed in the lab, but...

The buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Marta Boroń / CC BY 2.0.

Study: Floral Vibrations by Buzz-Pollinating Bumblebees More Powerful Than Their Flight or Defensive Buzzes

Jul 29, 2020 by News Staff

Buzzing by buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris audax) workers during pollen foraging is much more powerful than that used for defense or flight, according...

The Jonah’s mouse lemur (Microcebus jonahi). Image credit: Stephen D. Nash / IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group / D. Schüßler.

Scientists Discover New Species of Mouse Lemur

Jul 29, 2020 by Natali Anderson

A species of mouse lemur believed to be new to science has been found in the tropical forests of northeastern Madagascar. Outer morphology of the Jonah’s...

Magnified image showing microbes revived from 101.5 million-year-old (Cretaceous period) sediment. Image credit: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

Biologists Revive 101.5-Million-Year-Old Microbes

Jul 28, 2020 by News Staff

A team of biologists from Japan and the United States has successfully revived aerobic microbes found in 101.5-million-year-old sediments from the abyssal...

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