Biology News

‘Sonic Hedgehog Pathway’ Underlies Evolutionary Emergence and Diversity of Feathers, Study Suggests

Cooper & Milinkovitch demonstrate that an intravenous injection of sonidegib, a potent Shh pathway inhibitor, at embryonic day 9 (E9) temporarily produces striped domains (instead of spots) of Shh expression in the skin, arrests morphogenesis, and results in unbranched and non-invaginated feather buds -- akin to proto-feathers -- in embryos until E14. Image credit: Fabrice Berger & Michel Milinkovitch.
Mar 20, 2025 by News Staff

Molecular signaling pathways are communication systems that transmit messages within and between cells. According to a new study by University of Geneva scientists, inhibiting one such system, called the sonic hedgehog (Shh) pathway, strongly perturbs feather development in chickens by restricting feather bud outgrowth, invagination and branching. Cooper & Milinkovitch demonstrate that an intravenous injection of sonidegib, a potent Shh pathway...

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The Babar myzomela (Myzomela babarensis). Image credit: James A. Eaton.

New Bird Species Identified in Indonesia

Mar 14, 2025 by Natali Anderson

A cryptic new species of the honeyeater genus Myzomela has been described by an international team of ornithologists from Malaysia, India, the United Kingdom...

Mice have their own form of ‘first aid’ practices to help other mice in need. Image credit: Sun et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adq2677.

Lab Mice Seen Giving First Aid to Unconscious Mates

Mar 10, 2025 by News Staff

In new lab experiments, scientists at the University of Southern California showed that when mice encountered a familiar social partner in a state of unconsciousness...

A male superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae). Image credit: Alex Maisey, University of Wollongong.

Superb Lyrebirds ‘Farm’ Their Invertebrate Prey, Ornithologists Discover

Mar 5, 2025 by Natali Anderson

The superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae), a ground-dwelling species of moist eucalypt forests in south-eastern Australia, engineers micro-habitats...

The Asian hornet (Vespa velutina). Image credit: Gilles San Martin / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Asian Hornets Prey on Almost 1,500 Species of Invertebrates, New Study Reveals

Mar 5, 2025 by News Staff

Biologists at the University of Exeter have conducted the first large-scale study of the diet of the Asian hornet (Vespa velutina), utilizing deep sequencing...

Papilio solstitius: (a) male, holotype and (b) female, allotype. Scale bar - 10 mm. Image credit: DeRoller et al., doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1228.142202.

Cryptic New Species of Butterfly Identified in North America

Feb 28, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Entomologists have described a new species of tiger swallowtail (genus Papilio) from eastern North America. Papilio solstitius: (a) male, holotype and...

Giant panda cub Xiao Liwu and his mother Bai Yun at the San Diego Zoo.

Bamboo-Derived microRNAs May Be behind Giant Pandas’ Plant-Based Diet

Feb 28, 2025 by News Staff

Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) belong to the order Carnivora, but they mainly feed on bamboo, and their unique dietary adaptability has always been...

Archer et al. reveal the first detailed look at polar bear cubs emerging from their dens. Image credit: Jon Aars / Norwegian Polar Institute.

Rare Footage of Moms, Cubs Emerging from Dens Sheds Light on Elusive Polar Bear Reproduction

Feb 27, 2025 by News Staff

Published today on International Polar Bear Day, new research marks the first combination of satellite tracking collars with remote camera traps to answer...

Palaeognath birds. Image credit: Bernard Dupont / Kore / Kadellar / Frank Vincentz / Rohit / Manuel Anastácio / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Palaeognath Birds are Capable of Technical Innovation, Study Shows

Feb 24, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Palaeognathae (meaning ‘old jaws’) is a small group of birds which includes several species that have evolved flightlessness and gigantism, such as...

The whirring tree frog (Litoria revelata). Image credit: Stephen Mahony.

New Species of Tree Frog Discovered in Australia

Feb 21, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Biologists have discovered a new species — and redescribed another one — of the tree frog genus Litoria living on the Australian continent. The...

Illustration of an Earth-like exoplanet after X-ray radiation exposure. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss.

Ionizing Radiation from Nearby Supernova Altered Virus Evolution 2.5 Million Years Ago

Feb 20, 2025 by News Staff

This supernova event likely occurred in the Upper Centaurus Lupus association, a group of massive stars approximately 457 light-years away from Earth. Illustration...

Termite mounds in the Bungle Bungle Range in Western Australia. Image credit: Ouderkraal / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study: Animals Are Not Just Inhabitants of Natural World, They Are Its Architects

Feb 18, 2025 by News Staff

New research reveals how hundreds of species influence Earth’s surface processes, from vast termite mounds visible from space to hippos carving drainage...

The greater bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea apoda). Image credit: Andrea Lawardi.

82% Species of Birds-of-Paradise are Biofluorescent, New Study Shows

Feb 11, 2025 by News Staff

Birds-of-paradise are a family of small to medium-sized forest birds found in the New Guinea region. With their elaborate and colorful feathers, these...

A proposed model for CsMYB73 negatively regulating the accumulation of theanine mediated by CsGGT2 and CsGGT4 in tea shoots of ‘Huangkui’ returning green from yellow. The blue arrows indicate theanine metabolism involved in CsGGT2. The orange arrows indicate the theanine metabolism involved in CsGGT4. The black arrows represent upregulated and downregulated gene expression and theanine content. The gray arrows represent a positive effect, and the gray vertical lines represent an inhibitory effect. Glu - glutamine; CsGGT2 and CsGGT4 - γ-glutamyl-transpeptidase from tea plants; CsMYB73 - transcription factor from tea plants. Ellipses embedded with question marks represent unverified regulatory factors that may participate in this model. During the yellowing period of ‘Huangkui’ leaves, a significant suppression of CsMYB73 further inhibited the theanine hydrolase CsGGT2 activity, and activated the theanine synthase CsGGT4 activity, resulting in a higher level of theanine accumulated in tea shoots. As tea shoots transition from yellow to green, the upregulation of CsMYB73 leads to an enhancement in the activity of theanine hydrolase CsGGT2, while simultaneously suppressing the synthesis of theanine by the theanine synthase CsGGT4. Consequently, this process culminates in a persistent reduction in the accumulation level of theanine in ‘Huangkui’ shoots. Image credit: Chang et al., doi: 10.1093/hr/uhae012.

New Study Provides Insights into Theanine Metabolism in Tea Plants

Feb 11, 2025 by News Staff

The metabolism of theanine — a unique non-proteinogenic amino acid — is a necessary biological process during the planting and production of...

Disruption of iron and copper recycling from industrial whaling. Image credit: Monreal et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-024-01965-9.

Trace Metals and Other Nutrients from Whale Feces Fertilized Ancient Oceans, New Study Confirms

Feb 10, 2025 by News Staff

Blue whales and other baleen whales, which filter seawater through their mouths to feed on small marine life, once teemed in Earth’s oceans. In the 20th...

Arnon et al. uncovered the same statistical structure in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) song that is a hallmark of human language. Image credit: Christopher Michel / CC BY 2.0.

Songs of Humpback Whales Show Human Language-Like Statistical Structure

Feb 6, 2025 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has analyzed the groans, moans, whistles, barks, shrieks and squeaks in humpback whale song recordings collected over...

Gibellula attenboroughii. Image credit: Evans et al., doi: 10.3114/fuse.2025.15.07.

New Fungal Species Turns Cave Spiders into Zombies: Gibellula attenboroughii

Feb 4, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Cave-dwelling, orb-weaving spiders of the subfamily Metainae infected by Gibellula attenboroughii exhibit behavioral changes similar to those reported...

Positions of electrodes used to cover the superior auricular muscles. Image credit: Schroeer et al., doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1462507.

Auricular Muscles Scientists Thought We Didn’t Use Actually Activate When We Listen Hard

Jan 31, 2025 by News Staff

If you can wiggle your ears, you can use the auricular muscles, which helped our distant ancestors listen closely. These muscles helped change the shape...

Brown et al. present the chromosome-scale assembly of the 20.3 Gb genome of the Iberian ribbed newt (Pleurodeles waltl), with a unprecedented contiguity and completeness among giant genomes. Image credit: Brown et al., doi: 10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100761.

Biologists Sequence Iberian Ribbed Newt Genome at High Resolution

Jan 30, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Aquatic, tailed amphibians called newts have large genomes harboring many repeat elements. How these elements shape the genome and relate to newts’ unique...

A ‘Blue Marble’ image of the Earth taken from the VIIRS instrument aboard NASA’s Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP (named in honor of Verner E. Suomi of the University of Wisconsin). This composite image uses a number of swaths of the Earth’s surface taken on January 4, 2012. Image credit: NASA / NOAA / GSFC / Suomi NPP / VIIRS / Norman Kuring.

New Study Reveals at Atomic Level How Microbes Consume Atmospheric Carbon Monoxide

Jan 29, 2025 by News Staff

Over two billion tons of carbon monoxide are released into the atmosphere globally each year. Diverse bacteria and archaea consume about 250 million tons...

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