Biology News

Aug 20, 2019 by News Staff

Each spring and fall, millions of birds switch to migrating at night. Most of these are small songbirds migrating long distances that need to alternate their migratory flights with refueling stopovers, which can account for up to 80% of the total migratory period. After a long nocturnal flight, these birds face the contrasting needs to recover sleep and refill depleted energy stores, all while vulnerable to predation. According to a new study published...

Aug 19, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of biologists has discovered and described a new species of medicinal leech living in the freshwater wetlands of the eastern United...

Aug 19, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Karolinska Institutet has discovered a previously unknown meshlike organ in the skin that is sensitive to painful mechanical damage,...

Aug 15, 2019 by News Staff

Crocodiles — and their plant-eating ancestors — have thin tooth enamel, a trait that is in stark contrast to humans and other hard-biting species,...

Aug 13, 2019 by News Staff

A team of U.S. researchers has discovered a previously undescribed group of small molecule metabolites responsible for the green biofluorescence in two...

Aug 8, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter, UK, put a bag of chips on the ground and tested how long it took herring gulls (Larus argentatus)...

Aug 6, 2019 by News Staff

Gorilla diets are characterized by large amounts of fruits and plants. Hard-object feeding is not generally associated with these great apes as the high...

Aug 5, 2019 by News Staff

New research, published recently in the journal Evolution, shows that some dinosaurs may have taken flight thanks to sex appeal. Persons & Currie explored...

Aug 2, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Nadia Paez, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, and Pontifical Catholic University’s Professor Santiago Ron have discovered eleven new...

Jul 31, 2019 by News Staff

A team of marine biologists with the Nautilus Expedition succeeded in filming Asperoteuthis mangoldae, a recently discovered deep-sea squid species, at...

Jul 26, 2019 by News Staff

Platelets are tiny blood cells that help our bodies form clots to stop bleeding. They are found in all mammals but no other group of animals. According...

Jul 25, 2019 by News Staff

Apples are among the most consumed fruits worldwide. They represent a source of direct human exposure to bacterial communities. A new study, published...

Jul 24, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by NOAA marine biologists has described a new species of pocket shark from the Gulf of Mexico. The American pocket shark (Mollisquama...

Jul 24, 2019 by News Staff

Most cigarette butts contain a filter made of cellulose acetate fiber, a type of a bioplastic. Around 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year,...

Jul 23, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has discovered a new species of the genus Biswamoyopterus living in the evergreen broad-leaved forests of Mount Gaoligong...

Jul 19, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of researchers has discovered a new species of tree growing in the forests of the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. Mischogyne iddii...

Jul 15, 2019 by News Staff

Insects can enter a neuropathic pain-like state after nerve injury, according to a new study in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Khuong et al offer...

Jul 12, 2019 by News Staff

According to new research, gorillas have complex social structures, from lifetime bonds forged between distant relations, to social tiers with striking...

Jul 12, 2019 by News Staff

In a study published online this week in the journal eLife, researchers from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth examined how environmental stressors...

Jul 11, 2019 by News Staff

Using a technique called cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a team of scientists from the United States and Canada has captured atomic-level, 3D...