Biology News

Sun Bears Can Mimic Facial Expressions of Their Playmates

The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) at Alma Park Zoo, Brisbane, Australia. Image credit: Andrew Napier / CC BY 2.0.
Mar 22, 2019 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Scientific Reports provides evidence that sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), a typically solitary species, have the ability to mimic the expressions of their conspecifics and that they do so by matching the exact facial variants they interact with. It is the first time exact facial mimicry has been seen outside of humans and gorillas. The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) at Alma Park Zoo, Brisbane, Australia. Image...

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The blackpoll warbler (Setophaga striata). Image credit: Simon Pierre Barrette / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Blackpoll Warblers Migrate Up To 12,400 Miles Roundtrip Every Year

Mar 19, 2019 by News Staff

Blackpoll warblers (Setophaga striata) that breed in western North America migrate up to 12,400 miles (20,000 km) roundtrip each year, some crossing the...

Wang et al report a strong, specific human brain response to ecologically-relevant rotations of Earth-strength magnetic fields. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

First Neuroscientific Evidence that Humans Have Geomagnetic Sense

Mar 19, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of neuroscientists and geoscientists from Caltech, the University of Tokyo, Princeton University and Tokyo Institute of Technology...

A wild sea otter at Bennett Slough Culverts opening mussels using a stone. Image credit: Haslam et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-39902-y.

Study: Wild Sea Otters Leave Archaeological Traces

Mar 15, 2019 by News Staff

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris) are the only marine mammals that use stone tools while foraging, using them to break open hard-shelled foods. In a new study,...

Stormtropis muisca, male. Image credit: Perafán et al, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.830.31433.

Stormtropis: New Genus of Bald-Legged Spiders Named after Star Wars’ Stormtroopers

Mar 15, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of researchers has described six new species of bald-legged spiders from Colombia and established a new genus for four of them, Stormtropis. Stormtropis...

Yamagata et al succeeded in observing the signs of the biological activity of 28,140-year-old mammoth nuclei in mouse oocytes. In this image, proteins that form chromosomes (red) and proteins that form dividing spindles (green) gather around a mammoth cell nucleus (upper right) in the mouse oocyte. Image credit: Yamagata et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-40546-1.

Researchers ‘Revive’ Woolly Mammoth Cell Nuclei

Mar 14, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

In 2010, the 28,140-year-old partial carcass of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), nicknamed ‘Yuka,’ was found in Siberian permafrost. Now a...

The Branch’s stiletto snake (Atractaspis branchi) in its natural habitat. Image credit: Mark-Oliver Rödel.

Scientists Discover New Stiletto Snake Species in Africa

Mar 13, 2019 by News Staff

A new species of stiletto snake has been discovered living in the rainforests of Liberia and Guinea. The Branch’s stiletto snake (Atractaspis branchi)...

Injectable photoreceptor-binding nanoparticles with the ability to convert photons from low-energy to high-energy forms allow mice to develop infrared vision without compromising their normal vision and associated behavioral responses. Image credit: Ma et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.01.038.

Injectable Nanoparticles Give Mice Infrared Vision

Mar 4, 2019 by News Staff

Humans and other mammals are limited to seeing a range of wavelengths of light called visible light, which includes the wavelengths of the rainbow. But...

Fairy circles seen from the air. Image credit: Stephan Getzin.

Scientists May Have Cracked Mystery of Australian Fairy Circles

Feb 27, 2019 by News Staff

Fairy circles are extremely ordered round patches of bare soil within arid grasslands. They are known from southwestern Africa around the Namib Desert...

In a sample of 1,681 dogs, Chopik & Weaver found reliable age differences in dog personality.

Dogs’ Personalities Can Change Over Time, New Study Suggests

Feb 25, 2019 by News Staff

When humans go through big changes in life, their personality traits can change. In a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality, a duo...

A mother is simultaneously suckling two infants in the same social unit. Image credit: Zuofu Xiang.

Golden Snub-Nosed Monkeys Share Nursing of Infants, Scientists Say

Feb 22, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has discovered that female golden snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana), an endangered species of Old World...

The Wallace’s giant bee (Megachile pluto). Image credit: Clay Bolt.

Wallace’s Giant Bee: World’s Largest Bee Rediscovered in Indonesia

Feb 22, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

A living individual of a bee species feared to be extinct has been found in the Indonesian islands known as the North Moluccas. The Wallace’s giant...

Mice and rats have a rich repertoire of around 20 kinds of calls. Image credit: Alice Gray.

DeepSqueak: Deep Learning-Based System Decodes Rodent Chatter

Feb 21, 2019 by News Staff

Deep learning has recently revolutionized the field of machine hearing and vision, by allowing computers to perform human-like activities including seeing,...

Cassowaries use their casque much in the same way as some other birds use their beaks for heat exchange. Image credit: Lolame.

Cassowary’s Distinctive Helmet Acts as Thermal Radiator

Feb 19, 2019 by News Staff

The cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) is a large, flightless bird that bears a prominent helmet (or casque). The function of the cranial structure has attracted...

The Somali red aloe (Aloe sanguinalis), with co-author Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Awale, at Lafarug, Somaliland, in January 2018. Image credit: Barkworth et al, doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.117.28226.

New Species of Aloe Discovered in Somaliland

Feb 18, 2019 by News Staff

A species of aloe believed to be new to science has been found in Somaliland, a self-declared state, internationally considered to be an autonomous region...

Pollen patterns: SEM images and simulations. Image credit: Asja Radja / Maxim Lavrentovich.

Nature Favors Production of Asymmetrical Pollen Grains

Feb 15, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Cell, plants favor the production of uneven, asymmetrical patterns on the surface of pollen grains over...

Spotted softshell turtles (Pelodiscus variegatus) in life, females. Image credit: Thomas Ziegler.

Researchers Discover New Species of Softshell Turtle

Feb 14, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Hungary, Germany and Vietnam has discovered a new, critically endangered species of softshell turtle in north-central Vietnam...

Gestures of our primate cousins may be more similar to our own language than previously thought. Image credit: Republica.

Chimpanzees’ Gestural Communication Follows Same Laws as Human Language: Study

Feb 14, 2019 by News Staff

According to a new study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, gestures of chimpanzees follow the same mathematical patterns — known...

Bibita Mountain dwarf puddle frogs (Phrynobatrachus bibita), females. Image credit: S. Goutte & J. Reyes-Velasco, New York University Abu Dhabi.

New Species of Puddle Frog Discovered in Ethiopia

Feb 13, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from New York University Abu Dhabi has described a new species of frog from Bibita Mountain, an unexplored and isolated mountain...

Ceratogyrus attonitifer. Image credit: Ian Enelbrecht.

Newly-Discovered Tarantula Species Has ‘Horn’ on Its Back

Feb 12, 2019 by News Staff

A duo of researchers from South Africa has discovered a remarkable new species of tarantula living in central Angola. Ceratogyrus attonitifer. Image credit:...

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