Biology News

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

Stormtropis muisca, male. Image credit: Perafán et al, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.830.31433.
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 muisca, male. Image credit: Perafán et al, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.830.31433. Bald-legged spiders are members of Paratropididae, a family of only 11 very similarly looking, small- to medium-sized species, whose placement in the Tree of Life has long been a matter of debate. One...

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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:...

The yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus). Image credit: Mark Sandfoss, University of Florida.

Sea Snakes Drink from Oceanic Freshwater Lenses, New Study Shows

Feb 11, 2019 by News Staff

Acquisition of freshwater is problematic for sea snakes living in oceanic environments that are distant from sources of freshwater associated with land....

Mosquitoes can hear up to 32 feet away. Image credit: Egor Kamelev.

Mosquitoes Can Hear Sound over Surprisingly Long Distances

Feb 8, 2019 by News Staff

Yellow fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) can use their antennae to detect sounds that are at least 32 feet (10 m) away, according to a new study published...

A close-up of the tentacles of a male Ancistrus patronus. The male’s tentacles look like the eggs that the male cares for. Image credit: Jonathan W. Armbruster.

Scientists Discover Six New Species of Bristlenose Catfish

Feb 7, 2019 by News Staff

Six new species of tentacle-nosed catfish have been discovered in the Amazon and Orinoco River basins. A close-up of the tentacles of a male Ancistrus...

Howard et al show that honeybees can learn to use blue and yellow as symbolic representations for addition or subtraction. In a free-flying environment, individual bees used this information to solve unfamiliar problems involving adding or subtracting one element from a group of elements. Image credit: Ralph.

Study: Honeybees Can Do Basic Arithmetic

Feb 7, 2019 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Science Advances shows that honeybees (Apis mellifera), with a miniature brain, can be taught to recognize colors...

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