Biology News

Bumblebees Can Learn to Pull Strings for Reward, New Study Shows

The buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Spacebirdy / CC-BY-SA-3.0.
Oct 5, 2016 by News Staff

String pulling is a popular problem-solving task for investigating cognitive abilities in apes and birds, but has never been tested in insects. Now, buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) have joined the club, according to a study by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, UK. The buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Spacebirdy / CC-BY-SA-3.0. The team’s results show that rare innovator bumblebees were able to solve...

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This image shows thirst neurons (blue) in mouse SCN. Image credit: C. Gizowski et al / McGill University.

Study Says Biological Clock Stimulates Thirst before Sleep

Sep 29, 2016 by News Staff

According to a study in rodents led by Prof. Charles Bourque of McGill University, the brain’s biological clock stimulates thirst in the hours before...

The new study provides further evidence of possible genetic influences on obesity, through heritable bacteria found in the fecal microbiome.

New Link Found between Body Fat, Fecal Bacteria

Sep 28, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has found a new link between the diversity of bacteria in the human fecal microbiome and levels of visceral fat (body...

Two female great tits. Image credit: Shirley Clarke / Fordingbridge Camera Club / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study: Great Tits Choose Spring Neighbors Based on Winter Friendships

Sep 23, 2016 by News Staff

Great tits (Parus major) pick their spring breeding sites to be near their winter flockmates, according to a new study by scientists at the University...

The Montpellier snake (Malpolon monspessulanus), one of the snake species studied by the team. Image credit: Alexandre Roux / CC BY-SA 2.0.

New Research Sheds Light on Snake Vision

Sep 20, 2016 by News Staff

The first major study of visual pigment genes and lenses in snakes has found that the reptiles match their vision to their lifestyles. The Montpellier...

American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis). Image credit: Gareth Rasberry / CC BY-SA 3.0.

American Alligator’s Lineage is More Ancient than Previously Thought

Sep 20, 2016 by News Staff

According to new research, American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) have remained virtually untouched by evolutionary change for at least 8 million...

Damian Scarf et al. demonstrate that pigeons (Columba livia) trained to discriminate words from non-words picked up on the orthographic properties that define words and used this knowledge to identify words they had never seen before. Image credit: Damian Scarf / University of Otago.

Study: Pigeons Can Learn to Visually Recognize Words

Sep 18, 2016 by News Staff

Pigeons (Columba livia) can learn to distinguish real words from non-words by visually processing their letter combinations, according to a surprising...

Nesting area of Anthophora pueblo in Utah’s San Rafael Desert. Image credit: Michael Orr, Utah State University.

Anthophora pueblo: Newly-Discovered Species of Bee Excavates Sandstone Nests

Sep 15, 2016 by News Staff

A team of entomologists led by Utah State University researcher Dr. Michael Orr has described an unusual new species of bee from the deserts of the southwestern...

Captive Hawaiian crow (Corvus hawaiiensis) using a stick tool to extract food from a wooden log. Image credit: Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo Global.

Hawaiian Crows Show Talent for Tool Use

Sep 15, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr. Christian Rutz, a researcher at the Centre for Biological Diversity at the University of St Andrews, UK, has discovered...

A colorized scanning electron micrograph of human hair. Image credit: Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Scientists Develop Forensic Method to Identify Humans Using Hair Proteins

Sep 12, 2016 by News Staff

A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory-led interdisciplinary research team has developed the first-ever biological identification method that exploits...

Reticulated giraffe (G. reticulata) in Samburu NP, Kenya. Image credit: Julian Fennessy / Giraffe Conservation Foundation.

Genetic Analysis Reveals Four Distinct Giraffe Species Instead of One

Sep 9, 2016 by News Staff

Giraffes actually are not one species, but four, according to a new study published in the journal Current Biology. Reticulated giraffe (G. reticulata)...

The Pete Basabe’s butteflyfish (Prognathodes basabei) at a depth of 180 feet (55 m) off Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Image credit: Greg McFall / NOAA.

Prognathodes basabei: New Species of Butterflyfish Discovered in Hawaiian Waters

Sep 7, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A new species of the butterflyfish genus Prognathodes has been described from several specimens collected at depths of 180-200 feet (55-61 m) off Pearl...

Madagascarophis lolo. Image credit: Sara Ruane.

Madagascarophis lolo: New Species of Cat-Eyed Snake Discovered in Madagascar

Sep 5, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of researchers from the United States and Madagascar has described a new, possibly microendemic, species of the snake genus Madagascarophis...

Trained dogs around fMRI scanner. Image credit: Eniko Kubinyi.

Dogs Understand Words and Intonation of Human Speech, New Study Finds

Aug 31, 2016 by News Staff

According to a study led by Dr. Attila Andics of the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, Hungary, dogs use the left hemisphere to process words and...

Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii). Image credit: J.J. Harrison / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Tasmanian Devils Rapidly Evolve to Overcome Facial Tumor Disease

Aug 31, 2016 by News Staff

An international group of researchers has discovered that two regions in the genomes of Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) are changing in response...

This image depicts the presence of different viral RNA segments of GCXV within infected cells. Image credit: Michael Lindquist.

Guaico Culex Virus: Researchers Find Multicomponent Animal Virus

Aug 26, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

For the first time, researchers have identified a multicomponent RNA virus – one containing different segments of genetic material in separate particles,...

Adonis, a 1,075-year-old Bosnian pine. Image credit: Oliver Konter.

1,075-Year-Old Bosnian Pine Among Europe’s Oldest Known Living Trees

Aug 22, 2016 by Natali Anderson

According to a team of botanists and dendrochronologists from the University of Arizona, Stockholm University and the University of Mainz, a pine growing...

The Cameroon scaly-tail (Zenkerella insignis) by Joseph Smit, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1898.

Zenkerella insignis: Scientists Analyze DNA of Enigmatic African Rodent

Aug 17, 2016 by Natali Anderson

For the first time, scientists have sequenced and analyzed the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of the Cameroon scaly-tail (Zenkerella insignis), one of Africa’s...

Geophis lorancai, adult male. Image credit: Miguel Ángel de la Torre Loranca.

Geophis lorancai: New Species of Earth Snake Found in Mexico

Aug 13, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists has described a new strikingly-colored species in the snake genus Geophis from the mountains of the Sierra Zongolica in west-central...

Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus). Image credit: Julius Nielsen.

Greenland Sharks are Longest-Lived Vertebrates on Earth, Marine Biologists Say

Aug 12, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Greenland sharks (Somniosus microcephalus) live at least as long as 400 years, according to a team of marine biologists led by Dr. Julius Nielsen from...

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