Biology News

Scientists Train Fairy-Wrens to Understand Foreign ‘Languages’

Male and female superb fairy-wrens in Ensay, Victoria, Australia. This is a composite image, the right bird was inserted into the image. Image credit: Benjamin T. / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Jul 16, 2015 by News Staff

A team of ornithologists, led by Prof Robert Magrath of the Australian National University, has succeeded in teaching wild superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus) to recognize previously unfamiliar alarm calls. Male and female superb fairy-wrens in Ensay, Victoria, Australia. This is a composite image, the right bird was inserted into the image. Image credit: Benjamin T. / CC BY-SA 3.0. The scientists trained the fairy-wrens by playing unfamiliar sounds...

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Until now, it was believed that chromosomes only played a passive role in animal cell division. Image credit: NIH.

Biologists Discover New Mechanism of Cell Division

Jul 14, 2015 by News Staff

Chromosomes play an active role in animal cell division, reports a study published in the journal Nature. Until now, it was believed that chromosomes only...

To maintain mutualism, carnivorous pitcher plants specifically appeal to their animal partners’ perception. Image credit: Michael G. Schöner et al / C.C. Lee / M.D. Tuttle.

Pitcher Plants Attract Bats with Echo-Reflecting Structures, Says New Study

Jul 10, 2015 by News Staff

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, shows that carnivorous plants have reflective structures that are acoustically attractive for mutualistic...

Giant panda cub Xiao Liwu and his mother Bai Yun at the San Diego Zoo. Image credit: Natali Anderson / San Diego Zoo.

Giant Pandas Have Exceptionally Low Metabolic Rate, New Study Finds

Jul 10, 2015 by Natali Anderson

According to a new study led by Dr Yonggang Nie from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology, bamboo-eating giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)...

The early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), one of the smaller bumblebees. Image credit: Bernie Kohl.

Global Warming Causing Great Loss of Bumblebee Habitat, Say Researchers

Jul 9, 2015 by News Staff

A group of scientists headed by Dr Jeremy Kerr from the University of Ottawa, Canada, has discovered that climate change is rapidly shrinking the area...

Conus episcopatus, 6.4 cm, Thailand. Image credit: Alexander Medvedev / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Venom Toxins of Predatory Cone Snail Could Hold Promise for Cancer Patients

Jul 8, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists headed by Prof Paul Alewood of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, has discovered more than 3,000 new peptide toxins...

Flexamia whitcombi, male (top) and female. Image credit: Andrew Hicks.

Flexamia whitcombi: New Species of Leafhopper Discovered in New Jersey

Jul 6, 2015 by News Staff

Entomologist Dr Andrew Hicks from the University of Colorado has described a new species of the leafhopper genus Flexamia from the New Jersey Pine Barrens,...

Tetragnathid spider is using silk as anchor. Image credit: Alex Hyde.

Spiders Can Travel Across Oceans Like Ships, Scientists Say

Jul 3, 2015 by News Staff

According to a team of biologists headed by Dr Morito Hayashi of the Natural History Museum in London, UK, seafaring spiders use their legs as sails and...

The seahorse’s tail is made up of about 36 square-like segments, each composed of four L-shaped corner plates that progressively decrease in size along the length of the tail. Image credit: Shellac / CC BY 2.0.

Seahorse’s Square Tail Could Inspire Future Breakthroughs in Biomedicine, Robotics

Jul 3, 2015 by News Staff

Researchers studying the seahorse’s tail have found that square-shaped tails are better when both grasping and armor are needed. The finding could lead...

Light micrograph of a warnowiid dinoflagellate: double arrowhead points to the ocelloid, and arrow to the posterior cell extension. Scale bar – 10 μm. Image credit: Mona Hoppenrath et al., doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-9-116.

Single-Celled Planktonic Organisms Have Animal-Like Eyes, Scientists Say

Jul 1, 2015 by News Staff

According to a research team headed by Prof Brian Leander of the University of British Columbia’s Departments of Botany and Zoology, single-celled organisms...

Geophilus hadesi, male specimen in the Lukina jama - Trojama cave system, at -980 m below the surface. Image credit: J. Bedek.

Geophilus hadesi: New Species of Cave-Dwelling Centipede Discovered

Jul 1, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Prof Pavel Stoev of the National Museum of Natural History and Pensoft Publishers in Bulgaria has described a new species of...

Chestnut-crowned babblers (Pomatostomus ruficeps), SW Queensland, Australia. Image credit: Aviceda / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Study Reveals Language Precursors in Australian Babblers

Jun 30, 2015 by News Staff

A new study led by Dr Sabrina Engesser from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has revealed that the chestnut-crowned babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps)...

The rosy-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis). Image credit: David González Romero.

Lovebirds Can Rotate Their Heads at Lightning Fast Speeds

Jun 25, 2015 by News Staff

High-speed flight recordings of lovebirds making quick in flight turns reveal how these birds improve sight and shorten blur by rotating their head at...

Kiwa tyleri, female (left) and male (right). Scale bar – 5 cm. Image credit: Thatje S et al.

Kiwa tyleri: Marine Biologists Discover New Species of Yeti Crab

Jun 25, 2015 by News Staff

Marine biologists from British Antarctic Survey and the University of Southampton, UK, have described the first species of yeti crab known from the Southern...

Prionopelta seychelles paratype worker, head in full-face view. Image credit: Overson R & Fisher BL.

Six New Species of ‘Dracula’ Ants Discovered in Seychelles, Madagascar

Jun 24, 2015 by News Staff

 California Academy of Sciences entomologists, Dr Rick Overson and Dr Brian Fisher, have described six new species of bizarre underground ants in the...

Earth at night seen from space. Image credit: NASA.

Earth Entering 6th Great Mass Extinction

Jun 22, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Science Advances, Earth’s biota is entering a sixth ‘great mass extinction.’ Earth at night seen...

A troop of Olive baboons (Papio anubis). Image credit: Harvey Barrison / CC BY-SA 2.0.

‘Democratic’ Decision-Making Drives Baboon Troop Movements, New Study Finds

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published online in the journal Science, troops of Olive baboons (Papio anubis) decide where to move democratically. A troop of...

A nest of the Saharan silver ants (Cataglyphis bombycina) in Erg Chebbi, Morocco: outside the nest some ants are feasting on a camel tick; at the entrance to the nest is a piece of dry camel dropping. Image credit: Bjørn Christian Tørrissen / CC BY-SA 3.0.

How Saharan Silver Ants Cope with Torrid Heat of African Desert

Jun 19, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of entomologists from the United States and Switzerland is the first to demonstrate that the Saharan silver ants (Cataglyphis bombycina)...

A red-necked wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) manipulating food with one hand. Image credit: Andrey Giljov / National Geographic Society.

All Kangaroos Are Lefties, Scientists Say

Jun 18, 2015 by News Staff

Kangaroos and other macropod marsupials display left-hand preference at the population level for everyday tasks in the wild, says a team of scientists...

Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), Red Sea, Egypt. Image credit: Alexander Vasenin / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Biologists Surprised by Unique Strategy of Self-Repair Discovered in Moon Jellyfish

Jun 16, 2015 by News Staff

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, marine biologists have found that, upon amputation, the moon jellyfish...

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