Biology News

Aug 5, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has identified molecules in the earthworm gut that enable digestion of polyphenol-rich plant material, such as fallen leaves. Drilodefensin distribution in an earthworm: schematic 3D model based on micro-computed tomography integrated with imaging mass spectrometry data. The color scale represents the relative abundance of the compound. Image credit: Manuel Liebeke et al. Earthworms are responsible for returning...

Aug 4, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists has found that wild bonobos (Pan paniscus), our closest living primate relatives, communicate in a similar manner to human babies. Wild...

Aug 3, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of researchers – led by Dr Dalial Freitak from the University of Helsinki, Finland – has found that a bee blood protein...

Jul 31, 2015 by News Staff

African and Eurasian golden jackals are genetically distinct lineages, according to a research team led by Dr Klaus-Peter Koepfli from the Smithsonian...

Jul 30, 2015 by News Staff

Wild chimpanzees of the Sonso community in the Budongo forest, Uganda, are increasingly eating clay to supplement the minerals in their diet, says a team...

Jul 30, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications has shown that, despite not having a nervous system, plants send signals normally associated...

Jul 30, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of scientists – led by Dr Vesna Stanic of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source – has detected new structural features of...

Jul 28, 2015 by News Staff

The light-sensing molecules that tell plants whether to germinate, when to flower and which direction to grow were inherited millions of years ago from...

Jul 27, 2015 by News Staff

A new species of diamond frog has been found living in the high altitude forests of the Sorata massif in north Madagascar. Rhombophryne longicrus in life....

Jul 24, 2015 by News Staff

According to a trio of animal physiology researchers from Japan, the highest-ranking rooster has priority to announce the break of dawn. Rooster in the...

Jul 23, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists, led by Dr Diana Hofmann of the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences in Jülich, Germany, has identified the missing ingredient that...

Jul 21, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of scientists, led by Dr Martin Whiting of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, has described a new species of the flat lizard genus Platysaurus...

Jul 17, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Oregon State University has developed a new variety of dulse seaweed (Palmaria mollis) that, when fried or smoked, tastes just...

Jul 17, 2015 by News Staff

According to a team of scientists led by Dr John Whiteman from the University of Wyoming, polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are unlikely to physiologically...

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...

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...

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...

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)...

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...

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...