Biology News

Trap-Jaw Ants Can Use Mandible-Powered Jumps to Escape from Antlions

A worker of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus brunneus. Image credit: Larabee FJ / Suarez AV.
May 14, 2015 by News Staff

Trap-jaw ants can use their powerful mandibles to hurl themselves out of harm’s way when an antlion stalks, says a team of entomologists at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. A worker of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus brunneus. Image credit: Larabee FJ / Suarez AV. The mandibles of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus brunneus can whip shut at speeds over 40 meters per second, and are used for capturing prey, protection, and more routine tasks,...

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Male and female black lemurs (Eulemur macaco). Image credit: Brocken Inaglory / CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Biologists Explain Female Social Dominance in Malagasy Lemurs

May 13, 2015 by News Staff

Lemur females behave more like the males thanks to a little testosterone, says a group of biologists at Duke University in Durham, NC. Male and female...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio). Image credit: Bernat Arlandis / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Fish Can Produce Their Own Sunscreen, Biologists Say

May 12, 2015 by News Staff

A group of biologists headed Prof Taifo Mahmud of Oregon State University has discovered that zebrafish (Danio rerio) are able to synthesize a chemical...

Erlikosaurus andrewsi. Image credit: Dinosaur-world.com.

Scientists Create ‘Dino-Chickens’ in Laboratory

May 12, 2015 by News Staff

Using the fossil record as a guide, a team of scientists led by Prof Arhat Abzhanov of Harvard University has successfully replicated the molecular processes...

This false-color image shows a cell of thermophilic methanogenic archaea. Image credit: University of California Museum of Paleontology.

Lokiarchaeota: Biologists Discover ‘Missing Link’ Microorganism

May 7, 2015 by News Staff

A team of biologists, co-led by Dr Lionel Guy and Dr Thijs J. G. Ettema from Uppsala University in Sweden, has discovered a new group of microorganisms...

A group of bottlenose dolphins in Xcaret, Mexico.

Bottlenose Dolphins Form Highly Complex Networks of Friends

May 6, 2015 by News Staff

In a 6.5 year study, marine biologists led by Dr Elizabeth Murdoch Titcomb from the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University...

The sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is the fourth-largest rorqual after the blue whale, the fin whale and the humpback whale. Sei whale mother and calf as seen from the air. Image credit: Christin Khan / NOAA / NEFSC.

Rorqual Whales Have Unique Stretchy Nerves

May 5, 2015 by News Staff

A group of marine biologists from the University of British Columbia, Stanford University, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural...

African elephants at the Amboseli national park near Mount Kilimanjaro. Image credit: Amoghavarsha / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Extinction of World’s Largest Herbivores May Lead to Empty Landscapes, Say Researchers

May 4, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study led by Prof William Ripple of Oregon State University, many populations of large plant-eaters such as elephants, bison, rhinoceroses,...

The Sichuan bush warbler (Locustella chengi), Laojun Shan, China. Image credit: Per Alström et al.

Sichuan Bush Warbler: New Bird Species Discovered in China

May 1, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational group of ornithologists, co-led by Dr Per Alström of the Swedish Species Information Centre and Dr Fumin Lei of the Chinese Academy of...

A bombardier beetle (Brachinus sp.) from Greenville County, SC. Image credit: David Hill / CC BY 2.0.

New Study Shows How Bombardier Beetles Produce Defensive Spray

May 1, 2015 by News Staff

Using high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging, a team of scientists led by Prof Christine Ortiz of Massachusetts Institute of Technology was able to look...

The big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). Image credit: Angell Williams / CC BY 2.0.

Bats Have Unique Touch Sensors on Their Wings, New Study Finds

Apr 30, 2015 by News Staff

Bat wings are equipped with an unusual repertoire of very sensitive touch sensors, a new study in the journal Cell Reports has found. The big brown bat...

Liolaemus scorialis, male, 7 km NW of the summit of the Antuco Volcano, near the Laja Lagoon, Biobio Region, Chile. Image credit: Troncoso-Palacios J et al.

Two New Species of Iguanid Lizards Discovered in Chile

Apr 29, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A group of researchers led by Dr Jaime Troncoso-Palacios of the Universidad de Chile in Santiago has described two new species of iguanid lizards from...

The buff-tailed bumblebee (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Kintaiyo / CC BY 3.0.

Parasite-Infected Bumblebees Use Nectar Nicotine as Self-Medication, Say Scientists

Apr 27, 2015 by News Staff

Bumblebees that have been infected by parasites seek out flowers with nicotine in the nectar, says a group of scientists from Royal Holloway University...

A specimen of the pocket shark (Mollisquama parini) from the Gulf of Mexico, young male. Scale bars - 10 mm. Image credit: Mark A. Grace et al.

Extremely Rare Deep-Water Pocket Shark Caught in Gulf of Mexico

Apr 24, 2015 by News Staff

Marine biologists have discovered what they say is the second specimen ever found of the pocket shark (Mollisquama parini). A specimen of the pocket shark...

The honey bee (Apis sp.). Image credit: Zarapp.

Bees Prefer Nectar, Pollen of Pesticide-Treated Plants

Apr 23, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature has found that honeybees (Apis mellifera) and buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) could not taste imidacloprid,...

The Diane’s bare-hearted glassfrog (Hyalinobatrachium dianae), adult female. Image credit: Brian Kubicki et al.

Hyalinobatrachium dianae: New Species of Glassfrog Discovered in Costa Rica

Apr 21, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A group of scientists led by Dr Brian Kubicki of Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center has described a new glassfrog species from the Caribbean foothills...

The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis). Image credit: MBARI.

Vampire Squid Possesses Unique Reproductive Strategy

Apr 21, 2015 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Current Biology, the vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) has a reproductive strategy unique among...

According to scientists at the University of Manchester, UK, the color of light has a major impact on how mammalian body clock measures the time of day. Image credit: Axel Kristinsson / CC BY 2.0.

Color of Light Influences Circadian Clock in Mammals, Scientists Say

Apr 20, 2015 by News Staff

A new study appearing in the journal PLOS Biology is the first to demonstrate that the color of light influences the circadian clock in any mammalian species. According...

The first photograph ever taken of the Bouvier’s red colobus (Piliocolobus bouvieri): an adult female and infant. Image credit: Lieven Devreese.

Bouvier’s Red Colobus Monkey Rediscovered in Congo, Photographed for First Time

Apr 17, 2015 by News Staff

It’s not often that a mammal thought extinct, appears once again in the wild. But that’s what happened to the Bouvier’s red colobus (Piliocolobus...

An octopus at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island. Image credit: University of Southern California.

Octopuses Use Unique Strategies to Coordinate Their Arms in Crawling

Apr 17, 2015 by News Staff

Octopuses can crawl in any direction relative to the body orientation, says a team of marine biologists headed by Dr Binyamin Hochner of the Hebrew University...

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