Biology News

Jan 28, 2013 by Natali Anderson

A new study in owl monkeys (Aotus azarai) reveals that, when an owl monkey pair is severed by an intruding individual, the mate who takes up with a new partner produces fewer offspring than a monkey who sticks with its tried-and-true partner. An owl monkey group (M. Corley / Owl Monkey Project) The findings, published in the journal PLoS ONE, underscore how monogamy and pair-bonds – relatively rare social formations among mammals – can...

Jan 25, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Dr Tina Šantl Temkiv and colleagues from Aarhus University, Denmark, have completed the first ever inventory of microbes and soil chemicals in a storm...

Jan 24, 2013 by Natali Anderson

An international team of biologists led by Dr Marie Dacke of Lund University, Sweden, has discovered that African dung beetles (Scarabaeus satyrus) use...

Jan 18, 2013 by Natali Anderson

A team of British researchers has discovered that some bacteria are able to change the make-up of supporting cells within the nerve system, called Schwann...

Jan 17, 2013 by Natali Anderson

British scientists have made a surprising discovery after studying how tadpoles of the African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) and the Western clawed frog...

Jan 17, 2013 by Natali Anderson

An international team of amphibian biologists led by Dr Jodi Rowley of the Australian Museum in Sydney has discovered a new species of flying frog near...

Jan 13, 2013 by Natali Anderson

An international team of zoologists has discovered a gorgeous new species of lizard in southern Vietnam. Male Calotes bachae. Due to their shining blue...

Jan 8, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Biologists have found evidence suggesting that the western long-beaked echidna, Zaglossus bruijnii, thought to have gone extinct in Australia thousands...

Jan 4, 2013 by Natali Anderson

Scientists from the Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Institute of Biology Leiden, the Netherlands, have found two new species of cichlid fish in Lake...

Jan 3, 2013 by Natali Anderson

A team of British and Chinese biologists has discovered three new species of nettles in China, one in a cave and another two in deep gorges. Pilea cavernicola...

Dec 31, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

Meet the amazing, beautiful and weird mammals, birds, insects, fishes, arthropods, sponges, amphibians and crustaceans discovered in 2012. Lesula monkey...

Dec 28, 2012 by Natali Anderson

A team of biologists from the University of Vigo, Spain, and the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park in Cuba, has identified two new species of Caribbean...

Dec 27, 2012 by Natali Anderson

British scientists have identified for the first time a particular ‘secondary microflora component’ that helps give blue cheese its distinctive aroma. Blue...

Dec 26, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

European scientists have identified in mice a previously unknown group of brain nerve cells, or neurons, that regulate cardiovascular functions such as...

Dec 20, 2012 by Natali Anderson

Australian biologists have discovered two new species of lizards – the Elegant Rainbow Skink (Carlia decora) and the Orange-flanked Rainbow Skink...

Dec 13, 2012 by Natali Anderson

U.S. biologists have discovered a new species of slow loris in the jungles of Borneo. This is the Kayan loris (Ch’ien Lee / wildborneo.com.my) Slow...

Dec 5, 2012 by Sergio Prostak

Scientists led by Prof Sebastian Jessberger of the University of Zurich’s Brain Research Institute, Switzerland, have discovered that neural stem cells...

Dec 4, 2012 by Natali Anderson

Entomologists have described a new species of skipper butterfly from Jamaica. Troyus turneri, a new species of skipper butterfly from Jamaica (Jeff Gage...

Dec 3, 2012 by Natali Anderson

Biologists from the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, have found two new species of encrusting anemones, in unexpected locations. This is Neozoanthus...

Nov 28, 2012 by Natali Anderson

Biologists led by Prof Christopher Tudge of American University in Washington, DC, have discovered a tiny new species of hermit crab on the barrier reef...