New hemlock hybrids that are tolerant to the invasive insect known as hemlock woolly adelgid have been created by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists.
Biodiversity crusaders Peter H. Raven and Edward O. Wilson received Linnaean Legacy Awards Nov. 6 for their extraordinary contributions to taxonomy and the exploration and classification of species. They used the occasion to call on individuals and taxonomists alike to do their part to sustain the biodiversity of Earth, which includes identifying millions of species before they become extinct.
In a finding that upends decades of scientific theory on reptile reproduction, researchers at North Carolina State University have discovered that female boa constrictors can squeeze out babies without mating.
With the help of the weed-eating flea beetle, researchers significantly reduced infestations of a non-native plant, leafy spurge, on Montana rangeland. The good news is that this biological method of weed control worked effectively over the course of a 9-year study. The bad news is that rather than native plants returning to flourish in the absence of leafy spurge, other non-native species became dominant in its place.
Voters have until Dec. 15 to show their support for the bug they deem the most fascinating, unique or downright detestable in the 2010 Ugly Bug Contest.
ATexas Tech University researcher will discuss the discovery in China of the first complete skeleton of an early sauropod, Yizhousaurus sunae, considered the prototype for what would become some of the largest animals ever to walk the Earth.
Copper sulfate has emerged as an effective treatment for Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, also known as “Ich,” a protozoan parasite that appears as white spots on infected fish, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist.
Scientists studying disease and climate change as part of a special multidisciplinary team at Cornell University are heading to the mountains of Puerto Rico – hoping to learn what a struggling frog species can tell us about the danger changing weather patterns present to ecosystems around the globe.
While many people will be pursuing the latest pop culture icons as Halloween costumes this year, one of the annual icons of Halloween might be viewed as the Rodney Dangerfield of Halloween symbols. The legendary comedian based his career on the line “I get no respect,” which might also apply to the misunderstood flying mammal known as bats. The animals often carry a negative connotation that doesn’t reflect the respective role bats play in biological ecosystems. Dr. Erin Gillam, a biological researcher at North Dakota State University, Fargo, conducts research on the role bats play in ecosystems around the globe, as well as on their ability to communicate.
When winter comes, we cope by reaching for a coat and getting accustomed to cooler temperatures. Australian bush rats behave much the same as their larger, human counterparts. Except that, according to a new study, they grow a thicker fur coat and can actually lower their body temperature to compensate for a colder environment.
As Halloween approaches, tales of monsters and creepy crawlies abound. Among the most fearsome is the legendary beast known as the chupacabras.
Research led by two UIC biologists found that the strong short-term advantages enjoyed by self-fertilizing plants can be offset by long-term advantages found in species that strictly avoid self-fertilization. The finding, reported in Science, underscores that both individual and species characteristics can strongly shape how a group of plants evolve and diversify.
A University of Washington conservation biologist is behind the effort to build nests in the barren rocks of the Galápagos Islands in the hope of increasing the population of an endangered penguin species.
The ordinary squid, Loligo pealii—best known until now as a kind of floating buffet for just about any fish in the sea—may be on the verge of becoming a scientific superstar, providing clues about the origin and evolution of the sense of hearing.
In the journal Science, some of the world's foremost biodiversity experts from DIVERSITAS, led by Arizona State University scientist Charles Perrings, offer a strategic approach to the 2020 targets being considered at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, on Oct. 18-29. An approach that incorporates trade-offs, timing and complexity.
Whale feces float--and strongly enhance productivity of fisheries, scientists at the University of Vermont and Harvard have found, reversing the assumption that whales accelerate loss of nutrients to the bottom. This nitrogen input in the Gulf of Maine is more than the input of all rivers combined, 23,000 metric tons annually.
Contrary to some previous, highly publicized, reports, ocean acidification is not likely to worsen the hearing of whales and other animals, according to a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientist who studies sound propagation in the ocean.
Researchers may have a greater understanding of the mysterious colony collapse disorder.
Study of ocean migration indicates that local management of the population may be insufficient and supports recently proposed listing for Atlantic sturgeon under U.S. Endangered Species Act
A UNH professor of biochemistry and her colleagues have identified the first reproductive hormone of the hagfish – a gonadatropin -- representing a significant step toward unraveling the mystery of hagfish reproduction. At 500 million years old, hagfish are the oldest living vertebrate, predating the dinosaurs.
Ambitious plans to expand acreage of bioenergy crops could have a major impact on birds in the Upper Midwest, according to a study published today (Oct. 4) in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A new Baylor University study has identified several key physical, chemical and biological factors that influence the success of blue catfish populations in Texas reservoirs. The study was completed in collaboration with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and is the largest and most comprehensive study ever done exploring catfish survivability in Texas.
Reefs of deep-sea corals are discovered for the first time in the Mediterranean, offshore of Israel, by the "Nautilus" cruise. "It's like finding a flourishing oasis in the middle of the desert," said Dr. Yizhaq Makovsky.
An NC State researcher is part of a team that has discovered fossilized feathers from a giant penguin that lived near the Equator more than 36 million years ago. These fossils reveal color patterns in an ancient extinct penguin species, and offer clues about modern penguins' evolution.
Typically, monkeys don’t know what to make of a mirror. They may ignore it or interpret their reflection as another, invading monkey, but they don’t recognize the reflection as their own image. Chimpanzees and people pass this “mark” test — they obviously recognize their own reflection and make funny faces, look at a temporary mark that the scientists have placed on their face or wonder how they got so old and grey.
The world’s rivers, the single largest renewable water resource for humans and a crucible of aquatic biodiversity, are in a crisis of ominous proportions, according to a new global analysis.
A Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) study on nesting birds in Argentina finds that increasing temperatures and rainfall—both side effects of climate change in some parts of the world—could be bad for birds of South America, but great for some of their parasites which thrive in warmer and wetter conditions.
When honeybees seek a new home, they choose the best site through a democratic process that humans would do well to emulate, according to Thomas Seeley, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell University, in his new book, “Honeybee Democracy."
While birds living in urban areas face more predators than do those in rural areas, that doesn’t mean urban birds face more danger from nest robbers.
Craig Altier, a member of the Food and Drug Administration’s Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee and an associate professor at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, comments on potential FDA approval of the first genetically engineered animal for use as food.
A 50 million old snake undergoes a CT scan at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. Paleontologist Hussam Zaher from Brazil wants to determine where the snake fits in to the evolution of snakes in North America.
A newly discovered skeleton of an ancient seabird from northern Chile provides evidence that giant birds were soaring the skies there 5-10 million years ago. The wing bones of the animal exceed those of all other birds in length; its wingspan would have been at least 5.2 m (17 ft.). This is the largest safely established wingspan for a bird.
A new peer-reviewed paper by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups reveals an ominous finding: most of the world’s last remaining tigers—long decimated by overhunting, logging, and wildlife trade—are now clustered in just six percent of their available habitat.
The only things certain in life are death and taxes, the saying goes. The corollary could be that the only things ranchers can depend on to be uncertain are weather and prices. These uncertainties are the major risks for rangeland livestock producers in maintaining a profitable operation. Climate variations can bring about fluctuations in forage production that impact grazing and herd sustainability.
Charles Clarkson is conducting a comparative study of bird populations on Virginia's Eastern Shore and in New York Harbor. He collects bird vomit and feathers from nestlings as a way to compare the diets of birds from each location and to see how the local environments affect the overall health of bird populations.
Few people think about the 400 million years of evolution that took place before they could chomp on a carrot, but University of Arkansas anthropologist Peter Ungar does, and he’s written a book about it.
A University at Buffalo architect’s new project -- a twisted tower designed to house bats at Griffis Sculpture Park -- is raising awareness about the animals and a fatal disease threatening their population in the Northeast.
Something has been gobbling up a "doughnut" of phytoplankton in southern Lake Michigan, and it looks as though the culprit is the quagga mussel, a European mollusk about the size of a fat lima bean.
Penguin biologists from around the world, who are gathered in Boston this week, warn that ten of the planet’s eighteen penguin species have experienced further serious population declines. The effects of climate change, overfishing, chronic oil pollution and predation by introduced mammals are among the major factors cited repeatedly by penguin scientists as contributing to these population drops.
The Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium announced today the launch of the New York Seascape initiative—a conservation program designed to restore healthy populations of local marine species—many of them threatened—and to protect New York City and area waters, which are vital to wildlife and key to economic and cultural vitality.
The American Physiological Society (APS; www.the-aps.org) announced today the adoption of two new position statements on animals in research.
With a simple click of the camera, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society and Zoological Society of London have developed a new way to accurately monitor long-term trends in rare and vanishing species over large landscapes.
Normally, the brilliant red of a male cardinal signals to females that he is a high-quality mate. But that may not be true of cardinals living in urban areas, a new study suggests.
Because ant colonies behave metabolically like individual organisms, studying how a colony’s size changes its metabolism could offer useful insight for developing theories about medication dosage in humans.
Kissing a frog won’t turn it into a prince — except in fairy-tales ― but frogs may be hopping toward a real-world transformation into princely allies in humanity’s battle with antibiotic-resistant infections that threaten millions of people. Scientists reported that frog skin contains substances that could be the basis for a new genre of antibiotics. Their study is scheduled for presentation in August at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.
Discovery of a new species of turtle in the southeastern United States brings the number of the country's endemic species to 57, with approximately 320 species of turtle documented worldwide.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) are requesting that the Government of Tanzania reconsider the proposed construction of a commercial road through the world’s best known wildlife sanctuary—Serengeti National Park—and recommend that alternative routes be used that can meet the transportation needs of the region without disrupting the greatest remaining migration of large land animals in the world.
University of Illinois at Chicago biologist Jennifer Schmidt analyzed genetic information from preserved whale shark embryos taken from a female caught off the coast of Taiwan 15 years ago. She found all offspring to have the same father -- an unusual reproduction characteristic for sharks. Schmidt cautions that more study is needed to learn more about where and how these giant fish mate.
Herpetologica – For female red-eyed tree frogs, size does seem to matter—and the mating call of the male tells them everything they need to know. A study of the mating calls of male Morelett’s tree frogs in Belize found that larger frogs more readily find a mate. The rate, frequency, and duration of the male’s calls carry this vital information to the listening females.
A team of researchers has found that chestnut-sided warblers have two distinct cultural traditions in song variants that evolve independently – one, used for territorial disputes that changes frequently, and another, used for romance that relies on a small unchanging sampling of classics.
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