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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Geoscience: Severe Weather

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The rapid formation of 500 different species of fish in a single lake, each with specialized ecological roles, resulted from a small but genetically diverse hybrid population.

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Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics, the study of inheritance of traits that occur without changing the DNA sequence, have shown that chronological age in mammals correlates with epigenetic changes that accumulate during the lifetime of an individual. In humans, this observation has led to the development of epigenetic clocks, which are now extensively used as biomarkers of aging. While these clocks work accurately from birth until death, they are set back to zero in each new generation. Now, an international team shows that epigenetic clocks not only exist in plants, but that these clocks keep ticking accurately over many generations.

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A new study has documented the abilities of individual wild Asian elephants to access food by solving puzzles that unlocked storage boxes. It is the first research study to show that individual wild elephants have different willingness and abilities to problem solve in order to get food.

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Facial recognition software used to study the social behavior of individual Greylag Geese in Europe will soon be used to monitor one of the rarest geese in the world, the Cape Barren Goose in South Australia. The technology was used to assess how each bird responds to images of themselves, other flock mates or partners and researchers say it could be used by other scientists or in citizen science apps around the world to monitor and record endangered wildlife or even to promote the welfare of animals in captivity.

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For decades, fish-eating killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have been observed harassing and even killing porpoises without consuming them —- a perplexing behavior that has long intrigued scientists.

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Combinations of unfavorable weather conditions over several years can cause a decline in insect biomass.

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For the first time, researchers have extracted ancient DNA from Caribbean parrot fossils and archaeological specimens, showing that species thought to be endemic to particular islands were historically more widespread and diverse.

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A new study shows unprecedented heat is likely to lead to the next mass extinction, akin to when the dinosaurs died out, eliminating nearly all mammals in some 250 million years time.

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In a warming Pacific Northwest, summers are getting hotter and winters less cold, but the atmospheric patterns that influence the weather aren't necessarily expected to become stronger or more frequent by the end of the century, according to a new study.

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The Gulf Stream transport of water through the Florida Strait has slowed by 4% over the past four decades, with a 99% certainty that this weakening is more than expected from random chance, according to a new study.

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Primate species with better color vision are not more likely to have red skin or fur coloration, as previously thought.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) can help plant scientists collect and analyze unprecedented volumes of data, which would not be possible using conventional methods. Researchers have now used big data, machine learning and field observations in the university's experimental garden to show how plants respond to changes in the environment.

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Trees depend on fungi for their well-being. As climate change and global warming cause higher temperatures and amplified drought, little is known about how these important fungi will respond. To investigate this issue, a research team conducted a climate change experiment where they exposed boreal and temperate tree species to warming and drought treatments to better understand how fungi and their tree hosts respond to environmental changes. Their findings revealed that the combined effects of warming and water stress will likely result in major disturbances of ectomycorrhizal networks and may harm forest resilience and function.

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Scientists have mapped the reproductive strategies and life cycle of an endangered coral species, the purple cauliflower soft coral Dendronephthya australis. Lab-grown larvae have been successfully introduced back into the wild.

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New research has found that monkeys increase their use of scent markings to compensate for human noise pollution. The study has investigated how primates change their communication strategies in response to noise pollution. The researchers studied endangered pied tamarins (Saguinus bicolor), which use both vocal calls and scent markings. The researchers found that the frequency of scent marking directly increased in line with noise decibel levels.

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Multiyear La Niña events have become more common over the last 100 years, according to a new study. Five out of six La Nina events since 1998 have lasted more than one year, including an unprecedented triple-year event.

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In the 'weather kitchen,' the interplay between the Azores High and Icelandic Low has a substantial effect on how much warm water the Atlantic transports to the Arctic along the Norwegian coast. But this rhythm can be thrown off for years at a time. Experts finally have an explanation for why: Due to unusual atmospheric pressure conditions over the North Atlantic, low-pressure areas are diverted from their usual track, which disrupts the coupling between the Azores High, the Icelandic Low and the winds off the Norwegian coast. This finding is an important step toward refining climate models and more accurately predicting the fate of Arctic sea ice in the face of progressing climate change.

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Biologists have discovered why an enzyme is important for the survival of fruit flies, even though it can shorten their lives under certain conditions.

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The bright lights of big cities could be causing an evolutionary adaptation for smaller eyes in some birds, a new study indicates. Researchers found that two common songbirds, the Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren, that live year-round in the urban core of San Antonio, Texas, had eyes about 5% smaller than members of the same species from the less bright outskirts. Researchers found no eye-size difference for two species of migratory birds, the Painted Bunting and White-eyed Vireo, no matter which part of the city they lived in for most of the year. The findings have implications for conservation efforts amid the rapid decline of bird populations across the U.S.

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Scientists have discovered a new technique which will shed light on the phenomena of winter monsoons -- the heavy autumn and winter rainfalls which can cause floods and landslides across southeast Asia.