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Categories: Ecology: Animals, Paleontology: Dinosaurs
Published How did the bushpig cross the strait? A great puzzle in African mammal biogeography solved by genomics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Africa has a huge diversity of large mammals, but their evolutionary relationships and movement across the continent over time often remain a mystery. A new scientific study sheds light on longstanding questions about the interplay between evolution and geography in one of these mammals, namely the iconic African bushpig, and helps settle a major question regarding prehistoric human activities shaping biodiversity patterns in Africa.
Published Some mosquitoes like it hot
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Certain populations of mosquitoes are more heat tolerant and better equipped to survive heat waves than others, according to new research.
Published Use of habitat for agricultural purposes puts primate infants at risk
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Frequent visits to oil palm plantations are leading to a sharp increase in mortality rates among infant southern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) in the wild, according to a new study. In addition to increased risk from predators and human encounters, exposure to harmful agricultural chemicals in this environment may negatively affect infant development.
Published Captive-bred birds able to improve their flight and migration performance
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Two types of experiences affect the behavioral skills of animals: the animal's environment during its early development and acquired experience. Researchers followed Egyptian vultures during migration, a critical and challenging period for them, and investigated how their flying skills developed by examining their performance using high resolution tracking.
Published Feathers from deceased birds help scientists understand new threat to avian populations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Animal ecologists developed an analytical approach to better understand one of the latest threats to feathered creatures: the rise of wind and solar energy facilities.
Published Protected areas for elephants work best if they are connected
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The largest analysis yet of African savannah elephant populations shows that conservationists have successfully protected elephants in southern Africa for the last 25 years. However, the pattern varies regionally, with some elephant populations soaring and others still facing large declines. The key to long-term stability appears to be connecting large core areas with neighboring buffer zones, as opposed to well-protected but isolated protected areas known as 'fortress conservation.'
Published Advancing the generation of in-vivo chimeric lungs in mice using rat-derived stem cells
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Creating a functional lung using interspecies chimeric animals is an attractive albeit challenging option for lung transplantation, requiring more research on the viable conditions needed for organ generation. A new study uses reverse-blastocyst complementation and tetraploid-based organ complementation methods to first determine these conditions in lung-deficient mice and then to generate rat-derived lungs in these mice. It provides useful insights on the intrinsic species-specific barriers and factors associated with lung development in interspecies chimeric animals.
Published The snail or the egg?
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Animals reproduce in one of two distinct ways: egg-laying or live birth. By studying an evolutionarily recent transition from egg-laying to live-bearing in a marine snail, collaborative research has shed new light on the genetic changes that allow organisms to make the switch.
Published Male southern elephant seals are picky eaters
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research suggests these large marine mammals are extremely fussy and only eat their favorite foods.
Published Scientists solve mystery of how predatory bacteria recognizes prey
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A decades-old mystery of how natural antimicrobial predatory bacteria are able to recognize and kill other bacteria may have been solved, according to new research.
Published Conflict in full swing: Forest bats avoid large areas around fast-moving wind turbines
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Not only do many bats die at wind turbines, the turbines also displace some species from their habitats over large areas. When the turbines are in operation at relatively high wind speeds, the activity of bat species that hunt in structurally dense habitats such as forests drops by almost 80 per cent within a radius of 80 to 450 meters around the turbine.
Published 'Giant' predator worms more than half a billion years old discovered in North Greenland
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fossils of a new group of animal predators have been located in the Early Cambrian Sirius Passet fossil locality in North Greenland. These large worms may be some of the earliest carnivorous animals to have colonized the water column more than 518 million years ago, revealing a past dynasty of predators that scientists didn't know existed.
Published Early primates likely lived in pairs
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Primate social organization is more flexible than previously assumed. According to a new study, the first primates probably lived in pairs, while only around 15 percent of individuals were solitary.
Published 'Juvenile T. rex' fossils are a distinct species of small tyrannosaur
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new analysis of fossils believed to be juveniles of T. rex now shows they were adults of a small tyrannosaur, with narrower jaws, longer legs, and bigger arms than T. rex. The species, Nanotyrannus lancensis, was first named decades ago but later reinterpreted as a young T. rex. The new study shows Nanotyrannus was a smaller, longer-armed relative of T. rex, with a narrower snout.
Published How technology and economics can help save endangered species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A lot has changed in the world since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted 50 years ago in December 1973. Experts are now discuss how the ESA has evolved and what its future might hold.
Published Insects already had a variety of defense strategies in the Cretaceous
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Analyses of amber show that insect larvae were already using a wide variety of tactics to protect themselves from predators 100 million years ago.
Published Genetic diversity of wild north American grapes mapped
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Wild North American grapes are now less of a mystery after researchers decoded and catalogued the genetic diversity of nine species of this valuable wine crop.
Published Genetics of host plants determine what microorganisms they attract
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Plants often develop communities with microorganisms in their roots, which influences plant health and development. Although the recruitment of these microbes is dictated by several factors, it is unclear whether the genetic variation in the host plants plays a role.
Published Study uncovers major hidden human-driven bird extinctions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Humans have wiped out around 1,400 bird species -- twice as many as previously thought -- with major implications for the ongoing biodiversity crisis, a new study has found. The estimated extinctions would mean almost 12 per cent of bird species have died out over modern human history, since the Late Pleistocene around 130,000 years ago, with the vast majority of them becoming extinct directly or indirectly due to human activity.
Published Global inventory of sound production brings us one step closer to understanding aquatic ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Our understanding of which aquatic species produce sounds just took a big step forward. Scientists have created an inventory of species confirmed or expected to produce sound underwater.