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Categories: Biology: Zoology, Ecology: Endangered Species

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Bumblebees successfully learned a two-step puzzle box task through social observation. This task was too complex for individual bees to learn on their own. Observing trained demonstrator bees performing the first unrewarded step was crucial for successful social learning. Individual bees failed to solve the puzzle without previous demonstration, despite extensive exposure.

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The findings suggest that subtropical seagrasses are less resilient to heavy grazing from marine herbivores, in part because they receive less sunlight relative to their tropical counterparts. As tropical herbivores move into subtropical waters, overgrazing may prevent subtropical seagrass meadows from persisting in these environments.

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Invasive plants can stay dormant for decades or even centuries before rapidly expanding and wreaking ecological havoc, finds a new study.

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It would be a game-changer if all members of a basketball team could see out of each other's eyes in addition to their own. Biologists have found evidence that this kind of collective sensing occurs in close-knit groups of African weakly electric fish, also known as elephantnose fish. This instantaneous sharing of sensory intelligence could help the fish locate food, friends and foes.

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Researchers developed protocols for growing organoids that mimic a turtle liver, the first organoids developed for a turtle and only the second for any reptile. The discovery will aid deeper study of turtle genetics, including the cause of traits with potential medical applications for humans such as the ability to survive weeks without oxygen.

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Fossils of a strange new species of marine lizard with dagger-like teeth that lived 66 million years ago, show a dramatically more biodiverse ocean ecosystem to what we see today.

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A group of marine biologists specializing in shark ecology, genetics and fisheries have challenged the findings from a recent study suggesting that South Africa's white shark population has not decreased, but simply redistributed eastwards to flee predation from orcas.

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A new fossil, named 'Attenborough's strange bird' after naturalist and documentarian Sir David Attenborough, is the first of its kind to evolve a toothless beak. It's from a branch of the bird family tree that went extinct in the mass extinction 66 million years ago, and this strange bird is another puzzle piece that helps explain why some birds -- and their fellow dinosaurs -- went extinct, and others survived to today.

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Green walls can strip pollution from the air -- and some plants do it better than others, according to new research. Researchers planted 10 species on a custom-built 1.4m green wall.

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Individual white storks incrementally straightened their migration routes to find more direct ways to move between destinations during the spring migration to summer breeding and nesting grounds, suggesting that experiential learning is an important part of successful migration.

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Plant biologists have uncovered an evolutionary mystery over 100 million years in the making. It turns out that sometime during the last 125 million years, tomatoes and Arabidopsis thaliana plants experienced an extreme genetic makeover. Just what happened remains unclear. But the mystery surrounds CLV3, a gene key to healthy plant growth and development.

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A new study has found that when humans are suddenly absent from the urban environment, the activity of the crows and ringneck parakeets that 'live' in the area reduces significantly. Conversely, the graceful prinias, who are generally considered shy, increased their activity.

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When certain species of wild birds and primates discover new ways of finding food in the wild, it can serve to measure their flexibility and intelligence. In the largest experimental study ever conducted on this topic, researchers have shown that foraging problems requiring overcoming obstacles, such as removing the lid off a container of food, are the only predictors of brain size and innovative behavior in the wild.

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Results from a new US nationwide cohort study show that, despite strong recommendations in favor of consuming omega-3 fatty acids for optimal pregnancy outcomes and offspring health, 25% of participants reported rarely, or never eating fish during pregnancy, with fewer taking omega-3 supplements.

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A new paper examines the possible effects of two properties of receiver playing fields documented in studies of animal psychology -- habituation and neural adaptation -- on the efficacy of mate choice signals.

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Researchers have discovered 18 new species of Enterococcus type bacteria from soil samples collected from all corners of the globe, which may offer new clues to the origins of antibiotic-resistant infections in hospitals.

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A 30 million year-old fossil whale may not be the heaviest animal of all time after all, according to a new analysis by paleontologists. The new analysis puts Perucetus colossus back in the same weight range as modern whales and smaller than the largest blue whales ever recorded.

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New research provides compelling evidence that partially substituting animal with plant protein foods can increase life expectancy and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. Importantly, it also suggests that benefits depend on the type of animal protein being replaced. The study drew data from a national nutrition survey to analyze Canadians' dietary records. The study modeled partial replacements (25% and 50%) of either red and processed meat or dairy with plant protein foods like nuts, seeds, legumes, tofu, and fortified soy beverages, on a combination of nutrition, health, and climate outcomes.

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More than ever before, there is a growing interest in dedicating resources to stop the loss of biodiversity, as recently exemplified by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) decided at COP15 in December 2022. The GBF focuses on understanding why biodiversity is declining and what actions are needed to reverse this trend. However, according to researchers, implementing the plan is challenging because information about biodiversity changes is not evenly available everywhere, and is uncertain in many places.

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Researchers have clarified the evolutionary history of a previously poorly known group of ferns from the tropical rainforests of America using DNA methods. The study discovered many new fern species, 18 of which have now been given official names and species descriptions.