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Categories: Biology: Zoology, Paleontology: Fossils

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More than 100 years of observations in nature have revealed a universal pattern of species abundances: Most species are rare but not very rare, and only a few species are very common. These so-called global species abundance distributions have become fully unveiled for some well-monitored species groups, such as birds. For other species groups, such as insects, however, the veil remains partially unlifted. A new study demonstrates how important biodiversity monitoring is for detecting species abundances on planet Earth and for understanding how they change.

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In 2012, when the spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) arrived in the U.S. from its home in China, scientists, land managers, and growers were understandably concerned that the sap-feeding insect would damage native and commercial trees. New long-term research has discovered that hardwood trees, such as maple, willow and birch, may be less vulnerable than initially thought.

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A research team identifies the mushroom body as a center for behavioral decisions in the insect brain.

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A new study found that more than half of people who own dogs expressed some level of canine vaccine hesitancy -- i.e. skepticism about vaccinating their pets against rabies and other diseases. An estimated 45 percent of US households own a dog; according to the survey results, nearly 40 percent of dog owners believe that canine vaccines are unsafe, more than 20 percent believe these vaccines are ineffective, and 30 percent consider them to be medically unnecessary.

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New research found that marine heat waves -- prolonged periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures -- haven't had a lasting effect on the fish communities that feed most of the world. The finding is in stark contrast to the devastating effects seen on other marine ecosystems cataloged by scientists after similar periods of warming, including widespread coral bleaching and harmful algal blooms.

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Study highlights the interplay of song development and territorial behavior in winter quarters.

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A new study brings together intriguing details about the little-known Rhabdodontidae dinosaurs of Late Cretaceous Europe. These gregarious herbivores, characterized by robust builds and beaks specialized for tough vegetation, inhabited the European archipelago. Despite being widespread and abundant, they vanished in Western Europe due to environmental changes around 69 million years ago, while surviving longer in Eastern Europe. Their fossil record offers valuable insights into their evolution and lifestyle, although its limited nature still challenges comprehensive understanding.

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Researchers used wireless neural recording and imaging devices to 'listen in' on the hippocampal brain activity of groups of Egyptian fruit bats as they flew freely within a large flight room. The researchers were surprised to find that, in this social setting, the bat's 'place' neurons encoded not only the animal's location, but also information about the presence or absence of other bats, and even the identity of bats in their path.

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A new article found that overhunting of gorillas, elephants, and other large fruit-eating seed-dispersers make tropical forests less able to store or sequester carbon.

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Scientists use cutting edge scanning technology to reconstruct 'fossil monster' that lived half a billion years ago. The creature's soft anatomy was well-preserved, allowing it to be imaged almost completely: It fills a gap in our understanding of the evolution of arthropods such as insects and crustaceans.

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An international research team has described seven previously unknown species of leaf insects, also known as walking leaves. The insects belong to the stick and leaf insect order, which are known for their unusual appearance: they look confusingly similar to parts of plants such as twigs, bark or -- in the case of leaf insects -- leaves. This sophisticated camouflage provides excellent protection from predators as well as presenting a challenge to researchers. Genetic analysis enabled the researchers to discover 'cryptic species', which cannot be distinguished by their external appearance alone. The findings are not only important for the systematic study of leaf insects, but also for the protection of their diversity.

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Many songbirds use the earth's magnetic field as a guide during their migrations, but radiowaves interfere with this ability. A new study has found an upper bound for the frequency that disrupts the magnetic compass.

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A new article describes the 266 fossil species as one of the richest and most diverse groups of three-million-year-old fauna ever found in New Zealand. At least ten previously unknown species will be described and named in future research. Fossils of the world's oldest known flax snails, an extinct sawshark spine, and great white shark teeth have all been found in a mound of sand excavated from beneath Mangere Wastewater Treatment Plant in 2020.

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Scientists have verified the anticancer effects of Kencur, a tropical plant of the ginger family, mainly grown in Southeast Asia, in cell and animal experiments. They found that Kencur extract and its main active components significantly inhibit cancer cell growth at the cellular and animal levels. Furthermore, the involvement of TFAM in the mechanism of action was confirmed.

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A study on 'canopy soils' on old trees in Costa Rica shows they are important habitats and carbon stores that cannot easily be replaced.

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Pythons have huge appetites, but which snake would win an eating contest? Surprisingly, it's a harmless little African snake that consumes eggs whole like an amuse-bouche.

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A relatively simple, inexpensive method of filtering urban stormwater runoff dramatically boosted survival of newly hatched coho salmon in an experimental study. That's the good news for the threatened species. The bad news: unfiltered stormwater killed almost all of them. The findings are consistent with previous research on adult and juvenile coho that found exposure to untreated roadway runoff that typically winds up in waterways during storms resulted in mortality of 60% or more. For the coho hatchlings in this study, mortality from runoff exposure was even higher at 87%. When the stormwater was run through a biofiltration method -- essentially layers of mulch, compost, sand and gravel -- nearly all the coho hatchlings survived, though many of resulting fish had smaller eyes and body sizes than a control group.

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Fungi-eating orchids were found for the first time to offer their flowers to fungi-eating fruit flies in exchange for pollination, which is the first evidence for nursery pollination in orchids. This unique new plant-animal relationship hints at an evolutionary transition towards mutualistic symbiosis.

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Emperor penguin colonies experienced unprecedented breeding failure in a region of Antarctica where there was total sea ice loss in 2022. The discovery supports predictions that over 90% of emperor penguin colonies will be quasi-extinct by the end of the century, based on current global warming trends.

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Fresh research suggests that national parks enhance bird diversity inside their borders. Large parks also support higher diversity of both birds and mammals in nearby unprotected areas.