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Categories: Biology: Zoology, Paleontology: Fossils

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A tiny flightless midge which has colonized Antarctica's Signy Island is driving fundamental changes to the island's soil ecosystem, a study shows.

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Surveying the body sizes of Earth's living organisms, researchers found that the planet's biomass -- the material that makes up all living organisms -- is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.

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A fossil arthropod entombed in 100-million-year-old Burmese amber has been identified as a new genus and species of froghopper, known today as an insect with prodigious leaping ability in adulthood following a nymphal stage spent covered in a frothy fluid.

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Researchers study the flight performance of the mountain pine beetle from a fluid mechanics and an entomological perspective. Understanding these aspects of the insect's flight could improve estimates of its spread through the environment and preserve pine forests. To examine insect flight, the team employed a type of model previously used for idealized airfoils. They showed that it can be successfully applied to multiple individual animals across biological sex, insect age, and body size. In doing so, the model can predict how these factors impact flight characteristics.

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They're well known for their industrious work, but now a species of ant on Kangaroo Island is also showing that it is skilled at 'playing dead', a behavior that researchers believe is a recorded world first.

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The theory that water-breathing animals such as fish will shrink due to global warming has been called into question by a new study.

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Living organisms are exposed to nanoparticles through different products and air pollution every day. After examining hundreds of exposures, researchers revealed how various species share a specific epigenetic molecular response to particulate matter. They have now explained the mechanism through which cells and organisms adapt to long-term exposures to nano-sized materials.

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Which energy type promotes the biodiversity of beetles living in dead wood in the forest? That depends entirely on where the beetles are in the food chain.

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One of the basic and crucial embryonic processes to unfold in virtually every living organism is the formation of hollow, tubular structures that go on to form blood vessels or a digestive tract, and through branching and differentiation, complex organs including the heart and kidneys. This study illuminates fundamental design principles of tubulogenesis for all chordates, including mammals.

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Even without body parts that allowed for movement, new research shows -- for the first time -- that some of Earth's earliest animals managed to be picky about where they lived.

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Small bats are bad at converting energy into muscle power. Surprisingly, a new study led by Lund University in Sweden reveals that this ability increases the faster they fly.

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Small-scale wildlife surveys can reveal the health of entire ecosystems, new research shows.

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Birds across the Americas are getting smaller and longer-winged as the world warms, and the smallest-bodied species are changing the fastest.

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Half of plant proteins in the EU come from rapeseed plants. Until now, the plant has only been used for oil and animal feed, as it is both bitter and unsafe for human consumption. In a new study, researchers have gotten closer to removing the plant's bitter substances, and in doing so, are paving the way for a new protein source to support the green transition.

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Researchers have proposed a new model for the evolution of higher brain functions and behaviors in the Hymenoptera order of insects. The team compared the Kenyon cells, a type of neuronal cell, in the mushroom bodies (a part of the insect brain involved in learning, memory and sensory integration) of 'primitive' sawflies and sophisticated honey bees. They found that three diverse, specialized Kenyon cell subtypes in honey bee brains appear to have evolved from a single, multifunctional Kenyon cell-subtype ancestor. In the future, this research could help us better understand the evolution of some of our own higher brain functions and behaviors.

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Researchers show that the migratory locust Locusta migratoria produces the compound phenylacetonitrile (PAN) to defend itself against feeding attacks by conspecifics as population density increases. Cannibalism rates increased in locusts that could no longer produce PAN. The researchers also identified the odor receptor for PAN in the locusts. They showed in animals with a PAN receptor that was no longer functional that it is necessary for the perception of PAN and the suppression of cannibalistic behavior. The discovery of an anti-cannibalism pheromone offers new approaches for locust control.

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Phytosterols are good for your health, but humans and other animals are not able to make them themselves, only plants can. To acquire phytosterols, humans are increasingly turning to supplements, green smoothies, or a Mediterranean diet with plenty of plant-based foods. Researchers have now discovered that tiny gutless worms from the Mediterranean can synthesize phytosterols on their own. Their study provides evidence that many other animals also have the genes needed to make their own phytosterols.

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With glaciers melting at unprecedented rates due to climate change, invertebrates that live in the cold meltwater rivers of the European Alps will face widespread habitat loss, warn researchers. Many of the species are likely to become restricted to cold habitats that will only persist higher in the mountains, and these areas are also likely to see pressures from the skiing and tourism industries or from the development of hydroelectric plants.

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An international research team has for the first time successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Paleolithic artefact: a pierced deer tooth discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. To preserve the integrity of the artefact, they developed a new, nondestructive method for isolating DNA from ancient bones and teeth. From the DNA retrieved they were able to reconstruct a precise genetic profile of the woman who used or wore the pendant, as well as of the deer from which the tooth was taken. Genetic dates obtained for the DNA from both the woman and the deer show that the pendant was made between 19,000 and 25,000 years ago. The tooth remains fully intact after analysis, providing testimony to a new era in ancient DNA research, in which it may become possible to directly identify the users of ornaments and tools produced in the deep past.

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Traces of sex hormones extracted from a woolly mammoth's tusk provide the first direct evidence that adult males experienced musth, a testosterone-driven episode of heightened aggression against rival males, according to a new study.