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Categories: Biology: Zoology, Paleontology: Climate

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It may be possible to change the purchasing behavior of consumers noticeably using some simple strategies. At least this is what a new study indicates. The researchers investigated the effect of nudging on the sale of products produced with high animal welfare standards in a virtual supermarket. Nudges are gentle prods or pushes designed to promote certain behaviors -- such as placing some products in more visible positions.

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A fungus devastating frogs and toads on nearly every continent may have an Achilles heel. Scientists have discovered a virus that infects the fungus, and that could be engineered to save the amphibians.

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A new study has found that birds that are more social are more likely to use novel sources of food.

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Australia could soon see megadroughts that last for more than 20 years, according to new modelling. The researchers' bleak findings are before factoring in human impact on the climate since the Industrial Revolution. According to the scientists, the findings paint a worrying picture of future droughts in Australia that are far worse than anything in recent experience.

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New research suggests animals can thrive in human-dominated environments by being expert judges of risk. Researchers examined the behavior of great-tailed grackles, a bird species successfully invading much of urban North America, showing that the dispersing males shy away from risk, which is a characteristic the researchers show is well-suited to chaotic environments like cities. These findings provide unique insight into how and why animals and humans can coexist.

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An international team of scholars present the earliest clear archaeological and biomolecular evidence for the raising of chickens for egg production, based on material from 12 archaeological sites spanning one and a half millennia. The research indicates that the domestic chicken, now a staple in diets around the world, is not as ancient as previously thought.

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Genomic anamolies dating back to the time of the dinosaurs misled scientists about the evolutionary history of birds.

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Using cutting-edge computational methods and supercomputing infrastructure, researchers have built the largest and most detailed bird family tree to date -- an intricate chart delineating 93 million years of evolutionary relationships between 363 bird species, representing 92% of all bird families. The updated tree reveals sharp increases in effective population size, substitution rates and relative brain size in early birds in the aftermath of the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. And by closely examining one of the branches of this tree, researchers found that flamingos and doves are more distantly related than previous genome-wide analyses had shown.

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A broader past could mean a brighter future for Canada lynx in the U.S., according to recent research. The study indicates that lynx might do well in the future in parts of Utah, central Idaho and the Yellowstone National Park region, even considering climate change and the lack of lynx in those areas now. Using a model validated by historic records, researchers first found that in 1900, Canada lynx had more suitable habitat in the U.S. than the few northern corners of the country where they are found currently. The study showed the elusive big cat likely roamed over a larger area in the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Great Lakes region and parts of New England.

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Researchers upend the notion that the iconic great gray owl -- known as the phantom of the North -- lives far from cities, towns and other markers of human density.

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Through DNA sequencing of Tasmanian devils and their tumors, researchers have tracked the genomic interactions between the animals and the cancer.

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Hyenas are generalist predators (and scavengers) with a broad range of prey species. They are known for hunting (or scavenging) larger mammals such as antelopes and occasionally feed on smaller mammals and reptiles. Being flexible in the choice of prey is a strategy of generalists -- and this even extends to small passerine birds, as scientists observed in Namibia: Spotted hyenas pursued red-billed queleas, picked them from the ground or the surface of a waterhole and swallowed them whole, at a success rate of approximately one bird every three minutes.

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To woo a mate, the Albert's Lyrebird of Australia becomes a real song-and-dance bird. Each male first chooses a stage of entangled vines, then in performance he shakes the vines as part of his courtship footwork, synchronizing each shake with the beat of his striking song.

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New research finds that not all cattle are the same when it comes to grazing, and knowing that could lead to better animal health and range conditions.

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Climate change may dramatically affect the animal species observed in North American cities, according to a new study.

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Researchers warn that today's hunting quotas of about 3,000 animals pose a risk to the long-term survival of the grey seal in the Baltic Sea. The conclusions of this new study are based on statistics from 20th century seal hunting and predictions of future climate change.

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Anthropologists created a computational model to predict the likelihood of animal extinctions based on the complex interaction of hunting and environmental change.

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The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica's ice sheets. An international research team has now used sediments taken from the South Pacific to reconstruct the flow speed in the last 5.3 million years. Their data show that during glacial periods, the current slowed; during interglacials, it accelerated. Consequently, if the current global warming intensifies in the future, it could mean that the Southern Ocean stores less CO2 and that more heat reaches Antarctica.

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The queens in colonies of social insects, such as ants, bees, and wasps, are considered the veritable embodiment of specialization in the animal kingdom. The common perception is that the queen's only task is to lay eggs -- and that this attribute is an inherent trait, not influenced by external factors. In contrast, recent research has demonstrated that in certain ant colonies the social environment can play a crucial role in shaping the behavioral specialization of the queens.

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While Wyoming is home to some of North America's most abundant populations of pronghorn that have largely been stable in recent years, a new analysis shows that many herds are experiencing long-term declines in fawn production.