Showing 20 articles starting at article 461

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Ecology: Animals

Return to the site home page

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Environmental: General Environmental: Water
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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.'

Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Developmental Biology: General Ecology: Animals Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
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.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

The evolution of photosynthesis better documented thanks to the discovery of the oldest thylakoids in fossil cyanobacteria      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified microstructures in fossil cells that are 1.75 billion years old. These structures, called thylakoid membranes, are the oldest ever discovered. They push back the fossil record of thylakoids by 1.2 billion years and provide new information on the evolution of cyanobacteria which played a crucial role in the accumulation of oxygen on the early Earth.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and 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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Animals Geoscience: Geochemistry
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.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular
Published

Nematode proteins shed light on infertility      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biologists developed a method for illuminating the intricate interactions of the synaptonemal complex in the nematode C. elegans. The authors identified a trio of protein segments that guide chromosomal interactions, and pinpointed the location where they interact with each other. Their novel method uses a technique known as genetic suppressor screening, which can serve as a blueprint for research on large cellular assemblies that resist traditional structural analysis.

Biology: Developmental Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Biology: Evolutionary Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Developmental Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life
Published

How jellyfish regenerate functional tentacles in days      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

At about the size of a pinkie nail, the jellyfish species Cladonema can regenerate an amputated tentacle in two to three days -- but how? Regenerating functional tissue across species, including salamanders and insects, relies on the ability to form a blastema, a clump of undifferentiated cells that can repair damage and grow into the missing appendage. Jellyfish, along with other cnidarians such as corals and sea anemones, exhibit high regeneration abilities, but how they form the critical blastema has remained a mystery until now.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Unveiling ancient secrets: 3D preservation of trilobite soft tissues sheds light on convergent evolution of defensive enrollment      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers describe unusual trilobite fossils prepared as thin sections showing the 3D soft tissues during enrollment. The study reveals the soft undersides of enrolled trilobites and the evolutionary mechanism that allows arthropods to enroll their bodies for protection from predators and adverse environmental conditions.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Ecology: Trees
Published

New larks revealed in Africa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have studied the relationships between five closely related species of larks that occur in Africa south of the Sahara. Two of these have not been observed for decades, so the researchers analyzed DNA from museum specimens, some of which were over 100 years old.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Biology: Zoology Environmental: Water
Published

The evolutionary timeline of diminished boric acid and urea transportation in aquaporin 10      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Aquaporin (Aqp) 10 water channels in humans allow the free passage of water, glycerol, urea, and boric acid across cells. However, Aqp10.2b in pufferfishes allows only the passage of water and glycerol and not urea and boric acid. Researchers sought to understand the evolutionary timeline that resulted in the variable substrate selection mechanisms among Aqp10s. Their results indicate that Aqp10.2 in ray-finned fishes may have reduced or lost urea and boric acid permeabilities through evolution.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Ecology: Animals Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species
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.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research
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.