Showing 20 articles starting at article 961

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Biology: Evolutionary, Ecology: Sea Life

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Cultivation and growth of grapevines have strongly influenced European civilizations, but where the grapevine comes from and how it has spread across the globe has been highly disputed so far. In an extensive genome project, researchers have determined its origin and evolution from the wild vine to today's cultivar by analyzing thousands of vine genomes collected along the Silk Road from China to Western Europe.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

The small size and isolation of the endangered population of Southern Resident killer whales in the Pacific Northwest have led to high levels of inbreeding. This inbreeding has contributed to their decline, which has continued as surrounding killer whale populations expand, according to new research.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research is beginning to unravel the times of year and locations where whales are at greatest danger of entanglement in fishing gear on the Oregon Coast.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study is providing an unprecedented examination of oxygen loss on coral reefs around the globe under ocean warming. The study captures the current state of hypoxia -- or low oxygen levels -- at 32 different sites, and reveals that hypoxia is already pervasive on many reefs.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Intense fishing and over-exploitation have led to evolutionary changes in fish stocks like cod, reducing both their productivity and value on the market. These changes can be reversed by more sustainable and far-sighted fisheries management. A new study shows that reversal of evolutionary change would only slightly reduce the profit of fishing, but would help regain and conserve natural genetic diversity.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

There's been a well-documented shift toward earlier springtime flowering in many plants as the world warms. The trend alarms biologists because it has the potential to disrupt carefully choreographed interactions between plants and the creatures -- butterflies, bees, birds, bats and others -- that pollinate them.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have found that an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was associated with the deaths of more than 330 New England harbor and gray seals along the North Atlantic coast in June and July 2022, and the outbreak was connected to a wave of avian influenza in birds in the region.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Insect pests which attack crops have extraordinary powers to develop resistance to greener pesticides and a new way to manage resistance risks is needed, according to a recent analysis.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have transformed single-cell algae into functional perovskite materials. The team has converted mineral shells of algae into lead halide perovskites with tunable physical properties. The new perovskites have unique nano-architectures unachievable by conventional synthetic production. The method can be applied to the mass production of perovskites with tunable structural and electro-optical properties from single-celled organisms.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Dramatic differences between shallow and mesophotic reefs stress the importance of studying--and conserving--these vital ecosystems along their entire depth gradient.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study of Antarctic minke whales reveals a minimum size limit for whales employing the highly efficient 'lunge-feeding' strategy that enabled the blue whale to become the largest animal on Earth.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have discovered artefacts produced by old world monkeys in Thailand that resemble stone tools, which historically have been identified as intentionally made by early hominins. Until now, sharp-edged stone tools were thought to represent the onset of intentional stone tool production, one of the defining and unique characteristics of hominin evolution. This new study challenges long held beliefs about the origins of intentional tool production in our own lineage.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Jewel beetles are striking insects, easily recognized by their vivid colors and metallic sheen. New research investigated the complex evolutionary history of jewel beetles' vision.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of experts convened remotely as part of the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative's Climate Working Group to consider the deep-sea impacts of ocean-based climate intervention (OBCI). A research team has analyzed the proposed approaches to assess their potential impacts on deep-sea ecosystems and biodiversity. Their findings raise substantial concern on the potential impacts of these technologies on deep-sea ecosystems and call for the need for an integrated research effort to carefully assess the cost and benefits of each intervention.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

An analysis extending from southern Portugal to northern Norway highlights the importance of temperature in determining where fish species are found.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

A global dataset of ocean plastic pollution between 1979 and 2019 reveals a rapid and unprecedented increase in ocean plastics since 2005, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Geologists studying the Bakken Shale Formation discovered a critical kill mechanism behind a series of extinctions some 350 million years ago.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Billions of sea anemones adorn the bottom of the Earth's oceans -- yet they are among the rarest of fossils because their squishy bodies lack easily fossilized hard parts. Now a team of paleontologists has discovered that countless sea anemone fossils have been hiding in plain sight for nearly 50 years. It turns out that fossils long-interpreted as jellyfish were anemones. To do so, a team of scientists has simply turned the ancient animals upside down.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

It's not just humans who enjoy eating shellfish, so do marine rays. They like to 'crunch' on clams, which can sometimes take a big bite out of clammers' profits. Using aerial and underwater videos, researchers assessed the ability of the whitespotted eagle ray to interact with clams housed within a variety anti-predator materials. Whitespotted eagle rays have strong jaws, plate-like teeth and nimble pectoral fins, which make them formidable and highly maneuverable predators of clams.

     (via sciencedaily.com) 

Mineral particles played a key role in raising oxygen levels in the Earth's atmosphere billions of years ago, with major implications for the way intelligent life later evolved, according to new research.