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Categories: Biology: Botany, Ecology: Animals
Published Three-year population study supports fight to save Cameroon's Kordofan giraffe
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Crucial new data about the numbers of Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffe living within Cameroon's B nou National Park has been released, supporting conservation efforts to save the subspecies from extinction.
Published Innovative tech shows promise to boost rubber production in US
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source With disease and high demand posing threats to the world's primary natural rubber supply in Southeast Asia, scientists are working to ramp up the U.S. rubber market by advancing methods to extract latex from two sustainable North American plant sources: a dandelion species and a desert shrub.
Published Blue tit population booms with moths on the menu
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers found that years when moth numbers were up resulted in increased population growth for the blue tit.
Published Gulls swap natural for urban habitats, machine-learning study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The study is the first of its kind to compile a three-year dataset using a citizen science-based, opportunistic research method to include a large sample of gulls and other sub-Arctic birds in urban Alaska. The study provides a current snapshot of the habitat shift to an urban landscape.
Published New research into hedgehogs injured by robotic lawn mowers discovers a significant but solvable animal welfare and conservation problem
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists analyzed 370 documented cases of hedgehogs being injured (cut) by electric gardening tools in Germany. Almost half of the hedgehogs found between June 2022 and September 2023 did not survive the injuries. The data reveal a serious animal welfare and conservation issue for these specially protected animals, as most hedgehogs were only found hours or even days after the accidents.
Published Complex green organisms emerged a billion years ago
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Of all the organisms that photosynthesize, land plants have the most complex form. How did this morphology emerge? A team of scientists has taken a deep dive into the evolutionary history of morphological complexity in streptophytes, which include land plants and many green algae. Their research allowed them to go back in time to investigate lineages that emerged long before land plants existed.
Published A window into plant evolution: The unusual genetic journey of lycophytes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An international team of researchers has uncovered a remarkable genetic phenomenon in lycophytes, which are similar to ferns and among the oldest land plants. Their study reveals that these plants have maintained a consistent genetic structure for over 350 million years, a significant deviation from the norm in plant genetics.
Published Why animals shrink over time explained with new evolution theory
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The new theoretical research proposes that animal size over time depends on two key ecological factors.
Published Nearly dead plants brought back to life: Keys to aging hidden in the leaves
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have known about a particular organelle in plant cells for over a century. However, scientists have only now discovered that organelle's key role in aging.
Published Males of newly described Australian burrowing scorpions have a big tail to tell
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A study has found some surprising features in two new species of burrowing scorpions, including a very strangely shaped 'tail tip' and some 'sexy' anatomy features. Terrestrial biologists have taken a closer look at two new species of the mysterious Urodacus genus of burrowing scorpions endemic to Australia -- only to find a big difference in their tails compared to other species.
Published Tiny AI-based bio-loggers revealing the interesting bits of a bird's day
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a bio-logger for seabirds that enables long-term observation of rare behaviors. The bio-logger employs low-power depth sensors and accelerometers to identify rare behavior using a light-weight outlier detection model and records the behavior in a 5-min video. Observations using the bio-loggers on Streaked Shearwaters revealed novel aspects of head-shaking and foraging strategies. This approach will enable a wider range of animal behaviors in various environments to be observed.
Published Surprise discovery: For most animals, sperm quality does not reduce with age
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In humans, male fertility and sperm fitness decline with age, but scientists have made the surprising discovery that this pattern is not consistent in other animals. The team assessed the results of 379 studies which covered a wide range of animals, including mammals, insects, birds, and fish.
Published Study uncovers mechanics of machete-like 'tail-whipping' in thresher sharks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Like Indiana Jones, thresher sharks have mastered the art of the whip using their tails. Now, new research provides intricate details showing that vertebrae anatomy might support the mechanics of extreme body bending in thresher sharks, enabling these expert hunters to weaponize their tails. Using micro-CT scanning similar to CAT scans in humans, and two-dimensional shape analysis, results of the study suggest vertebral anatomy and mineralized microstructure meet the demands required for fast swimming and tail-whipping behavior seen in these species.
Published Artificial 'power plants' harness energy from wind and rain
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fake plants are moving into the 21st century! Researchers developed literal 'power plants' -- tiny, leaf-shaped generators that create electricity from a blowing breeze or falling raindrops. The team tested the energy harvesters by incorporating them into artificial plants.
Published Silkmoths: Different olfactory worlds of females and males
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Female moths primarily use their sense of smell to find the best host plants on which to lay their eggs, with the deterrent effect of caterpillar feces playing an important role, according to new research.
Published Climate change threatens global forest carbon sequestration, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Climate change is causing Western U.S. forests to be less effective carbon sinks, even as it boosts the productivity of forests in the Eastern U.S., according to new research.
Published New rice lines for Africa offer virus protection
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The so-called Rice Yellow Mottle Virus (for short: RYMV) is responsible for high crop losses in Africa, particularly among small-scale farmers. A research team has now produced rice lines that are resistant to the disease by means of genome editing. The rice varieties are a preliminary step toward being able to generate resistant locally adapted elite varieties for small-scale food producers in Africa.
Published Human activity facilitates invasive plants' colonization in Mediterranean ecosystems
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Some invasive plants can form persistent banks of seeds that remain under the soil for years, and this makes their eradication practically impossible. Over time, this invisible population of large quantities of living, buried plants -- in seed form -- will reoccupy ecosystems and displace the typical flora of the natural environment.
Published Thermal vision shows endangered numbats feel the heat of warming climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research using thermal imaging of numbats in Western Australia has found that during hot weather the endangered animals are limited to as little as ten minutes of activity in the sun before they overheat to a body temperature of greater than 40 C.
Published Oldest known fossilized skin is 21 million years older than previous examples
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have identified a 3D fragment of fossilized skin that is at least 21 million years than previously described skin fossils. The skin, which belonged to an early species of Paleozoic reptile, has a pebbled surface and most closely resembles crocodile skin. It's the oldest example of preserved epidermis, the outermost layer of skin in terrestrial reptiles, birds, and mammals, which was an important evolutionary adaptation in the transition to life on land.