Mating and Breeding News

September 1, 2016

Social Networks Key to Crickets' Success

African Bird Shows Evil Stepdad Behavior

BPA Can Make Male Turtles Act Like Females

Calls to Eggs Help Birds Adapt to Warmer World?

Latest Headlines

updated 11:24pm EDT

Devotion to Rearing Chicks Can Come at a Cost for Migratory Birds

Aug. 30, 2016 — Birds that have to work harder during breeding season will feel the effects of their exertions the following year, according to research. A new study found that migratory seabirds suffered negative ... read more

Cannabinoid Receptor Activates Spermatozoa

Aug. 30, 2016 — Biologists have detected a cannabinoid receptor in spermatozoa. Endogenous cannabinoids that occur in both the male and the female genital tract activate the spermatozoa: they trigger the so-called ... read more

Female Mosquitoes Can Transmit Zika Virus to Their Eggs, Offspring

Aug. 30, 2016 — Female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes can pass the Zika virus to their eggs and offspring, new research shows. The recent Zika virus outbreak in Florida has dramatically increased efforts to remove A. ... read more

Female Fiddler Crabs Want Protection Not Sex

Aug. 30, 2016 — New research has resolved a mystery over why female fiddler crabs visit and leave many males during mating season, and found the females aren't just ... read more

Why Females Care More, Theoretically Speaking

Aug. 18, 2016 — Across the animal kingdom there is a strong trend for females to be more caring parents. Why? Researchers have now expanded upon previous theories to better explain why ... read more

Long-Term Exposure to Female Scents Changes Courtship Behavior in Male Mice

Aug. 17, 2016 — Researchers have found a specific kind of neuron only in male mice that detects a pheromone in female urine. But the sex difference is not hard-wired. By manipulating the ... read more

Climate Change Alters the Rules of Sperm Competition in the Sea

Aug. 17, 2016 — Increasing ocean acidification, brought about by humanmade carbon emissions, reduces sperm performance in a species of sea urchin, say scientists. The impact of climate change on global seawater ... read more

Female Fish Can Favor Sperm from Preferred Males Despite External Fertilization

Aug. 16, 2016 — Biologists studying a small, colorful fish in the Mediterranean Sea have discovered a new way in which a female can choose ... read more

Tropical Sea Urchins Caught Between a Rock and a Hot Place

Aug. 15, 2016 — The balmy waters of the Caribbean could turn into a deadly heat trap for countless tiny creatures. Authors of a new study have discovered that microscopic sea urchin eggs and ... read more

Mate Choices of Barn Swallows Tied to Diverging Appearances

Aug. 15, 2016 — If you are a male barn swallow in the United States or the Mediterranean with dark red breast feathers, you're apt to wow potential mates. But if you have long outer tail ... read more

Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes to Fight Zika

Scientists Are Pushing Ahead With Human-Animal Hybrid Research

Our Obsession With Cute Canines Is Killing The English Bulldog

These Strong, Independent Female Bees Don't Need A Man

Male and Female Cats Respond Differently to Distressed Kittens

Aug. 12, 2016 — Female domestic cats adjust their response to kitten calls depending on how urgent they sound, according to a study. Independent of their own experience of raising kittens, female cats distinguish ... read more

Surveys of Corn, Soybean Fields Reveal Implications for Pollinator Conservation

Aug. 11, 2016 — What kind of insect pollinators are commonly found in corn and soybean fields? The answer to that question can be found in a new article, say researchers who used modified pan traps to compare the ... read more

Tracing the Evolution of Bird Reproduction

Aug. 10, 2016 — What really came first -- the chicken or the egg? Birds' reproductive biology is dramatically different from that of any other living vertebrates, and scientists have long wondered how and when ... read more

Looking Different to Your Parents Can Be an Evolutionary Advantage, at Least in Plants

Aug. 8, 2016 — Looking different to your parents can provide species with a way to escape evolutionary dead ends, according to new ... read more

Lab-Reared Maggots May Save Darwin's Famous Finches

Aug. 4, 2016 — Researchers reveal how they used chicken blood to rear larvae of the fly Philornis downsi, an invasive species that parasitizes birds in the Galapagos Islands. The new method may be the first to ... read more

Researchers Identify How Queen Bees Repress Workers' Fertility

Aug. 3, 2016 — Researchers have discovered the molecular mechanism by which queen honeybees carefully control worker bees' ... read more

Discovery of Male-Harming DNA Mutation Reinforces 'Mother's Curse' Hypothesis

Aug. 2, 2016 — A male-harming DNA mutation has been discovered in Drosophila that demonstrates that the 'mother's curse' -- the possibility that moms may transmit genes to their children that harm ... read more

Origins of the Female Orgasm Explained

Aug. 1, 2016 — Female orgasm seems to be a happy afterthought of our evolutionary past when it helped stimulate ovulation, a new study of mammals ... read more

Frog Reproduction in Created Ponds May Be Affected by Disease and Food Availability

July 27, 2016 — Food availability and disease in created habitats may affect the reproductive output of reintroduced frogs, according to a new ... read more

Two Neonicotinoid Insecticides May Have Inadvertent Contraceptive Effects on Male Honey Bees

July 27, 2016 — Male honey bees, called drones, can be affected by two neonicotinoid insecticides by reducing male honey bee lifespan and number of living sperm. Both insecticides are currently partially banned in ... read more

First Evidence of Ocean Acidification's Impact on Reproductive Behavior in Wild Fish

July 26, 2016 — Ocean acidification could have a dramatic impact on the reproductive behaviour of fish, a new international study ... read more

Researcher Discovers Unique Anatomical Characteristic in Barnacle Study

July 26, 2016 — A new study looked at the male sexual organ of barnacles, which it turns out is a marine creature that has been studied dating all the way back to Charles ... read more

Sexual Rivalry May Drive Frog Reproductive Behaviors

July 26, 2016 — Biologists have long thought that some frogs evolved to mate on land instead of in water to better guard eggs and tadpoles from predation. New research now suggests that mating on land in many ... read more

Rare Wood Bison Calves Born Through IVF

July 21, 2016 — Veterinary researchers at the University of Saskatchewan have successfully produced three wood bison calves using in vitro ... read more

New Study Finds Baby Songbirds in the Nest May Face Different Risks out of the Nest

July 21, 2016 — Baby songbirds in the nest face naturally tough odds. Unable to fly, they are easy prey for cats, snakes, and even other birds. But the perils don't end when the young birds venture out from the ... read more

Female Birds Call the Shots in Divorce

July 20, 2016 — Research is shedding new light on the causes of divorce in monogamous year-round territorial birds. A new study of the endangered Purple-crowned Fairy-wren has discovered the females are calling the ... read more

XX Protection Against Age-Related Mutations

July 20, 2016 — Researchers have put the 'unguarded X hypothesis' to the test and confirmed that differences in lifespan between the sexes, a widespread phenomenon in nature, may indeed be due to the ... read more

Microbe Drives Species Apart: Tiny Microbe Turns Tropical Butterfly Into Male Killer

July 19, 2016 — A male-killing microbe has now been identified in a tropical butterfly called the African Queen, which leads to the death of all sons when a mother is ... read more

Zebrafish's Growing Impact on Medical Research

July 19, 2016 — Zebrafish are becoming more and more popular as a research model for human disease. Along with mice and humans, they are one of the most commonly studied animals in biomedical ... read more

Social Behavior of Male Mice Needs Estrogen Receptor Activation in Brain Region at Puberty

July 19, 2016 — Testosterone plays a major role in controlling behavior associated with masculinity in many mammals. In early development, testosterone is involved in the formation and organization of ... read more

Friday, August 12, 2016