Animals News

January 20, 2017

Why Baboon Males Resort to Domestic Violence

Patagonia: Seal Hunting Is Altering Ecosystems

Tiny Fruit Flies Use Logic to Select Mates

Studying Evolution: New Animals, Ancient Genes

Latest Headlines

updated 3:51am EST

What Will the Wasp Plague Be Like This Year?

Jan. 18, 2017 — New research has revealed the population of the common wasp is amplified by spring weather, with warmer and drier springs often meaning more wasps and wasp stings in ... read more

Researchers Use Weather Radar to Track Migrating Waterfowl, Avian Influenza

Jan. 18, 2017 — Researchers are part of an effort that will use weather radar to identify wetland hotspots used by waterfowl during the winter, which in turn can alert poultry growers about ... read more

Birds of a Feather Flock Together to Confuse Potential Predators

Jan. 17, 2017 — Scientists have created a computer game style experiment which sheds new light on the reasons why starlings flock in massive swirling groups over wintering ... read more

The Tasmanian Tiger Had a Brain Structure Suited to a Predatory Life Style

Jan. 18, 2017 — Brain scans suggest the action-planning part of the cortex was large in these extinct ... read more

Intense Industrial Fishing

Jan. 18, 2017 — A new study examines how China maintains large catches and what it means for fishery ... read more

How 'Stealth Warrior' Bacteria Turn a Tick's Gut Microbes Against Itself

Jan. 16, 2017 — Before infecting humans, tick-borne bacteria or viruses first have to get past a tick's defenses to colonize it. How this occurs is not well understood. To investigate, researchers studied a model of ... read more

'Bring It Back,' but Within Bounds: Retrieval Strains the Forelimbs of Dogs

Jan. 18, 2017 — Hunting dogs such as the popular breed retriever are ideally suited for retrieving birds or small game. However, the weight the dogs carry strains their locomotor system. A motion study has shown ... read more

Pitching In: Biologists Study Development of Division of Labor Among Bees

Jan. 17, 2017 — Biologists tested a variation of the reproductive ground plan hypothesis in solitary, ground-nesting bees of south central Washington State. Their findings could shed light ... read more

Moving Up the Food Chain Can Beat Being on Top

Jan. 17, 2017 — When it comes to predators, the biggest mouths may not take the biggest bite. According to a new study from bioscientists, some predators have their greatest ecological ... read more

Sweat Bees on Hot Chillies: Native Bees Thrive in Traditional Farming, Securing Good Yield

Jan. 17, 2017 — Farming doesn't always have to be harmful to bees: Even though farmers on the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan traditionally ... read more

More Animals News

January 20, 2017

Summaries
Headlines

Why 'Platonic' Flies Don't Copulate and What That Could Mean for Humans

Jan. 17, 2017 — By studying the sexual behavior of a mutant strain of fruit fly called 'platonic,' researchers have found parallels between humans and flies in the neural control of ... read more

Humble Bee Among Australia's Most Lethal

Jan. 17, 2017 — An Australian-first national analysis of 13 years' data on bites and stings from venomous creatures reveals Australia's towns and cities are a hot-spot for ... read more

Tigers Could Roam Again in Central Asia, Scientists Say

Jan. 17, 2017 — Caspian tigers, some of the largest cats that ever lived, roamed through much of Central Asia before they were designated as extinct in the middle of the 20th century. But there is a chance that ... read more

Considering Cattle Could Help Eliminate Malaria in India

Jan. 16, 2017 — The goal of eliminating malaria in countries like India could be more achievable if mosquito-control efforts take into account the relationship between mosquitoes and cattle, according to an ... read more

'Baby Talk' in Marmoset Monkeys

Jan. 16, 2017 — Neuroscientists have investigated the development of vocalization in young monkeys, and have summarized their findings in a new ... read more

Pig Gene Advance Could Boost Sperm Stocks from Prized Animals

Jan. 13, 2017 — Gene-editing techniques could help to improve stocks of farmed pigs by boosting supplies of sperm from prized sires. Scientists have created male pigs that could be used as surrogates capable of ... read more

Are Herders, Livestock Bad for Rare Wildlife? It's Complicated

Jan. 13, 2017 — A new article looks at the positive and negative relationships occurring between pastoralists, livestock, native carnivores and native herbivores in the world’s largest unfenced grassland and ... read more

Diagnostic Breakthrough: 'Shaking Piglets' Attributed to Previously Unidentified Virus

Jan. 13, 2017 — Symptoms of tremors and shaking in newborn piglets are not a sign that the animals are cold, but rather that they are suffering from a specific viral infection. Researchers have now been able to ... read more

Viper's Strike Quantified in Nature for the First Time

Jan. 13, 2017 — The antagonistic predator-prey relationship is of interest to evolutionary biologists because it often leads to extreme adaptations in both the predator and prey. One such relationship is seen in the ... read more

Found: Neurons That Orient Bats Toward Destination

Jan. 12, 2017 — Bats – like humans – can find their favorite fruit stand (or coffee shop) even when it’s hidden behind a screen or tall buildings. How? Scientists have now identified the neurons that point ... read more

Baboons Produce Vocalizations Comparable to Vowels

Jan. 12, 2017 — Baboons produce vocalizations comparable to vowels. This has been demonstrated using acoustic analyses of vocalizations coupled with an anatomical study of the tongue muscles and the modeling of the ... read more

Ocean Acidification to Hit West Coast Dungeness Crab Fishery, New Assessment Shows

Jan. 12, 2017 — The acidification of the ocean expected as seawater absorbs increasing amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere will reverberate through the West Coast's marine food web, but not ... read more

Pragmatic Approach to Using Animal Tissue

Jan. 12, 2017 — Using animals to research potentially life-saving treatments for humans is a necessary part of the scientific process, though progress has been made in reducing the number of animals involved. ... read more

How Navigational Goals Are Represented in the Bat Brain

Jan. 12, 2017 — In bats, researchers have identified a subpopulation of neurons that represent navigational goals, a new study reports. The results provide valuable insights into how bats fly from A to ... read more

Ice Age 'Skeleton Crew' Offers Insights for Today’s Endangered Species

Jan. 12, 2017 — The ghosts of Ice Age mammals can teach valuable, real-world lessons about what happens to an ecosystem when its most distinct species go extinct, according to a new ... read more

Why Do Killer Whales Go Through Menopause? Mother-Daughter Conflict Is Key

Jan. 12, 2017 — Killer whales are one of only three species that are known to go through menopause, surviving long after they've stopped reproducing. Those older females play an essential role in helping their ... read more

Scientists Switch on Predatory Kill Instinct in Mice

Jan. 12, 2017 — Researchers have isolated the brain circuitry that coordinates predatory hunting, according to a new study. One set of neurons in the amygdala, the brain's center of emotion and motivation, cues ... read more

Twenty-Five Frogs Added to the Amphibian Fauna of Mount Oku, Cameroon

Jan. 12, 2017 — While amphibians all over the world are undergoing a continuous decline, their status in certain regions, such as Central Africa, remains unknown due to incomplete information. A new paper addresses ... read more

'Shrew'-D Study: Arctic Shrews, Parasites Indicate Climate Change Effect on Ecosystems

Jan. 12, 2017 — The shrew and its parasites -- even 40-year-old preserved ones -- are the new indicators of environmental change, according a researcher. A new study indicates a changes in shrews' ranges ... read more

New Research Explores the Effect of Winter Dormancy on Cold-Blooded Cognition

Jan. 12, 2017 — Unlike mammals, amphibians who rest up during the winter do not forget the memories they made beforehand -- this is the surprising discovery of new scientific ... read more

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