Tropical and Temperate Reefs Affected Differently by Fishing Pressures
In a study published recently in Ecology and Evolution, an international team of researchers focused on what can happen to ocean ecosystems when fishing pressure increases…
Biodiversity
Xenophyophores: Four Freaky New Species of Giant Single-Celled Organisms Discovered on Pacific Seafloor
Two new genera and four new species of giant, single-celled xenophyophores (protozoans belonging to a group called the foraminifera) were discovered in the deep Pacific…
Get Your Hands Dirty for Health: Call to Restore Urban Biodiversity, Post COVID-19 Pandemic
Billions of people using the Earth’s resources and changing or destroying ecosystems are not only creating the global environmental and climate crisis, but also compromising…
Life in the Galaxy: Huge Simulations Find Some “Completely Unexpected” Results
Researchers have found that rocky exoplanets which formed early in the life of the galaxy seem to have had a greater chance of developing a…
New Diamond Frog From Northern Madagascar – “As Soon as I Saw This Frog, I Knew It Was a New Species!”
Despite the active ongoing taxonomic progress on Madagascar’s frogs, the amphibian inventory of this hyper-diverse island is still very far from being complete. The known…
A Glimpse Into the Future of Diverse Tropical Forests
New method enables predictions for the development of species-rich forests. Tropical forests are a hotspot of biodiversity. Against the backdrop of climate change, their protection…
The Wildlife Trade Permeates the Biological Tree of Life and Threatens Biodiversity – But Still Largely Remains a Mystery
The wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry that threatens biodiversity. Exploiting wildlife by selling it, their parts or their products is one of the most…
Peculiar Behavior of the Beetle Toramus Larvae – How and Why Do They Carry Their Exuviae?
The beetles of family Erotylidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) are morphologically and biologically diversified into six subfamilies, 10 tribes, and over 3,500 species. The tribe Toramini includes…
Terrestrial Species Outpaced by Marine Species in the Race Against Global Warming
Global warming is causing species to search for more temperate environments in which to migrate to, but it is marine species – according to the…
Surprises Surfacing in the Atlantic: Species Far From Home Detected by DNA Traces in Seawater
DNA scientists sampling the New Jersey shore bottle the changing ranges of marine life predicted a decade ago; Fishing DNA from seawater: a harmless, economical…
Arks of Genetic Diversity in Terrestrial Mammals Uncovered by Scientists
Maximizing the protection of life on Earth requires knowledge of the global patterns of biodiversity at multiple dimensions, from genetic diversity within species, to species…
Extinction of Threatened Marine Megafauna Would Lead to Devastating Loss in Functional Diversity
The extinction of threatened marine megafauna species could result in larger than expected losses in functional diversity, according to research led by Swansea University. In…
Bizarre New Parasitic Species Discovered… on Twitter
While many of us use social media to be tickled silly by cat videos or wowed by delectable cakes, others use them to discover new…
Some Birds Live Fast and Die Young – Scientists Study of Thousands of Species to Explain Why
Research from the University of Sheffield has revealed why some bird species take longer to develop than others Findings could help scientists predict how animals…
The Secret – But Vital – Role Moths Serve at Night
Moths are important pollen transporters in English farmland and might play a role in supporting crop yields, according to a new University College London study….
Making Sense of the Viral Multiverse: Situating Coronaviruses Within Mind-Bendingly Vast Virosphere
In November of 2019—likely, even earlier—a tiny entity measuring just a few hundred billionths of a meter in diameter began to tear apart human society…
“Global Diversity Curves Are Misleading” – Ocean Biodiversity Has Not Increased Substantially for Hundreds of Millions of Years
A new way of looking at marine evolution over the past 540 million years has shown that levels of biodiversity in our oceans have remained…
Only 0.23% of the Mediterranean Basin – A Global Biodiversity Hotspot – Has Effective Levels of Conservation Protection
Through the assessment of the 1062 marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Mediterranean Sea, covering 6% of the Mediterranean Basin, a research team led by…