Falcons Have Natural “Eye Makeup” to Improve Hunting Ability
Dark ‘eyeliner’ feathers of peregrine falcons act as sun shields to improve the birds’ hunting ability, a new scientific study suggests. Scientists have long speculated…
Zoology News
Evolutionary Mystery: New Marine Scale Worm Species First to Provide Evidence of Male Dwarfism
In the Kumano Sea, off the southeast coast of Japan, an evolutionary mystery lay in wait. Researchers collected samples from the muddy sea floor, including…
New Research Shows Puppies Are Biologically Wired to Communicate With People
Dogs may have earned the title “man’s best friend” because of how good they are at interacting with people. Those social skills may be present…
Primates Change Their “Accent” in Shared Territory to Avoid Conflict
New study finds one species will adopt another species’ calls in shared territory. New research has discovered that monkeys will use the “accent” of another…
Embryos of Many Species Use Sound to Prepare for the Outside World – Hear Nile Crocodile Embryos Before Hatching
It’s well known that reptiles depend on temperature cues while in the egg to determine a hatchling’s sex. Now, researchers writing in the journal Trends in…
Scent Trails of Dung and Urine Could Boost Elephant Conservation
Traveling elephants pay close attention to scent trails of dung and urine left by other elephants, new research shows. Scientists monitored well-used pathways and found…
New Insights Into How Whisker Bending Translates to Sensory Touch Signals
First-of-its-kind mechanical model simulates bending of mammalian whiskers. Researchers have developed a new mechanical model that simulates how whiskers bend within a follicle in response…
Temperature-Dependent Sex Reversals in Bearded Dragon Embryos
Bearded dragon embryos become females either through sex chromosomes or hot temperatures. Ancient cellular processes are likely involved in temperature-dependent sex reversals. Bearded dragon embryos…
Alien Species Predicted to Increase by 36% Worldwide by 2050
The number of alien (non-native) species, particularly insects, arthropods and birds, is expected to increase globally by 36% by the middle of this century, compared…
No Joke: Pigs and Rodents Can Breathe Through Their Butts
Rodents and pigs share with certain aquatic organisms the ability to use their intestines for respiration, finds a study publishing May 14th in the journal…
African Forest Elephants Are Now Critically Endangered – Here’s How to Count Them
Study compared different methodologies using dung, DNA analysis, and camera traps. A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and working closely…
Critically Endangered Iconic Great Apes in Borneo Lost Muscle During Fruit Shortages
Highlights Need to Protect Orangutan Habitat Wild orangutans are known for their ability to survive food shortages, but scientists have made a surprising finding that…
Largest-Ever Effort to Artificially Inseminate Sharks – And the Occasional “Virgin Birth”
It’s a tough time to be a shark. Pollution, industrialized fishing, and climate change threaten marine life, and the populations of many top ocean predators…
Female Monkeys Use Males As “Hired Guns” for Defense Against Predators
Female putty-nosed monkeys use calls just to recruit males when certain predators are detected Results suggest that different “dialects” exist among different populations of monkeys…
São Tomé Island Has Two Species of Caecilians Found Nowhere Else on Earth
Research adds evidence to century-long scientific debate and reveals how volcanic activity may have driven divergence of the limbless amphibians. The Gulf of Guinea islands…
Pace of Life: Friends and Enemies “Make Sense” for Long-Lived Animals
It makes evolutionary sense for long-lived animals to have complex social relationships — such as friends and enemies — researchers say. Some species and individuals…
Bats’ Surprising “Supersense” of Time: They Know the Speed of Sound From Birth
A new Tel Aviv University study has revealed, for the first time, that bats know the speed of sound from birth. In order to prove…
New Miniature Trap-Jaw Ant Ant Species Discovered – Named in Recognition of Gender Diversity
A newly discovered miniature trap jaw ant from the evergreen tropical forests of Ecuador bears the curious Latin name Strumigenys ayersthey, among hundreds, which are…