Invasive crayfish sabotages its own success, study says

Since they were first released as live bait in the mid-twentieth century, rusty crayfish have roamed lake bottoms in northern Wisconsin, gobbling native fish eggs, destroying aquatic plants, and generally wreaking havoc on ...

A clonal crayfish from nature as a model for tumors

A genome study has proven that all specimen of Marmorkrebs, or marbled crayfish, originate from a single female. About 30 years ago, the original clone evolved in an aquarium. Ever since, the female animals have been able ...

Improved egg enabled insects to conquer the land

Insects are so successful on the land because insect eggs are protected from desiccation. Thanks to an extraembryonic membrane in the egg, the serosa, insects could successfully switch from life in the water to life on land. ...

Resilin springs simplify the control of crustacean limb movements

Animals can simplify the brain control of their limb movements by moving a joint with just one muscle that operates against a spring made of the almost perfect elastic substance called resilin. This principle is analysed ...

How tiny creatures are reshaping the very rivers they live in

What shapes a river? People typically imagine large-scale processes such as storms and floods or human modifications like dams or fortified banks. But the shape of our rivers today is also a result of the cumulative impact ...

Sociable crayfish get drunk more easily than loners

Few studies have investigated how prior social experience affects sensitivity to alcohol, but now a study from the University of Maryland shows that sociable crayfish are more sensitive than loners and suggests that similar ...

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