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Plants & Animals news
Who are the secret gardeners of a parasitic plant?
In the coastal forests of a tropical Japanese island near Okinawa grows an inconspicuous plant that is easy to mistake for a mushroom. It is a non-green parasite that feeds on the roots of other plants and produces up to ...
Plants & Animals
4 hours ago
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Oak leaves harbor distinct microbial worlds on their opposite surfaces
A single leaf may look like a simple patch of green, but to the microscopic life that inhabits it, it is a vast landscape divided into different worlds.
Plants & Animals
15 hours ago
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Common carp relatives blunt koi herpesvirus infections, offering clues to outbreak control
Common carp are among the world's most widely farmed freshwater fish, providing food and livelihoods for millions of people. But across fish farms and freshwater ecosystems, they face a formidable threat: a highly contagious ...
Plants & Animals
16 hours ago
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When meat doesn't matter: Female Guinea baboons do not prefer males who are better at acquiring or sharing meat
Meat is a rare and highly prized resource for wild Guinea baboons (Papio papio). Yet, contrary to long-standing assumptions based on human hunter–gatherer societies, a new study by the German Primate Center—Leibniz-Institute ...
Plants & Animals
17 hours ago
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Why some male anglerfish parasitically fuse with females
Reproduction is central to the survival of all living organisms. Over millions of years, animal species on Earth have evolved a remarkable variety of mating strategies, ranging from physical fights with competitors to mesmerizing ...
When fever isn't the answer: Infected tadpoles cool themselves to fight viruses
Fever is one of the best-known mechanisms by which animals combat infectious diseases. Sick animals can increase their body temperature in two ways: through physiological regulation, by altering internal metabolic processes, ...
Plants & Animals
20 hours ago
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Roads and dams put European eels at risk, scientists offer strategy to save them
Roads, dams and other infrastructure built to make life easier for people have unintentionally made survival harder for another form of life—critically endangered European eels.
Plants & Animals
20 hours ago
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MRI study shows dogs can distinguish between human fear and sadness
Scientists—and dog lovers—have long known that dogs are remarkably good at interpreting our laughs, frowns and tears. But the biology behind this ability has remained largely unexplored until now. In a study published in ...
Plants & Animals
23 hours ago
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New species of mountain horned dragon identified in Thailand's high-altitude forests
Scientists have described a new species of lizard from the high mountain forests of western Thailand and have given it a name straight out of an American fantasy drama television series: Acanthosaura syrax, named after Syrax, ...
Plants & Animals
23 hours ago
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Butterfly ranges shift worldwide amid climate change, with most species expanding their reach
A global analysis of range-shift records for 1,758 butterfly species—10% of known butterfly species—found that 80% had expanded their range and that 79% of all recorded range shifts were linked to climate change and extreme ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 8, 2026
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Pulsed radiofrequency magnetic fields may disorient migratory birds, experiments suggest
Every year, millions of migratory birds travel between different geographical regions on Earth to find food, escape cold weather or reach safe environments to raise chicks. To determine which direction to fly, these birds ...
One million years without sex fails to erase stick insects' unused biological system
Scientists have made a surprising finding about how an asexually reproducing stick insect has evolved. Research led by Dr. Darren Parker, lecturer in evolutionary biology at Bangor University, studied the genes of several ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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Antenna-like cell appendage may help turtle embryos sense sex-deciding nest temperatures
When most baby turtles hatch, their sex depends on the temperature of the sand or soil where their mother laid her eggs. Warm incubation produces females, while cool nests produce males.
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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Hidden hormone–habitat relationship revealed in reef fish
In the animal kingdom, only those that adapt to their environment survive. This adaptation takes a wide range of forms, from invisible internal shifts in gene expression to dramatic anatomical changes, such as tadpoles growing ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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Birdsong and whale song show patterns similar to human language
An international team of researchers has uncovered a previously undetected structure in the birdsong of Bengalese finches that has the same statistical patterns found in human languages.
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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One snail, five slimes: Collagen and calcium reshape mucus for different jobs
Snails are particularly active after a rain shower. Even on the Max Planck Campus in Potsdam-Golm, common brown-lipped snails (Cepaea nemoralis) leave behind shiny trails of mucus. Researchers from the "Biomaterials" department ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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Honduras review confirms 227 native mammal species after eight-year effort
An eight-year international research effort has produced the most comprehensive review of Honduras' mammals since 1998, verifying 227 native species across 146 genera and 42 families, along with three introduced rodent species. ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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One ant can trigger colony-wide activity bursts, mathematical model suggests
Scientists have long known that ant colonies sometimes seem to move as one. A nest that appears quiet can suddenly erupt into activity, with workers throughout the colony springing into motion almost simultaneously before ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2026
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Decoding the North American bison's genome to better inform conservation efforts
A new study by ancient DNA researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, used paleogenomics to create a genetic roadmap to help guide the restoration of another iconic species once on the brink of extinction: the ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2026
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Drained by humans, rewetted by beavers—opposing forces shape boreal wetlands
Boreal forests and peatlands are shaped by hydrological changes caused by both human activity and natural processes. In a recent study carried out in the Evo area in southern Finland, researchers examined how forestry drainage ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 6, 2026
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More news
Songbirds may have developed sharper senses to de-husk seeds
Zoo-housed lions show wild-style behaviors when fed whole carcasses
Random physics helps model individual ant motion
A small molecular module helps time development of C. elegans
Decades-old theory for how insect societies evolve challenged
Aquarium sends shark eggs to bolster wild populations
Lemurs fall prey to human herpes virus
Producing spider silk is a biological feat
Indigenous-led conservation helps save endangered cockatoo
Other news
Color-sensing yeast could make biofactories more programmable and precise
New optical method reveals internal dynamics of elusive Wigner crystals
Weather prediction hits a theoretical 129-day ceiling
Arctic fossil abandoned in 1948 proves to be record-size Triassic hunter
The impact of recent super El Niños on sea level rise
DNA repair enzymes favor specific sequences, shaping mutation patterns in the human genome
Ant teams beat gravity-based puzzle solvers
Humpback whales match song themes to dive phases, tags reveal
Uncovering how Cryptococcus shifts from silent infection to killer fungus
