Animal distribution, as a biological process, refers to the spatial and temporal patterns by which animal populations occupy, colonize, and persist in habitats across landscapes and ecosystems. It emerges from the interaction of species-specific dispersal mechanisms, behavioral habitat selection, population dynamics, and biotic interactions such as competition, predation, and mutualism, constrained by abiotic gradients including climate, topography, and resource availability. This process underlies biogeographic patterns, metapopulation structure, range limits, and community assembly, and is quantitatively studied using approaches such as species distribution modeling, spatial ecology, landscape genetics, and movement ecology to link organismal traits and environmental heterogeneity to observed occurrence and abundance.
An international research team, which included University of Tartu visiting doctoral student Wen-Gang Zhang and Professor of Botany Meelis Pärtel, has found a new solution to one of ecology's long-standing controversies—Darwin's ...
Evolution
Jun 16, 2026
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A night dive to study wild sharks that can walk on land has surfaced with something even rarer—a species unknown to science. "New shark species don't come along that often, and it's most definitely the first one named after ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 16, 2026
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Humpback whales are one of the most popular species for whale watching. Since they are active close to the water's surface, groups of whale watchers can often see them breaching and diving during breeding periods. One popular ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 10, 2026
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European fallow deer have faced a dramatic loss of genetic diversity since the last interglacial period. This was revealed by 120,000-year-old fossils from central Germany's Neumark-Nord site in Saxony-Anhalt, analyzed by ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 6, 2026
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A new study published in the Journal of Raptor Research, titled "Factors Influencing Nestling Sex Ratios of Suburban and Rural Red-Shouldered Hawks, 2004–2016," finds that hawk parents prioritize producing female offspring ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 2, 2026
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A Brazilian study published in the journal Ecography indicates that the biodiversity of anuran amphibians (toads and frogs) on islands is determined by factors encompassed in two previously opposing theories.
Plants & Animals
May 27, 2026
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Colorado State University Professor George Wittemyer and his research team reunited a 4-month-old elephant calf with her family after she wandered into a tourist camp alone. The orphaned elephant calf was disoriented from ...
Plants & Animals
May 22, 2026
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The offspring of a common coral branching species set up a new home up to 100 kilometers or more from their parents in one of the longest dispersal distances ever measured, according to new international research.
Plants & Animals
May 20, 2026
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12
Wolves in India, like the pack that raised Mowgli in "The Jungle Book," can often feel disconnected from both the research and storytelling of wolves. Rice University professor Lauren Hennelly is working to change that. Her ...
Plants & Animals
May 18, 2026
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11
When tourists travel to Seattle, it's common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound.
Ecology
Apr 4, 2026
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