Rodents are mammals of the order Rodentia, characterized primarily by a single pair of ever-growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws, separated from the cheek teeth by a diastema and adapted for gnawing. This order encompasses extensive taxonomic diversity, including families such as Muridae, Cricetidae, Sciuridae, and Caviidae, occupying a wide range of terrestrial and arboreal habitats. Rodents exhibit high reproductive rates, diverse dietary strategies (from herbivory to omnivory), and complex social structures in some lineages. They play key ecological roles as primary consumers, seed predators and dispersers, and prey species, and serve as important model organisms in biomedical and evolutionary research.
A University of Alberta study has whittled down climate-related reasons beavers are emerging earlier onto the ice from their lodges in the spring—a shift that helps them store more winter food but could also lead to more ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 28, 2026
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At first glance, the white plastic box with a bright orange floor looks like something for storing children's toys. However, the box isn't used to store Lego bricks; it contains real mice—with the aim of minimizing their ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 27, 2026
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Got a mouse in your house? That thought alone may terrify you. Now imagine if mice were scampering through your house, rummaging in your pantry or even running across your face at night.
Ecology
Apr 25, 2026
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Mammals and dinosaurs coexisted on Earth until a catastrophic event 66 million years ago killed 75% of life on the planet. Despite the devastation, some animals survived, including rodent-like mammals in the Cimolodon genus. ...
Evolution
Apr 25, 2026
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April 26 marks the 40th anniversary of the explosion at Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The accident caused the largest ever release of radioactive material into the environment, and at the time ...
Ecology
Apr 24, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have developed a vaccine approach that shows promise in protecting against highly pathogenic bird flu, demonstrating strong efficacy in both mice and cattle. Avian influenza ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 24, 2026
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A study has provided new evidence of beavers' expansion into the Canadian Arctic by dating the changes they have made to the tundra landscape as they spread northward. Published in the journal Ecosphere, the research combines ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 24, 2026
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Fluorescent probes have transformed modern biology by allowing researchers to tag and visualize individual molecules in living cells, tissues, and animals. Using these tools, researchers can watch viruses infect cells in ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 22, 2026
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Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz may have identified why many cancer patients say food suddenly tastes unpleasant during treatment. The study, published today in Development, found that a class of targeted ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 21, 2026
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9
It did not take long after the discovery of X-rays in the 1890s for scientists to begin exploring the harmful effects of radiation on living organisms. Yet even after more than a century of research, new insights continue ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 16, 2026
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