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 multi-institutional team of scientists, co-led by Northwestern University, has taken a crucial step toward implantable "living pharmacies"—tiny devices containing engineered cells that continuously produce medicines inside ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 27, 2026
1
216
Beavers should be embraced as key allies in the fight against biodiversity loss according to scientists at the University of Stirling, after new research revealed the significant ecological benefits the animals bring to wetland ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 26, 2026
0
20
One of the most puzzling aspects of common chronic inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis is how they become chronic. What allows an ongoing condition to stay dormant for months or even years, then seemingly spring ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 26, 2026
0
11
Britain's hazel dormice are getting lighter in spring but fatter in autumn as our climate changes, suggests new research in Scientific Reports. The study, titled "The effects of climate and land cover on hazel dormouse (Muscardinus ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 25, 2026
0
41
Most people have experienced it: when you're moving, engaged, and focused, pain fades into the background, then flares when you're immobilized with nothing to do. That isn't imagination; it's biology. A comprehensive review ...
Veterinary medicine
Mar 24, 2026
0
9
There is a limit on how many times a mammal can be cloned before suffering "mutational meltdown," Japanese scientists have discovered, after making 1,200 clones over two decades that started off with a single mouse.
Plants & Animals
Mar 24, 2026
1
86
In a new study, Northwestern University scientists explored how snow flies—small, wingless insects that crawl across snow to find mates and lay eggs—survive in freezing cold temperatures. They discovered this snow-dwelling ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 24, 2026
0
14
Arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), such as dengue and Zika viruses, transmit widely across the globe, posing threats to human health and biosecurity. They spread through the bites of arthropod vectors, moving between ...
Ecology
Mar 23, 2026
0
8
For decades, ecologists lumped everything bad for animals under one word: stress. But what if animals don't experience harsh environments as stressful at all? What if it is the opposite?
Ecology
Mar 23, 2026
0
13
For centuries, unusual animal behavior before earthquakes has been reported worldwide. Livestock becoming restless, wildlife disappearing and snakes emerging from hibernation in the middle of winter. For a long time, scientists ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 21, 2026
0
34
