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.
More than 40% of extant large freshwater animals (megafauna), including carp, salmonids, crocodilians, turtles, beavers, and hippopotamuses, have been deliberately introduced outside their natural range, often for economic ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 9, 2026
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Innate immune sensors—known as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs)—detect specific molecular components of bacterial or viral intruders. The PRRs forward the signals which results in the production of interferons, which ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 6, 2026
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60
Hair regrowth treatment may soon take a major leap forward, as researchers in a recent study have successfully grown complete, fully functional hair follicles outside of the living body, in a dish. This was made possible ...
Fruit flies, mice, zebrafish, yeast and the tiny worm C. elegans are model organisms that have carried modern biology on their backs.
Biotechnology
Mar 1, 2026
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Early mammalian ancestors were nocturnal, sleeping during the day while the dinosaurs dominated the land. However, some mammalian lineages, including human ancestors, independently transitioned to diurnality (active during ...
Evolution
Feb 27, 2026
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As you read this, the screen is probably flashing over 240 times per second, yet, as a human, you won't notice this flickering light. However, to a fruit fly hovering above your head, the screen would represent a strobe light ...
Evolution
Feb 24, 2026
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UConn Center on Aging researchers have published a new editorial in the journal Aging titled "Polyploidy-induced senescence: Linking development, differentiation, repair, and (possibly) cancer?" In this editorial, Dr. Iman ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 23, 2026
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A study from an international team of experts in veterinary medicine, human medicine and genomics provides the first large-scale genetic map of feline cancer, revealing that cats may hold the key to understanding several ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 21, 2026
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A protein called neurofilament light chain (NfL)—studied in humans in the context of neurodegenerative diseases and aging—is also detectable in the blood of numerous animals, and NfL levels increase with age in mice, cats, ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 20, 2026
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19
In a 2023 paper on hypoxia and glucose metabolism, our lab showed how organisms rewire their metabolism to adapt to low oxygen levels—such as those found at high altitudes. One of the most striking observations from that ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 19, 2026
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