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.
White storks (Ciconia ciconia) are a majestic bird with a two-meter wingspan and an enormous circular nest.
Plants & Animals
Jun 5, 2026
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A new study tracking thousands of B cells across more than 100 germinal centers in mice reveals how the system consistently produces highly effective antibodies. The findings overturn longstanding ideas about how germinal ...
Evolution
Jun 5, 2026
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Canadian scientists have made a significant advance in understanding the mechanisms that enable embryos to properly form their limbs, thanks to new research led by Université de Montréal medical professor Marie Kmita at the ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 2, 2026
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The humble Y chromosome may be the smallest chromosome in the mammalian genome (and getting even smaller), but it is mighty: Genes on the Y chromosome are critical for fertility in males. In a new study in the journal Current ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jun 1, 2026
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A new advance in animal husbandry involving a popular aquarium fish should speed the pace of discovery in laboratory studies of host-microbe interactions, researchers report. The new findings by researchers from the University ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 1, 2026
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A team of researchers led by Luigi Naldini at the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget) has developed a new strategy to significantly improve the precision and safety of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in human ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 1, 2026
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A 2021 outbreak of leptospirosis that sickened more than 200 dogs in Los Angeles County reveals critical gaps in vaccination practices and raises broader concerns about the spread of the disease between animals and people, ...
Cell & Microbiology
May 26, 2026
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The outer regions of the brain, the cortex, have specific layers of different cells—neurons—that are similarly ordered among all mammals, from tiny mouse brains to huge elephant brains. However, the proportions of different ...
Evolution
May 26, 2026
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The removal of invasive rodents from Lord Howe Island has triggered a rebound of invertebrate life, with researchers from the University of Sydney and collaborators documenting sharp increases in the abundance of insects ...
Plants & Animals
May 25, 2026
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51
In a cramped, windowless room on the University of California, Berkeley, campus, two bespoke microscopes—each a Swiss Army knife for high-resolution imaging—operate around the clock gathering data that will help train a game-changing ...
Biotechnology
May 22, 2026
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