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.
Scientists have reported it for decades: overpopulation can impair reproduction. Crowded chickens lay fewer eggs. Crowded mice have smaller broods. In humans, several studies have associated increased population density with ...
Evolution
May 21, 2026
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Scientists have long known that the DNA code in genes is not the only way to pass genetic traits from parents to offspring. "Epigenetic" marks—chemical modifications to DNA that don't change the DNA code itself—can also be ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 20, 2026
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Argentine scientists on Tuesday began collecting rodents in the woods around Ushuaia to search for carriers of hantavirus in the area from which the virus-stricken MV Hondius set sail.
Ecology
May 20, 2026
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Researchers at Bar-Ilan University have successfully restored youthful patterns of DNA organization in the livers of old mice, reversing key molecular features associated with aging. The study, published in Nature Communications, ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 19, 2026
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Governments around the world conserve plants and animals in part by setting aside land. Whether as wilderness reserves or as resource management zones that allow industrial activities such as logging, 17.4% of the planet's ...
Ecology
May 19, 2026
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A biotech company that aims to resurrect lost creatures said Tuesday it has hatched live chicks in an artificial environment—a development that was met with mixed reviews from scientists and critics of its de-extinction mission.
Plants & Animals
May 19, 2026
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Scientists attempting to determine whether or not hantavirus is present in Argentina's Ushuaia on Monday laid the very first traps to catch rodents potentially carrying the disease, AFP journalists observed.
Ecology
May 19, 2026
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A global analysis has found that urban animals are bolder and more aggressive, exploratory and active than their rural counterparts. The findings are published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Plants & Animals
May 19, 2026
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A scientific mission was set to kick off the search Monday for rodents that may be hantavirus carriers after an outbreak on a cruise ship departed this region at the southern tip of Argentina on April 1.
Ecology
May 18, 2026
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Gene editing can repair a DNA error in mice that causes Dravet syndrome, a rare, incurable, and potentially deadly form of childhood epilepsy. After the edit, the mice have far fewer seizures and live much longer. As published ...
Molecular & Computational biology
May 13, 2026
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