Clues for dinosaurs' diets found in the chemistry of their fossil teeth
You are what you eat, it turns out—even if your last meal was 150 million years ago.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 24, 2025
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Page 4: Research news on herbivores
Herbivores are organisms that obtain the majority of their energy and nutrients by consuming autotrophic plant material or algae, forming a critical trophic level in ecological and biogeochemical systems. They exhibit diverse morphological and physiological adaptations for processing cellulose-rich diets, including specialized dentition, elongated and compartmentalized gastrointestinal tracts, and symbiotic microbiota enabling fermentation and volatile fatty acid production. Herbivory influences plant population dynamics, community composition, and primary productivity, mediating top-down and bottom-up interactions and driving coevolutionary arms races such as chemical defenses and counteradaptations. In ecosystem and food-web models, herbivores are central to energy transfer from primary producers to higher trophic levels and to nutrient cycling through excretion and biomass turnover.
Goldenrods are more likely to evolve defense mechanisms in nutrient-rich soil
A University of Michigan study finds that plants growing in nutrient-rich soil may be more likely to defend themselves against insects.
Plants & Animals
Jul 21, 2025
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What dinosaur teeth reveal about life 150 million years ago
What did long-necked dinosaurs eat—and where did they roam to satisfy their hunger? A team of researchers has reconstructed the feeding behavior of sauropods using cutting-edge dental wear analysis. Their findings, published ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 18, 2025
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144
Reduction in supply of prey was decisive factor in extinction of saber-toothed tigers, study finds
In two new studies, researchers at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, have shed light on how interactions between predators and prey influenced the extinction of saber-toothed tigers ...
Evolution
Jul 15, 2025
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305
New research challenges animal dietary classifications in Yellowstone National Park
Scholars and schoolchildren alike have generally classified animals by the foods they eat: carnivores eat meat; browsers consume flowering plants, conifers and shrubs; and grazers focus on grasses.
Plants & Animals
Jul 15, 2025
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130
Researchers reveal key conditions that facilitate successful invasion by non-native plants
Researchers from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed that water availability combined with phosphorus limitation or herbivory created an advantage for alien plant species ...
Ecology
Jul 10, 2025
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Hidden hunting strategies of leopard seals reveal their impact on Antarctic ecosystems
A new study led by researchers at Baylor University and University of Rhode Island has uncovered surprising details about leopard seals' hunting habits, revealing that while the species is broadly considered a generalist ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 24, 2025
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How the disappearance of mastodons still threatens native South American forests
Ten thousand years ago, mastodons vanished from South America. With them, an ecologically vital function also disappeared: the dispersal of seeds from large-fruited plants. A new study led by the University of O'Higgins, ...
Ecology
Jun 13, 2025
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