Life history traits are integrated biological characteristics of an organism that determine the timing and allocation of resources to growth, reproduction, and survival, and thus shape its life cycle. They include age and size at maturity, fecundity, reproductive schedule (e.g., semelparity vs. iteroparity), offspring size and number, growth rate, and lifespan. As a composite process outcome of development, physiology, and behavior under genetic and environmental control, life history traits are central to life history theory, which models how natural selection optimizes trade-offs among these traits to maximize fitness in specific ecological contexts.
In recent years, researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have been both leading and contributing to collaborative genome projects. These efforts have produced reference-quality genome assemblies for the Finnish brown ...
Ecology
Oct 21, 2026
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8
Across mammals, larger species typically have longer lifespans, ranging from only a couple of years for mice to almost 200 years for some whales.
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 8, 2026
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52
When it comes to removing Burmese pythons, one snake does not equal another. A new study by researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) offers agencies a tool to identify ...
Ecology
Oct 1, 2026
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58
Every cell in an organism contains the same DNA, which carries all the instructions needed for it to function. Yet cells do not all use the same genes: A nerve cell, for example, does not activate the same genes as a muscle ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 28, 2026
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48
The University of Liverpool's Cat Prospective Aging and Welfare Study (CatPAWS), which follows a group of pet cats from middle age into later life, is celebrating more than nine years of work to improve the health and welfare ...
Veterinary medicine
Sep 24, 2026
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102
Chimpanzee and bonobo mothers sometimes continue to carry their infants after they have died, a behavior known as infant corpse carrying (ICC). It is widely documented, and many explanations have been proposed, but few have ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 16, 2026
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57
A new comparative review, published in The Anatomical Record, examines factors that may lead to birth complications among humans and other mammals. The study suggests that fetal sex may play an important role in risky births ...
The findings of a new study led by the Leibniz-IZW on Namibian free-ranging cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) demonstrate that epigenetic mechanisms might play an important role in how animals develop different phenotypes ...
Ecology
Sep 7, 2026
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34
Every 13 or 17 years, swarms of cicadas emerge from the ground, their black bodies, orange-tinged wings and ruby-red eyes enveloping trees and forests. It is a biological marvel unique in the insect world, and when it happens, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 4, 2026
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132
How has offspring dependence on parents evolved over the course of evolution? Researchers at the University of Bayreuth, in collaboration with Kyoto University, Japan, have investigated one possible mechanism by studying ...
Evolution
Aug 27, 2026
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