Migratory species, as a biological and ecological topic, are taxa whose life cycles include regular, cyclical, and predictable movements between distinct geographic regions, typically driven by seasonal variation in resource availability, breeding opportunities, or environmental conditions. These movements can occur across latitudinal, altitudinal, or aquatic gradients and span scales from local to transcontinental. Research on migratory species focuses on navigation mechanisms (e.g., celestial, geomagnetic, olfactory cues), energetics and physiology of long-distance movement, connectivity between populations across ranges, and the consequences of migration for gene flow, community structure, ecosystem processes, and vulnerability to anthropogenic pressures along migratory routes.
An international team of scientists have documented, for the first time, humpback whales traveling between breeding grounds in eastern Australia and Brazil, crossing more than 14,000 kilometers of open ocean. The findings ...
Plants & Animals
May 19, 2026
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Today's Arctic may feel remote and desolate, but more than 70 million years ago, it was a surprisingly lively place for some of Earth's ancient mammals.
Ecology
May 18, 2026
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320
A humpback whale found dead this week off a Danish island has been identified as the animal released two weeks ago in a spectacular and contentious rescue effort, after repeatedly becoming stranded off Germany's Baltic Sea ...
Ecology
May 16, 2026
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73
Birds of prey and vultures (raptors) play a vital role in ecosystems, both as top predators and key scavengers. However, compared to many other bird species, raptor populations are declining faster. This is because they need ...
Ecology
May 11, 2026
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Conflicts in the Middle East are increasing dangers for whales off South Africa by shifting sea traffic into their habitats and heightening the risks of collision, researchers told AFP.
Ecology
May 11, 2026
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A rescue team on Saturday released from a barge in the North Sea a humpback whale that had been stranded in shallow waters near Germany since March, witnesses said.
Ecology
May 3, 2026
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85
A paper in Genome Biology and Evolution discovers that the endangered Mediterranean fin whale is not completely isolated from Atlantic groups. Both Atlantic and Mediterranean populations have declined for the past 200,000 ...
Evolution
Apr 28, 2026
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81
You might know the short-tailed shearwater and sable shearwater by the common name "muttonbirds." These two species of seabird breed on islands off southeastern Australia. Both undertake a breathtaking two-week, non-stop ...
Ecology
Apr 25, 2026
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27
Every year a small songbird, no heavier than a letter, crosses the Sahara Desert, the Mediterranean and the Arabian Desert on its migration. New research from Lund University in Sweden now reveals how the tiny bird manages ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 23, 2026
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25
An international group of scientists mapped the spread of the current dominant strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus through North American bird populations in 2024. Led by scientists from St. Jude Children's ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 15, 2026
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