https://phys.org/biology-news/plants-animals/ en-us The latest science news on plants and animals Giant manta rays can grow up to nine meters (30 feet) long with a disk size of seven meters (23 feet) across and weigh up to 2,000 kg (4,400 pounds). This size leaves them with very few natural enemies once they reach adulthood at around eight to 10 years old. But giant manta ray babies, called pups, cannot rely on their size to protect them from predators that live in the open ocean, including several species of shark and orcas. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-baby-manta-rays-hunker-coasts.html Plants & Animals Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:01 EDT news711799141 Populations of many pollinators, including bumblebees, have been crashing over the last few decades, thanks to the widespread use of chemical pesticides, loss of habitat and the acceleration of climate change. But it can be hard to know just how bad the problem is, or whether conservation strategies are helping, without relying on lethal traps—which can kill tens of thousands of bees in order to get an accurate count of their populations. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ai-bee-lethal.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:40:05 EDT news711817081 A big-eyed, venomous primate that had not been documented in scientific literature since the 1930s has been hiding in plain sight on the Indonesian island of Bangka, turning up in backyards, along roadsides and on power lines and prompting local residents who find them to call the Alobi Wildlife Rescue Center for help. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-venomous-primate-thought-lost-science.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:40:01 EDT news711796023 The 19th-century pastoralist Thomas Austin was homesick. He yearned for the pastimes of his home in England—especially rabbit hunting. He asked his family to send him some rabbits. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-humble-rabbit-australia-worst-species.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:40:10 EDT news711798196 Imagine encountering a rattlesnake in your backyard or while on a hike. It will most likely "freeze" to avoid attracting attention, but if it feels especially threatened, it may rattle and even strike, delivering a painful dose of venom. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rattlesnakes-alike-personality-venom.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:40:01 EDT news711793881 A new study from Indiana University shows that being in a positive mood leads orangutans to value what they learned more strongly. The study comes from the lab of Erica Cartmill, professor of animal behavior, anthropology and cognitive science in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington, and was led by Daan Laméris, a postdoctoral researcher at IU. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-laughter-orangutans-rewards.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:00:12 EDT news711793621 Although the main prey of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta), migratory ungulates such as blue wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus), now spend substantially less time within hyena territories than they did 30 years ago, hyena clans in the central Serengeti have remained largely stable. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-serengeti-hyenas-clans-stable-climate.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:40:08 EDT news711805081 A recent genomic survey of North Carolina black bears from mountain and coastal habitats reveals distinct differences in genetic health and diversity between the populations, with coastal bears exhibiting greater genetic fragility than mountain bears. The results could be used by wildlife management and law enforcement to ensure the health of both bears and the ecosystems they are part of. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-genetic-snapshot-north-carolina-black.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:10:01 EDT news711813241 Over the past 30 years, Swiss barn owls have become more reddish-brown and more heavily spotted. By analyzing the genomes of more than 3,000 birds, scientists at the University of Lausanne identified the genetic variants linked to these changes in plumage and revealed natural selection at work. Their findings, published in Nature Communications, show that evolution can happen rapidly in the wild. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-swiss-barn-owls-gradually.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:00:10 EDT news711803641 Researchers at Keele University have discovered that migratory butterflies may use different navigation systems to find their way during migrations, highlighting the importance of understanding how different species may respond to environmental changes. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-butterfly-reveal-migrating-species-natural.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:20:01 EDT news711801421 Vultures were long thought to make few and fairly simple sounds. Yet no one had investigated in detail how the birds use sound to communicate. For his master's thesis in Jorg Massen's Vulture Cognition Lab, Connor Proudfoot studied the critically endangered Rüppell's vulture. He and his colleagues found that the birds produce a wide range of complex sounds, which they use in a range of social situations. The findings, published today in PLOS One, could help improve the success of captive breeding programs and shed light on the evolution of communication. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-silent-vultures-wide-range-communicate.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:01 EDT news711733021 Less favorable ocean conditions mean marbled murrelet chicks take longer to leave the nest, making them more vulnerable to predation, according to a new study of the Pacific Northwest seabird by Oregon State University scientists. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-poor-ocean-conditions-murrelet-chicks.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 13:10:01 EDT news711805021 Climate change and changes in the way land is used are the two biggest threats to wildlife because they change the environment in which animals survive and thrive. Knowing how species respond to these pressures is central to planning conservation actions. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-africa-survive-climate.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:50:01 EDT news711804721 Reindeer grazing changes the vegetation of northern pine forests below ground as well as above it. In a recent study in Finland, trees and understory vegetation in grazed forests had nearly 30% less shallow-root biomass than those in ungrazed areas. Root structure also changed, which may affect the ability of plants to take up water and nutrients. The research is published in the journal Oikos. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-reindeer-grazing-roots-forests.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:40:09 EDT news711794879 Migrating birds that breed in the Arctic are spreading avian influenza to polar bears in eastern Greenland, according to a new study that found evidence of infections in bear blood samples acquired from Greenland Inuit subsistence hunters. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-migratory-birds-avian-influenza-greenland.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:20:10 EDT news711794772 There are an estimated 10 quintillion insects alive on Earth at any given time. That's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 individual insects. But how many species are there, why do we need them, and what would happen if their numbers continued to fall? Dr. Alex Dittrich, a zoologist at Nottingham Trent University, explains why these small creatures play such a big role in keeping our planet functioning. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-insects.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 11:00:01 EDT news711793877 Marine heat waves are usually seen as destructive events that can disrupt entire ocean ecosystems and trigger massive environmental damage. In 2018 and 2019, an extreme heat wave hit the Bering Sea, causing spring sea ice levels to plummet. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-bering-sea-linked-boom-hybrid.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:30:02 EDT news711795170 South Korean authorities began a new attempt Wednesday to coax a shark-turned-viral sensation back to sea, with falling temperatures in the Busan canal where it is stranded raising concerns for its survival. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-south-korea-crowd-shark-sea.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 05:40:01 EDT news711777471 Research in New Phytologist reveals a gene that regulates tea plants' flavor and cold tolerance, providing insights on how to expand the potential for better-tasting tea to be grown in a wider variety of locations. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-gene-tea-flavor-cold-tolerance.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 03:10:15 EDT news711635342 The 67th Supplement to the American Ornithological Society's (AOS's) Check-list of North American Birds, which was published today in Ornithology, includes several significant updates to the classification of bird species found in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-guatemala-gains-endemic-bird-american.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 23:20:01 EDT news711719368 In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, many households wiped down groceries with disinfectant before putting them away. Hand sanitizer was in short supply. With little information on how the virus spread, people became more cautious of germs from other people. A new University of California San Diego study suggests that humans may not be alone in changing behavior after experiencing a disease threat. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-humans-primates-cautious-germs-viral.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 19:00:16 EDT news711638425 Green sawfish, distinguished by their long, sharklike bodies and tooth-lined "saw" on the front of their heads, are on the verge of extinction, largely due to overfishing and habitat loss. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-northern-australia-lifeboat-critically-endangered.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 19:00:01 EDT news711718261 Male seahorses, fishes that belong to the Syngnathidae family, show a distinctive reproductive strategy in which males carry developing embryos in a brood pouch. Their most distinctive feature is the brood pouch on the ventral side of the male fish, into which the female fish transfers her eggs. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-male-seahorse-pouch-proteins-toxic.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 18:40:02 EDT news711726601 Millions of large feral animals roam Australia. Pigs, camels, deer, horses, water buffalo, cattle and goats were introduced deliberately as transport, livestock or to hunt. Many have since established wild populations. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-feral-threatened-endangered-camels-banteng.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 17:50:04 EDT news711735961 In most parts of Europe, bees have become less widespread during the last 100 years, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-century-picture-europe-bees.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:10:28 EDT news711722531 Cephalopods, like the octopus, have specialized arms and suckers, but how these structures evolved from the simple bodies of their mollusk ancestors remains a mystery. Researchers from the University of Tokyo compared gene activity during embryonic development of cuttlefish, octopus and snail body parts. They found that several genes associated with appendage patterning showed expression along developing cephalopod arms, but no comparable patterns in developing suckers. Developing suckers instead expressed Ets1, a gene associated with early embryonic development in mollusks. The findings suggest cephalopods evolved suckers by reusing existing genes in new ways. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-octopus-cuttlefish-suckers-evolved-repurposing.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 09:30:01 EDT news711634621 In a new Nature Physics study, researchers found that fin regrowth in zebrafish is driven by a brief burst of growth signal at the fin tip, sized to the amount lost, which sets up gradients of Erk activity that guide the regrowth. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-regrowth-erk-gradients-zebrafish-fins.html Plants & Animals Tue, 20 Oct 2026 07:40:15 EDT news711626822 Researchers have discovered honey beehives act as "living immune systems" that help protect the bee colony, its offspring and food supplies from disease. The finding underlines the need to protect bee habitat to ensure their health. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-beehives-immune-layered-antimicrobial-defenses.html Plants & Animals Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:00:11 EDT news711643621 What happens when scientists start changing the brain—the very system through which an animal's mental states are expressed in behavior? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-scientists-human-brain-tissue-mice.html Plants & Animals Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:40:04 EDT news711625511 Small snakes called dwarf reedsnakes can escape danger by rolling rapidly along the ground. Researchers investigated how they perform this unusual form of locomotion using multi-angle video analyses. The results show that the snakes use precisely coordinated body movements that keep their heads facing the direction of travel and at a relatively stable height, even as the posterior body undergoes large rotational movements. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-wheels-dwarf-reedsnakes-bodies-high.html Plants & Animals Mon, 19 Oct 2026 11:00:04 EDT news711359649