https://phys.org/biology-news/plants-animals/ en-us The latest science news on plants and animals 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Close social relationships are known to contribute to the survival of many animals, including humans. Maintaining social bonds over time, however, can also require effort and sacrifices. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-social-bonds-wild-jackdaws.html Plants & Animals Sun, 18 Oct 2026 10:20:01 EDT news711373350 When scientists talk about scavengers, you might imagine an animal sniffing out or stumbling across a carcass, eating as much as possible and slinking away. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-australian-scavengers-dont-approach-carcass.html Plants & Animals Sat, 17 Oct 2026 11:00:01 EDT news711284249 With about 30 visual pigments, compared to just three in humans, mantis shrimp possess a visual system that remains a mystery. Researchers from ULiège and Humboldt University in Berlin have, for the first time, analyzed these pigments one by one and discovered that some detect red light that very few animals can perceive. This finding, published in Science Advances, has potential applications in optogenetics. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-red-sensitive-pigments-mantis-shrimp.html Plants & Animals Sat, 17 Oct 2026 09:00:01 EDT news711300101 A German cockroach races across a kitchen floor. Someone grabs a bottle of essential oil spray, soaks the insect and watches it die. The product worked, but a new University of Kentucky study suggests the larger infestation probably did not notice. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-essential-oil-sprays-cockroaches-contact.html Plants & Animals Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:20:07 EDT news711372242 A plant's roots do much of their work out of sight, pulling in water and nutrients and holding the plant in place. That makes it hard to see how plants respond when conditions underground change, and how a warming climate affects them. New Dartmouth-led studies look at the strategies plants use below the surface to adapt and survive. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-climate-tree-roots-soil-microbes.html Plants & Animals Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:40:01 EDT news711369664 Cortisol is a hormone that helps humans and many other animals regulate their energy use and respond to changing conditions. For a long time, sharks and rays were believed to rely on a different steroid hormone for these functions, without producing cortisol themselves. Now, a new study of North Pacific spiny dogfish, a species of small shark, challenges this view. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-spiny-dogfish-blood-hormone-thought.html Plants & Animals Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:00:01 EDT news711365171 A new study has found that adaptive molecular convergence—the process by which distantly related or unrelated species evolve the same genomic changes—is not as rare as previously thought. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-convergence-common-previously-thought.html Plants & Animals Fri, 16 Oct 2026 14:30:01 EDT news711377041 A protein complex known as DREAM that normally puts the brakes on genes may also be crucial for reproduction in plants, according to new research published in Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-offspring-protein-complex-play-key.html Plants & Animals Fri, 16 Oct 2026 14:00:01 EDT news711300661 Limbs evolved as a means of locomotion. From the primitive rotating flagella of bacteria to the wings of flies and even our own legs, animals use these appendages to travel to find food or mates or escape predators. But in countless species across the animal kingdom, limbs are repurposed to create elaborate social displays: Birds of paradise fan out their wings and hop around in courtship dances, while crabs wave their claws to communicate to potential mating partners. As humans, we use our limbs to dance, gesture while talking, wield tools and conduct a remarkable diversity of behaviors. How does the brain control and coordinate its body parts for such distinct purposes? https://phys.org/news/2026-10-brain-circuits-fruit-flies-wing.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:40:18 EDT news711292582 Chitin, a chain of repeating sugar molecules, is the main building block of fungal cell walls. When fungi grow or are broken down, fragments of chitin chains of different lengths end up in the soil, and plants detect them to monitor the microbes around them. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-molecular-tape-fungal-friend-foe.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:21:38 EDT news711292861 Salty soil is a growing threat to crops worldwide. Hotter, drier weather has increased evaporation rates, drawing moisture from the soil and leaving behind concentrated mineral salts. At the same time, water shortages are forcing farmers to irrigate using water from lower-quality, saline or recycled sources. Scientists estimate that around half of the world's irrigated farmland is now affected by salinity to some degree. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-danger.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:20:04 EDT news711292402 An international study has overturned a longstanding textbook view of how much energy animals use to travel, revealing that flying can sometimes be cheaper than swimming. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-wild-birds-rewrite-flight-efficiency.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:00:11 EDT news711128821 The spectacled cobra (Naja naja) is one of India's "big four" snakes responsible for most serious snakebite cases. It is currently considered one species, which lives across much of South Asia, with regional differences in color, hood markings and venom. However, it's still unclear which regional cobra populations represent separate evolutionary groups. A new study published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution has helped parse out which groups have different lineages, and when and where they may have diverged from their ancestors. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-india-cobras-genetic-mainland-sri.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 13:20:21 EDT news711282094 Researchers from the Bazaruto Center for Scientific Studies (BCSS) Ocean Observatory have documented ancient forests that grew on the Mozambican coast thousands of years ago and have been found beneath the sea, where they now serve as hotspots teeming with marine life similar in biodiversity to coral reefs. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-year-forests-reborn-peat-reefs.html Plants & Animals Thu, 15 Oct 2026 10:00:16 EDT news711275883 Researchers at McGill University have found that urbanization is weakening one of Earth's most enduring ecological patterns: the tendency for biodiversity to increase toward the tropics, a pattern known as the latitudinal diversity gradient. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-urbanization-bigger-toll-bird-diversity.html Plants & Animals Wed, 14 Oct 2026 18:40:04 EDT news711212581