https://phys.org/biology-news/plants-animals/ en-us The latest science news on plants and animals Fish who display dominant traits are more at risk of consuming microplastic pollution than others in their social group, according to new research. The study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, details the different levels of risk microplastic pollution poses to aquatic life, with some fish in hierarchical social groups affected more than others. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dominant-fish-higher-microplastic-subordinates.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 16:20:06 EDT news698501763 The vulnerability of a shark population to losing even small numbers to fishing has been highlighted by researchers from the University of Chester and partners in the Philippines using a remote stereo camera system. The team has found that pelagic thresher sharks in the Central Visayan Sea would be vulnerable to a fishing mortality rate of 5.3% each year, and that the removal of 15 to 18 females would result in a potentially catastrophic decline in the population. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-fragility-high-shark-population.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 15:20:01 EDT news698500045 Azara's owl monkeys, a small primate species found in South America, are heavier today than those that lived a quarter-century ago, and evidence suggests that rising temperatures might have driven the weight gain, according to a Yale-led study of a wild population. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-climate-spurs-weight-gain-owl.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 14:03:45 EDT news698504595 Tropical coral reefs support the highest levels of biodiversity in the ocean. This vital ecosystem depends on reef-building corals, which form colonies of thousands of tiny coral animals that secrete calcium carbonate skeletons, creating the reef's complex structure. While corals are visually striking, they are also highly sensitive to environmental changes driven by global warming and other consequences of climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-seawater-collapse-coral-oxygen.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 14:00:01 EDT news698501581 What renders a city garden attractive to insects such as solitary bees, bumblebees and hoverflies? And how well do they pollinate plants in urban areas? A study by the Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape shows that insects can pollinate plants in the entire city. However, they still require more insect-friendly green spaces. The findings are published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-insects-city-sustain.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 13:40:04 EDT news698497802 Urbanization is rapidly transforming natural habitats and poses growing challenges for wildlife. One lesser-known consequence is its potential impact on bird song, which plays a crucial role in communication, reproduction, and survival. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-city-life-bird-song-species.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 12:40:05 EDT news698495281 The offspring of a common coral branching species set up a new home up to 100 kilometers or more from their parents in one of the longest dispersal distances ever measured, according to new international research. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-genes-borders-coral-babies-vast.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 11:00:11 EDT news698491755 Even if you haven't heard of Botrytis cinerea, you've likely seen it—slowly growing in your store-bought blueberries, tomatoes or even on your beautiful orchids. Commonly known as gray mold, the fungus attacks hundreds of plants. For years, scientists have unsuccessfully tried to breed crops that could resist the fungus. New research from the University of California, Davis, suggests decades of crop breeding strategies may have overlooked a crucial piece of the puzzle: the pathogen itself. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-fungus-gray-mold-secret-revealed.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 10:20:03 EDT news698488562 New research published in NeoBiota has found that the Western honey bee—an introduced species to Australia—and the devastating, invasive plant fungus known as myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) may have formed a mutually beneficial relationship known as "invasional mutualism." https://phys.org/news/2026-05-bees-food-source-reshape-destructive.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 09:20:05 EDT news698484781 When researchers moved medaka—a fish commonly used in experiments—out of the lab and into more natural conditions, their reproductive clock shifted by hours, suggesting that laboratory findings may not fully capture their natural reproductive timing. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-lab-fish-hours-sync-natural.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 09:00:01 EDT news698484661 A new study of the blue button (Porpita porpita), a small and elusive sea creature which lives on the surface of the ocean, has found that it may live for several years adrift at sea, much longer than previously estimated. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-tiny-sea-creature-porpita-adrift.html Plants & Animals Wed, 20 May 2026 08:40:03 EDT news698484541 Some birds sing to attract a mate. Others dance or display colorful feathers. But in the moonlit forests and shrublands of northern Argentina, one bird courts romance by snapping its wrists together, producing a sharp clapping sound scientists have puzzled over for decades. Now, researchers have captured the behavior in detail for the first time, revealing how scissor-tailed nightjars create one of the most curious sounds in the avian world. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-birds-dark-flirt-nightjars-reveal.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 19:40:03 EDT news698426881 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 set new records for the greatest distances ever confirmed between sightings of individual humpback whales anywhere in the world. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-intrepid-tails-fluke-photos-humpback.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 19:10:01 EDT news698419561 Witches' broom disease, caused by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa, decimated cocoa crops in southern Bahia state, Brazil, in the 1990s. It was even the subject of a local soap opera and continues to plague the chocolate industry in the Amazon region. However, a recent study published in Scientific Reports offers hope that increased cocoa production in the Amazon region will not rely so heavily on fungicides and fertilizers. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-amazonian-cocoa-edge-standout-cultivars.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 18:40:03 EDT news698426641 The uninhabited islet of Formicula in Greece's Inner Ionian archipelago is a popular tourist draw for its clear waters, swimming spots, and marine diversity. A major attraction is the Mediterranean monk seal, one of the world's most threatened seal species. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-rare-underwater-caves-tourists.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 11:20:03 EDT news698401949 What plant do cats love most? In Europe and North America, many people would probably answer "catnip." In Japan, the answer would more likely be silver vine (matatabi in Japanese). Both plants are famous for triggering the well-known feline response: cats rub their faces and bodies against them, roll on the ground, and sometimes lick or chew the leaves. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-silver-vine-catnip-cats.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 10:00:04 EDT news698400570 A biotech company that aims to resurrect lost creatures said Tuesday it has hatched live chicks in an artificial environment—a development that was met with mixed reviews from scientists and critics of its de-extinction mission. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-de-extinction-company-hatched-chicks.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 09:25:18 EDT news698401446 Vibrant, tiny, and sporting a bright red grin on its back, the Happy-Face spider is one of the most famous and recognizable arachnids in the world. For over a century, this cheerful-looking creature was thought to be a unique resident of the Hawaiian Islands, a biological curiosity found nowhere else on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-happy-spider-species-indian-himalayas.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 09:20:06 EDT news698400543 Seabirds such as albatrosses and petrels are retreating into smaller areas of ocean and traveling further to find new places to live as the climate warms. Scientists from the University of Reading studied more than 120 species of Procellariiformes (the group that includes albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters and storm petrels) using evolutionary family trees, ancient climate records and ocean temperature data to track how their ranges and movements have changed throughout history. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-seabird-world-oceans-longer-flights.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 05:00:12 EDT news698320982 Sound plays an important role for many animals, helping them navigate and hunt. Echolocation is the ability of animals like bats and dolphins to locate objects by emitting sound waves and interpreting the returning echoes. But detecting meaningful information in a noisy environment poses a major challenge for them. Bats operate by identifying weak prey echoes among complex background sounds generated by surrounding objects and their own movement during flight. To overcome this issue, these bats have evolved a highly sophisticated echo detection system that uses ultrasonic voices to perceive their surroundings with remarkable precision. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-silent-frequency-zones-prey-noisy.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 05:00:04 EDT news698344021 A global analysis has found that urban animals are bolder and more aggressive, exploratory and active than their rural counterparts. The findings are published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-urban-life-animals-bolder-aggressive.html Plants & Animals Tue, 19 May 2026 00:00:07 EDT news698315153 As climate change intensifies, one of the key challenges facing forestry is how to balance efficient timber production with the preservation of forests' climate-regulating functions, biodiversity, and resilience. The growing public demand for recreation in forests, together with increasing opposition to clear-cutting, is also driving the search for more sustainable management approaches. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-elongated-canopy-gaps-natural-regeneration.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 May 2026 17:50:02 EDT news698342881 Different beak and jaw shapes are illustrative examples of how animal species have adapted to different food sources. In a new study published in the journal Nature, researchers now show how diet itself shapes the composition of intestinal tissue, using the highly diverse cichlid fishes as an example. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-cichlid-fish-reveal-food-sources.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 May 2026 17:40:03 EDT news698338741 Wolves in India, like the pack that raised Mowgli in "The Jungle Book," can often feel disconnected from both the research and storytelling of wolves. Rice University professor Lauren Hennelly is working to change that. Her research uncovers the stories that these gray wolves, along with the nearby Tibetan wolves, carry in their DNA. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-indian-tibetan-wolves-reveal-ancient.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 May 2026 17:30:01 EDT news698342761 You're cooking dinner, distracted, and your hand brushes a hot pan. Nerve signals race to your spinal cord and back to yank your arm away in a fraction of a second, with no thought required. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-billion-crickets-farmed-food-year.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 May 2026 15:20:05 EDT news698324411 Being a single mother of 20 is no joke, especially if the survival of a whole species depends on it. A queen bumblebee faces this very challenge when she lays her first eggs in the spring: She is utterly alone, with no worker bees to help. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mother-quickly-colony-wont-survive.html Plants & Animals Mon, 18 May 2026 10:20:02 EDT news698317442 Finding highly venomous box jellyfish that are almost invisible in water is not an easy task—but researching them is crucial so that we can learn how to safely avoid them. Stings from these "sea-wasps" are extremely painful and can be fatal. Knowing more about box jellyfish helps us know where to expect them, when to expect them, and how we can minimize the risk of encountering them while out for what should be a pleasant swim. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-species-venomous-jellyfish-singapore.html Plants & Animals Fri, 15 May 2026 08:49:22 EDT news698053742 Even large and conspicuous insects remain unknown to science. This is highlighted by a new study from the Natural History Museum Denmark, where researchers have discovered and described 61 new species within the rove beetle genus Platydracus. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-beetle-species-reveal-biodiversity.html Plants & Animals Fri, 15 May 2026 08:44:26 EDT news698053441 A new approach to better assessing whale population data has emerged, led by a research team of marine biologists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and statisticians from Cal Poly. Scientists typically monitor whale presence through a variety of traditional methods such as visual surveys, photo identification, acoustic monitoring, satellite imagery, and increasingly, genomic methods. But monitoring can be challenging due to a wide-ranging migration area and intermittent surface pop-ups, among other difficulties. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-tiny-ocean-life-scientists-whale.html Plants & Animals Thu, 14 May 2026 17:00:55 EDT news697996801 Many male hoverflies have bigger eyes than females, giving them the advantage of better optics and faster photoreceptors in high-speed pursuits to find a preferred partner to breed. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-sex-differences-hoverfly-eyes-insight.html Plants & Animals Thu, 14 May 2026 12:16:50 EDT news697979761