https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. They can't fly or swim, so why do their closest relatives appear on different continents? Grey Gustafson, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, discovered through DNA sequencing that the ancestors of some of today's tiger beetles existed in South America and Africa before the two continents separated. What's more, North America's largest tiger beetles are related to these ancestral South American giant tiger beetles. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mystery-flightless-beetle-transatlantic-journey.html Evolution Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:20:11 EDT news711279724 The bison carried on grazing peacefully as the flames approached, imperturbable despite the fires ravaging the land around their wildlife park west of Madrid. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-spain-safari-animals-grazed-calmly.html Environment Fri, 31 Jul 2026 03:50:01 EDT news704685869 For decades, stories about the ancient Mediterranean have centered on the grand cultures of Greece, Rome, Phoenicia and Egypt. Northwest Africa seldom enters the picture before the arrival of Phoenician traders on the Moroccan coast about 3,000 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-morocco-hidden-history-archaeology-dna.html Archaeology Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:20:05 EDT news701611082 In the Triassic, the modern animals we know were just beginning to diversify into a menagerie of forms and body plans that rhyme with the lifestyles of extinct and living animals better known to the public, but nested in groups that ended up taking wildly divergent paths. Case in point: Labrujasuchus expectatus. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-toothless-legged-crocodile-cousin-reveals.html Evolution Tue, 26 May 2026 08:00:01 EDT news698921148 The south coast of South Africa's Western Cape province is a rich source of fossil tracks and traces—clues suggesting what this environment may have been like many thousands of years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-bird-tortoise-fossil-tracks-south.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:00:09 EDT news695567462 Currently, Australia is the only continent in the world still free from the highly contagious H5 bird flu. But that status faces an ongoing threat. https://phys.org/news/2026-03-simulation-australia-h5-bird-flu.html Veterinary medicine Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:40:01 EST news691669269 Powerful, fierce and the king of the Cretaceous world, Tyrannosaurus rex was the ultimate apex predator. But it was also surprisingly dainty on its feet, according to new research. Findings published in the journal Royal Society Open Science show that when these giant beasts walked and ran, they did so on tiptoes. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-flatfooted-lumbering-rex-tiptoes.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 25 Feb 2026 13:00:06 EST news691238439 At several archaeological sites in southern Africa, hundreds of highly unusual fragments of ostrich eggs have been found. Dating back more than 60,000 years, the shells were engraved by groups of Homo sapiens who lived in that region. https://phys.org/news/2026-02-humanity-oldest-geometries-engraved-ostrich.html Archaeology Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:40:04 EST news691236296 Endangered penguins living off South Africa's coast have likely starved en masse due to food shortages, a study said, with some populations dropping by 95% in just eight years. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-african-penguins-starved-en-masse.html Plants & Animals Thu, 25 Dec 2025 10:30:01 EST news684130910 A new study led by a researcher from the School of Zoology and the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History at Tel Aviv University examined dinosaur fossils preserved with their feathers and found that these dinosaurs had lost the ability to fly. According to the researchers, this is an extremely rare finding that offers a glimpse into the functioning of creatures that lived 160 million years ago, and their impact on the evolution of flight in dinosaurs and birds. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-dinosaurs-forgot-fly.html Evolution Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:01:35 EST news685098061 A curious seagull strolled nonchalantly through the penguin enclosure at a zoo in Paris. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-penguins-paris-zoo-bird-flu.html Plants & Animals Fri, 05 Dec 2025 10:15:46 EST news684152112 Penguins living off the coast of South Africa have likely starved to death en masse during their molting season as a result of collapsing food supplies. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-penguins-starved-death-en-masse.html Plants & Animals Thu, 04 Dec 2025 19:00:01 EST news683998398 Since first being detected in Newfoundland in 2021, a subtype of highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI A(H5Nx), has had a dramatic impact on North America. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-tracking-avian-flu-toll-wildlife.html Ecology Mon, 10 Nov 2025 11:50:05 EST news681997802 The tallest man to ever live was Robert Wadlow, who reached a staggering 2.72m. That's equal to a very large male ostrich or Shaquille O'Neal with two bowling pins balanced on his head. https://phys.org/news/2025-11-evolution-human-height-mathematician-physical.html Evolution Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:58:13 EST news681659880 More than 300 ostriches have been threatened with destruction in eastern British Columbia after avian flu was detected in the flock. The birds' owners have argued this is a case of "unjust governmental overreach." https://phys.org/news/2025-10-anti-vaccine-sentiment-funds-ostriches.html Social Sciences Thu, 16 Oct 2025 13:10:01 EDT news679836985 Egg whites may be perfect for a health-conscious breakfast, but egg yolks turned out to be the key ingredient for cultivating bird embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in the lab. Using a growing medium of egg yolk along with a few other key factors, a USC Stem Cell-led team of scientists has succeeded in deriving and maintaining authentic ESCs from chickens and seven other bird species. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-egg-yolk-key-authentic-embryonic.html Cell & Microbiology Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:07:04 EDT news678452821 Aside from being a delight to watch, flight in birds is regarded by many cultures as a symbol of freedom, and a source of inspiration for humans to build our own flying machines. This makes those birds that have given up flight for a land-based way of life seem all the more intriguing. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ancestors-ostriches-emus-distance-fliers.html Ecology Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:35:04 EDT news678371702 How did the ostrich cross the ocean? It may sound like a joke, but scientists have long been puzzled by how the family of birds that includes African ostriches, Australian emus and cassowaries, New Zealand kiwis and South American rheas spread across the world—given that none of them can fly. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ostrich-emu-ancestor-fly-scientists.html Evolution Wed, 17 Sep 2025 10:51:38 EDT news677325070 A new study from North Carolina State University identifies vertebrate hemoglobin in bone extracts from two dinosaurs and shows that this molecule is original to those animals. The work also shows how heme, a small molecule that gives hemoglobin the ability to transport oxygen in blood, degrades over time. The study both adds to the body of evidence that biological remains can and do persist across deep time in some fossils and provides further insight into the process of fossilization. https://phys.org/news/2025-09-precise-imaging-technique-hemoglobin-dinosaur.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 10 Sep 2025 12:11:04 EDT news676725061 The snow petrel, a strikingly white bird with black eyes and a black bill, is one of only three bird species ever observed at the South Pole. In fact, the Antarctic is the only place on Earth where this bird lives. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-southern-hemisphere-full-birds-earth.html Plants & Animals Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:40:06 EDT news671800166 A recent study by Dr. Esther Jacobson-Tepfer, published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal, explores the transformation of elk rock art in the Mongolian Altai. Her research sheds light on the possible factors that influenced these changes, leading to realistic elk images devolving into warped wolf-like beasts. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-reveals-ancient-elk-art-realistic.html Archaeology Sun, 13 Jul 2025 08:30:01 EDT news671426690 The announcement that New Zealand's moa nunui (giant moa) is the next "de-extinction" target for Colossal Biosciences, in partnership with Canterbury Museum, the Ngāi Tahu Research Center and filmmaker Peter Jackson, caused widespread alarm among scientists. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-dire-wolf-nz-giant-moa.html Plants & Animals Thu, 10 Jul 2025 11:19:21 EDT news671365156 Filmmaker Peter Jackson owns one of the largest private collections of bones of an extinct New Zealand bird called the moa. His fascination with the flightless ostrich-like bird has led to an unusual partnership with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to bring back lost species. https://phys.org/news/2025-07-lord-director-shot-de-extinction.html Plants & Animals Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:38:48 EDT news671200717 An interdisciplinary study led by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) reveals that women living in the region of Nubia (present-day Sudan) developed skeletal changes adapted to bearing heavy loads on their heads starting in the Bronze Age more than 3,500 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-women-bronze-age-heavy-skeletal.html Archaeology Wed, 23 Apr 2025 12:23:03 EDT news664629781 Following a recent study, Dr. Przemysław Bobrowski and his colleagues published new radiocarbon dates on Holocene (11,700 years ago to the present) sites located in the Tsakhiurtyn Hundi (Flint Valley) region of Mongolia. The work has been published in the journal Radiocarbon. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-radiocarbon-dating-reveals-mongolia-earliest.html Archaeology Wed, 23 Apr 2025 08:00:01 EDT news664537982 Looking again through the magnifying lens at the fossil's surface, one of us, Sabrina Curran, took a deep breath. Illuminated by a strong light positioned nearly parallel to the surface of the bone, the V-shaped lines were clearly there on the fossil. There was no mistaking what they meant. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-tiny-animal-bone-fossils-reveal.html Paleontology & Fossils Mon, 14 Apr 2025 11:30:04 EDT news663848570 "The art of tracking may well be the origin of science." This is the departure point for a 2013 book by Louis Liebenberg, co-founder of an organization devoted to environmental monitoring. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-fossil-hyena-tracks-south-africa.html Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 27 Mar 2025 12:40:02 EDT news662295780 Modern birds are the living relatives of dinosaurs. Take a look at the features of flightless birds like chickens and ostriches that walk upright on two hind legs, or predators like eagles and hawks with their sharp talons and keen eyesight, and the similarities to small theropod dinosaurs like the velociraptors of "Jurassic Park" fame are striking. https://phys.org/news/2025-03-big-brains-flexible-skulls-evolution.html Evolution Mon, 17 Mar 2025 15:00:01 EDT news661427158 More than 99% of birds can fly. But that still leaves many species that evolved to be flightless, including penguins, ostriches, and kiwi birds. In a study in the journal Evolution, researchers compared the feathers and bodies of different species of flightless birds and their closest relatives who can still fly. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-birds-ability-fly-bodies-faster.html Evolution Thu, 27 Feb 2025 11:00:06 EST news659867521 Large birds—our closest relations to dinosaurs—are capable of technical innovation, by solving a physical task to gain access to food. This is the first time scientists have been able to show that palaeognath birds such as emus and rheas can solve tricky problems. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-dumb-birds-emus-rheas-technical.html Plants & Animals Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:00:06 EST news659264461