Mammals are a bit odd when it comes to bones. Rather than the bony plates and scales of crocodiles, turtles, lizards, dinosaurs and fish, mammals long ago traded in their ancestral suit of armor for a layer of insulating ...
Plants & Animals
May 24, 2023
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133
The bone density of astronauts—of both the human and rodent variety—decreases in space. Researchers report on April 19 in the journal Cell Reports that changes to the gut microbiomes of space travelers might be associated ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 19, 2023
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65
Discoveries of albino animals have a unique ability to capture the public imagination, often leading to flurries of social media and news coverage. (Think Migaloo, the famous white humpback whale.)
Plants & Animals
Mar 28, 2023
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2
The island of Hispaniola once had among the highest diversity of rodents in the Caribbean, supporting 11 species that coexisted for thousands of years. Today, only one rodent species remains within the island's two countries ...
Ecology
Jan 10, 2023
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46
You might think you have the measure of the rodent family. Perhaps just the word "rodent" conjures images of invasive rats, those urban denizens accused of spreading pathogens and parasites, chewing through wires and spoiling ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 3, 2023
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17
Scientists have long been puzzled how the bubonic plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis, can cause both stable, enzootic disease among rodents, as well as sudden, lethal epizootic outbreaks that decimate the same rodent populations.
Ecology
Dec 15, 2022
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20
The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed the need to better understand the transmission routes of animal-spread diseases. A study published in Nature Communications demonstrates how the risk of pathogen transmission from rodents ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 13, 2022
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2
If you are "somewhat bloodthirsty" and willing to consider "wholesale slaughter" of vermin then you might be the ideal candidate to become New York City's new rat czar.
Ecology
Dec 1, 2022
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6
In mammals, the distinction between male and female at the chromosomal level is due to the X and Y chromosomes. Typically, females have two X chromosomes (XX) while males have an X and a Y chromosome (XY). The Sry gene on ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 28, 2022
0
81
Imagine you have 20 new compounds that have shown some effectiveness in treating a disease like tuberculosis (TB), which affects 10 million people worldwide and kills 1.5 million each year. For effective treatment, patients ...
Cell & Microbiology
Sep 14, 2022
0
128
