A team of paleontologists from Germany and Austria reports that a brittle star fossil found in Germany shows evidence of clonal fragmentation (fissiparity) 150 million years ago. Their paper is published in the journal Proceedings ...
A study by Simon Fraser University resource and environmental management researcher Jenn Burt reveals that sunflower sea stars play a critical role in the resilience of B.C.'s kelp forests, which are among the most productive ...
Ecology
Aug 13, 2018
0
17
We humans are fixated on big brains as a proxy for smarts. But headless animals called brittle stars have no brains at all and still manage to learn through experience, new research reveals.
Plants & Animals
Nov 30, 2023
0
59
Sea urchins receive a lot of attention in California. Red urchins support a thriving fishery, while their purple cousins are often blamed for mowing down kelp forests to create urchin barrens. Yet for all the notice we pay ...
Ecology
Apr 6, 2021
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1182
A collection of fossil animals discovered off the coast of Florida suggests that present day deep-sea fauna like sea urchins, starfish and sea cucumbers may have evolved earlier than previously believed and survived periods ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Oct 10, 2012
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0
Neuropeptides are small proteins in the brains of all animals that bind to receptor proteins and cause activity in cells. The researchers at Queen Mary University of London, led by Professor Maurice Elphick, were investigating ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 21, 2015
1
985
(Phys.org) -- The purple sea urchin could help develop cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer, scientists at the University of St Andrews have discovered.
Biotechnology
Jul 9, 2012
0
0
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Italy, working with a colleague from the U.S., has found that sea urchin spine joiners have bone formations that conform to a Voronoi pattern. In their paper published ...
An 18-year study of Kenya's coral reefs by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of California at Santa Cruz has found that overfished reef systems have more sea urchins—organisms that in turn eat coral ...
Ecology
Jan 14, 2011
0
0
(Phys.org) —Marine scientists have long understood the detrimental effect of fossil fuel emissions on marine ecosystems. But a group led by a UC Santa Barbara professor has found a point of resilience in a microscopic shelled ...
Environment
Apr 15, 2013
16
0
