Forager ants do it, vampire bats do it, guppies do it, and mandrills do it. Long before humans learned about and started "social distancing due to COVID-19," animals in nature intuitively practiced social distancing when ...
Ecology
Mar 4, 2021
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348
During a study with captive vampire bats at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, a young vampire bat pup was adopted by an unrelated female after its mother died. Although this observation was not ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 10, 2021
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206
To truly understand an animal species is to observe its behavior and social networks in the wild. With new technology described today (April 2) in PLOS Biology, researchers are able to track tiny animals that divide their ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 2, 2020
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306
We humans can explain how our relationships with college roommates and co-workers have formed over the years, but scientists haven't had a good grip on how friendly connections among strangers are made between animals—until ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 19, 2020
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186
As Italy urges tourists not to cancel their plans in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and a National Basketball Association memo reportedly encourages teammates to avoid hi-fives, a new study conducted at the Smithsonian ...
Ecology
Mar 5, 2020
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151
Vampire bats could be said to be sort of like people—not because of their blood-sucking ways, but because they help their neighbors in need even if it's of no obvious benefit to them.
Plants & Animals
Oct 31, 2019
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102
In the arms race between predators and prey, each evolves more and more sophisticated ways of catching or escaping from the other. Rachel Page, staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Ximena Bernal, ...
Plants & Animals
Sep 25, 2019
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259
The sense of smell is one of the most poorly understood of the five major senses. But now an international team of scientists led by Laurel Yohe of Stony Brook University suggests a new method to quantify olfactory receptors ...
Evolution
Sep 20, 2019
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29
Vampire bats could hold the key to new treatments for a range of serious medical problems, but researchers have hit a snag accessing the specimens needed to advance their work.
Biochemistry
Jan 15, 2019
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20
When asked to describe a vampire, most people think of a tall, pale creature, with fangs and a cloak. But were the creatures of folklore inspired by real traits seen in the animal kingdom? From avoiding sunlight to using ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 29, 2018
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