News
Chimpanzees and bonobos have human-like friend circles, study finds
35+ min ago (553+ words) Humans often organize their relationships into layers, spending the most time with a small group of close friends and family while maintaining weaker connections with a larger number of acquaintances. A new international study suggests that this pattern is not…...
The secret to pigeons" incredible navigation was hiding in their liver
4+ hour, 4+ min ago (609+ words) Scientists have uncovered a surprising navigation system in pigeons: iron-filled immune cells in the liver that may act like tiny magnetic sensors. Birds deprived of these cells struggled to find their way home under overcast skies, indicating they rely on…...
This bizarre crocodile relative from the Triassic looked like an ostrich dinosaur
2+ day, 2+ hour ago (679+ words) During the Triassic Period, many of the major animal groups we know today were only beginning to evolve. The world was filled with unusual creatures experimenting with body shapes and lifestyles that often resemble modern animals or later dinosaurs. One…...
This newly discovered raptor may have hunted like a giant heron
2+ day, 3+ hour ago (1074+ words) Paleontologists have identified a new species of raptor-like dinosaur that lived about 70 million years ago in what is now southern Patagonia. The animal, named Kank australis, appears to have been a fish hunter whose feeding habits may have resembled those…...
DNA solves 250-year-old mystery of the Seychelles" lost crocodiles
3+ day, 1+ hour ago (475+ words) For more than 250 years, stories from early explorers described crocodiles as a common sight along the shores of the Seychelles. But after permanent settlers arrived in 1770, the island population disappeared rapidly. Within about 50 years, the crocodiles had been completely exterminated....
Scottish wrens may be evolving into new species through island gigantism
3+ day, 2+ hour ago (650+ words) Tiny wrens living on remote Scottish islands are giving scientists a rare look at evolution in action. A new study led by researchers at the University of Birmingham found that several isolated island populations of wrens are evolving independently, with…...
Diversity is key to ecosystem stability
4+ day, 1+ hour ago (213+ words) In a collaborative study led by researchers at the University of Helsinki, analysis of 900 species over a 20-year period showed that biodiversity enhances ecosystem stability and helps safeguard natural communities in a changing environment. Alongside climate change, biodiversity loss caused…...
A new way to determine whether a species will successfully invade an ecosystem
4+ day, 1+ hour ago (687+ words) When a new species is introduced into an ecosystem, it may succeed in establishing itself, or it may fail to gain a foothold and die out. Physicists at MIT have now devised a formula that can predict which of those…...
Conservation efforts are bringing species back from the brink, even as overall biodiversity falls
4+ day, 1+ hour ago (765+ words) A major review of over 67, 000 animal species has found that while the natural world continues to face a biodiversity crisis, targeted conservation efforts are helping bring many species back from the brink of extinction. The study draws on data from…...
Rethinking population management in zoos
4+ day, 1+ hour ago (282+ words) Unlike animals in the wild, animals in zoos are not limited by food shortages or predators, allowing individuals to live much longer than they would in the wild. This poses a challenge for zoos, as it puts pressure on their…...