Glass sponges have properties for the design of ships, planes and skyscrapers

Published in the journal Nature the first-ever simulation of the deep-sea Venus flower sponge and how it responds to and influences the flow of nearby water.

Rapid evolution in waterfleas yields new conservation insights

The extraordinary ability of animals to rapidly evolve in response to predators has been demonstrated via genetic sequencing of a waterflea population across nearly two decades. In a new study, published in Nature Communications , scientists at the Universities of…

New evidence of menopause in killer whales

Scientists have found new evidence of menopause in killer whales – raising fascinating questions about how and why it evolved. Most animals breed throughout their lives. Only humans and four whale species are known to experience menopause, and scientists have…

Scientists explore seamounts in Phoenix Islands Archipelago, gain insights into deep water diversity

Marine scientists aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor have identified likely new marine species and deep sea organisms on nine seamounts that were explored for the first time in the remote Phoenix Islands Archipelago. In a 34-day expedition that…

Human-driven habitat change leads to physical, behavioral change in mosquitofish

Bahamian mosquitofish in habitats fragmented by human activity are more willing to explore their environment, more stressed by change and have smaller brain regions associated with fear response than mosquitofish from unaffected habitats. The new study from North Carolina State…

How can ‘shark dandruff’ contribute to coral reef conservation?

For 400 million years, shark-like fishes have prowled the oceans as predators, but now humans kill 100 million sharks per year, radically disrupting ocean food chains. Based on microscopic shark scales found on fossil- and modern coral reefs in Caribbean…

Last ice-covered parts of summertime Arctic Ocean vulnerable to climate change

In a rapidly changing Arctic, one area might serve as a refuge – a place that could continue to harbor ice-dependent species when conditions in nearby areas become inhospitable. This region north of Greenland and the islands of the Canadian…

Why are some fish warm-blooded? Predatory sharks gain speed advantage

New research from marine biologists offers answers to a fundamental puzzle that had until now remained unsolved: why are some fish warm-blooded when most are not? It turns out that while (warm-blooded) fish able to regulate their own body temperatures…