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UrduWhat do marrying one’s parents, Oedipus complex have to do with evolution?
Tag: ZOOLOGY/VETERINARY SCIENCE
New parents? Tired of nighttime feedings? Bees can relate
Hebrew University researchers find that bumble bee workers sleep less while caring for young
A filament fit for space — silk is proven to thrive in outer space temperatures
Their initial discovery had seemed like a contradiction because most other polymer fibres embrittle in the cold. But after many years of working on the problem, the group of researchers have discovered that silk’s cryogenic toughness is based on its…
How the Texas puma saved the Florida panther
Uncovering the genetic details of a conservation success story
Living a long chimpanzee life
Report on the life expectancy of captive chimpanzees in Japan
Cracking how ‘water bears’ survive the extremes
Researchers discover that a protein in tiny tardigrades binds and forms a protective cloud against extreme survival threats such as radiation damage
Horse nutrition: Prebiotics do more harm than good
Prebiotics are only able to help stabilise the intestinal flora of horses to a limited degree. Before they can reach the intestines, commercially available supplements partially break down in the animals’ stomachs, which can lead to inflammation of the stomach…
Purple martin migration behavior perplexes researchers
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Purple martins will soon migrate south for their usual wintertime retreat, but this time the birds will be wearing what look like little backpacks, as scientists plan to track their roosting sites along the way. The researchers…
Potent antibody curbs Nipah and Hendra virus attack
A monoclonal antibody prevents the virus from fusing with cell membranes to gain entry
For this ocean dweller, ability to respond to warming waters is about location
It’s common knowledge that, through the process of natural selection, organisms adapt to their environments. But what happens when there are no barriers to gene flow and organisms are free-floating between extremely variable environmental conditions? A new study by UConn…
Morris Animal Foundation awards more than $1 million for wildlife research grants
DENVER/September 27, 2019 – Morris Animal Foundation, a leader in advancing animal health, has awarded more than $1 million in wildlife health research grants, supporting 17 studies. The studies cover a diverse set of critical health challenges, including low fertility…
Tasmanian devil research could help tackle immunotherapy resistance
A cluster of interacting proteins that are active in both human cancers and Tasmanian devil facial tumours, may give clues to how cancers evade the immune system, according to a study part-funded by Cancer Research UK and published in Cancer…
Morris Animal Foundation awards $940K for new studies benefiting horse/alpaca health
DENVER/September 26, 2019 – Morris Animal Foundation, a leader in advancing animal health, has awarded grants totaling $940,000 to 12 research projects in horse and alpaca health. The studies will help veterinary scientists improve the well-being of these large animals…
New species of crocodile discovered in museum collections
Crocodylus halli named after late scientist who started investigating the reptile’s lineage
Monkeys like alcohol at low concentrations, but probably not due to the calories
Fruit-eating monkeys show a preference for concentrations of alcohol found in fermenting fruit, but do not seem to use alcohol as a source of supplementary calories, according to a study by researchers from Linköping University, Sweden, and the Universidad Veracruzana,…
Conservation and business researchers partner to disrupt wildlife trafficking
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Faculty from Michigan State University will join forces and combine wildlife trafficking and supply chain expertise to reduce a global crime with far-reaching impacts. The team will merge supply chain and conservation datasets, comb through logistical…
A mouse or an elephant: what species fights infection more effectively?
Hamilton College researcher reveals body size shapes mammal immune defenses
For baboons, a mother’s history of hardship can have lasting effects on her kids too
Baboons reveal how childhood wounds borne by one generation can take a toll on the next
West Nile virus in the New World: Reflections on 20 years in pursuit of an elusive foe
Array of experts on mosquito-borne disease weigh lessons learned and progress made in the Journal of Medical Entomology
Cats are securely bonded to their people, too
Cats have a reputation for being aloof and independent. But a study of the way domestic cats respond to their caregivers suggests that their socio-cognitive abilities and the depth of their human attachments have been underestimated. The findings reported in…
Discovery of sorghum gene that controls bird feeding could help protect crops
A single gene in sorghum controls bird feeding behavior by simultaneously regulating the production of bad-tasting molecules and attractive volatiles, according to a study publishing September 23 in the journal Molecular Plant . This gene, called Tannin1, controls the synthesis…
New study finds US and Canada have lost more than 1 in 4 birds in the past 50 years
A study published today in the journal Science reveals that since 1970, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent, or almost 3 billion birds, signaling a widespread ecological crisis. The results show tremendous losses…
Antimicrobial resistance is drastically rising
The world is experiencing unprecedented economic growth in low- and middle-income countries. An increasing number of people in India, China, Latin America and Africa have become wealthier, and this is reflected in their consumption of meat and dairy products. In…
Scientists identify previously unknown ‘hybrid zone’ between hummingbird species
We usually think of a species as being reproductively isolated – that is, not mating with other species in the wild. Occasionally, however, closely related species do interbreed. New research just published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances documents the existence…
Elephant seal ‘supermoms’ produce most of the population, study finds
High mortality rates for young elephant seals means long-lived females dominate the reproductive output of the population
Not the hairstyle, but the content: Hair indicates whether wild animals were ‘stressed’
While hair analysis has become routine in humans – for example for the detection of prolonged drug or medication abuse – it has been little used in animals to date. Scientists led by Alexandre Azevedo and Katarina Jewgenow of the…
New technology allows fleets to double fishing capacity — and deplete fish stocks faster
Technological advances are allowing commercial fishing fleets to double their fishing power every 35 years and put even more pressure on dwindling fish stocks, new research has found. Researchers from the Sea Around Us initiative at the University of British…
Early detection is key: Screening test could improve lives of cats with heart disease
DENVER/September 12, 2019 – A new, two-minute screening technique could help save cats from dying prematurely of heart disease. Morris Animal Foundation -funded researchers at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University recently developed a focused cardiac ultrasound…
Elaborate Komodo dragon armor defends against other dragons
Just beneath their scales, Komodo dragons wear a suit of armor made of tiny bones. These bones cover the dragons from head to tail, creating a “chain mail” that protects the giant predators. However, the armor raises a question: What…
Malaria could be felled by an Antarctic sea sponge
The frigid waters of the Antarctic may yield a treatment for a deadly disease that affects populations in some of the hottest places on earth. Current medications for that scourge — malaria — are becoming less effective as drug resistance…
Biology of bat wings may hold lessons for cold-weather work, exercise
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study finds that the muscles in bats’ wings PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study finds that the muscles in bats’ wings operate at a significantly lower temperature than their bodies, especially…
Digital records of preserved plants and animals change how scientists explore the world
There’s a whole world behind the scenes at natural history museums that most people never see. Museum collections house millions upon millions of dinosaur bones, pickled sharks, dried leaves, and every other part of the natural world you can think…
Microplastics stunt growth of worms — study
Commonly used plastics can affect earthworms, plant growth and pH of soil
Female gorillas detect and avoid sick groups
Gorillas are social animals, living in groups that females will migrate to join, becoming members of harems. Though some factors motivating these migrations were previously known, a research team affiliated with the CNRS and Université de Rennes 1 has just…
A chameleon-inspired smart skin changes color in the sun
Some creatures, such as chameleons and neon tetra fish, can alter their colors to camouflage themselves, attract a mate or intimidate predators. Scientists have tried to replicate these abilities to make artificial “smart skins,” but so far the materials haven’t…
First ever in-vitro embryos may turn the tide in the fate of northern white rhinos
For decades the story of the northern white rhinoceros has been a tale of decline. The number of individuals shrank down to only two in 2018, rendering complete extinction as only a matter of time. An international consortium of scientists…
Sex for cooperation
New insights help to explain why same-sex sexual interactions are so important for female bonobos
Smithsonian scientists triple number of known electric eel species
Study also documents most powerful biologically produced electric shock and strengthens case for pre
Identity crisis for fossil beetle helps rewrite beetle family tree
There are more different kinds of beetle than just about any other kind of animal–scientists have described about 5,800 different species of mammals, compared with nearly 400,000 species of beetles. Of those 400,000 kinds of beetles, more than 64,000 species…
Resistance can spread even without the use of antibiotics
Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to common antibiotics. Often, resistance is mediated by resistance genes, which can simply jump from one bacterial population to the next. It’s a common assumption that the resistance genes spread primarily when antibiotics are used,…
UB and IRBio experts sequence the genome of an endemic spider from the Canary Islands
A ravening predator in the Canary laurel forests
Breakdown in coral spawning places species at risk of extinction
Synchronized coral spawning has become erratic, endangering the long-term survival of coral species,
New viruses discovered in endangered wild Pacific salmon populations
Three new viruses — including one from a group of viruses never before shown to infect fish — have
Squirrels listen in to birds’ conversations as signal of safety
Hearing casual chatter of birds after predator call reassures squirrels to come off high alert
Livestock disease risk tied to herd management style
A new study provides an updated picture of the prevalence of the sheep and goat plague virus (PPRV), a widespread and often fatal disease that threatens 80 percent of the world’s sheep and goats, in northern Tanzania. According to the…
Artificial intelligence used to recognize primate faces in the wild
Scientists at the University of Oxford have developed new artificial intelligence software to recognise and track the faces of individual chimpanzees in the wild. The new software will allow researchers and wildlife conservationists to significantly cut back on time and…
Sexual selection influences the evolution of lamprey pheromones
In “Intra- and Interspecific Variation in Production of Bile Acids that Act As Sex Pheromones in Lampreys,” published in Physiological and Biochemical Zoology , Tyler J. Buchinger and others find that sexual selection may play a role in the evolution…
Tropical sea snake uses its head to ‘breathe’
Scientists describe complex oxygen absorption system
Remora-inspired suction disk mimics fish’s adhesion ability, offers evolutionary insight
Remora fishes are famed hitchhikers of the marine world, possessing high-powered suction disks on the back of their head for attaching themselves in torpedo-like fashion to larger hosts that can provide food and safety — from whales and sharks to…
International scientists shed new light on demise of two extinct New Zealand songbirds
Swedish and New Zealand scientists shed new light on demise of two extinct New Zealand songbirds They may not have been seen for the past 50 and 110 years, but an international study into their extinction has provided answers to…