News by Subject Biology

An Australian mammal thought to have been wiped out over 150 years ago can now be crossed off our list of extinct animals, following a new study.

Smithsonian marine biologists and colleagues at Temple University tested predictions about biological invasions, first in Panama and then in an experiment of unprecedented geographic scale. Their results are published in companion papers in the journal Ecology.

In the largest-ever study undertaken of Chinese cats, genetic detectives highlight the evolutionary uniqueness and premier conservation importance of the elusive Chinese mountain cat (Felis silvestris bieti), found only in the Tibetan plateau of China.

What holds true for meadows would seem to apply to arable land, too: mixed cultures are more fruitful than monocultures. This was the outcome of an ETH Zurich research project led by Christian Schöb.

Are the traditional practices tied to endangered species at risk of being lost? The answer is yes, according to the authors of an ethnographic study published in the University of Guam peer-reviewed journal Pacific Asia Inquiry. But the authors also say a recovery plan can protect both the species as well as the traditional CHamoru practice of consuming them.

A beetle bores a tree trunk to build a gallery in the wood in order to protect its lay. As it digs the tunnel, it spreads ambrosia fungal spores that will feed the larvae. When these bore another tree, the adult beetles will be the transmission vectors of the fungal spores in another habitat. This mutualism among insects and ambrosia fungi could be more than 100 years old, more than what was thought to date.

Migratory birds carry most seeds in the wrong direction to help plants cope with climate change, new research shows.

A fair society has evolved in banded mongooses because parents don't know which pups are their own, new research shows.

In two new studies on life in the seafloor of the Guaymas Basin, in the Gulf of California, Marine Biological Laboratory scientist Emil Ruff and collaborators show that distinct regions within the Basin harbor specially adapted microorganisms; discover new microbial inhabitants of this deep-sea community; and suggest how the community may be dramatically influencing carbon cycling in the hot seafloor sediments.