Animals

May 24, 2019 08:17 AM EDT

Study Predicts Shift to Smaller Animals Over Next Century

Researchers at the University of Southampton have forecast a worldwide move towards smaller birds and mammals over the next 100 years.

May 23, 2019 09:14 AM EDT

Chimpanzees at the Crossroads: Adapt to Living Outside Protected Areas

Research carried out into the impact of changes to chimpanzee habitats found they have adapted to human developments in a number of ways - including learning how to cross roads safely and the best times to visit human habitats - but their survival is still threatened.

May 22, 2019 07:08 AM EDT

3-million-year-old Fossilized Mouse Reveals Evolutionary Secrets of Color

The evolutionary use of color for mammal's survival in the wild is evident from, red foxes, to zebras. Today an international team, led by researchers from The University of Manchester, published research revealing the evidence of colorful pigments from ancient mouse remains.

May 21, 2019 10:31 AM EDT

Bonobo Mothers Help Their Sons to Have More Offspring

"This is the first time that we can show the impact of the mother's presence on a very important male fitness trait, which is their fertility," says Martin Surbeck, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "We were surprised to see that the mothers have such a strong, direct influence on the number of grandchildren they get."

May 20, 2019 12:48 PM EDT

Size is Everything

(Jena, Germany) Natural ecosystems are as vulnerable as they are diverse. Environmental changes such as climate change, pollution or the spread of alien species can easily throw an ecosystem off balance. Researchers are therefore investigating how susceptible ecosystems are to disruption. But in their search for answers, they face the problem that the complex network of relationships includes innumerable interactions, which are virtually impossible to record comprehensively and convert into measurable data.

May 17, 2019 09:40 AM EDT

Meet the Tenrecs

Researchers reviewed the conservation priorities for the 31 species of tenrec - a poorly understood family of small mammals superficially resembling hedgehogs, found only on the island of Madagascar.

May 17, 2019 08:40 AM EDT

Scientists Propose Rethinking 'Endangered Species' Definition to Save Slow-Breeding Giants

Conservation decisions based on population counts may fail to protect large, slow-breeding animals from irrevocable decline, according to new research coinciding with Endangered Species Day.

May 17, 2019 08:19 AM EDT

Bedbugs Evolved More than 100 Million Years Ago -- and Walked the Earth with T. Rex

Bedbugs - some of the most unwanted human bed-mates - have been parasitic companions with other species aside from humans for more than 100 million years, walking the earth at the same time as dinosaurs.

May 17, 2019 08:10 AM EDT

Dog DNA Find Could Aid Quest to Help Breeds Breathe More Easily

Scientists have discovered a DNA mutation linked to breathing problems in popular dog breeds. Breathing difficulties are most often associated with flat-faced breeds, such as French bulldogs and pugs, but scientists have found the mutation is also carried by Norwich terriers, which have proportional noses.

May 16, 2019 10:22 AM EDT

Organic Animal Farms Benefit Birds Nesting in Agricultural Environments

The abundance of bird species living in agricultural environments has decreased both in Finland and elsewhere in Europe. Attempts to rectify the situation have been made with the help of agri-environment-climate subsidies. They are granted to agricultural producers by the EU for implementing measures that are presumed to be beneficial to the environment. There is a range of such subsidies, but their potential effects on biodiversity at national scales have been seldom comprehensively investigated.

May 16, 2019 08:08 AM EDT

Hunting Responsible for Mammal Declines in Half of Intact Tropical Forests

Defaunation -- the loss of species or decline of animal populations -- is reaching even the most remote and pristine tropical forests. Within the tropics, only 20% of the remaining area is considered intact, where no logging or deforestation has been detected by remote sensing.

Specimens Reveal Humans' History of Using Natural Resources (IMAGE)

May 13, 2019 11:20 AM EDT

New Data Platform Illuminates History of Humans' Environmental Impact

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- The human environmental footprint is not only deep but old. Ancient traces of this footprint can be found in animal bones, shells, scales and antlers at archaeological sites. Together, these specimens tell the millennia-long story of how humans have hunted, domesticated and transported animals, altered landscapes and responded to environmental changes such as shifting temperatures and sea levels.

Wild Pigs Foraging in Saskatchewan, Canada (IMAGE)

May 13, 2019 09:10 AM EDT

Wild Pigs Invade Canadian Provinces

Wild pigs invade Canadian provinces--an emerging crisis for agriculture and the environment Wild pigs--a mix of wild boar and domestic swine--are spreading rapidly across Canada, threatening native species such as nesting birds, deer, agricultural crops, and farm livestock, research by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) shows.

A Chimpanzee Suffers from Respiratory Disease (IMAGE)

May 11, 2019 10:05 AM EDT

A case of the Chimp Sniffles or Major Outbreak? Syndromic Surveillance may Hold the Key

Two sniffling chimps could be one too many for a wild chimpanzee community susceptible to respiratory disease outbreaks, report Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at the University of Minnesota. The team's findings were a result of their development of a syndromic surveillance system to noninvasively and preemptively detect a potential outbreak of respiratory disease. The study recently was published in EcoHealth.

May 11, 2019 09:42 AM EDT

Climate Change Responsible for Severe Infectious Disease in UK Frogs

Climate change has already increased the spread and severity of a fatal disease caused by Ranavirus that infects common frogs (Rana temporaria) in the UK, according to research led by ZSL's Institute of Zoology, UCL and Queen Mary University of London published today in Global Change Biology (10 May 2019).