Animals

May 04, 2019 03:48 PM EDT

Are Captive Dolphins Healthy?

Are captive dolphins healthy and happy? A new study hopes to provide a clear answer to that question, which continues to plague animal rights groups and tourist officials all around the world.

Apr 05, 2019 11:38 AM EDT

Social insecurity also stresses chimpanzees

Male chimpanzees reduce aggression when social relationships in their group are unstable

Soprano Pipistrelle Bat (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) (IMAGE)

Apr 05, 2019 08:25 AM EDT

Compass orientation of a migratory bat species depends on sunset direction

Whether it is bats, wildebeest or whales, millions of mammals move over thousands of kilometres each year. How they navigate during migration remains remarkably understudied compared to birds or sea turtles, however. A team of scientists led by the Leibniz-IZW in Berlin now combined a mirror experiment simulating a different direction of the setting sun and a new test procedure to measure orientation behaviour in bats to understand the role of the sun's position in the animals' navigation system.

Apr 04, 2019 09:10 AM EDT

Gorillas gather around and groom their dead

Scientists observe cases of gorillas touching and grooming the bodies of dead individuals, with potential implications for the spread of diseases like Ebola

Apr 03, 2019 10:58 AM EDT

Thirteen new ant species discovered in Hong Kong

Thirteen new ant species discovered by HKU Ecologists

Apr 02, 2019 08:57 AM EDT

Chicago tops list of most dangerous cities for migrating birds

An estimated 600 million birds die from building collisions every year in the U.S., and research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers one explanation for it.

Apr 02, 2019 08:54 AM EDT

New species of wood-munching (and phallic-looking) clams found at the bottom of the ocean

When a tree falls in a forest, regardless of whether anyone hears it, it sometimes becomes clam food. Wood that finds its way from rivers into the ocean can eventually become waterlogged and sink to the sea floor, sometimes to great depths. There, tiny clams bore into the wood, eating the wood shavings and living the rest of their lives head down in the holes they made.

Apr 02, 2019 08:49 AM EDT

Love Island: Flamboyant males get the girls on Madagascar

In two new species of rare giant stick insects, males turn livid blue or multicolored at sexual maturity -- but why?

Apr 02, 2019 08:46 AM EDT

Climate change threat to dolphins' survival

An unprecedented marine heatwave had long-lasting negative impacts on both survival and birth rates on the iconic dolphin population in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Researchers at UZH have now documented that climate change may have more far-reaching consequences for the conservation of marine mammals than previously thought.

Apr 02, 2019 08:39 AM EDT

Tiger geckos in Vietnam could be the next species sold into extinction, shows a new survey

The endemic reptiles are already proposed to be listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

Apr 01, 2019 11:09 AM EDT

New Yorkers brace for self-cloning Asian longhorned tick

Columbia researchers warn that NYC's Asian longhorned tick population is larger than previously known

Apr 01, 2019 11:01 AM EDT

Two new genes discovered in the developmental defects of canine enamel

In addition to humans, hereditary disorders of enamel development occur in dogs, greatly impacting their dental health and wellbeing. A recent study reveals canine enamel disorders similar to those found in humans, linking them with ENAM and ACP4, two genes previously described in humans.

Mar 29, 2019 09:39 AM EDT

Fungal disease threatens hundreds of amphibian species worldwide

Global-scale analysis of losses due to chytrid fungus paints a grim picture: 500 species declines, 90 of which have already been lost

Mar 28, 2019 09:24 AM EDT

New cryptic bird species discovered

In the lush, lowland rainforests on the island of Borneo lives a rather common, drab brown bird called the Cream-vented Bulbul, or Pycnonotus simplex. This bird is found from southern Thailand to Sumatra, Java and Borneo. In most of its range, it has white eyes.