https://phys.org/biology-news/plants-animals en-us The latest science news on plants and animals New research in PLOS ONE uncovers an important discovery in the study of marine mammal health by being the first study to detect Otariid gammaherpesvirus 1 (OtGHV1) in free-ranging South American pinnipeds, as well as a novel herpesvirus Otariid gammaherpesvirus 8 (OtGHV8) in South American sea lions (Otaria byronia) in the Southern Hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-reveals-herpesvirus-south-american-pinnipeds.html Plants & Animals Veterinary medicine Wed, 06 Mar 2024 17:01:03 EST news628966862 Bumblebees and chimpanzees can learn skills from their peers so complicated that they could never have mastered them on their own, an ability previously thought to be unique to humans, two studies said on Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-humans-bees-chimps-skills.html Plants & Animals Evolution Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:40:01 EST news628958079 Invasive plants can stay dormant for decades or even centuries after they have been introduced into an environment before rapidly expanding and wreaking ecological havoc, according to a new study led by the University of California, Davis. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-invasive-hidden-ecological-threat.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:39:03 EST news628958341 Greg Rouse, a marine biologist at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and other researchers have discovered a new species of deep-sea worm living near a methane seep some 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Rouse, curator of the Scripps Benthic Invertebrate Collection, co-authored a study describing the new species in the journal PLOS ONE. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-deep-sea-worm-methane-seep.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:00:01 EST news628942718 Early experiences in an animal's life can have a significant impact on its capacity to thrive, even years or decades later, and DNA methylation may help record their effects. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-early-life-adversity-term-signatures.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:44:04 EST news628947842 Global change is altering the physiology of the hibernation and behavior of bats, according to a study led by the University of Barcelona, carried out over 20 years. Given the milder winters in Spain, bats are accumulating less fat reserves in autumn, they shorten their hibernation periods and they leave their winter shelter sooner. These changes could alter the migration pattern of bats and the phenology of their seasonal displacements. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-global-affecting-hibernation.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:28:04 EST news628946881 Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum explain how it is possible for the small brains of pigeons, parrots and corvids to perform equally well as those of mammals, despite their significant differences. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-birds-smart.html Plants & Animals Evolution Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:26:03 EST news628946761 An international team of wildlife researchers has found that the giant tortoises living on the Galápagos islands may be in danger of losing a major food resource due to the encroachment of invasive Cedrela odorata trees. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-galpagos-giant-tortoises-danger-due.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:20:01 EST news628946004 In a groundbreaking discovery, bumblebees have been shown to possess a previously unseen level of cognitive sophistication. A new study, published in Nature, reveals that these fuzzy pollinators can learn complex, multi-step tasks through social interaction, even if they cannot figure them out on their own. This challenges the long-held belief that such advanced social learning is unique to humans, and even hints at the presence of key elements of cumulative culture in these insects. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-bumblebees-scientists-advanced-social-skills.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:00:01 EST news628942848 It would be a game-changer if all members of a basketball team could see out of each other's eyes in addition to their own. A research duo at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute has found evidence that this kind of collective sensing occurs in close-knit groups of African weakly electric fish, also known as elephantnose fish. This instantaneous sharing of sensory intelligence could help the fish locate food, friends and foes. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-scientists-uncover-evidence-electric-elephantnose.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:00:01 EST news628942854 Natural history museums have entered a new stage of scientific discovery and accessibility with the completion of openVertebrate (oVert), a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-scientists-ct-scanned-thousands-natural.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 10:27:04 EST news628943215 A multi-institutional team of geneticists in China has discovered the gene mutation responsible for a brown coat in giant pandas. In their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group sequenced the genes of a captive giant panda with a brown coat and compared the results with the genes of hundreds of black and white pandas. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-gene-mutation-responsible-brown-giant.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 06 Mar 2024 10:02:11 EST news628941720 The 1986 disaster at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant transformed the surrounding area into the most radioactive landscape on Earth. Humans were evacuated, but many plants and animals continue to live in the region, despite the high levels of radiation that persist nearly four decades later. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-tiny-worms-tolerate-chornobyl.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 05 Mar 2024 15:38:30 EST news628875504 No birds alive today have teeth. But that wasn't always the case; many early fossil birds had beaks full of sharp, tiny teeth. In a paper in the journal Cretaceous Research, scientists have described a new species of fossil bird that was the first of its kind to evolve toothlessness; its name, in honor of naturalist Sir David Attenborough, means "Attenborough's strange bird." https://phys.org/news/2024-03-fossil-attenborough-strange-bird-kind.html Plants & Animals Paleontology & Fossils Tue, 05 Mar 2024 14:56:04 EST news628872961 Scientists have confirmed the presence of a whale off New England that went extinct in the Atlantic Ocean two centuries ago—an exciting discovery, but one they said that illustrates the impact of climate change on sea life. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-whale-native-north-pacific-england.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 05 Mar 2024 13:20:01 EST news628867059 Scientists at Nottingham Trent University investigated how thousands of bees reacted in unison to a very short and weak vibrational knock delivered at randomized times to a number of hives. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-gentle-hive-reveal-health-honeybee.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 05 Mar 2024 09:50:03 EST news628854601 In a new study, published in the journal New Phytologist, a team of scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have, for the first time, predicted the extinction risk of all 328,565 known species of flowering plants. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-scientists-extinction-world-ai.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:31:03 EST news628849861 Until recently, technology limitations have made it challenging to effectively study the aggregation behavior of beluga whales. As climate change continues and sea surface temperatures rise quickly, the ability to do so becomes a priority, requiring methods that can capture data completely and accurately. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-seas-negatively-affecting-beluga-whales.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 05 Mar 2024 06:50:01 EST news628766268 In Colorado, people flock to the Rocky Mountains when the summer heat gets unbearable. Animals seek shelter too when temperatures become extreme, and forests serve as critical sanctuaries for small tree-dwelling animals like lizards. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-lizards-due-deforestation.html Plants & Animals Ecology Tue, 05 Mar 2024 05:00:10 EST news628837206 In 1859, Charles Darwin coined the term "living fossils" to describe organisms that show little species diversity or physical differences from their ancestors in the fossil record. In a new study, Yale researchers provide the first evidence of a biological mechanism that explains how living fossils occur in nature. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-slowly-evolving-fossils-reveals-key.html Plants & Animals Evolution Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:57:43 EST news628790260 A new study from Tel Aviv University (TAU) has examined what happens to birds that are accustomed to living around humans, when their habitat is suddenly emptied of the presence of humans. Among other birds, the researchers tested crows, ringneck parakeets (also known as rose-ringed parakeets) and graceful prinias—and the findings are surprising: While the crows and ringneck parakeets—who are characterized by their tendency to "follow" humans, are already accustomed to the noises they make and feed on their food scraps—decreased their activity, the graceful prinias, which are considered shy, actually increased their activity in the same area. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-reveals-crow-friend-humans.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:31:03 EST news628788661 Research led by scientists from University of Wyoming and Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior shows that migrating animals refine their behavior as they get older, suggesting that experiential learning is an important part of successful migration. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-migrating-animals.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:00:01 EST news628764571 At a Biotechnology Council event a few years ago, Nicole Valenzuela's ears perked up when she heard what a group of researchers in Iowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine had in the works: a method for creating a lab-grown, simplified mimic of dog intestines. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-lab-grown-liver-organoid-turtle.html Plants & Animals Biotechnology Mon, 04 Mar 2024 12:50:19 EST news628779016 You'd probably walk past a chiton without even seeing it. These creatures often look like nothing more than another speck of seaweed on the crusty intertidal rocks. But it sees you. At least, if it's one of the species with eyes dotting its plate mail shell. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-unraveling-mystery-chiton-visual.html Plants & Animals Evolution Mon, 04 Mar 2024 11:54:35 EST news628775671 The secrets of photosynthesis have been discovered at the atomic level, shedding important new light on this plant super-power that greened the Earth more than a billion years ago. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-advanced-microscopy-reveals-proteins-power.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 04 Mar 2024 09:57:01 EST news628768616 For life on Earth, it is essential that plants carry out photosynthesis and ultimately produce oxygen and chemical energy with the help of sunlight. Researchers from Göttingen and Hannover have now succeeded for the first time in visualizing the copying machine of chloroplasts, the RNA polymerase PEP, in high-resolution 3D. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-succeed-generating-3d-visualizations-chloroplasts.html Plants & Animals Molecular & Computational biology Mon, 04 Mar 2024 09:28:03 EST news628766881 An orca (killer whale) has been observed, for the first-ever time, individually consuming a great white shark—and within just two minutes. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-orcas-longer-great-white-shark.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 01 Mar 2024 17:00:02 EST news628498800 Asian elephants loudly mourn and bury their dead calves, according to a study by Indian scientists that details animal behavior reminiscent of human funeral rites. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-asian-elephants-dead-calves.html Plants & Animals Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:45:52 EST news628523134 Fish and sharks living in the open ocean are impacted more by human pressure than their seabed-dwelling counterparts, according to a new study from The University of Western Australia. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-vulnerability-pelagic-ecosystems.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 01 Mar 2024 09:30:24 EST news628507820 Brown bears foraging for food in the Shiretoko Peninsula of Hokkaido, Japan, have been disrupting tree growth in artificial conifer forests, according to a new study published in Ecology. Researchers compared soil and tree samples from human-forested plots with samples from natural forests. They found that the bears' digging for cicada nymphs damaged tree roots and altered the nitrogen content of the soil, which in turn limited the diameter growth of trees. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-brown-artificial-forests.html Plants & Animals Ecology Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:01 EST news628447289