FLORA FAUNA

5,060 articles

The evolution of Dark-fly
Feb 05, 2016 (SPX)
On November 11, 1954, Syuiti Mori turned out the lights on a small group of fruit flies. More than sixty years later, the descendents of those flies have adapte...
Topography shapes mountain biodiversity
Feb 03, 2016 (SPX)
A warming climate is likely to drive species to higher, cooler altitudes. A new study highlights a less obvious, yet crucial way in which their new habitat coul...
Scientists celebrate as lions rediscovered in Ethiopian park
Feb 03, 2016 (AFP)
Conservationists announced Monday the "amazing discovery" of a previously unknown lion population in a remote northwestern region of Ethiopia, confirming local ...
Gabon's eco-guards in unequal battle against elephant poachers
Jan 29, 2016 (AFP)
At the entrance to the sprawling Ivindo national park in central Gabon, wildlife guards in paramilitary uniform scour a fisherman's dug-out canoe, going through...
Diverse migration helps birds cope with environmental change
Jan 29, 2016 (SPX)
Migratory birds that are 'set in their ways' could be more vulnerable to environmental impacts - according to new research from the University of East Anglia (U...
Lizards camouflage themselves by choosing rocks
Jan 29, 2016 (SPX)
Resting out in the open on rocks can be a risky business for Aegean wall lizards. Out in these habitats they have nowhere to hide and their backs, which show va...
Genome of the flowering plant that returned to the sea
Jan 28, 2016 (SPX)
An international consortium of 35 labs led by University of Groningen Professor of Marine Biology Jeanine Olsen published the genome of the seagrass Zostera mar...
Ancient rodent's brain was big ... but not necessarily 'smart'
Jan 28, 2016 (SPX)
If new U of T research on the brains of an ancient rodent tells us anything, it's that bigger does not necessarily mean better. U of T Scarborough PhD candidate...
Study shows animals with larger brains are best problem solvers
Jan 28, 2016 (SPX)
Why did some species, such as humans and dolphins, evolve large brains relative to the size of their bodies? Why did others, such as blue whales and hippos, evo...
Scientists prove key aspect of evolutionary theory
Jan 27, 2016 (SPX)
Evolutionary theory predicts that pairs of chromosomes within asexual organisms will evolve independently of each other and become increasingly different over t...
The magnetic compass of birds is affected by polarized light
Jan 27, 2016 (SPX)
The magnetic compass that birds use for orientation is affected by polarised light. This previously unknown phenomenon was discovered by researchers at Lund Uni...
Sri Lanka destroys giant illegal ivory haul
Jan 26, 2016 (AFP)
Sri Lanka's government on Tuesday destroyed its biggest ever illegal ivory haul in the first public crushing of poached tusks in South Asia, intended to send a ...
Study: Bigger animal brains enable better problem solving
Jan 25, 2016 (UPI)
A new study suggests mammalian carnivores with larger brains relative to body size are better problem solvers. The findings, published in the journal PNAS, supp...
South Africa puts year-long ban on leopard hunting
Jan 25, 2016 (AFP)
South Africa has imposed a year-long ban on leopard hunting in 2016 in a decision hailed Monday by conservation activists. "Provincial conservation authorities ...
Finland begins controversial wolf hunt
Jan 23, 2016 (AFP)
Finland on Saturday began a controversial wolf cull that gives hunters the right to kill around one fifth of the endangered animals, in a decision that has ange...
Hunting secrets of the Venus flytrap
Jan 22, 2016 (SPX)
Carnivorous plants such as the Venus flytrap depend on meals of insects to survive in nutrient-poor soil. They sense the arrival of juicy insects, lured by the ...
Newly discovered photosynthetic bacteria is surprisingly abundant
Jan 21, 2016 (SPX)
A bacterium found in the remote Gobi Desert has shown talents for using the sun's light as energy, and now researchers reveal that it can be found in surprising...
1,175 rhinos killed by poachers in S.Africa last year
Jan 21, 2016 (AFP)
Nearly 1,200 rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa last year, officials said Thursday, a slight decrease on 2014, but another year of carnage fuelled b...
Researchers find microbial heat islands in the desert
Jan 21, 2016 (SPX)
Deserts are often thought of as barren places that are left exposed to the extremes of heat and cold and where not much is afoot. But that view is being altered...
Mild winter sees Pyrenees brown bears avoid hibernation
Jan 21, 2016 (AFP)
Several brown bears in the Pyrenees mountains that separate Spain from France have ditched their usual hibernation for food as winter temperatures remain unusua...
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