FLORA FAUNA

5,060 articles

Exhaustive family tree for birds shows recent, rapid diversification
Nov 01, 2012 (SPX)
A Yale-led scientific team has produced the most comprehensive family tree for birds to date, connecting all living bird species - nearly 10,000 in total - and ...
New study to examine ecological tipping points in hopes of preventing them
Nov 01, 2012 (SPX)
Predation by otters keeps urchin populations in check, allowing kelp - a favorite food of urchins - to flourish. But what if otters were harvested to near extin...
Far from random, evolution follows a predictable genetic pattern
Oct 31, 2012 (SPX)
Evolution, often perceived as a series of random changes, might in fact be driven by a simple and repeated genetic solution to an environmental pressure that a ...
Hanging in there: Koalas have low genetic diversity
Oct 29, 2012 (SPX)
A species relies on genetic diversity to survive and low diversity usually indicates that there has been inbreeding due to a decrease in population size. By loo...
How a fish broke a law of physics
Oct 25, 2012 (SPX)
Reflective surfaces polarize light, a phenomenon that fishermen or photographers overcome by using polarizing sunglasses or polarizing filters to cut our reflec...
Britain postpones controversial badger cull
Oct 23, 2012 (AFP)
Britain on Tuesday delayed controversial plans to cull thousands of badgers in a bid to fight bovine tuberculosis, in the latest U-turn by Prime Minister David ...
Survival of the shyest?
Oct 23, 2012 (SPX)
A fish's personality can influence how it responds to, and learns from threats, according to a new study by Professor Grant Brown from Concordia University in C...
Zimbabwe weighs cost of too many elephants
Oct 23, 2012 (AFP)
A herd of elephants hobbles past a cluster of acacia trees to a water-hole deep in Zimbabwe's vast Hwange game reserve, attracted by the drone of generators pum...
Economic crisis casts shadow over biodiversity talks
Oct 21, 2012 (AFP)
The global economic crisis cast its shadow over UN talks that closed in India on Saturday after two weeks of intense wrangling on funding to reverse the decline...
World pledges more money to protect biodiversity
Oct 20, 2012 (AFP)
Efforts to stem the worrying loss of Earth's dwindling natural resources received a boost Saturday when a UN conference in India agreed to double biodiversity a...
Hong Kong customs seize four tonnes of smuggled ivory
Oct 20, 2012 (AFP)
Hong Kong customs officers seized almost four tonnes of ivory worth about $3.4 million, hidden in shipments from Kenya and Tanzania, officials said Saturday. Th...
Animal welfare group pushes for dolphins' release
Oct 19, 2012 (AFP)
A Singapore casino resort's acquisition of dolphins from the Solomon Islands for its marine park has contributed to the depletion of the species there, an anima...
Conservation scientists look beyond greenbelts to connect wildlife sanctuaries
Oct 19, 2012 (SPX)
We live in a human-dominated world. For many of our fellow creatures, this means a fragmented world, as human conduits to friends, family, and resources sever c...
Philippines allows export of dolphins to Singapore
Oct 18, 2012 (AFP)
The Philippine government said Thursday it has approved the export of 25 show dolphins to Singapore after a ban on their transport to a giant casino chain was l...
Nepal hunts leopard that killed five people
Oct 18, 2012 (AFP)
Police in Nepal's remote western region have launched a hunt for a wild leopard that has killed five people in the last month, local officers said Thursday. The...
Vincent the hippo becomes dish for Zulu king
Oct 18, 2012 (AFP)
A South African hippopotamus named Vincent has been killed and cooked for Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini after the animal wounded a game ranger, local media repo...
Ministers near deal for new environment funds
Oct 18, 2012 (AFP)
More than 80 environment ministers gathered in India on Thursday inched towards a global deal to increase the amount of cash set aside to protect the natural en...
Dolphins can remain alert for up to 15 days at a time with no sign of fatigue
Oct 18, 2012 (SPX)
Dolphins sleep with only one half of their brains at a time, and according to new research published Oct. 17 in the open access journal PLOS ONE, this trait all...
Great apes, small numbers
Oct 17, 2012 (SPX)
Sumatran orangutans have undergone a substantial recent population decline, according to a new genetic study, but the same research revealed the existence of cr...
400 plants and animals added to 'threatened' list
Oct 17, 2012 (AFP)
An island-dwelling cockroach and a tiny snail were declared extinct Wednesday while 400 plants and animals were added to a threatened "Red List" as global envir...
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