News by Subject Biology

A roadmap for businesses operating in some of the most biologically significant places on the planet has been issued this week by the Key Biodiversity Area Partnership involving 12 of the world's leading conservation organizations -- including IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and other recent human relatives may have begun hunting large mammal species down to size - by way of extinction - at least 90,000 years earlier than previously thought, says a new study published in the journal Science. The magnitude and scale of the extinction wave surpassed any other recorded during the last 66 million years, according to the study.

Scores of plant species are capable of living dormant under the soil for up to 20 years, enabling them to survive through difficult times, a new study has found.

The insect moves droplet of saliva in and out of its mouth to promote evaporation and lower body temperature, according to study by researchers in Brazil.

Researchers from the San Diego Natural History Museum (The Nat) and the non-profit organization Terra Peninsular A.C. have rediscovered the San Quintin kangaroo rat (Dipodomys gravipes) in Baja California. The Museum is partnering with Terra and local authorities on a conservation plan for the species, which was last seen in 1986, and was listed as endangered by the Mexican government in 1994. It was held as an example of modern extinction due to agricultural conversion.

When their colony is threatened by an intruder, workers of a newly discovered species of ant can actually tear their own body apart, in order to release toxins and either kill or hold off the enemy. Discovered by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Austria, Thailand and Brunei, the new species is the first of the so-called 'exploding ants' to be described since 1935. The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

A common Great Barrier Reef coral species has enough genetic diversity to survive at least 100 years before succumbing to global warming predicts Mikhail Matz of the University of Texas at Austin and colleagues. They report these findings in a new study published April 19, 2018, in PLOS Genetics.

Scientists are digitizing the wealth of data attached to herbarium specimens and using those data to address questions ranging from species identification to global climate change. This special issue explores methods, challenges, and applications of these collections data, with articles addressing topics including globally unique identifiers, deep learning and computer recognition, and citizen science initiatives.

Protected areas for sage grouse don't necessarily serve the needs of other species that depend on sagebrush habitat, showing that the bird might not be as much of an umbrella species as had been assumed.