News by Subject Biology

Scientists demonstrated that, contrary to what had been assumed for several years, colour variations among female macaques do not precisely indicate the time of ovulation. On the other hand, dominant female macaques, who usually have greater reproductive success, have darker hindquarters.

A research team led by Leonor Saúde, Principal Investigator at Instituto de Medicina Molecular, in partnership with the company Technophage, SA, has designed a simple and efficient platform that uses zebrafish to discover and identify new drugs to treat spinal cord lesions. This study, published today in Scientific Reports, is the proof-of-concept for the use of this zebrafish platform that, combined with drug repurposing, has the potential to accelerate the translation period from the discovery to the clinics.

The Turkestan cockroach (commonly known as the red runner roach or rusty red roach), which is popular as food for pet reptiles, has an interneuron extremely sensitive to sex pheromones emitted by American cockroaches, providing evidence that the Turkestan cockroach is phylogenetically close to the American cockroach and the smoky brown cockroach belonging to the genus Periplaneta.

Described in 1981, the genus Biswamoyopterus is regarded as the most mysterious and rarest amongst all flying squirrels. It comprises two species, each known from a single specimen. Recent research by Chinese and Australian scientists described a third species found to inhabit low-altitude forests in Yunnan Province, China. By publishing their discovery in the open-access journal ZooKeys, the research team aims to promote further study and conservation of these squirrels.

Spaying or neutering large-breed dogs can put them at a higher risk for obesity and, if done when the dog is young, nontraumatic orthopedic injuries, reports a new study based on data from the Morris Animal Foundation Golden Retriever Lifetime Study. The spay/neuter study was published today in the journal PLOS ONE.