News by Subject Biology

Public Release: 12-Nov-2018

Fish's brain size influenced by habitat, new University of Guelph study reveals

This is the first known study to connect habitat with varying brain size in a single lake fish population. The finding may provide clues about how fish and other creatures will respond to mounting environmental stressors from pollution to climate change. Researchers say bigger brains contain more neurons, and more connections among them, that lend its owner cognitive and behavioural smarts that may help it adapt to new environments.

Journal: Royal Society Proceedings B

Public Release: 12-Nov-2018

New study sheds light on medicines storage practices on UK dairy farms

University of Bristol

Researchers at the University of Bristol, supported by the British Veterinary Association, the British Cattle Veterinary Association and the Responsible Use of Medicines in Agriculture (RUMA) Alliance, are calling for veterinary surgeons in the UK to work together with their farmer clients to remove expired and inappropriate veterinary medicines from farms and dispose of them appropriately.

Journal: Veterinary Record

Public Release: 12-Nov-2018

Escape responses of coral reef fish obey simple behavioral rules

University of California - Santa Cruz

The escape response to evade perceived threats is a fundamental behavior seen throughout the animal kingdom, and laboratory studies have identified specialized neural circuits that control this behavior. To understand how these neural circuits operate in complex natural settings, researchers recorded and analyzed escape responses in wild coral reef fish. Their results show how a sequence of well-defined decision rules generates evasion behavior in a wide range of coral reef fish species.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: National Science Foundation, Simons Foundation, McDonnell Foundation

Public Release: 12-Nov-2018

How plants evolved to make ants their servants

Field Museum

Plants have evolved ways to make ants defend them from attacks and spread their seeds, and this new study shows how it happened. In a new study breaking down the genetic history of 1,700 species of ants and 10,000 plant genera, researchers found that the long history of ant and plant co-evolution started with ants foraging on plants and plants responding by evolving ant-friendly traits.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Public Release: 12-Nov-2018

Primates of the Caribbean: Ancient DNA reveals history of mystery monkey

Zoological Society of London

Analysis of ancient DNA of a mysterious extinct monkey named Xenothrix -- which displays bizarre body characteristics very different to any living monkey -- has revealed that it was in fact most closely related to South America's titi monkeys (Callicebinae). Having made their way overwater to Jamaica, probably on floating vegetation, their bones reveal they subsequently underwent remarkable evolutionary change.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Funder: Natural Environment Research Council, Royal Society

Public Release: 12-Nov-2018

It's not trails that disturb forest birds, but the people on them

Frontiers

The physical presence of trails has less impact on forest birds than how frequently the trails are used by people, finds the first study to disentangle the effect of forest trails from the presence of humans. This is also the case when trails have been used for decades, suggesting that forest birds do not get used to human activity. To minimize disturbance, people should avoid roaming from designated pathways.

Journal: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Funder: Swiss Ornithological Institute

Public Release: 9-Nov-2018

Plastic microfibers found for first time in wild animals' stool, from S. A. fur seals

Morris Animal Foundation

For the first time, plastic microfibers have been discovered in wild animals' stool, from South American fur seals. The findings were made by a team of Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at the University of Georgia, who suggest examining scat from pinnipeds can be an efficient way to monitor environmental levels of microfibers and microplastics in the environment. Their study was published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin.

Journal: Marine Pollution Bulletin
Funder: Morris Animal Foundation

Public Release: 9-Nov-2018

Freshwater turtles navigate using the sun

Springer

Blanding's turtle hatchlings need only the sun as their compass to guide them on their way to the nearest wetland -- and a place of safety. This is according to John Dean Krenz of Minnesota State University in the US, lead author of a study in Springer's journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The study focused on how this freshwater turtle, native to the US and Canada, is purposefully able to travel in a relatively straight line once it has hatched.

Journal: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Public Release: 9-Nov-2018

Beaches at risk due to the increase in atmospheric CO2

Università Ca' Foscari Venezia

Scientists from the CNR (National Research Council) and Ca' Foscari University of Venice have carried out the first scientific research on the ripple effects linking atmospheric emissions, sea acidification, and coastal erosion. The Mediterranean case study: a possible 31 percent decrease in sediment by 2100. The results have been published inClimatic Change

Journal: Climatic Change
Funder: Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research

Public Release: 9-Nov-2018

Transmission of antibiotic resistant E. coli mapped in wild giraffe social networks

American Society for Microbiology

A team from the University of Minnesota has shown that antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli bacteria in wild giraffes most likely come from anthropogenic sources, such as local cattle herds and humans. The research is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Journal: Applied and Environmental Microbiology

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