Bamboo eating pandas: It’s all in the wrist.
An ancient fossil reveals the earliest panda to survive solely on bamboo and the evolutionary history of panda’s false thumbs
Read more
Plants and animals
Browse through our latest stories on plants and animals
The octopus’ brain and the human brain share the same ‘jumping genes’
A new study has identified an important molecular analogy that could explain the remarkable intelligence of these invertebrates
Read more
Study: How placentas evolved in mammals
In a new study, scientists use gene expression patterns, called transcriptomics, to investigate the ancient origins of one organ: the placenta, which is vital to pregnancy.
Read more
Researchers feed worms a natural plant extract; watch them fatten, live 40% longer
A new study looks at how a natural plant extract of a particular kind of wormwood, Artemisia scoparia, could lead to longer lifespans, including potentially for humans. The key lies in enhanced metabolic health.
Read more
Flies possess more sophisticated cognitive abilities than previously known
Common flies feature more advanced cognitive abilities than previously believed. Using a custom-built immersive virtual reality arena, neurogenetics and real-time brain activity imaging, researchers found attention, working memory and conscious awareness-like capabilities in fruit flies.
Read more
Scientists investigate how Venus fly trap plants shut in response to touch.
Scientists have revealed the three-dimensional structure of Flycatcher1, an aptly named protein channel that may enable Venus fly trap plants to snap shut in response to prey. The structure of Flycatcher1 helps shed light on longstanding questions about the remarkably sensitive touch response of Venus fly traps. The structure also gives the researchers a better understanding of how similar proteins in organisms including plants and bacteria, as well as proteins in the human body with similar functions (called mechanosensitive ion channels), might operate.
Read more
Climate change likely drove the extinction of North America’s largest animals
A new study suggests that the extinction of North America’s largest mammals was not driven by over-hunting by rapidly expanding human populations following their entrance into the Americas. Instead, the findings, based on a new statistical modelling approach, suggest that populations of large mammals fluctuated in response to climate change, with drastic decreases of temperatures around 13,000 years ago initiating the decline and extinction of these massive creatures.
Read more
Upside down can be right way for rhino transport
When it comes to saving endangered species of a certain size, conservationists often have to think outside the box. This was reinforced by a recent study which analyzed the effects of hanging tranquilized black rhinoceroses upside down by their feet.
Read more
Glass frogs use both high-pitched calls and visual signaling to communicate
A UC Berkeley conservation ecologist has discovered that an elusive glass frog species (Sachatamia orejuela) uses both high-pitched calls and visual signaling in the form of hand-waving, foot-waving and head-bobbing to communicate near loud waterfalls.
Read more
Possible explanation for more efficient maize growth
Plant researchers have investigated the transport of compounds in maize. They focused on the mechanism used to transport the products of photosynthesis for further distribution in the plant through its phloem loading pathways. They describe how this mechanism has potentially created a special evolutionary advantage for maize.
Read more
