Biology

Oct 8th, 2025 - The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping. Numerous animals are migrating south, others are seeking their hibernacula—including bats. However, while hibernation is becoming shorter and shorter for many animals due to climate change, researchers at the University of Greifswald have now findings in Global Change Biology that reveal that Daubenton's bats (Myotis daubentonii) are now entering hibernation a whole month earlier than they did 13 years ago. The remarkable thing ... [Read More]

Oct 8th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google The symbiosis between clownfish and sea anemones, made famous by the movie Finding Nemo , is just one chapter in a much bigger story. Researchers have found that open-ocean fish youngsters – from filefish and driftfish to pomfrets and even a juvenile jack – appear to pick up larval anemones and button polyps and carry them around like living shields. The behavior, rarely seen until now, has finally come to light. "Blackwater" photographers dive at night over ... [Read More]

Oct 8th, 2025 - The estimated 8,000 remaining snow leopards ( Panthera uncia ) live in some of the world's most remote and extreme areas – the arid mountainous regions of Asia. Despite being listed as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the elusive species' conservation has been hindered by a lack of knowledge. New whole genome sequencing has now revealed the population has very low genetic diversity, which does not bode well for the species' future under a ... [Read More]

Oct 8th, 2025 - We have to rethink an important bit about early humans. For decades, small grooves on ancient human teeth were thought to be evidence of deliberate tool use – people cleaning their teeth with sticks or fibres, or easing gum pain with makeshift "toothpicks". Some researchers even called it the oldest human habit . But our new findings, published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology , challenge this long-held idea about human evolution. We found these grooves also appear ... [Read More]

Oct 8th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google A new dumbo octopus species, Grimpoteuthis feitiana , was accidentally discovered in a scientific blind spot of the deep Pacific Ocean. It carries a name that nods to the flying figures in China's Dunhuang cave murals, tying a modern marine discovery to an ancient artistic tradition. The animal was collected on the Caroline Seamount in the Western Pacific during a 2017 expedition at about 1,240 meters, roughly 4,070 feet, where daylight cannot reach. The find is formally ... [Read More]

Oct 7th, 2025 - Every year, at the end of the summer, pods of humpback whales set forth on a long voyage, migrating from the freezing waters of the Antarctic towards the warm, sub-tropical waters of the north, where they would spend the next few days lactating and feeding their newborn calves. Dubbed "humpback highways," the migratory path brings them close to the Australian coastline. This coastline is dotted with shark nets, anchored by a chain to the seafloor as part of a protection mechanism designed to ... [Read More]

Oct 7th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Fish don't have ears that stick out of their heads like we do. But many of them hear just fine – especially freshwater fish like catfish, minnows, and tetras. What's even more surprising is that they might actually hear better than most saltwater fish. Scientists now think they know how that happened – and it's not the story they once believed. For a long time, researchers believed that a certain group of freshwater fish developed their super-hearing abilities ... [Read More]

Oct 7th, 2025 - Millions of years ago, as those long-necked stegosauruses roamed the planet, they were probably unaware that a fish that looked just like them swam in the waters they sipped after meals. Called "Lake Sturgeon," this prehistoric fish has been zipping, untamed, through the planet's rivers since the Jurassic era. While an aggressive asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, the population of sturgeons remained intact, surviving for another million years, according to a report by ... [Read More]

Oct 7th, 2025 - A third of all snakes don't actually lay eggs. Snakes, like most reptiles in the world, are oviparous. This means that rather than producing live young ones, the way mammals do, snakes produce an immature single cell — an egg. Most snakes follow through on this reptilian trend except for a select few species; these rule-breakers spice things up with their reproductive tendencies when it comes to baby (snake)-making. The reasons behind this difference in reproductive strategies are not yet ... [Read More]

Oct 7th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google A new stick insect from the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland has stepped into the spotlight with unusual heft and length. The female measures about 15.75 inches and weighs roughly 1.55 ounces. Scientists formally described the species, named Acrophylla alta , and noted that its distinctive eggs helped clinch the identification. Their peer reviewed paper sets out the traits that separate it from close relatives. Acrophylla alta stands out The field work and ... [Read More]

Oct 6th, 2025 - The insects' brilliant hues evolved in lush ecosystems to help them survive. Now they are becoming more muted to adapt to degraded landscapes – and they are not the only things dulling down T he world is becoming less colourful. For butterflies, bold and bright wings once meant survival, helping them attract mates and hide from prey. But a new research project suggests that as humans replace rich tropical forests with monochrome, the colour of other creatures is leaching away. "The ... [Read More]

Oct 5th, 2025 - An international group of researchers have discovered that birds on opposite sides of the planet produce almost identical 'whining' calls when beset by parasitic birds. The study demonstrates the first known case of animal vocalisation learned from an innate response, indicating that natural selection may have influenced the origin of vocal language. "It's like seeing how evolution can enable species to give learned meanings to sounds," says study co-lead, William Feeney from the Donana ... [Read More]

Oct 4th, 2025 - Scientists are still unravelling the thefts of Colin Wyatt, an English adventurer, artist and naturalist who charmed the entomological community T he butterfly was dead when the old man found it, lying in the snow 1,600 metres above sea level. It didn't have a name then, as he bent down and scooped its body up from the ice – a tiny John Doe, light as a feather, barely visible to an untrained eye. But this encounter in the spring of 1922 wasn't his first brush with the short life cycle of ... [Read More]

Oct 3rd, 2025 - New research quantifying the global impact of forest age transitions found that 140 million tons of aboveground carbon are lost per year because of old-growth forests being replaced by younger stands. The towering trees of old forests store massive amounts of carbon in their trunks, branches, and leaves. When these ancient giants are replaced by a younger cohort after logging, wildfire, or other disturbances, much of this carbon stock is lost. "We've known for a long time that forest age is a ... [Read More]

Oct 3rd, 2025 - , which runs from around April to October. Indonesia is affected by the rains of the northwest monsoon from November to March, which can impact water clarity. It's wise to check the timing of the rainy months for your chosen island when planning a trip. Some spots still offer good diving even when the rains sweep across Indonesia, including the Raja Ampat Islands, the Gili Islands, Nusa Penida and the island of Pulau Weh, which is thronged by mantas and devil rays even in the wet months. During ... [Read More]

Oct 3rd, 2025 - Global tree-planting pledges promise far more than they can deliver — and may even create new problems for food, water, and biodiversity." Josep "Pep" Canadell, executive director of the Global Carbon Project, says he believes countries large and small need to think twice before pledging to collectively plant billions of trees as a primary emissions-reduction strategy to meet climate action goals. "We have somehow sold reforestation as a kind of easier path [to fighting climate change], ... [Read More]