Biology

Sep 17th, 2025 - By Share Seventy-nine percent of endemic species are showing declines, underscoring how fragile island biodiversity is in the face of ecosystem changes. Insects play essential roles in ecosystems, from pollinating plants to driving decomposition and maintaining nutrient cycles. Their diversity and abundance are crucial for ecological stability, yet recent evidence of widespread declines has raised serious concerns about how insects are adapting to modern environmental pressures. Determining ... [Read More]

Sep 17th, 2025 - World Manta Ray Day, observed on September 17, is dedicated to celebrating manta and devil rays – while also raising awareness about the threats they face and the urgent need for protection.  The day is organized by conservation groups such as the Manta Trust and supported by marine organizations worldwide. The theme for World Manta Ray Day 2025 is The Power of Protection. The idea is to emphasize that local and global initiatives can help manta and devil rays not just survive, but ... [Read More]

Sep 17th, 2025 - How did digits evolve? While it is clear that they derive from genetic programs already present in fish, their precise origin remains a matter of debate. An international team led by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) with EPFL, the Collège de France, and the universities of Harvard and Chicago has come up with an unexpected answer: Digits may have evolved from the reuse of an ancient region of the genome, initially active in the formation of the fish cloaca rather than their fins. in ... [Read More]

Sep 17th, 2025 - Fishermen in the Western Visayas brought a small, large-eyed shark to a local port, and a visiting research team recognized what they were seeing. It was a sandbar shark, a species never before verified in the Philippines, according to a recent peer-reviewed study. Three males were recorded at roughly 14 to 15 inches (35 to 38 centimeters) long, which is smaller than published birth size for the species, and a red flag for management. The work was led by Roxanne Cabebe-Barnuevo of the ... [Read More]

Sep 17th, 2025 - Making digits seems to involve gene activity that was needed to make a cloaca. Evolution has adapted the digits of mammals for an enormous range of uses, from our opposable thumbs to the spindly digits that support bat wings to the robust bones that support the hoofs of horses. But how we got digits in the first place hasn't been entirely clear. The fish that limbed vertebrates evolved from don't have obvious digit equivalents, and the most common types of fish just have a large collection of ... [Read More]

Sep 17th, 2025 - Quick facts about genetics Where genes are found: In the chromosomes in the nuclei of cells and in the mitochondria Number of genes humans carry: More than 20,000 Similarity of your genetics: All humans share about 99.9% of the same genes What makes every person unique? Part of the answer is in our genes. A gene is a basic unit of heredity, the means by which traits get passed from one generation to the next, and genetics is the study of how these biological traits are inherited. A little over ... [Read More]

Sep 16th, 2025 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . D inosaurs were the architects of entire ecosystems on Earth. Leaf-munching, ground-trampling, and soil-uprooting by herds of large herbivores like Tricerotops and Edmontosaurus kept Cretaceous forests in check, helping to maintain open savannas that would otherwise have been thick with trees. This in turn likely had a profound effect on how rivers flowed across landscapes, both while the dinosaurs were alive and after they went extinct in an ... [Read More]

Sep 16th, 2025 - G olden autumn sunlight glints through the sedges and shrubs of the tundra in northern Alaska. Winter is approaching, and soon the region will be buried under snow and ice. For the past three months the chatter of the Arctic Tern colony has served as the soundtrack of the summer breeding season. But now, with daylight waning, the terns need to head south. In an instant, the usually noisy birds will fall silent, a behavior known as "dread." Moments later the entire colony will take to the skies ... [Read More]

Sep 16th, 2025 - When Homo sapiens first emerged in Africa some 300,000 years ago, we did not roam the planet alone. Our species lived alongside at least six, and possibly more , other human species, from Homo erectus , the first hominin species to venture out of Africa; to Neanderthals and Denisovans , contenders for our closest relatives; all the way to Homo floresiensis — less than 4-foot-tall (1.2 meters) "'hobbits"' who lived on the Indonesian island of Flores. It's an origin story that Ella ... [Read More]

Sep 16th, 2025 - Genes are the building blocks of life, and the genetic code provides the instructions for the complex processes that make organisms function. But how and why did it come to be the way it is? A recent study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign sheds new light on the origin and evolution of the genetic code , providing valuable insights for genetic engineering and bioinformatics. The study is in the Journal of Molecular Biology . "We find the origin of the genetic code mysteriously ... [Read More]

Sep 16th, 2025 - There are certain facts about various animals, marine life, and birds that are truly hard to believe. Extinct animals being brought back to life or species thought to be endangered being spotted show that the world still holds countless secrets that are yet to be revealed. In one such shocking news, it has been reported that whales, the gentle giants in the oceans across the world, may have a surprising history. Researchers claimed that the ancestors of whales were once land-dwelling predators ... [Read More]

Sep 15th, 2025 - In the wild mountain ranges of Morocco and northeast Algeria, there's a small, shimmering butterfly that most people have never heard of. It flutters through cedar forests and scrubby hillsides, unnoticed by nearly everyone. But deep inside its cells, this insect is doing something no other animal has ever been seen to do. This butterfly, called the Atlas blue, just set a world record. And scientists are paying attention – not just because it's rare, but because its strange biology could ... [Read More]

Sep 15th, 2025 - The kelp forest is ephemeral, yet foundational. Fronds of this fast-growing giant seaweed come and go with the seasons, storms and waves, supporting communities of fish, invertebrates and even mammals wherever they emerge. As dynamic as they are in the ocean, kelp forests are also essential for its nearby shoreline communities, as fronds of this seaweed wash up on the beach, providing sustenance for invertebrates and serving as the foundation of beach food webs. However, the extent of this ... [Read More]

Sep 15th, 2025 - The octopus is a creature that continues to surprise scientists and inspire engineers. With eight arms that move in ways no human limb can, it demonstrates flexibility and control that seem almost otherworldly. Each arm bends, twists, elongates, and shortens with unmatched precision, enabling these animals to hunt, hide, and explore with ease. Researchers hope that unlocking the secrets of these movements may guide the design of flexible robotic arms capable of lifesaving missions. Imagine a ... [Read More]

Sep 15th, 2025 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . Ripe apples drop about my head . . . The nectarine and curious peach Into my hands themselves do reach. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. —Andrew Marvell, "The Garden" W hen you bite into an apple, a pear, or a peach, you bite into the result of thousands of years of interactions between these fruits and primates. When you let a fig squish in your mouth, you are savoring an even more ancient story. These moments of pleasure are ... [Read More]

Sep 15th, 2025 - Changes in rock formations from before and after the mass extinction event 66 million years ago may reflect how dinosaurs acted as ecosystem engineers, shaping vegetation and even the meandering of rivers The impact dinosaurs had on Earth was so big that their extinction seems to have caused dramatic and wide-ranging changes to the planet's landscapes, such as shifting rivers. There is a marked difference between some rock formations in North America before and after the dinosaurs died out in ... [Read More]