Biology

Apr 18th, 2024 - Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. . I n the 1970s, when a young filmmaker named Steven Spielberg was researching a new movie based on a novel about sharks, he returned to his alma mater, California State University Long Beach. The lab at Cal State Long Beach was one of the first places in the United States to study sharks in a rigorous way. Spielberg was developing a character who was a shark researcher, so he sent an art director to campus. There, the art director found the office ... [Read More]

Apr 18th, 2024 - Remains of the Vasuki indicus found in a mine are estimated to be 15 metres long A giant prehistoric snake that was longer than a Tyrannosaurus rex has been unearthed in an Indian mine. The fossil vertebrae have been proven to be the remains of one of the largest snakes that ever lived, a monster estimated at up to 15 metres (49 feet)  in length that prowled the swamps of what is now India around 47 million years ago. Scientists said on Thursday that they have recovered 27 vertebrae from ... [Read More]

Apr 18th, 2024 - As highways encroach ever further into animal habitats, drivers and wildlife are in greater danger than ever. And off the beaten path, decaying old forest roads are inflicting damage as well. " Roads are this incredibly disruptive force all over the planet that are truly changing wild animals' lives and our own lives in almost unfathomable, unaccountable ways," says science journalist Ben Goldfarb, author of the 2023 book Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet. Goldfarb ... [Read More]

Apr 18th, 2024 - On a special episode (first released on April 18, 2024) of The Excerpt podcast: Could the woolly mammoth really be brought back to life? Ben Lamm thinks so. He's the CEO and Co-founder of Colossal Biosciences, a company at the heart of an evolving science that aims to see this ancient animal and others return in the name of preserving and promoting biodiversity. According to him, the success of this work could just be the ticket that saves humanity. Lamm joined The Excerpt podcast to talk about ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - Researchers have found that over the last 120 years, the porosity -- or small-scale holes -- in mussel shells along the East Coast of the United States has increased, potentially due to warming waters. The study analyzed modern mussel shells in comparison to specimens in the Museum's historic collection. Researchers at the American Museum of Natural History have found that over the last 120 years, the porosity -- or small-scale holes -- in mussel shells along the East Coast of the United States ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - Bumblebees may be more resilient than previously thought: Hibernating queen bees can survive for up to a week underwater, researchers report Wednesday in the journal Biology Letters . Researchers learned of the insects' surprising superpower by accident. The discovery unfolded while ecologist Sabrina Rondeau was investigating the effects of pesticide residue on common eastern bumblebees ( Bombus impatiens ) in a laboratory at Canada's University of Guelph in 2021. More specifically, Rondeau was ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - On a nice spring day at the end of May 2020, 11-year-old Ruby Reynolds and her dad, Justin, were fossil-hunting on Blue Anchor Beach in Somerset, England, when they discovered a fragment of a titanic sea beast. As Justin studied the four-inch-long, oval-shaped fossil, Ruby started to scout the slope above them. She found a second piece of fossilized bone, this one about twice as big. Joining forces with a team of paleontologists, Justin and Ruby have now identified their find as a new species ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - Interspecies competition in ancient humans saw an evolutionary trend that is the complete opposite of almost all other vertebrates, according to a new study. For years, scientists assumed the main driver of the rise and fall of hominin species (which includes humans and our direct ancestors) was climate change. It is known, however, that interspecies competition is also at play as it is in most vertebrates. New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution examines the rate at which new ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - A jawbone found in Somerset, England, may belong to the largest marine reptile yet known, a huge ichthyosaur that lived about 200 million years ago. The new species is dubbed Ichthyotitan severnensis and may have been over 80 feet long, according to the team's estimates. The finding means that ichthyosaurs could have grown nearly as large as blue whales, which have long reigned as the undisputed biggest animals known to science. The team described I. severnensis in a study published today in ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - Humans, Homo sapiens, have unique features compared with other closely related hominin species and primates, including the shape of the base of the skull. The evolutionary changes underlying these features were significant in allowing the evolution of our increased brain size. Now, in a study recently published in The American Journal of Human Genetics , a team from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU), the University of Helsinki, and the University of Barcelona has analyzed a genomic ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - A study led by Harvard University has provided a fresh perspective on evolutionary processes, particularly in how species intermingle and evolve. The experts have found compelling evidence that hybridization can lead to the formation of entirely new species, challenging traditional views of evolution as a neatly branching tree. Evolution of Heliconius butterflies  Revisiting a fascinating observation first made by naturalist Henry Walter Bates in 1861 and shared with Charles Darwin, the ... [Read More]

Apr 17th, 2024 - Fragments of bone discovered buried in ancient rock hint at a truly colossal Leviathan that once terrorized the waves. Researchers from the UK and US argue the fossilized remnants of two separate jawbones found England's south west represent a previously unknown genus of late Triassic ichthyosaur that seems to vastly outstrip in size any other known marine reptile that has lived on this planet. Bestowing the name Ichthyotitan severnensis on the new genus and species , the team estimates the ... [Read More]

Apr 16th, 2024 - According to a research team led by paleontologists from the University of Vienna, the net-like leaf veining typical for today's flowering plants developed much earlier than previously thought, but died out again several times. Using new methods, the fossilized plant Furcula granulifer was identified as an early forerunner. The leaves of this seed fern species already exhibited the net-like veining in the late Triassic (around 201 million years ago). The study was recently published in the ... [Read More]

Apr 16th, 2024 - Giant pandas , with their instantly recognizable black and white fur, are symbols of conservation and adored across the globe. But hidden within their bamboo-filled mountain homes lies a fascinating secret: sometimes, pandas are born with rich brown fur. This rare coloration has baffled scientists for years, but a recent groundbreaking study has finally shed some light on this captivating mystery. The story of brown pandas Let's meet a few of the famous brown pandas : Dan Dan Dan Dan holds the ... [Read More]

Apr 16th, 2024 - After a year of ocean heat waves and unprecedented temperatures off the coast of Florida that alarmed conservationists last summer, the world is currently experiencing a "global coral reef bleaching event," the fourth ever recorded and the second in the past decade, according to climate scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Coral reef bleaching occurs as warming temperatures stress the tiny organisms that form the foundation of complex reef ecosystems, and ... [Read More]

Apr 16th, 2024 - Imagine a large antelope, not the usual dusty brown, but shimmering with a bluish-gray coat. Sleek, swift, and mysterious – that was the blue antelope. Sadly, this beautiful animal hasn't roamed the grasslands of South Africa in over 200 years. But why? That's the puzzle scientists have been determined to solve. Blue antelope extinction Picture this: It's the late 1700s. European colonists are venturing into southern Africa, coming across the magnificent blue antelope. Within a mere few ... [Read More]