News by Subject Biology

A landmark scientific study involving marine biologists from Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Libya, Italy, Tunisia, the UK, the US and even Malta, documenting instances where native Mediterranean species have preyed upon two highly invasive marine fish - the Pacific red lionfish and the silver-cheeked toadfish - has just been published.

Scientists from UC Davis have developed a tool that is able to differentiate the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse from its non-endangered doppelgänger with up to 99% accuracy.

Sweeping changes in marine nutrients may seem to be a likely consequence of increasing global temperatures; however, new research suggests that processes below the ocean surface could play a larger role than previously thought.

Whether summer or winter, midnight sun or polar night - the sand on the ocean floor is always inhabited by the same bacteria. Although the microbial communities differ between different ocean regions, they do not change between the seasons. Presumably, there is simply no room for change. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, now describe this phenomenon in a study published in the journal ISME Communications.

Researchers at RIKEN, Japan have succeeded in creating the first genetically engineered marsupial. This study will contribute to deciphering the genetic background of unique characteristics observed only in marsupials.

To better understand how familiarity impacts social fishes, a group of research scientists studied this idea using schooling coral reef fish.

New findings from zoologists working with birds in Southeast Asia are shining fresh light on the connections between animal behaviour, geology, and evolution - underlining that species can diversify surprisingly quickly under certain conditions. Sulawesi Babblers (Pellorneum celebense), shy birds that live in the undergrowth on Indonesian islands, have begun to diverge quite significantly despite being separated geographically for mere tens of thousands of years.