Until now, contraception has been the method of choice for zoos to avoid surplus animals. Researchers are now calling for a paradigm shift: zoos could preserve their breeding populations, raise awareness of conservation challenges and improve animal welfare and their carbon footprint by allowing animals to reproduce naturally and culling...
Mediterranean sharks continue to decline despite conservation progress
New research has found more than 200 measures to protect sharks and rays across the 22 coastal states of the Mediterranean region. However, while elasmobranchs have made it onto many policy agendas, the study found considerable differences in how effectively any legislation was being monitored with no single source for...
Discovery of ‘Punk’ and ‘Emo’ fossils challenges our understanding of ancient molluscs
Researchers have unearthed two fossils, named Punk and Emo, revealing that ancient molluscs were more complex and adaptable than previously known.
Evolutionary biology: Ants can hold a grudge
Evolutionary biologists are investigating the extent to which ants learn from past experiences. After being attacked by ants from a particular nest, ants behave more aggressively towards others from that same nest.
Cell-based therapy improves outcomes in a pig model of heart attacks
In a large-animal model study, researchers have found that heart attack recovery is aided by injection of heart muscle cell spheroids derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells, or hiPSCs, that overexpress cyclin D2 and are knocked out for human leukocyte antigen classes I and II. This research used a...
DNA adds new chapter to Indonesia’s layered human history
A new study has outlined the first genomic evidence of early migration from New Guinea into the Wallacea, an archipelago containing Timor-Leste and hundreds of inhabited eastern Indonesian islands.
Fishy business: Male medaka mating limits revealed
Researchers have uncovered a daily mating capacity for medaka, providing important insights into the relationship between the cost of gamete production and sexual selection.
Dinosaurs roamed the northern hemisphere millions of years earlier than previously thought, according to new analysis of the oldest North American fossils
A newly described dinosaur whose fossils were recently uncovered is challenging the existing narrative, with evidence that the reptiles were present in the northern hemisphere millions of years earlier than previously known.
Earth’s air war: Explaining the delayed rise of plants, animals on land
If you like the smell of spring roses, the sounds of summer birdsong, and the colors of fall foliage, you have the stabilization of the ozone layer to thank for it. Located in the stratosphere, where it shields the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, the ozone layer plays a key...
Integrating historic data stands to improve climate models in the Global South
Researchers have devised a way to improve the accuracy of climate change models for the Global South by integrating historical records kept by missionaries and other visitors.