Biology

A team of professional and citizen scientists has discovered a new species of caenogastropod snail living in tropical lowland rainforests of Borneo and named it after climate activist Greta Thunberg. An individual of Craspedotropis gretathunbergae. Image credit: Pierre Escoubas. “The newly-described snail belongs to the so-called caenogastropods, a group of …

Snorkelers in mangrove forest waters inhabited by the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea xamachana report discomfort due to a sensation known as ‘stinging water.’ When Tohoku University’s Dr. Cheryl Ames and colleagues looked at toxin-filled mucus the jellyfish release into the water, they were surprised to discover gyrating balls of stinging cells …

Bacteriophages — viruses that infect bacteria — are considered distinct from cellular life owing to their inability to carry out most biological processes required for reproduction. Typically, they have small genomes and depend on their bacterial hosts for replication. Now, an international team of scientists has discovered 351 new species …

Like giraffes, lions, hyenas and grey kangaroos, female Burrunan dolphins (Tursiops australis), a species of bottlenose dolphin endemic to southern Australian coastal waters, form social bonds with kin and other females in similar reproductive condition, while maintaining moderate and loose social bonds with some same-sex individuals, according to new research …

An international team of researchers has found bacterial communities within microscopic spheroidal aggregates of dolomite, oil and water found in sheets of frozen methane and ice, known as ‘flammable ice,’ in Joetsu Basin, Japan Sea. Epifluorescence imagery of a tiny grain within methane hydrate showing internal presence of microbial DNA. …

An international team of entomologists has conducted a survey of experts from diverse geographic regions to identify the most prominent perceived threats to firefly population and species persistence. Habitat loss, light pollution, and pesticide use were regarded as the most serious threats, although rankings differed substantially across regions. A female …

A video recorded underwater by marine biologists shows a gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) clapping in the wild, producing a gunshot-like ‘crack.’ “The discovery of ‘clapping seals’ might not seem that surprising, after all, they’re famous for clapping in zoos and aquaria,” said Dr. David Hocking, a researcher in the School …

A team of U.S. researchers has found ancient viruses and bacteria in ice from two cores drilled on the summit and plateau of the Guliya ice cap in northwestern Tibetan Plateau, China. Ohio State University researchers cut an ice core retrieved from the Guliya ice cap in the Kunlun Mountains …

According to new research, opposing desires to congregate and maintain some personal space drive fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to form orderly social clusters. Drosophila melanogaster. Image credit: Botaurus. Many animals ranging from swarming insects to wildebeests form large, orderly groups. This collective behavior is often crucial to survival. It may …

A team of researchers has sequenced and analyzed the genomes of Polistes fuscatus, a species of paper wasp that has uniquely evolved visual individual recognition abilities, and two closely related species lacking facial recognition, Polistes metricus and Polistes dorsalis. Their findings suggest Polistes fuscatus‘ increasing intelligence provided an evolutionary advantage …