Biology

In a paper published this week in the journal iScience, an international team of researchers documented chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) purposefully using signals to start and then end social activities, a behavior not seen outside of the human species until now. Joint action structure of chimpanzees and bonobos …

An international team of botanists has discovered three new endemic species of the orchid genus Lepanthes in the highlands of Ecuador. Lepanthes oro-lojaensis growing in its natural habitat. Image credit: Francisco Tobar Suarez. Lepanthes is a large genus of orchids with up to 1,000 species distributed in the Neotropics. The …

Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) are able to use differences in floral humidity to distinguish between rewarding and non-rewarding flowers, according to new research led by biologists from the University of Bristol and the University of Exeter. By experimentally varying the levels of floral humidity in artificial flowers within a range …

African coelacanths (Latimeria chalumnae) reach maturity around the age of 55 and gestate their offspring for 5 years, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology. Latimeria chalumnae off Pumula on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, South Africa, on November 22, 2019. Image credit: Bruce Henderson, doi: 10.17159/sajs.2020/7806. Coelacanths …

Seeing a bird eat nectar from a flower is a common sight in our world. The ability to detect sugars, however, is not ancestral in the bird lineage, where most ancient species were carnivorous. In a new study published today in the journal Science, an international team of researchers looked …

The two novel types of neuroglial cells — usually referred to simply as glial cells or glia — may play an important role in brain plasticity and repair, according to new research led by the University of Basel. A glial cell of new type (green), arising from adult stem cells …

Wild Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) catabolize muscle tissue when the availability of fruit is low, according to new research led by Rutgers University scientists; that’s remarkable because orangutans are thought to be especially good at storing and using fat for energy. A male Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) eating non-fruit vegetation …

A team of biologists from Japan has discovered a new species of the genus Scolopendra living in the forests of the Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan. Scolopendra alcyona found underwater at the upper reach of Shirase River, Kume-jima Island. Image credit; H. Sato. Scolopendra is a genus of large tropical centipedes …

Using a combination of MRI, micro-CT and minimally invasive gene analysis, a team of biologists from the Institut für Evolutionsbiologie und Ökologie at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität has discovered a new species of dumbo octopus — named Grimpoteuthis imperator — living in the northern part of the Emperor Seamounts, an undersea …

Scientists have described a new species of the frog genus Brachycephalus from the forests of the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Brachycephalus rotenbergae. Image credit: Nunes et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244812. Brachycephalus is a genus of miniaturized frogs that live in the forest leaf litter and are most active during daylight. …