Biology

A new study published in the journal Animal Cognition demonstrates that raccoons (Procyon lotor) are able to learn to solve complex problems and that they approach classic tests of animal cognition in diverse and exciting ways. Raccoons learn to drop stones into a tube of water to retrieve a floating …

Using camera traps, University of Nottingham researcher Sheema Abdul Aziz and colleagues collected video evidence showing the small flying fox (Pteropus hypomelanus) pollinating the flowers of durian (Durio zibethinus). Small flying foxes (Pteropus hypomelanus). Image credit: Zoo Leipzig. Large fruit bats of the genus Pteropus are severely threatened by hunting …

A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health has discovered lymphatic vessels in the dura, the leathery outer coating of the brain. Described in the journal eLife, the discovery holds promise for better understanding the normal physiology of lymphatic drainage from the central nervous system and potential aberrations …

New research from the University of Cambridge and Oxford Brookes University predicts which species acted as an intermediary between the ancestors of Homo sapiens and those of chimpanzees to carry the herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV2) — a human herpesvirus found worldwide that causes genital lesions and more rarely causes …

A new study has found that chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) can use tools spontaneously to solve a task, without needing to watch others first. Chimpanzee tool-use is fuelled mainly by individual learning, according to the study. Image credit: Marcel Langthim. University of Birmingham researchers Elisa Bandini and Claudio Tennie looked for …

A new rodent species with an unusual lifestyle has been discovered on Vangunu — an island, part of the New Georgia Islands in the Solomon Islands — by an international team of researchers. This is an illustration of Uromys vika. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski, Field Museum. This new rat was …

A team of spider experts and students from the University of Vermont has discovered and described 15 new species of the spider genus Spintharus from the Caribbean region and other southern spots — and named them after, among others, Bernie Sanders, Barack and Michelle Obama, David Attenborough, and Leonardo DiCaprio. …

The Gram-negative bacterium Vibrio cholerae (causative agent of cholera) is armed with a nano-speargun, which it uses to combat unwelcome competitors. University of Basel Professor Marek Basler and his colleagues from Switzerland and Germany have now gained insights into the construction, mode of action and recycling of this bacterial weapon. …

Dr. Jean-Baptiste Thiebot, a marine biologist at the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo, Japan, and colleagues have documented nearly 200 cases of targeted attacks on jellyfish and other pelagic gelatinous organisms (‘gelata’) by four penguin species: Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae), yellow-eyed penguins (Megadyptes antipodes), Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus), …

Umbilical cord blood banking has become increasingly popular in recent years, with a number of businesses both public and private offering the service. It’s a relatively new concept, and there’s uncertainty about its overall value and whether it’s worth considering for a newborn child. We discuss the technology, its implementation, and …