Biology

Chimpanzees in Guinea are regularly using long and robust tools to fish for algae, reveals new research published this month in the American Journal of Primatology. Chimpanzee fishing algae. Image credit: PanAf Project / Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) often use tools to extract or consume …

Herbivorous, or plant-eating, mammals have bigger bellies than their usually slim carnivorous counterparts, according to a study led by University of Zurich researcher Marcus Clauss. Hippo family in Botswana. Image credit: Hans Stieglitz / CC BY-SA 3.0. Prof. Clauss and his colleagues from Germany and the UK studied the shape …

A study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science shows that the Brazilian free-tailed bat can achieve flight speeds of 100 mph (160 km per hour) — faster than those previously documented for any bat or bird. The Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) can reach record-breaking speeds, according to …

An international team of researchers from Austria and the UK has shown that Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) can manufacture and use stick-type tools of appropriate shape and length out of three different materials, suggesting that the birds can anticipate how the tools will be used. Goffin’s cockatoos can cut out …

A new study published in the journal Cell Reports reveals that a protein called Piezo 1 is directly responsible for sensing touch. Knowledge about Piezo 1 could be relevant for designing better pain medications and exploring future therapies for blood disorders, hypertension and more. Piezo proteins transduce physical forces and …

Scientists have discovered a new type of photoreceptor protein that is about 50 times more efficient at capturing light than the rhodopsin, a protein that resides in cell membranes in the retina of the human eye. Caenorhabditis elegans. Image credit: Bob Goldstein / University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. …

DNA makes up only half of the material inside chromosomes, according to a new study published in the journal Molecular Cell. Up to 47% of their structure is a mysterious sheath that surrounds the genetic material. Booth et al. develop a microscopy method called 3D-CLEM. Using this approach, they find …

Bathochordaeus charon — an extremely rare species of giant larvacean — has been rediscovered, more than a century after the only previous known specimens of the species were found. Bathochordaeus charon and its ‘house’ in Monterey Bay: giant larvaceans use their oikoplastic cells to secrete complex filters or ‘houses’ that …

New research confirms that the hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), a medium-sized bird of prey found in parts of North America and Eurasia, is two different species of bird that are only distantly related. The northern harrier (Circus hudsonius). Image credit: Simon Richards. The study, led by Dr. Graham Etherington of …

According to a team of researchers led by Gerald Wright, a professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences at McMaster University, Lechuguilla Cave — an underground ecosystem that has been isolated from the surface for over 4 million years — is home to a remarkable prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Lechuguilla Cave, …