About 99 million years ago, a tiny juvenile frog in present-day Myanmar was suddenly trapped in sap with a beetle, perhaps its intended next meal.
Unlucky for the frog, but lucky for science.
An extinct species now named Electrorana limoae, it's one of four fossils that provide the earliest direct evidence of frogs living in wet, tropical...
Endocrine-disrupting pesticides impair frog reproduction
In a new study, researchers from Sweden and Britain have investigated how the endocrine-disrupting substance linuron affects reproduction in the West African clawed frog, Xenopus tropicalis. The scientists found that linuron, which is used as a pesticicide, impaired the males' fertility, and that tadpoles developed ovaries instead of testicles to a greater extent, which caused...
For 100 million years, amber freezes a tableau of tick's worst day ever
One day in Myanmar during the Cretaceous period, a tick managed to ensnare itself in a spider web. Realizing its predicament, the tick struggled to get free. But the spider that built the web was having none of it. The spider popped over to the doomed tick and quickly wrapped it up in silk, immobilizing...
Large-scale whaling in north Scandinavia may date back to 6th century
The intensive whaling that has pushed many species to the brink of extinction today may be several centuries older than previously assumed. This view is held by archaeologists from Uppsala and York whose findings are presented in the European Journal of Archaeology.
Museum collections in Sweden contain thousands of Iron Age board-game pieces. New studies of...
Deadly fungus found for first time in critically endangered amphibian species
A fungal pathogen which has led to the extinction of entire species in South America has been recorded for the first time in critically endangered amphibians in India.
Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) can cause the lethal disease chytridiomycosis, and is considered a significant threat wherever it is found.
It was first discovered in the Western Ghats Biodiversity Hotspot,...
Large fenced reserves an effective way to bring wolves back to Scotland
Research, led by the University of Sussex and the University of Kent, indicates that for wolves to be effective at directly reducing red deer numbers and allowing nature to recover in the Scottish Highlands they may need to be reintroduced to very large fenced reserve.
A fenced area, which would also help limit encounters with residents,...