Monthly Archives: February 2018

A massive global study involving 58,000 cattle has pinpointed the genes that influence the complex genetic trait of height in cattle, opening the door for researchers to use the same approach to map high-value traits including those important for beef and milk production.

Read more

[unable to retrieve full-text content]New research shows that the loss of biodiversity can increase the risk of 'extinction cascades', where an initial species loss leads to a domino effect of further extinctions....

Vampire bats feed exclusively on blood, a mode of feeding unique amongst mammals. It has therefore been long suspected that vampire bats have highly specific evolutionary adaptations, which would be documented in their genome, and most likely also have an unusual microbiome, the community of micro-organisms assembled in their digestive tract which may help with...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Nocturnal animals can use the stars and the Milky Way to find their way during the darkest hours....

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Animal traffickers are taking advantage of remote ivory trade routes to smuggle pangolins – one of the world's most endangered animals – out of Central Africa, a new study has found....

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Researchers have shown that the bacterial communities in termite guts came about through both inheritance and transfer between colonies....