At 3.5 meters long and with a shoulder height of 1.7 meters, the cave bear was one of the giants of the Ice Age. Yet few appear to have survived until the last glacial maximum 24,000 to 19,000 years ago. Researchers from Germany, Italy and Canada have conducted analyses to find out what likely caused...
Diving deep into the blue whale genome reveals the animals’ extraordinary evolutionary history
For the first time, scientists of the German Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center, Goethe University and the University of Lund in Sweden have deciphered the complete genome of the blue whale and three other rorquals. These insights now allow tracking the evolutionary history of the worlds' largest animal and its relatives in unprecedented detail....
Potential explanation for declines in brown bear populations
Animals may fall into what are called evolutionary and ecological traps when they make poor decisions using seemingly reliable environmental cues. For example, animals may select habitats to occupy based on food availability, but mortality may be highest in habitats with the highest food availability. A new Mammal Review article examines how the brown (grizzly)...
Like human societies, whales value culture and family ties
It might seem like a "whale of tale," but groundbreaking research from Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute is the first to demonstrate that just like human societies, beluga whales appear to value culture as well as their ancestral roots and family ties.
Through a detailed genetic study of kinship published in PLOS One, an...
