Yearly Archives: 2018

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Growing in crocodile infested billabongs in the remote North of the country, Australia's wild rice has been confirmed as the most closely related to the ancient ancestor of all rices. The unique genetics of the Australian rice may help breed disease resistance and climate adaptation into rice modern production species....

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Biologists have discovered why some crows 'craft' elaborate hooked tools out of branched twigs....

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A new discovery has deepened our understanding of the genetic mutations that arise in different tissues, and how these are inherited. Researchers found the rates of genetic mutations in mitochondrial DNA vary across differing tissue types, with the highest rate occurring in reproductive cells....

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Researchers have described an exceptionally well-preserved new fossil species of bristle worm called Kootenayscolex barbarensis. Discovered from the 508-million-year-old Marble Canyon fossil site in the Burgess Shale in Kootenay National Park, the new species helps rewrite our understanding of the origin of the head in annelids, a highly diverse group of...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A new study using playbacks, has for the first time shown that Asian elephants in Sri Lanka are scared of honey bees, much like their African counterparts. The study showed that Asian elephants responded with alarm to the bee simulations. They also retreated significantly further away and vocalized more in response...

Invasive species have diverse impacts in different locations, including biodiversity loss, as a result of native species being outcompeted for similar resources. A U.S. research team, led by Dr. Ann Hajek, Cornell University, studied the case of an aggressive Eurasian woodwasp that has recently established in North America and poses a threat to a native...