Many of the world's most charismatic animal species -- those that attract the largest interest and deepest empathy from the public -- are at high risk of extinction in part because many people believe their iconic stature guarantees their survival.
A new international study published today in PLOS Biology suggests that the popularity of tigers, lions,...
Viruses can evolve in parallel in related species
Viruses are more likely to evolve in similar ways in related species -- raising the risk that they will "jump" from one species to another, new research shows.
Scientists from the universities of Exeter and Cambridge compared viruses that evolved in different species and found "parallel genetic changes" were more likely if two host species were...
Droughts mean fewer flowers for bees
Bees could be at risk from climate change because more frequent droughts could cause plants to produce fewer flowers, new research shows.
Droughts are expected to become more common and more intense in many parts of the world, and researchers studied the impact on flowering plants using a field experiment.
They found that drought roughly halved the...
New method prioritizes species for conservation in the face of uncertainty
A new way to prioritize species for conservation efforts outperforms other similar methods, according to research presented in PLOS ONE by Rikki Gumbs of Imperial College London, UK, and colleagues at the Zoological Society of London, UK.
The ongoing "sixth mass extinction," driven by human activity, threatens species around the world. A variety of different metrics...
Scientists discover a role for 'junk' DNA
Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have determined how satellite DNA, considered to be "junk DNA," plays a crucial role in holding the genome together.
Their findings, published recently in the journal eLife, indicate that this genetic "junk" performs the vital function of ensuring that chromosomes bundle...
Mutant ferrets offer clues to human brain size
A genetically engineered ferret could help reveal how humans got their big brains.
By inactivating a gene linked to abnormally small brain size in humans, researchers have created the first ferret with a neurological mutation. Although the original impetus of the work was to study human brain disease and development, says Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)...