Seals feeding on fish does not decrease fish stocks of Baltic cod, herring and sprat the most -- climate change, nutrient load and fisheries do, shows a new study from Stockholm University.
It has long been debated whether the seal predation of fish play a major role in the fish decline in the Baltic Sea compared...
How fruit flies ended up in our fruit bowls
Fruit flies can be a scourge in our homes, but to date no-one has known how they became our uninvited lodgers. For decades, researchers have searched for their origins and now a Swedish-American research team has succeeded. They have also discovered that fruit flies in the wild are far more picky than their domesticated counterparts,...
Wild African fruit flies offer clues to their modern-day domestic life
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is quite possibly the most studied organism on the planet. Fruit flies are also quite familiar residents in many of our kitchens, attracted as they are to the fruit bowl. But how do the flies live in the wild? Surprisingly little is known.
Now, researchers reporting in Current Biology on December...
Acrobatic geckos, highly maneuverable on land and in the air, can also race on water
Geckos are renowned for their acrobatic feats on land and in the air, but a new discovery that they can also run on water puts them in the superhero category, says a University of California, Berkeley, biologist.
"They can run up a wall at a meter per second, they can glide, they can right themselves in...
Parrot genome analysis reveals insights into longevity, cognition
Parrots are famously talkative, and a blue-fronted Amazon parrot named Moises -- or at least its genome -- is telling scientists volumes about the longevity and highly developed cognitive abilities that give parrots so much in common with humans. Perhaps someday, it will also provide clues about how parrots learn to vocalize so well.
Morgan Wirthlin,...
229 new species described by the California Academy of Sciences in 2018
In 2018, researchers at the California Academy of Sciences added 229 new plant and animal species to our family tree, enriching our understanding of Earth's complex web of life and strengthening our ability to make informed conservation decisions. The new species include 120 wasps, 34 sea slugs, 28 ants, 19 fish, seven flowering plants, seven...