Indigenous communities have used muskrat fur to make clothing for generations and the animal's meat is considered a seasonal delicacy. But it turns out decades of trapping are not primarily responsible for the animal's decline across North America.
Instead, 46 years of satellite imagery show the Peace-Athabasca Delta has been drying since the 1970s, significantly reducing...
Whether herbivores increase or decrease plant diversity depends on what's on the menu
Cows eat grass. It seems simple enough. But just which kind of grass cows and their vegetarian comrades munch on can influence the entire ecosystem.
Scientists have long known that herbivores affect the plant diversity around them. The thought was that in highly productive ecosystems -- like jungles and tropical savannas -- animals would favor dominant,...
For ants, unity is strength — and health
When a pathogen enters their colony, ants change their behavior to avoid the outbreak of disease. In this way, they protect the queen, brood and young workers from becoming ill. These results, from a study carried out in collaboration between the groups of Sylvia Cremer at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria)...
Gigantic mammal 'cousin' discovered
During the Triassic period (252-201 million years ago) mammal-like reptiles called therapsids co-existed with ancestors to dinosaurs, crocodiles, mammals, pterosaurs, turtles, frogs, and lizards. One group of therapsids are the dicynodonts. Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden, together with colleagues in Poland, have discovered fossils from a new genus of gigantic dicynodont. The new species...
How do flying bees make perfect turns?
If you've ever lost your balance standing on a bus that takes a sharp turn at speed or felt your car skid when you drive around a corner too fast, you've experienced the effects of centrifugal force. Turning while simultaneously moving forwards creates a force that pulls the turning object away from the direction of...
Scientists study puncture performance of cactus spines
Beware the jumping cholla, Cylindropuntia fulgida. This shrubby, branching cactus will -- if provoked by touching -- anchor its splayed spines in the flesh of the offender. The barbed spines grip so tightly that a segment of cactus often breaks off with them, leaving the victim with a prickly problem.
This is one of six species...