New research shows small, New World monkeys called marmosets may be an important animal model for emerging viruses with the potential for harmful effects on fetuses. Establishing animal models for emerging diseases, like Zika, is necessary for the development of vaccines, therapies and diagnostics. Results of a study published in the journal Scientific Reports showed...
Citizen scientists discover a new water beetle and name it after Leonardo DiCaprio
New animal species are sometimes named after celebrities because of their trademark looks. That's how we got the blonde-haired Donald Trump moth and the big-armed Arnold Schwarzenegger fly, to name a few. However, some well-known people are enshrined in animal names not for their looks, but rather for what they do for the environment.
This is...
Horses get the flu, too
Flu vaccines for horses haven't been updated in more than 25 years, but University of Rochester researchers have developed a new live equine influenza vaccine that is safe and more protective than existing vaccines.
Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Ph.D., associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, says a new vaccine is needed...
An AI for deciphering what animals do all day
Much of what biologists have learned about animal behavior over the years has come from careful observation and painstaking notes. There could soon be an easier way.
In a new study in the journal eLife, researchers at Columbia University show how an algorithm for filtering spam can learn to pick out, from hours of video footage,...
If pigs could fly: How can forests regenerate without birds?
Human activity continues to shape environmental systems around the world creating novel ecosystems that are increasingly prevalent in what some scientists call the Anthropocene (the age of humans). The island of Guam is well known as a textbook case for the devastating effects of invasive species on island ecosystems with the extirpation of most of...
Capturing of the rare Yanbaru whiskered bat
The critically endangered Yanbaru whiskered bat, Myotis yanbarensis, has been caught for the first time on Okinawa Island since its discovery 22 years ago. Kyoto University doctoral student Jason Preble succeeded in the capture on the night of 20 February, during a survey in the Yanbaru Forest in the north of Okinawa's main island.
The rare...