A new study by WCS, American Museum of Natural History, and other partners uses long term data on bear mortality to map high-probability hot-spots for human-bear conflicts. The authors say this is a critical tool for wildlife managers to reduce mortality of bears as they recolonize their former range in the Great Basin and in...
Baby's tears and mom's libido
A substance in young mice's tears makes female mice more likely to reject male sexual advances. This research is part of ongoing efforts at the University of Tokyo to understand how animals communicate using chemicals called pheromones.
Direct connections between human and mouse behavior cannot be made because pheromones are highly species specific.
"If humans can detect...
New species of ‘missing link’ between dinosaurs and birds identified
Known as the 'Icon of Evolution' and 'the missing link' between dinosaurs and birds, Archaeopteryx has become one of the most famous fossil discoveries in Palaeontology.
Now, as part of an international team of scientists, researchers at The University of Manchester have identified a new species of Archaeopteryx that is closer to modern birds in evolutionary...
Biologists gain new insights into surface, acoustic behaviors of endangered right whales
In response to the dwindling number of North Atlantic right whales, researchers in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) have conducted a major study of the surface and acoustic behaviors of right whale mother-calf pairs.
Susan Parks, associate professor of biology, is the senior author of the study, whose findings appear in Animal Conservation (Wiley,...
What makes a good working dog? Canine 'aptitude test' might offer clues
The canine labor market is diverse and expansive. Assistance dogs may be trained to work with the visually or hearing impaired, or with people in wheelchairs. Detection dogs may be trained to sniff out explosives, narcotics or bedbugs. Other pups even learn to jump out of helicopters on daring rescue missions.
Despite the wide variety of...
Evolution does repeat itself after all: How evolution lets stripes come and go
A team of evolutionary biologists from the University of Konstanz, headed by Prof. Dr. Axel Meyer, discovers the genetic basis for the repeated evolution of colour patterns. The findings about the stripes of the especially diverse species of East-African cichlid fishes explain how evolution can repeat itself at record speed. The study is published in...