Despite researchers having little fondness for them, a large fraction of the world's biodiversity consists of parasites. Natural populations of organisms are often strongly affected by factors of their environment, most notably the effect of predators. Yet, the most outstanding arms race, produced by millions of years of coevolution, is seen between parasites and their...
For the first time, scientists are putting extinct mammals on the map
Researchers from Aarhus University and University of Gothenburg have produced the most comprehensive family tree and atlas of mammals to date, connecting all living and recently extinct mammal species -- nearly 6,000 in total -- and overturning many previous ideas about global patterns of biodiversity.
While others have tried to map the ranges of all mammals...
Hybridization boosts evolution
Animals that have either migrated to or been introduced in Central Europe -- such as the Asian bush mosquito or the Asian ladybeetle -- feel extremely comfortable in their new homes due to changing climatic conditions. If these newcomers are genetically compatible with local species, they may crossbreed and produce hybrids, which can continue to...
A new earless pygmy toad discovered on one of Angola's most underexplored mountains
A new species of African pygmy toad was discovered during an expedition in 2016 to Angola's second highest peak, the Serra da Neve Inselberg.
This small toad is distinct among its close relatives in lacking ears, though other more distantly related toads also lack ears. The new species is named Poyntonophrynus pachnodes, with the species name...
Expedition probes ocean's smallest organisms for climate answers
Satellite images of phytoplankton blooms on the surface of the ocean often dazzle with their diverse colors, shades and shapes. But phytoplankton are more than just nature's watercolors: They play a key role in Earth's climate by removing heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
Yet a detailed account of what becomes of that carbon...
Surviving large carnivores have far-reaching impact
Anywhere large-bodied mammalian carnivore species are present, other, smaller carnivores are less likely to occur, according to an international team of researchers that conducted the first global assessment of carnivore interactions using camera trap data.
This finding is important because populations of large mammalian carnivores are declining as habitat is lost, and often where large carnivores...