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animals

A satellite photo of the complex of rivers in the Amazon.
biodiversity

Reshuffled Rivers Bolster the Amazon’s Hyper-Biodiversity

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
June 7, 2022
Read Later

The lush biodiversity of the Amazon may be due in part to the dynamics of branching rivers, which serve as invisible fences that continuously barricade and merge bird populations.

evolution

Brain-Signal Proteins Evolved Before Animals Did

By Viviane Callier
June 3, 2022
Read Later

Some animal neuropeptides have been around longer than nervous systems.

Simulated microscopy image of light shining through mitochondrial bundles and emerging as tight beams.
biophysics

Mitochondria Double as Tiny Lenses in the Eye

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
April 5, 2022
Read Later

The optical properties of mitochondrial bundles in the retina may improve how efficiently the eye captures light.

An artist’s 3D illustration of chromosomes splitting and fusing together.
genomics

Secrets of Early Animal Evolution Revealed by Chromosome ‘Tectonics’

By Viviane Callier
February 2, 2022
Read Later

Large blocks of genes conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution hint at how the first animal chromosomes came to be.

Photo of a flying fish gliding over the open water.
developmental biology

Flying Fish and Aquarium Pets Yield Secrets of Evolution

By Viviane Callier
January 5, 2022
Read Later

New studies reveal the ancient, shared genetic “grammar” underpinning the diverse evolution of fish fins and tetrapod limbs.

3D model of several pyramidal neurons in cortical layer 5 of mammalian brain.
neuroscience

New Brain Maps Can Predict Behaviors

By Monique Brouillette
December 6, 2021
Read Later

Rapid advances in large-scale connectomics are beginning to spotlight the importance of individual variations in the neural circuitry. They also highlight the limitations of “wiring diagrams” alone.

Photo showing the glow of a forest fire and bush fire in the Blue Mountains of Australia.
biodiversity

Wildfires of Varying Intensity Can Be Good for Biodiversity

By Carrie Arnold
November 29, 2021
Read Later

The spate of furious wildfires around the world during the past decade has revealed to ecologists how much biodiversity and “pyrodiversity” go hand in hand.

Photo of crows.
cognitive science

Animals Count and Use Zero. How Far Does Their Number Sense Go?

By Jordana Cepelewicz
August 9, 2021
Read Later

Crows recently demonstrated an understanding of the concept of zero. It’s only the latest evidence of animals’ talents for numerical abstraction — which may still differ from our own grasp of numbers.

Photograph of two female red deer, fighting with their front hooves.
evolution

Mating Contests Among Females, Long Ignored, May Shape Evolution

By Jake Buehler
August 2, 2021
Read Later

Showy male competitions over mating privileges have grabbed scientists’ attention more often, but new work hints that sexual selection is also widespread among females.


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