FLORA FAUNA

5,060 articles

Pond scum and the gene pool
May 11, 2016 (SPX)
Kansas State University biologists are skimming pond scum for clues of multicellular evolution and possible origin of cancer. Brad Olson, assistant professor in...
Fifth of world's plants under threat, warns Kew Gardens
May 10, 2016 (AFP)
A fifth of the world's plant species are at risk of extinction, British researchers warned Tuesday in an unprecedented global census of the plant kingdom. The s...
Legal culling of wolves increases poaching: study
May 10, 2016 (AFP)
Allowing the legal culling of wild wolves in order to discourage illegal poaching is counter-productive, researchers reported Wednesday in a study that challeng...
The Venus flytrap: From prey to predator
May 09, 2016 (SPX)
The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) feeds on insects. It attracts a meal with its flower-like reddish color and ripe fruity smell on leaves converted to ambus...
Scientists identify oldest herbivorous filter-feeding marine reptile
May 09, 2016 (UPI)
When scientists first unearthed the fossil remains of Atopodentatus unicus in 2014, they described the ancient creature as possessing a flamingo-like beak. But ...
Indiana University researchers find Earth may be home to 1 trillion species
May 08, 2016 (SPX)
Earth could contain nearly 1 trillion species, with only one-thousandth of 1 percent now identified, according to a study from biologists at Indiana University....
Discovery of a fundamental limit to the evolution of the genetic code
May 08, 2016 (SPX)
Nature is constantly evolving - its limits determined only by variations that threaten the viability of species. Research into the origin and expansion of the g...
Desert antelope faces 'imminent extinction'
May 06, 2016 (AFP)
The Saharan Addax antelope has been pushed to the brink of extinction by poaching and loss of habitat to the oil industry, the international organisation that t...
Incredible invertebrate diversity in Los Angeles metropolitan area
May 05, 2016 (SPX)
Urban wildlife is surprisingly understudied. We tend to know more about animals in exotic places than about those that live in our cities. This is why researche...
Mexico fights to save species ensnared in China black market
May 05, 2016 (AFP)
The high-speed navy boat stopped on the moonlit waters of Mexico's Gulf of California as sailors looked through binoculars for small vessels conducting illegal ...
Birds of prey constrained in the beak evolution race
May 05, 2016 (SPX)
How birds' beaks evolved characteristic shapes to eat different food is a classic example of evolution by natural selection. However, new research from the Univ...
A single-celled organism capable of learning
May 04, 2016 (SPX)
For the first time, scientists have demonstrated that an organism devoid of a nervous system is capable of learning. A team from the Centre de Recherches sur la...
Despite their small brains - ravens are just as clever as chimps
May 03, 2016 (SPX)
A study led by researchers at Lund University in Sweden shows that ravens are as clever as chimpanzees, despite having much smaller brains, indicating that rath...
Circus elephants' retirement home promises pampered life
May 02, 2016 (AFP)
When Mysore performed in the Ringling Brothers' traveling circus, she waltzed, she hooked her trunk onto another elephant's tail, and she stood on her hind legs...
Researcher studies how animals puncture things
May 02, 2016 (SPX)
If shooting arrows from a crossbow into cubes of ballistics gelatin doesn't sound like biological science to you, you've got a lot to learn from University of I...
Kenya demands total ivory ban to stop elephant slaughter
Apr 29, 2016 (AFP)
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday demanded a total ban on trade in ivory to end trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild. "To los...
Critically endangered Himalayan wolf needs global conservation effort
Apr 29, 2016 (SPX)
Although the Himalayan wolf is visibly distinct from its European cousin, its current distribution has mostly been a matter of assumption, rather than evident t...
Birds of prey miss out on benefits of beak evolution
Apr 29, 2016 (UPI)
Bird species have evolved all sorts of specialized beaks for their respective dietary niches, but not birds of prey. According to new research out of England, r...
Outwitting poachers with artificial intelligence
Apr 27, 2016 (SPX)
A century ago, more than 60,000 tigers roamed the wild. Today, the worldwide estimate has dwindled to around 3,200. Poaching is one of the main drivers of this ...
Cellphone principles help microfluidic chip digitize information on living cells
Apr 27, 2016 (SPX)
Phone calls and text messages reach you wherever you are because your phone has a unique identifying number that sets you apart from everybody else on the netwo...
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, is Copyright 1995-2026 Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principles for news reporting and research purposes.