FLORA FAUNA

5,060 articles

Elephant killings in Africa outpace births: study
Aug 18, 2014 (AFP)
More elephants in Africa are being killed by poachers than are born each year, and the problem may be worse than previously understood, according to the most de...
Microscopic lense captures first ever video of a jellyfish sting
Aug 18, 2014 (UPI)
It only takes a light brush for one to be stung by a jellyfish, but a new viral video recorded for the first time the dozens of microscopic needles that shoot f...
Minke whales lunge 100 times/hour to feed under sea ice
Aug 18, 2014 (SPX)
Highly manoeuvrable and built like torpedoes, minke whales are the most common whales in Antarctic waters, yet the animals could be living on a knife edge as th...
Mountain lions of Santa Monica Mountains are inbreeding and aggressive
Aug 18, 2014 (UPI)
A growing population of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains of California have found themselves penned in by busy freeways, resulting in increasing com...
Ultra-rare crocs survive in Philippine 'Noah's Ark'
Aug 15, 2014 (AFP)
A chorus of chirps filled the room as one of the Philippines' top crocodile breeders checked on his wards in an overcrowded 'Noah's Ark' for one of the world's ...
Antarctic insect genome is smallest to date
Aug 13, 2014 (SPX)
Scientists who sequenced the genome of the Antarctic midge suspect the genome's small size - the smallest in insects described to date - can probably be explain...
Amazon's biggest fish nears extinction
Aug 13, 2014 (UPI)
The arapaima is the Amazon River's largest fish species. It's also one of the most imperiled, having been overfished and pushed to the brink of extinction. Offi...
The world's biggest fish adds value to paradise
Aug 13, 2014 (SPX)
They are the largest fish in the world but the impact of this majestic and charismatic animal on the economy of the island nation of the Maldives was largely un...
Two new South Florida butterfly species listed as endangered
Aug 12, 2014 (UPI)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has named two new South Florida butterfly species, the Bartram's hairsteak and Florida leaf wing, to the endangered species l...
Reconstructions show how some of the earliest animals lived - and died
Aug 12, 2014 (SPX)
A bizarre group of uniquely shaped organisms known as rangeomorphs may have been some of the earliest animals to appear on Earth, uniquely suited to ocean condi...
Chinese zoo unveils world's 'first' surviving panda triplets
Aug 12, 2014 (AFP)
A Chinese zoo has unveiled newborn panda triplets billed as the world's first known surviving trio, in what it hailed as a "miracle" given the animal's famously...
S.Africa to evacuate hundreds of rhino from poaching-hit park
Aug 12, 2014 (AFP)
South Africa plans to evacuate hundreds of rhino from the famed Kruger National Park to safe havens beyond horn smugglers' reach, the environment minister annou...
Fundamental plant chemicals trace back to bacteria
Aug 08, 2014 (SPX)
A fundamental chemical pathway that all plants use to create an essential amino acid needed by all animals to make proteins has now been traced to two groups of...
Water 'microhabitats' in oil show potential for extraterrestrial life, oil cleanup
Aug 08, 2014 (SPX)
An international team of researchers has found extremely small habitats that increase the potential for life on other planets while offering a way to clean up o...
Study shows Asian carp could establish in Lake Erie with little effect to fishery
Aug 08, 2014 (SPX)
According to a study published in the journal Conservation Biology by a group of scientists from the University of Notre Dame, Resources for the Future, U.S. Fo...
Risks to penguin populations analysed
Aug 07, 2014 (SPX)
A major study of all penguin species suggests the birds are at continuing risk from habitat degradation. Writing in the journal, Conservation Biology, a group o...
Biologists discover lake full of jellyfish in India
Aug 07, 2014 (UPI)
Marine biologists have discovered a lake in India filled with jellyfish, the nation's first so-called jellyfish lake. Researchers estimated the lake's bed was c...
Tricking plants to see the light may control the most important twitch on Earth
Aug 06, 2014 (SPX)
Copious corn growing in tiny backyard plots? Roses blooming in December? Thanks to technology that the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Richard Vierstra has be...
Kangaroos win when Aborigines hunt with fire
Aug 06, 2014 (SPX)
Australia's Aboriginal Martu people hunt kangaroos and set small grass fires to catch lizards, as they have for at least 2,000 years. A University of Utah resea...
How spiders spin silk
Aug 06, 2014 (SPX)
Spider silk is an impressive material; lightweight and stretchy yet stronger than steel. But the challenge that spiders face to produce this substance is even m...
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