FLORA FAUNA

5,060 articles

Namibia caught in net of elephant, rhino poaching
May 13, 2014 (AFP)
The rising tide of elephant and rhino poaching in Africa is spreading to the sparsely-populated vastness of Namibia in the southeast of the continent, latest of...
New species of metal-eating plant discovered in the Philippines
May 13, 2014 (SPX)
Scientists from the University of the Philippines, Los Banos have discovered a new plant species with an unusual lifestyle - it eats nickel for a living - accum...
Stuck in the middle with oysters and crabs
May 13, 2014 (SPX)
Northeastern University ecologist David Kimbro claims to have watched a lot of TV growing up, particularly The Brady Bunch. "You could kind of get a flavor for ...
Predator-prey made simple
May 12, 2014 (SPX)
A team of U.K. researchers has developed a way to dramatically reduce the complexity of modeling "bistable" systems which involve the interaction of two evolvin...
Organism that transmits added letters in DNA alphabet created
May 12, 2014 (SPX)
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have engineered a bacterium whose genetic material includes an added pair of DNA "letters," or bases, not fo...
Lethal parasite evolved from pond scum
May 12, 2014 (SPX)
A genomic investigation by University of British Columbia researchers has revealed that a lethal parasite infecting a wide range of insects actually originated ...
Poaching could wipe out Tanzanian elephants in 7 years: group
May 09, 2014 (AFP)
Poachers are slaughtering Tanzania's elephants for their ivory at such alarming rates that the population could be completely wiped out in just seven years, con...
Tracking turtles through time
May 08, 2014 (SPX)
Turtles are more closely related to birds and crocodilians than to lizards and snakes, according to a study from Dartmouth, Yale and other institutions that exa...
Small Australian marsupials in sudden decline
May 07, 2014 (AFP)
Small, furry marsupials such as the bandicoot, quoll and tree possums are in dramatic decline in Australia's north and feral cats could be the cause, according ...
Light-sensitive eyes in plants
May 07, 2014 (SPX)
Most plants try to turn towards the sun. Scientists from the University of Gothenburg have worked with Finnish colleagues to understand how light-sensitive prot...
New atom-scale knowledge on the function of biological photosensors
May 06, 2014 (SPX)
The research groups of Janne Ihalainen (University of Jyvaskyla) and Sebastian Westenhoff (University of Gothenburg) have clarified how the atom structure of ba...
Spanish island fights snake invasion
May 06, 2014 (AFP)
A Spanish island has summoned world experts to help it stamp out an invasion of white snakes that threaten to eat all its rare lizards, a conservationist said T...
Amphibians in a vise: Climate change robs frogs, salamanders of refuge
May 02, 2014 (SPX)
By hightailing it to nearby ponds and shallow waterways, frogs and salamanders have - until now - had a way to evade exotic trout introduced to the West's high-...
Decoding the chemical vocabulary of plants
May 02, 2014 (SPX)
Plants spend their entire lifetime rooted to one spot. When faced with a bad situation, such as a swarm of hungry herbivores or a viral outbreak, they have no o...
Climate change study reveals unappreciated impacts on biodiversity
May 02, 2014 (SPX)
Shrinking ice sheets and melting ice caps are well known consequences of climate change. But a new study reveals that impacts on biodiversity will be just as se...
Crocodile tears please thirsty butterflies and bees
May 02, 2014 (SPX)
The butterfly (Dryas iulia) and the bee (Centris sp.) were most likely seeking scarce minerals and an extra boost of protein. On a beautiful December day in 201...
Predators predict longevity of birds
May 02, 2014 (SPX)
Ageing inevitably occurs both in humans and in other animals. However, life-span varies widely across species. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Ornit...
Some Ohio butterflies threatened by rising temperatures
May 02, 2014 (SPX)
The combined heat from climate change and urbanization is likely to reduce the number of eastern swallowtails and other native butterflies in Ohio and promote t...
Australian marine reserves provide safe passageway for endangered species
May 01, 2014 (SPX)
The value of Australia's newly established network of marine parks has been highlighted by an international project that used satellites to track the vulnerable...
How a fish can fry
May 01, 2014 (SPX)
Take a muscle cell, modify it over millions of years, and you end up with an exciting and literally shocking evolutionary result: the electric fish. Electric fi...
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