Category: ANIMALS

Side-blotched lizards in most of the Mohave have tan and brown markings that mix in well with their desert surroundings. On the Pisgah volcanic rock Flow, however, one finds a awfully completely different population of side-blotched lizards, as black because the rocks they live to tell the tale. How do animals invade new environments completely different from those that evolution has equipped them with finely tuned adaptations? palish lizards on a volcanic rock flow ought to be straightforward choosing for … Continue reading “Adaptable lizards illustrate key biological process planned a century agone”

A new class of pesticides positioned to replace neonicotinoids may be just as harmful to crop-pollinating bees, researchers cautioned Wednesday. In experiments, the ability of bumblebees to reproduce, and the rate at which their colonies grow, were both compromised by the new sulfoximine-based insecticides, they reported in the journal Nature. Colonies exposed to low doses of the pesticide in the lab yielded significantly less workers and half as many reproductive males after the bees were transferred to a field setting. “Our … Continue reading “New pesticide may harm bees as much as those to be replaced”

The Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries today unveiled what some bill as the most significant changes to Endangered Species Act regulations in several decades. Consultations with other agencies would be streamlined. There would be a tighter definition of “foreseeable future,” crucial in ESA decisions. Critical habitats could shrink, and threatened species would no longer automatically receive the same protections as endangered species. Taken together, the proposed rule changes would more closely align the two agencies that share responsibility … Continue reading “Trump overhaul of Endangered Species Act could shrink protections for many animals”

Ornithologists have classified the Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradise as its own species after recognizing differences in two similar-looking kinds of the birds. These birds-of-paradise are famous for evolving super-black feathers that absorb nearly all light, and their haunting courtship dances (see video below). But now scientists have discovered there are actually two species. For years, people mistook the Vogelkop superb bird-of-paradise for the wider spread and closely related superb bird-of-paradise. “After you see what the Vogelkop form looks like and acts like in … Continue reading “A New ‘Vantablack’ Bird-of-Paradise Has Been Discovered, And It’s Absolutely Mesmerising”

A modified form of a compound called itaconate suppresses an inflammatory pathway that is overactive in many autoimmune diseases, suggesting that it may be effective against psoriasis as well as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Inflammation is the body’s defense system against infection. The redness and swelling you see around an infected cut represents the mobilization of a powerful arsenal of cells and molecules in response to injury and invading microbes. But when … Continue reading “Compound Derived from Immune Cells Treats Psoriasis in Mice”

The Darwin’s frog (Rhinoderma darwinii) is the latest amphibian species to face extinction due to the global chytridiomycosis pandemic, according to an international study published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. The study has found that Darwin’s frogs are infected with the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and despite an absence of obvious mortality researchers have noted population declines, leading them to believe that these infected populations are at a serious risk of extinction within 15 years … Continue reading “Emerging infectious disease threatens Darwin’s frog with extinction”