SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
Four new species of tropical sharks that use their fins to walk are causing a stir in waters off northern Australia and New Guinea. While that might strike fear into the hearts of some people, University of Queensland researchers say the only creatures with cause to worry are small fish and invertebrates. The walking sharks … Read more
More than 11,000 manta ray sighting records – from scuba divers, aerial surveys and online submissions – have helped researchers better understand reef manta ray distribution around Australia, and they have confirmed ‘missing’ ray populations. The study, led by University of Queensland PhD candidate Amelia Armstrong, is the first step towards understanding the connectivity of reef … Read more
Carleton University’s Roslyn Dakin, professor in the Department of Biology, has recently discovered that there is a trade-off between having too many friends and having long-lasting friendships. Her research focused on a charismatic bird species called the wire-tailed manakin, and was published in PNAS, the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences. [ad_336] The … Read more
In the Pacific Northwest, the range expansion of Barred Owls has contributed to a conservation crisis for Northern Spotted Owls, which are being displaced from their old-growth forest habitat. How will this interaction between species play out in the Sierra Nevada, where Barred Owls are just starting to move into the range of the California … Read more
A first of its kind, global study on the impacts of human land-use on different groups of animals has found that predators, especially small invertebrates like spiders and ladybirds, are the most likely to be lost when natural habitats are converted to agricultural land or towns and cities. The findings are published in the British … Read more
In chimpanzee society, males spend their entire lives in the group where they were born, cooperating to defend their territory, while females tend to move away. But some chimp females seem less willing to cut the apron strings. New findings from researchers at Duke University and North Carolina State University show that female chimpanzees with … Read more
Australia’s current bushfire crisis could wipe out some of our rarer insect species, according to a group of experts. Associate Professor Michael Braby from The Australian National University (ANU) says the bushfires will have a huge impact on our native insects, as well as the plants and animals that rely on them. “Insects are critical … Read more
In mammals, pair bonds are very rare, one of the few exceptions being the red titi monkeys of South America. These relatively small tree dwellers live in pairs or small family groups and are characterized by the fact that the males take intensive care of their offspring. A team of researchers from the German Primate … Read more
In 1906, Francis Galton was at a country fair where attendees had the opportunity to guess the weight of an ox. Galton took the guesses of 787 fair-goers and found that the average guess was only one pound off of the correct weight- even when individual guesses were off base. This concept, known as “the … Read more
When war came to Mozambique in the 1970s, the large mammals of Gorongosa National Park were among the casualties. By the mid-1990s, more than 90% of the wildlife had been lost. Since 2007, the Gorongosa Project — an innovative public-private partnership between the Government of Mozambique and a non-profit organization — has worked to restore … Read more