Ecology & Zoology

The world’s oldest recorded tree is a 9,550 year old spruce in the Dalarna province of Sweden. The spruce tree has shown to be a tenacious survivor that has endured by growing between erect trees…

140 milliseconds. So in less time than it took you to read those two words a rat knew everything he needed to know about what his nose detected. Daniel Wesson and colleagues from Boston University…

Researchers have confirmed the first case of a frog without lungs - the aquatic frog Barbourula kalimantanensis apparently gets all the oxygen it needs through its skin. Previously known from only…

Researchers from Spain and Croatia led an investigation into the peculiar lifestyle of numerous spider species, which live, feed, breed and ‘walk’ in an upside-down hanging position. According to…

When people think about the destruction and degradation of tropical forests, they tend to focus on rainforests. Tropical dry forests tend to get overlooked. They aren’t as striking - no cathedral-…

As the planet's population continues to grow, optimal crops need to be planted and harvested in order to feed people. One concern about widespread use of 'organic' cropping is that it would raise…

Some new research indicates that a key component of soybean plant defenses against leaf-eating insects go down as CO2 goes up. The new study, led by University of Illinoise entomology professor and…

There's no McAlgae drive-through, but coral have their own addiction to 'junk food' and, say researchers, we may be in the position of needing to halt global warming in order to keep that fast food…

The tuatara, Sphendon punctatus, is found only in New Zealand and is the only surviving member of a distinct reptilian order Sphehodontia that lived alongside early dinosaurs and separated from other…

Genetic modification holds the promise of bringing locally grown food crops to climates where farming has been traditionally difficult. Doing that means optimizing the genetics of crops in some ways…