Latest Animals Stories

"Man is but a worm" was the title of a famous caricature of Darwin's ideas in Victorian England. Now, 120 years later, a molecular analysis of mysterious marine creatures unexpectedly reveals our cousins as worms, indeed.An international team of researchers, including a neuroscientist from the University of Florida, has produced more evidence that people have a close evolutionary connection with tiny, flatworm-like organisms scientifically known as "Acoelomorphs."The...

Two groups of lowly marine worms are related to complex species including vertebrates (such as humans) and starfish, according to new research. Previously thought to be an evolutionary link between simple animals such as jellyfish and the rest of animal life - the worms' surprising promotion implies that they have not always been as simple as they now appear.Although the marine worms Xenoturbella and Acoelomorpha are very simple animals "“ they lack a developed nervous system or gut "“...

It can be hard to get noticed when you're a little chick in a big colony, but new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Ecology reveals that baby birds in need of a feed have individual ways of letting their parents know.German and Swiss ornithologists studied the calls of chicks in a population of Jackson's golden-backed weaver birds on the shores of Lake Baringo in Kenya. Already knowing that parent birds can distinguish their own chicks from others by unique...

Conservation paleobiologists dig deep to solve today's ecological, evolutionary questionsConservation paleobiologists--scientists who use the fossil record to understand the evolutionary and ecological responses of present-day species to changes in their environment--are putting the dead to work.A new review of the research in this emerging field provides examples of how the fossil record can help assess environmental impacts, predict which species will be most vulnerable to environmental...

The mystery of the mass animal death epidemic deepens after 8,000 turtle doves fall dead in Italy with strange blue stains on their beaks.Initial testing of the stains is believed to be a sign of poisoning or hypoxia -- lack of oxygen that is a sign of altitude sickness. Hypoxia is known to cause confusion and illness in animals. Experts said full test results may not be available for at least a week.Thousands of dead turtle doves littered roofs and cars in the Italian town of Faenza in what...

The phrase "nature versus nurture" was coined in the mid-19th century by the English scientist Francis Galton and symbolizes the debate over the relative importance of inherited factors and the environment (or upbringing) in determining the behaviour of offspring.  The issue has been complicated by the discovery of "epigenetic" effects, by which especially mothers can alter the genetic material they pass on to their young.  A further twist to the story is provided by the finding that...

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) at the University of Oxford have uncovered a clue that may help to explain why the earliest evidence of complex multicellular animal life appears around 550 million years ago, when atmospheric oxygen levels on the planet rose sharply from 3% to their modern day level of 21%. The team, led by Professor Chris Schofield, has found that humans share a method of sensing oxygen with the world's simplest...

Large birds, such as storks, save energy on the flight to their wintering grounds by soaring through the air on thermal currents. Until now, however, we knew nothing about the flight patterns of small migrating songbirds, such as whether they flap their wings or soar and whether these styles of flight allow them to save energy. Now, a team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, Ben-Gurion-University of the Negev, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem have...

According to a new study, 90-pound birds that once lived in South America used their giant, sharp beaks like a boxer giving their opponent a quick jab. Researchers reported in the online journal PLoS ONE that the creatures, officially known as Andalgalornis, were built to strike forward, attacking their prey with sudden jabs. "These guys were not sluggers, they couldn't go in and grapple with prey. They had to stand back and dance around and make hatchet-like jabs," Lawrence...

By deciphering the genetics in humans and fish, scientists now believe that the neck "“ that little body part between your head and shoulders "“ gave humans so much freedom of movement that it played a surprising and major role in the evolution of the human brain, according to New York University and Cornell University neuroscientists in the online journal Nature Communications (July 27, 2010.)Scientists had assumed the pectoral fins in fish and the forelimbs (arms and hands) in humans...