Latest Josh Auld Stories

How fast a female's fertility fades depends partly on her partners, says a new study of songbirdsIn birds as in people, female fertility declines with age. But some female birds can slow the ticking of their biological clocks by choosing the right mates, says a new study.Female birds become progressively less fertile as age takes its toll, said co-author Josh Auld of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina. Older females lay fewer eggs, and they lay them later in...

Solitary snails change their dating and mating strategy when danger is nearSolitary snails in search of a mate put off parenthood as long as possible in the hopes that a partner will appear. But when Physa acuta snails smell predators, they don't wait as long for a mate. Scared snails settle for single parenthood much sooner than their calm counterparts, says a new study by biologist Josh Auld of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, NC."They can't wait for a mate...