Mindzilla – Animal World

Animal World

Domesticated Chickens Have Smaller Brains

August 26, 2020
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Linköping, Sweden — Researchers from Linköping University suggest a process by which the timid junglefowl from the rain forest could have become today’s domesticated chicken. When the scientists...

About 94 Per Cent of Wild Bee and Native Plant Species Networks Lost, Study Finds

July 15, 2020
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Toronto, ON, Canada — Climate change and an increase in disturbed bee habitats from expanding agriculture and development in northeastern North America over the last 30 years are likely responsible...

Green is More Than Skin-Deep for Hundreds of Frog Species

July 14, 2020
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Durham, NC — Frogs and toads are green for a very good reason – it makes them harder to see in their leafy environments. Good camouflage allows them to eat and not be eaten. But not all frogs...

Bumblebee Habitats and Diets Change Over Their Lifecycle

July 9, 2020
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Cordoba, Argentina — Bumblebees change their home ranges and dietary preferences after establishing nests, suggesting that diversified landscapes help support bee populations as their needs change...

You Are What You Eat Is as Important for Fish as It Is for People

June 9, 2020
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Vancouver, BC — There is truth in the saying “you are what you eat”; even more so if you are a salmon or herring swimming off the British Columbia coast, a recent UBC study discovered. Juvenile...

Warming Climate Is Changing Where Birds Breed

May 27, 2020
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Logan, UT — Spring is in full swing. Trees are leafing out, flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, and birds are singing. But a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...

Migration Patterns Reveal an Eden for Ancient Humans and Animals

May 24, 2020
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Denver, CO — Pinnacle Point, a series of archaeological sites that overlook a now-submerged section of South Africa’s coastline and one of the world’s most important localities for the...

New Bat Species Discovered — Cousins of the Ones Suspected in COVID-19

April 22, 2020
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Chicago, IL — Bats play a huge but poorly understood role in humans’ lives–they pollinate our crops, eat disease-carrying mosquitos, and carry diseases themselves. But we know next to nothing...

Researchers Show How Forest Loss Leads to Spread of Disease

April 8, 2020
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Stanford, CA — Viruses that jump from animals to people, like the one responsible for COVID-19, will likely become more common as people continue to transform natural habitats into agricultural land,...

Fish have Diverse, Distinct Gut Microbiomes, Study Finds

April 2, 2020
Mindzilla

Boothbay, ME — The rich biodiversity of coral reefs even extends to microbial communities within fish, according to new research. The study in Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences reports...

Sea Otters, Opossums and the Surprising Ways Pathogens Move From Land to Sea

March 20, 2020
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Davis, CA — A parasite known only to be hosted in North America by the Virginia opossum is infecting sea otters along the West Coast. A study from the University of California, Davis, elucidates the...

Research on Soldier Ants Reveals That Evolution can Go in Reverse

March 10, 2020
Mindzilla

New York, NY — Turtle ant soldiers look like real-life creatures straight out of a Japanese anime film. These tree-dwelling insects scuttle to and fro sporting shiny, adorably oversized heads, which...

The Brains of Shrimps and Insects Are More Alike Than We Thought

March 4, 2020
Mindzilla

Tucson, AZ — New research shows that crustaceans such as shrimps, lobsters and crabs have more in common with their insect relatives than previously thought – when it comes to the structure of...

Reconstructing the Diet of Fossil Vertebrates

February 21, 2020
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Leipzig, Germany — Information on what our ancestors ate is based mainly on carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of the structural protein collagen in bones and dentin. Nitrogen isotope analysis, in...

Fifty Years of Data Show New Changes in Bird Migration

February 21, 2020
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Chicago, IL — A growing body of research shows that birds’ spring migration has been getting earlier and earlier in recent decades. New research from The Auk: Ornithological Advances on Black-throated...

Sweet Beaks: What Galapagos Finches and Marine Bacteria Have in Common

February 21, 2020
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Bremen, Germany — The variety of finch species on the remote Galapagos Islands is the most prominent example for Charles Darwin’s and Alfred R. Wallace’s theory of evolution through natural...

Mosquitoes Are Drawn to Flowers as Much as People — and Now Scientists Know Why

February 12, 2020
Mindzilla

Blacksburg, VA — Without their keen sense of smell, mosquitoes wouldn’t get very far. They rely on this sense to find a host to bite and spots to lay eggs. And without that sense of smell, mosquitoes...

East African Fish in Need of Recovery

February 7, 2020
Mindzilla

New York, NY — A study of East African coral reefs has uncovered an unfolding calamity for the region: plummeting fish populations due to overfishing, which in turn could produce widespread food insecurity....

Fireflies Face Extinction Threats of Habitat Loss, Light Pollution, Pesticides

February 5, 2020
Mindzilla

Medford/Somerville, MA — Habitat loss, pesticide use and, surprisingly, artificial light are the three most serious threats endangering fireflies across the globe, raising the spectre of extinction...

New Study Identifies Bumble Bees’ Favorite Flowers to Aid Bee Conservation

January 29, 2020
Mindzilla

Annapolis, MD — Many species of North American bumble bees have seen significant declines in recent decades. Bumble bees are essential pollinators for both native and agricultural plants, and their...

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