Earth science
04 Sep 2025
Biological ‘moonshot’ accelerates efforts to genetically map life on Earth
An unprecedented effort to sequence the genomes of 150,000 eukaryotic species through inclusive global collaboration.
7 news posts in Animals
Featured news
28 Feb 2025
Why don’t pandas eat more meat? Molecules found in bamboo may be behind their plant-based diet
Researchers found miRNA – tiny bamboo molecules – could enter giant pandas’ bloodstream and facilitate the adaptation to a bamboo-based diet
Life sciences
30 Oct 2024
Giant rats could soon fight illegal wildlife trade by sniffing out elephant tusk and rhino horn
Researchers trained African giant pouched rats to detect illegally trafficked wildlife species and remember targets for several months
Featured news
03 Jul 2024
Scientists pinpoint strategies that could stop cats from scratching your furniture
Cats scratching on furniture can frustrate owners, but this normal feline behavior could be managed by adapting play sessions and offering scratch posts in the right spots, researchers found
Featured news
17 Nov 2023
Fishing chimpanzees found to enjoy termites as a seasonal treat
by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Seth Phillips Termites are a crucial source of nutrients for chimpanzees, who fish for them with tools, but they’re not always accessible. Now, researchers copying chimpanzee tools and techniques have shown that chimpanzees living in western Tanzania can only reliably fish for termites in the early wet season, when other foods are abundant. These chimpanzees fish for termites because they can, not because they need to. The results raise the possibility that chimpanzees could even be predicting termite availability before they go fishing. The discovery that chimpanzees use tools to fish for termites revolutionized our understanding of their abilities — but we still don’t have crucial context to help us understand termite fishing and chimpanzee minds. Are chimpanzees fishing for a seasonal treat or trying their luck? Researchers based at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) and University College London (UCL) investigated the relationship between termite availability and chimpanzee fishing. They found that termites are most available early in the wet season. Although other foods are abundant at that time, chimpanzees choose to termite fish then. “I believe these results set up an interesting hypothesis about wild chimpanzee foraging cognition,” said […]
Featured news
17 Jan 2020
New dog, old tricks? Untrained stray dogs can understand human cues
Study suggests that understanding between humans and dogs transcends training: Frontiers in Psychology
Featured news
09 Jan 2019
Better understanding of dog body language could make interactions safer
A new study shows that both children and parents frequently misinterpret canine behavior, but a short training session can bring substantial and lasting improvements; Frontiers in Veterinary Science