Puddle frog study reveals how climate change threatens genetically uniform species

Scientists have studied puddle frogs to identify genetic variation hotspots and places where the climate crisis could wipe out populations too homogenous to adapt. Even widespread species could be genomically vulnerable to the climate crisis, scientists warn. By studying the DNA of puddle frogs living in central African rainforests, the scientists found that areas of … Read more

Heatmaps reveal different trematode species favor specific body locations in amphibian hosts

Trematodes, also known as flukes, are a class of parasitic flatworms with intricate lifecycles. This makes them interesting to scientists, but they are also significant to both human health and wildlife conservation. Trematodes can cause infection in humans when people eat food the flatworms have contaminated, including raw fish, crustaceans and vegetables. Though this is … Read more

12,000-year-old campsite in Chile reveals evidence of elephant hunting by early humans

Thousands of years ago, early hunter-gatherers returned regularly to Tagua Tagua Lake in Chile to hunt ancient elephants and take advantage of other local resources, according to a study published May 22 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rafael Labarca of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and colleagues. Multiple archaeological sites are known … Read more

Aquatic Biology: Life in Water Environments

Aquatic biology is a branch of biology that focuses on the study of life in water environments, encompassing a wide range of organisms, ecosystems, and processes that thrive in aquatic habitats. From the smallest microorganisms to the largest marine mammals, aquatic biology explores the diversity, adaptations, interactions, and ecological dynamics of aquatic life across freshwater, … Read more

Developmental Biology: Processes from Fertilization to Organism Formation

Developmental biology is a fascinating field that explores the processes governing the growth, differentiation, and organization of cells into complex multicellular organisms. From the moment of fertilization, when a sperm cell fuses with an egg cell, to the formation of fully functional organs and tissues, developmental biology seeks to unravel the intricate molecular, cellular, and … Read more

Open access to natural history collections drives new scientific discoveries and educational opportunities

Natural history museums have entered a new stage of scientific discovery and accessibility with the completion of openVertebrate (oVert), a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. Researchers published a summary of the project in the journal BioScience in which they review the specimens that … Read more

Study links smaller testes in glass frogs to paternal care behavior

A multinational team of animal behavior researchers has uncovered intriguing insights into the reproductive dynamics of glass frogs, shedding light on the intricate interplay between parental care and reproductive anatomy. Their groundbreaking study, published in the esteemed journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, unveils a compelling correlation between the involvement of male glass frogs … Read more