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Ecologists from the School of Biological Sciences (SBS) and the Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have identified significant ecological risks associated with the release of hybrid groupers into Hong Kong's coastal waters, a practice often linked to religious 'mercy release' rituals.

Smaller fish species are more nutritious, lower in mercury and less susceptible to overfishing, a Cornell-led research team has found.

A new study reported in Current Biology on January 20 is the first to describe a phenomenon researchers refer to as "contagious urinations." The study in 20 captive chimpanzees living at the Kumamoto Sanctuary in Japan shows that, when one chimp pees, others are more likely to follow.

Cetaceans—marine mammals that include dolphins, porpoises, and whales—are crucial to coastal ecology. Their presence fosters carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and redistribution, and control of certain prey species. Moreover, they serve as bioindicators of overall ocean health.

Tropical forests host an estimated 62% of global terrestrial vertebrate species on less than 20% of the Earth's land area and provide resources that directly benefit ~1.5 billion people throughout the world.

Freshwater ecosystems cover less than 1% of Earth's surface, but are vital for life on this planet. New research reveals that damage to these environments is pushing freshwater animals to the edge of extinction, with 24% of species in danger of being wiped out.

Michigan State University researchers—along with colleagues at the University of Florida, citizen scientists and their "truffle dogs"—have discovered two new species of truffle. The research was published in the journal Mycologia and featured on its cover.

They are two of Florida's most iconic waterbirds, who look and behave similarly, but it turns out the anhinga and the double-crested cormorant are quite different, new research from the University of Miami indicates.

How can chimpanzees, so closely related to humans, have almost no sense of rhythm? Behavioral biologist Michelle Spierings and two students demonstrated that chimps can actually drum and move rhythmically—each following their own unique beat.

Desert lizards are facing a 'cost-of-living' squeeze as global temperatures continue to rise, a new study finds. For a lizard, the 'cost-of-living' is tightly linked to its body temperature, which dictates both how much food it needs and whether it can go outside to feed. Desert lizards are especially challenged because food is sparse, and it is often too hot to forage.

Continental European snakes, geckos and Italian wall lizards are making their way to northern Europe undetected among imports of ornamental olive trees destined for gardens and green spaces.

Life isn't always a beach for Phillip Island's beloved penguins, who have been found to divorce their partners and find a new mate if they aren't satisfied with the number of young filling the nest—but it's a risky decision that can lower success in their next breeding attempt.

Our world is warming, and how exactly that will affect our ecosystems is a critical question. As the climate shifts, plants and animals are already responding in some obvious ways—like your daffodils blooming a bit earlier each spring—but the finer details are still unfolding. This timing of natural events, known as phenology, is changing across species and ecosystems as the climate warms, with potentially...

It's all connected: coronaviruses and other emerging infectious diseases, loss of biodiversity, and destruction of the environment by humans. Around the world, pathogens and parasites are responding to the changes in unexpected ways, fueling the rise of pandemics and the extinction of countless plant and animal species.

Shell-dwelling cichlids take intense care of their offspring, which they raise in abandoned snail shells. A team at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence used 3D-printed snail shells to find out what happens inside.

A mussel bed along Northern California's Dillon Beach is as healthy and biodiverse as it was about 80 years ago, when two young students surveyed it shortly before Pearl Harbor was attacked and one was sent to fight in World War II.

A research team from the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) studied the global variability of plant hydraulics in relation to wind speed. Their findings are published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Scientists have developed a new method to monitor the elusive eastern indigo snake, the longest native snake in the United States. This innovative approach looks for traces of environmental DNA in soil samples and can significantly bolster efforts to conserve this threatened species.

Hummingbirds are extremely small but remarkably tough. Some species make migrations of more than 9,000 km (about 5,590 miles) a year. Their journeys are largely fueled by nectar, which is sipped from wildflowers and converted to fat.

Researchers have used dung records to create high-resolution maps of herbivore distribution around the world. Their study, published in Nature Food, reveals a strong positive relationship between dung presence and grazing pressure, meaning the amount of dung found in a particular location could help us understand approximately how many herbivores live there.

While fishing off the coast of Honduras in 2023, a group of anglers stumbled upon a rare sight: a pod of orcas hunting down a sperm whale.

An international team of environmentalists, zoologists and land use specialists has developed an extinction probability metric for land that is converted to agriculture. Their paper is published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

Northern pike are moving through salt water to invade freshwater habitats in Southcentral Alaska, according to a recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

An international research team led by the University of Konstanz and Oxford Brookes University concludes that gentle touch is not only good for mental health, but also for the evolution of cooperation.

A new study shows distinct effects of neonicotinoid pesticide exposure in different bumble bee body parts, explaining why pesticides have diverse harmful effects and highlighting the need for more sensitive safety testing. The study is published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.

When a bird drapes its nest with snake skin, it isn't just making an interesting home décor choice. For some birds, it keeps predators at bay.

On the east coast of Australia, in tropical North Queensland, lies the Daintree rainforest—a place where the density of trees forms an almost impenetrable mass of green.

Mosquitoes are able to survive prolonged droughts by drinking blood, which helps to explain how their populations quickly rebound when it finally rains, biologists at the University of Cincinnati said.

The night sky teems with migrating songbirds, aloft in their millions following routes etched in evolutionary time. But those flight paths may not be entirely innate, according to research led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Evidence from over 18,300 hours of recorded flight calls suggests songbirds may "talk" to other species as they migrate, forming social connections and—just maybe—exchanging information about the journey.

Small-scale fisheries play a significant but overlooked role in global fisheries production and are key to addressing hunger and malnutrition while supporting livelihoods around the world, according to research featured in the journal Nature.

A team of environmental scientists at Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, in New Zealand, the University of Adelaide and the University of Auckland has found that the now-extinct flightless bird moa once consumed the colorful, truffle-like fungi that still grows in New Zealand. In their study published in the journal Biology Letters, the group conducted a DNA analysis of fossilized moa dung.

Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have discovered sophisticated behavioral strategies that enable parasitic crickets to survive within ant colonies. Led by Ryoya Tanaka, the team documented how these insects successfully navigate life among potentially lethal hosts through precise evasion tactics. Their findings, published in Communications Biology, reveal remarkable adaptations that allow these cricket species to thrive in a hostile environment.

Tree crops—for example, apple, cherry, olives, nuts, coffee, and cacao—cover more than 183 million hectares worldwide, yet remain largely overlooked in agricultural policies, despite their critical role in achieving the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Seabirds are the most threatened group of birds in the world. A new study led by researchers at Bangor University reveals the sophisticated decision-making seabirds known as Manx shearwaters must make to find fish at sea.

Longer, more diverse rotations of crops fertilized with livestock manure have many environmental benefits, but carbon sequestration isn't one of them, according to a new study led by Iowa State University researchers.

Giant isopods of the genus Bathynomus, which can reach more than 30 cm in length, are known as bọ biển or "sea bugs" in Vietnam. For the first time, one such species was described from Vietnamese waters and named Bathynomus vaderi. The name "vaderi" is inspired by the appearance of its head, which closely resembles the distinctive and iconic helmet of Darth Vader, the...

Researchers at Rice University have uncovered new insights into the evolution of bird behavior, revealing why certain mating systems persist while others disappear over time.

Predators at the top of a marine food chain 130 million years ago ruled with more power than any modern species, McGill research into a marine ecosystem from the Cretaceous period revealed.

Life on the Great Barrier Reef is undergoing big changes in the face of climate change and other human-caused pressures, a new study reveals.

An international team of scientists has revised the classification of Australia's most famous spider. With a bite more deadly to humans than that of any other spider, the iconic Sydney funnel-web has long been considered a single species, but the new analysis suggests that funnel-web spiders in the Sydney region actually represent three distinct species.

New genetic research on the Alaska red king crab reveals previously undiscovered diversity among different regions, suggesting the species is more resilient to climate change and changing ocean conditions.

Ecologists at the School of Biological Sciences of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have made valuable discoveries that could transform the conservation of two iconic cockatoo species: the Sulfur-crested cockatoos and the critically endangered Yellow-crested cockatoos—with only 2,000 individuals remaining in the wild for the latter.

To help rare elkhorn corals survive in Florida waters, coral researchers should place them in shallow ocean locations with fast currents, scientists at the University of Miami NOAA Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies and the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science explained in a paper, "Reef site and habitat influence effectiveness of Acropora palmata restoration and its...

Far from its home in Indonesia, a brightly colored creature moved around in an aquarium. Scientists peered into the tank, studying their pet-turned-specimen—and discovered it was a new species.

Prehistoric kangaroos in southern Australia had a more general diet than previously assumed, giving rise to new ideas about their survival and resilience to climate change, and the final extinction of the megafauna, a new study has found.

A research team led by the University of Oxford has carried out the most comprehensive assessment to date of how logging and conversion to oil palm plantations affect tropical forest ecosystems. The results demonstrate that logging and conversion have significantly different and cumulative environmental impacts. The results were published 10 January in Science.

The extensive northern forests of Canada, Alaska and Siberia are about to fundamentally change their tree density because of climate change. According to a new study led by researchers from Wageningen University & Research and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this change will increase the risk of forest fires. The research team explored 20 years of tree cover data...

Advances in data availability and accessibility have resulted in a new study on wild animal hunting in African tropical forests. It suggests that the commercial trade in wild-sourced meat is increasing, and highlights the urgent need for countries to develop robust frameworks to ensure hunting and trade is sustainable in a growing commercialized sector.

International research involving the University of Adelaide has found almost 30,000 wild species have been traded in the United States, according to data captured by U.S. wildlife trade monitoring organization Law Enforcement Manage Information System.

Tracking coyote movement in metropolitan areas shows the animals spend lots of time in natural settings, but a new study suggests the human element of city life has a bigger impact than the environment on urban coyote survival.