SOME of the tiniest creatures on the planet are vital for the environment. But there is a worldwide fall in insect numbers after an accelerating rate of extinction.
Bird species that have the capacity to express novel foraging behaviours are less vulnerable to extinction than species that do not, according to a collaborative study involving McGill University and CREAF Barcelona and published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The current unforeseeable situation offers scientists an undesired, albeit unique opportunity to study the relationship between humans and the environment.
Evolution is a tinkerer, not an engineer. "Evolution does not produce novelties from scratch. It works with what already exists," wrote Nobel laureate François Jacob in 1977, and biologists continue to find this to be true.
Large open-water fish predators such as tunas or sharks hunt for prey more intensively in the temperate zone than near the equator. With this result, a study headed by Marius Roesti of the University of Bern is challenging a long-standing explanation for.
An international study recently published in the journal Nature, lays out the essential roadmap of actions required for the planet's marine life to recover to full abundance by 2050.
Movement breaks camouflage, making it risky for anything trying to hide. New research has shown that dynamic features common in many natural habitats, such as moving light patterns, can reduce being located when moving.
