News tagged with animal kingdom

Predators hunt for a balanced diet

An international team of scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Oxford in the UK, University of Sydney (Australia), Aarhus University (Denmark) and Massey University (New Zealand) based their research ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 11, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Family composition determines success of great tit parents

Great tits who have as many sons as daughters acquire more grandchildren than great tits with an uneven family composition. That is because their children are reproductively more successful concludes NWO researcher Reinder ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 19, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Wandering females give stags the slip

The fierce battles of rutting stags may be the most famous symbols of males competing over females in the animal kingdom. But it turns out the stags don't have things all their own way.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 19, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The peculiar feeding mechanism of the first vertebrates

A fang-like tooth on double upper lips, spiny teeth on the tongue and a pulley-like mechanism to move the tongue backwards and forwards -- this bizarre bite belongs to a conodont and, thanks to fresh fossil ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created May 19, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Fossil bird study describes ripple effect of extinction in animal kingdom

(PhysOrg.com) -- A University of Florida study demonstrates extinction's ripple effect through the animal kingdom, including how the demise of large mammals 20,000 years ago led to the disappearance of one ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

UT professor defines play, discovers even turtles need recess

Seeing a child or a dog play is not a foreign sight. But what about a turtle or even a wasp? Apparently, they play, too.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 19, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Tiny primate 'punk' in danger of extinction

(PhysOrg.com) -- Charismatic Colombian primate population suffers significant drop.

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 12, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Mongooses pass traditions on to their young, too

For the passing on of traditions, it appears that an especially big brain isn't required. A new report published online on June 3rd in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, shows that even mongooses in the ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 03, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

An island as a reflection of the world

(PhysOrg.com) -- Nematodes, which are tiny worms, can be found in virtually every ecosystem throughout the world, and count as one of the most biologically diverse groups in the animal kingdom. The biologists ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 19, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Plumage-color traits more extreme over time

Ever since Darwin, researchers have tried to explain the enormous diversity of plumage colour traits in birds. Now researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, are adding something new to this particular ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 03, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

The Bigger The Animal, The Stiffer The 'Shoes'

(PhysOrg.com) -- If a Tiger's feet were built the same way as a mongoose's feet, they'd have to be about the size of a hippo's feet to support the big cat's weight. But they're not.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 24, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Brains versus brawn: Study finds there's more to the Noisy Miner than just being a backyard bully

(PhysOrg.com) -- Some consider the Noisy Miner bird a badly-behaved backyard bully - an avian aggressor that moves into the neighbourhood and quickly takes over.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Rare woodland plant uses 'cryptic coloration' to hide from predators

It is well known that some animal species use camouflage to hide from predators. Individuals that are able to blend in to their surroundings and avoid being eaten are able to survive longer, reproduce, and ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Study: Sea stars bulk up to beat the heat

A new study finds that a species of sea star stays cool using a strategy never before seen in the animal kingdom. The sea stars soak up cold sea water into their bodies during high tide as buffer against potentially damaging ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Can a plant be altruistic?

The concept of altruism has long been debated in philosophical circles, and more recently, evolutionary biologists have joined the debate. From the perspective of natural selection, altruism may have evolved because any ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0