Anthony Richardson, Professor, The University of Queensland; Chhaya Chaudhary, , University of Auckland; David Schoeman, Professor of Global-Change Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast, and Mark John Costello, Professor, University of Auckland 8 April 2021 The tropical water at the equator is renowned for having the richest diversity of marine life on Earth, with vibrant […]
Research: We’re surprisingly similar to Earth’s First Animals
The earliest multicellular organisms may have lacked heads, legs, or arms, but pieces of them remain inside of us today, new research shows. Jules Bernstein, University of California – 8 March 2021 According to a UC Riverside study, 555-million-year-old oceanic creatures from the Ediacaran period share genes with today’s animals, including humans. “None of them […]
Giant ancient sharks had enormous babies that ate their siblings in the womb
Tom Fletcher, Honorary Research Fellow in Palaeobiology, University of Leicester Made famous by the 2018 blockbuster The Meg, the largest predatory shark ever discovered, the megalodon, is a bit of a mystery. We know it lived between 15 and 3.6 million years ago and it reached at least 14 metres in length, more than double […]
Metals from urban pollution are contaminating the last forests of Cape Town
Anne-Liese Naude (Kruger), Postdoctoral fellow, Cape Peninsula University of Technology – 14 December 2020 Forests are good for the planet: they purify the air and moderate the climate. They are abundant in resources, providing habitat, food, shelter and a rich biodiversity of plant and animal life. So it’s a worry that forests located near major […]
Is our most distant animal relative a sponge or a comb jelly? An answer
Max Telford, Professor of Zoology, UCL and Paschalia Kapli, Research Fellow in Genetics, Evolution & Environment, UCL – 12 December 2020 The theory of evolution shows that all of life stems from a single root and that we are related, more or less distantly, to every other living thing on Earth. Our closest ancestors, as […]
Dragonflies in your garden
The Dragonfly symbolises change, transformation, adaptability, self-realisation and the deeper meaning of life. Life is a Garden You know summer’s in full swing when the dragonflies come out to play! These glorious goggas are in not dangerous and are actually superb pest controllers with a most captivating twist. Watching these elegant insects dance around the […]
Daytime sightings of elusive aardvarks hint at troubled times in the Kalahari
Robyn Hetem, Senior Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand and Nora Marie Weyer, PhD – Wildlife Conservation Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand Aardvarks are notoriously elusive, nocturnal mammals. They generally hide in their underground burrows during the day and emerge at night to feed exclusively on ants and termites. Aardvarks are widespread throughout most habitats of […]
What dogs see when they watch television
Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, PhD candidate, University of Central Lancashire Dog owners often notice their pets watching televisions, computer screens and tablets. But what is going on in their pooch’s head? Indeed, by tracking their vision using similar methods used on humans, research has found that domestic dogs do prefer certain images and videos. This research indicates […]
Three new penguin species discovered in the Southern Ocean
Jane Younger, Research Fellow, Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of Bath – 8 November 2020 When you think of scientists discovering new species, you might imagine searching the Amazon rainforest for new types of insect or the depths of the ocean for undiscovered crustaceans. But these days most new species we discover are found […]
The lovable Cape white-eye
The Cape white-eye (Zosterops virens) is a monogamous small passerine bird in the white-eye family and native to southern Africa. The species is about 12 cm long with rounded wings, strong legs, and a conspicuous ring of white feathers round the eyes. The upperparts are green, and the throat and vent are bright yellow. The Orange […]