In 1934, American entomologist Elwood Zimmerman, then an undergraduate student at Berkeley, participated in the "Mangarevan expedition" to Polynesia. Among the samples he collected were three tiny (4 mm long), orange-brown solitary bees found on

A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that draws logical inferences about the function of unknown proteins promises to help scientists unravel the inner workings of the cell.

Two natural scientists at Macquarie University, working with an evolutionary specialist at the University of New South Wales, all in Australia, have found that imperfect mimicry in spiders and insects is likely mainly shaped by adaptive processes rather t

Skywalker gibbon couples wake up each morning and sing to each other, their voices echoing across the forest canopy of their home. The primate's endearing love song helped scientists confirm what was formerly a strong hunch: Myanmar has the largest popul

Communities of microorganisms at the bottom of polar lakes evolved independently from other regions, influenced by the particular geological, biological, and climate history of their regions. The unique character of the microbial communities underscores t

Red nets are better at keeping away a common agricultural insect pest than typical black or white nets, according to a new study. Researchers have experimented with the effect of red, white, black and combination-colored nets on deterring onion thrips fro

When Profs. Joel Sussman and Israel Silman were asked to mentor Chinese students online during the COVID-19 pandemic, the last thing they expected to come out of the experience was highly innovative research on protein evolution that could change our unde

A new study published in the journal PLOS ONE explores the weight great fossil sites have on our understanding of evolutionary relationships between fossil groups—the lagerstätten effect—and for the first time, has quantified the power these sites have on

A report released today illuminates the causes of cheatgrass spread and compares the effectiveness of various methods to restore invaded plant communities.

In a recent PeerJ study, Professor Jennifer Vonk from Oakland University presents compelling evidence that exotic cats possess the remarkable ability to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar human voices.

When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered without fertilization, as UZH researchers have shown. The

Hairy bittercress is one of those plants that hurl their seeds in all directions to spread them effectively. A research team has now discovered that to do this, the plant uses a previously unknown mechanism that makes the seed pods contract and snap open,