Sexual behavior is one reason why female mammals typically live longer than their male counterparts, according to a new study. Researchers from Germany, Denmark, France, Hungary and Belgium analyzed data relating to 528 mammal species and 648 bird species in zoos, in the most comprehensive study to date on sex differences in adult life expectancy in mammals and birds, published …
Read More »
It’s been said that there are many benefits to being a marine biologist, but there is one insurmountable obstacle we humans simply can’t overcome: we are, in fact, primates. Terrestrial ones at that, meaning we don’t have the upper hand when it comes to tracking animals like whales in their natural environment. For this reason, many whales are some of …
Read More »
Insects are more influential than we realize By showing that ant- and termite-based diets evolved repeatedly, the study highlights the overlooked role of social insects in shaping biodiversity. “This work gives us the first real roadmap, and what really stands out is just how powerful a selective force ants and termites have been over the last 50 million years, shaping …
Read More »
If you want to get by in this world, you could do a lot worse than developing a predilection for ants. In fact, ant-eating may be a dramatically overlooked recipe for success. According to new research, relying on ants as a sole food source has evolved at least 12 times in mammals since the reign of the dinosaurs ended some …
Read More »A first-of-its-kind study traces the rise of ant- and termite-eaters, revealing how mammals returned to the evolutionary table — at least a dozen times — to hone traits for feasting on the social insect bonanza that exploded after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Mammals have developed some unusual eating habits over the past 100 million years, but a new study …
Read More »