Mating and Breeding News

April 19, 2024

Top Headlines

Apr. 16, 2024 — Plants with multiple sets of chromosomes, known as polyploids, are salt-tolerant or drought-resistant and often achieve higher yields. However, newly formed polyploid plants are often sterile or have reduced fertility and are unsuitable for breeding ...

Bonobos Are More Aggressive Than Previously Thought, Study Shows

Apr. 12, 2024 — Chimpanzees and bonobos are often thought to reflect two different sides of human nature -- the conflict-ready chimpanzee versus the peaceful bonobo -- but a new study shows that, within their own communities, male bonobos are more frequently ...

Oxidant Pollutant Ozone Removes Mating Barriers Between Fly Species

Apr. 11, 2024 — Researchers show that ozone levels, such as those found in many places on hot summer days today, destroy the sex pheromones of fruit fly species. As a result, some natural mating boundaries maintained by species-specific pheromones no longer exist. ...

How and Why Animals Can Live Alongside Humans

Apr. 2, 2024 — New research suggests animals can thrive in human-dominated environments by being expert judges of risk. Researchers examined the behavior of great-tailed grackles, a bird species successfully invading much of urban North America, showing that the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:52pm EDT

Older Males out-Compete Young Males Outside Breeding Pairs, Bird Study Shows

Apr. 16, 2024 — Young male blue tits are less successful in fathering offspring outside their breeding pair, not because of a lack of experience, but because they ...

Deforestation Harms Biodiversity of the Amazon's Perfume-Loving Orchid Bees

Apr. 10, 2024 — A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of ...

Lyrebird Synchronizes Elements of Its Mating Dance

Mar. 28, 2024 — To woo a mate, the Albert's Lyrebird of Australia becomes a real song-and-dance bird. Each male first chooses a stage of entangled vines, then in performance he shakes the vines as part of his ...

The Behavior of Ant Queens Is Shaped by Their Social Environment

Mar. 26, 2024 — The queens in colonies of social insects, such as ants, bees, and wasps, are considered the veritable embodiment of specialization in the animal kingdom. The common perception is that the queen's ...

Severe Hurricanes Boost Influx of Juveniles and Gene Flow in a Coral Reef Sponge

Mar. 26, 2024 — A study is the first to evaluate substrate recolonization by sponges in the U.S. Virgin Islands after two catastrophic storms using genetic analyses ...

Why Do Tree Frogs Lay Their Eggs on the Ground?

Mar. 15, 2024 — A curious aspect of tree frogs is that they often lay their eggs on the ground where the risk of predation by natural enemies is greater than in the trees where they live. A research team suggested ...

Wild Bird Gestures 'After You'

Mar. 25, 2024 — A small-bird species, the Japanese tit (Parus minor), uses wing movements as a gesture to convey the message 'after you,' according to new research. When a mating pair arrives at their nest box with ...

Scientists Discover How Diadem Butterfly Mimics African Queen

Mar. 18, 2024 — Scientists have discovered how female Diadem butterflies have evolved to look like African Queen butterflies to repel ...

New Study on Mating Behaviors Offers Clues Into the Evolution of Attraction

Mar. 14, 2024 — In examining the mating rituals of roundworms, researchers uncovered a unique approach to reproduction that maximizes genetic ...

Tsetse Fly Fertility Damaged After Just One Heatwave, Study Finds

Mar. 12, 2024 — The fertility of both female and male tsetse flies is affected by a single burst of hot weather, researchers have ...

Sap Beetles Vs Wind: What Pollinates Screw Pines?

Mar. 27, 2024 — Researchers have discovered the first species pollinated by sap beetles in the genus Pandanus, a group of palm-like plants native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Eurasia. The discovery ...

New Discovery Reveals How the Egg Controls Sperm Entry

Mar. 14, 2024 — After the egg has been fertilized by a sperm, the surrounding egg coat tightens, mechanically preventing the entry of additional sperm and the ensuing death of the embryo, a new study finds. The work ...

Menopause Explains Why Some Female Whales Live So Long

Mar. 13, 2024 — Females of some whale species have evolved to live drastically longer lives so they can care for their families, new research ...

Rope Entanglement Cause of Low Breeding Rates in Right Whales, Analysis Finds

Mar. 13, 2024 — New findings show the severe impact of fishing gear entanglements on the survival of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, with every injury from entanglements impacting population ...

New Study Reveals Transgenerational Effects of Pesticide Linuron on Frogs

Mar. 11, 2024 — Grand-offspring of male frogs exposed to the pesticide linuron exhibited changes in their DNA that was linked to significant physiological impacts, a study reveals. The research highlights the ...

Research Sheds Light on New Strategy to Treat Infertility

Mar. 8, 2024 — New research describes the science behind a promising technique to treat infertility by turning a skin cell into an egg that is capable of producing viable embryos. The technique could be used by ...

Mutation Solves a Century-Old Mystery in Meiosis

Mar. 8, 2024 — A team deciphers complicated mechanism underlying genetic ...

How Does a Virus Hijack Insect Sperm to Control Disease Vectors and Pests?

Mar. 7, 2024 — A widespread bacteria called Wolbachia and a virus that it carries can cause sterility in male insects by hijacking their sperm, preventing them from fertilizing eggs of females that do not have the ...

Research Explores the Cooling Effects of 'Scuba-Diving' in Lizards

Mar. 5, 2024 — Anoles are the scuba-diving champions of the lizard world, able to stay underwater for more than 16 minutes. For animals whose body temperature depends on the environment, time spent in a cool ...

Dung Beetles Show Their Love by Sharing the Load

Mar. 1, 2024 — Dung beetles share the load when it comes to showing their affection for each-other, when transporting a 'brood ...

Shining a Light on the Effects of Habituation and Neural Adaptation on the Evolution of Animal Signals

Feb. 29, 2024 — A new paper examines the possible effects of two properties of receiver playing fields documented in studies of animal psychology -- habituation and neural adaptation -- on the efficacy of mate ...

Walleye Struggle With Changes to Timing of Spring Thaw

Feb. 27, 2024 — Walleye are one of the most sought-after species in freshwater sportfishing, a delicacy on Midwestern menus and a critically important part of the culture of many Indigenous communities. They are ...

Pollinator's Death Trap Turns Into Nursery

Feb. 19, 2024 — In a group of plants that is famous for luring its pollinators into a death trap, one species offers its flowers as a nursery in exchange. The discovery blurs the line between mutualism and ...

Giant Antarctic Sea Spiders Reproductive Mystery Solved

Feb. 18, 2024 — Instead of carrying the babies until they hatched, as in most species of sea spiders, one parent (likely the father) spent two days attaching the eggs to the rocky bottom where they developed for ...

Asexual Propagation of Crop Plants Gets Closer

Feb. 15, 2024 — 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 ...

New Understanding of Avian Eggshell Attachment -- Implications for Medical Procedures and Egg Industry

Feb. 14, 2024 — Athletes often suffer injuries to ligaments in their knees, particularly to the anterior cruciate ligament or ACL. While surgery to replace these torn ligaments is becoming increasingly common around ...

These Male Marsupials Give Up Sleep for Sex

Jan. 25, 2024 — All animals need sleep. When humans or animals don't get enough, it can lead to trouble paying attention, irritability, and other ill effects. In a new study, researchers have made the ...

World's First Successful Embryo Transfer in Rhinos Paves the Way for Saving the Northern White Rhinos from Extinction

Jan. 24, 2024 — Scientists have succeeded in achieving the world's first pregnancy of a rhinoceros after an embryo transfer. The southern white rhino embryo was produced in vitro from collected egg cells and ...

For This Beetle, 'Date Night' Comes Every Other Day

Jan. 18, 2024 — Life on Earth runs on a 24-hour cycle as the planet turns. Animals and plants have built-in circadian clocks that synchronize metabolism and behavior to this daily cycle. But one beetle is out of ...

Semen Microbiome Health May Impact Male Fertility

Jan. 18, 2024 — A new study finds that a small group of microorganisms may be influencing sperm ...