Mating and Breeding News

January 29, 2025

Top Headlines

First Mouse With Two Male Parents to Reach Adulthood

Jan. 28, 2025 — A team of stem cell scientists have successfully used embryonic stem cell engineering to create a bi-paternal mouse -- a mouse with two male parents -- that lived until adulthood. Their results describe how targeting a particular set of genes ...

Fruit Flies' Courtship Song May Hold Key to Controlling Mosquitoes

Jan. 24, 2025 — Researchers have found and confirmed a gene that allows female fruit flies to get on the same frequency as courting males. Mosquitoes have the same gene and a similar courtship ritual, meaning that canceling the gene could in theory control mosquito ...

Uncovering the Role of Y Chromosome Genes in Male Fertility in Mice

Jan. 23, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered which genes on the Y chromosome regulate the development of sperm and impact fertility in male mice. This research could help us understand why some men don't produce enough sperm and are ...

Super Enzyme That Regulates Testosterone Levels in Males Discovered in 'Crazy' Bird Species

Jan. 23, 2025 — A single gene that regulates testosterone levels in a 'crazy' species of shore bird controls the development of three wildly different types of males, a new study has found. Ruffs have long ...

Latest Headlines

updated 7:48pm EST

Plant's Name-Giving Feature Found to Be New Offspring-Ensuring Method

Jan. 23, 2025 — 130 years after a fungus-eating plant received its name, a researcher has uncovered the purpose of the structure that inspired its name -- revealing a novel mechanism by which plants ensure ...

Ecologists Uncover Significant Ecological Impact of Hybrid Grouper Release Through Religious Practices

Jan. 19, 2025 — Ecologists have identified significant ecological risks associated with the release of hybrid groupers into Hong Kong's coastal waters, a practice ...

Polygamy Is (Not) for the Birds

Jan. 13, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered new insights into the evolution of bird behavior, revealing why certain mating systems persist while others disappear over ...

Quantity Over Quality? Different Bees Are Attracted to Different Floral Traits

Jan. 2, 2025 — When it comes to deciding where they're going to get their next meal, different species of bees may be attracted to different flower ...

Fishy Business: Male Medaka Mating Limits Revealed

Jan. 7, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered a daily mating capacity for medaka, providing important insights into the relationship between the cost of gamete production and sexual ...

Genetics of Alternating Sexes in Walnuts

Jan. 2, 2025 — Biologists have revealed genetics behind the alternating sexes of walnut trees. The research reveals a mechanism that has been stable in walnuts and their ancestors going back 40 million years -- and ...

Dogs Trained to Sniff out Spotted Lanternflies Could Help Reduce Spread

Jan. 2, 2025 — Growers and conservationists have a new weapon to detect invasive spotted lanternflies early and limit their spread: dogs trained to sniff out egg masses that overwinter in vineyards and ...

It's Complicated: Researchers Discover Unexpected Complexity of Sexual Differentiation in African Clawed Frog

Dec. 16, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered unexpected diversity in the genetic processes that determine the sex of the African clawed frog, a significant discovery ...

Salmon Genes Unlock Secrets of Puberty and Evolution

Dec. 17, 2024 — A study shows how a single gene in Atlantic salmon can dramatically influence the timing of puberty -- a key factor for salmon life cycle and ...

Corals Depend on Near Neighbors to Reproduce

Dec. 16, 2024 — A new study reveals corals must be within only a few meters of each other to successfully reproduce, leaving them vulnerable in a warming ...

Barn Swallow Research Offers Real-Time Insight on How New Species Form

Dec. 12, 2024 — In a new study, scientists describe how different traits used to choose mates in barn swallow populations are driving the bird to diverge, which could eventually lead to the formation of new ...

How Helicopter Parenting Protects Baby Reef Fish

Dec. 12, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a rare example of 'great fish parenting' with a common coral reef species found to actively protect their young by eating ...

Once-Endangered Kirtland's Warblers Show Extensive Signs of Inbreeding in Genome

Dec. 10, 2024 — The genome of a once-endangered songbird shows extensive signs of inbreeding, according to a new study. Because inbreeding can negatively impact survival and reproduction, the results could guide ...

Wild Birds' Gut Microbiome Linked With Its Ornamentation and Body Condition

Dec. 10, 2024 — Researchers spent five years studying the gut microbiomes of Northern cardinals, a common backyard songbird known for its vivid red plumage. Their study explores how microbiome diversity impacts the ...

Pups of Powerful Meerkat Matriarchs Pay a Price for Their Mom's Status

Dec. 9, 2024 — In meerkat society a dominant female is in charge, growling, biting, pushing and shoving to keep others in line. The matriarch's bullying behavior is fueled by high levels of testosterone that ...

New Research Reveals Bird 'Divorce Rates' Linked to Rainfall

Nov. 28, 2024 — A 16-year study on a closed population of Seychelles warblers (Acrocephalus sechellensis) on Cousin Island, Seychelles, has uncovered significant findings about how environmental factors -- ...

How Climate Change Threatens This Iconic Florida Bird

Nov. 25, 2024 — A new analysis of data from a long-term study finds that warmer winters driven by climate change reduced the number of offspring raised annually by the federally threatened Florida scrub-jay by 25% ...

Caste Differentiation in Ants

Nov. 22, 2024 — Scientists have revealed how a specific hormone regulates ant caste differentiation by phenotypic measurements of organ-level developmental changes and matching transcriptome ...

Secrets of Horse Genetics for Conservation, Breeding

Nov. 19, 2024 — Researchers are helping uncover new information about the Y chromosome in horses, which will help owners identify optimal lineages for breeding and help conservationists preserve breed ...

New Model Can Help Understand Coexistence in Nature

Nov. 18, 2024 — Different species of seabirds can coexist on small, isolated islands despite eating the same kind of fish. A researcher has been involved in developing a mathematical model that can be used to better ...

Bee Alert: Pesticides Pose a Real Threat to Over 70% of Wild Bees

Nov. 18, 2024 — A new study reveals alarming risks that pesticides pose to ground-nesting bees, which are crucial for pollination and food production. As agriculture increasingly relies on pesticides to protect ...

Generation of Rat Offspring from Ovarian Oocytes by Cross-Species Transplantation

Nov. 15, 2024 — Attempts to obtain eggs and offspring using oocytes in ovary have been made for keeping desirable traits in livestock, preserving human fertility, etc. Ovarian transplantation, one of those methods, ...

How Conflicting Memories of Sex and Starvation Compete to Drive Behavior, Study in Worms Shows

Nov. 14, 2024 — Two conflicting memories can both be activated in a worm's brain, even if only one memory actively drives the animal's behavior, finds a new ...

Scarlet Macaw Parents 'Play Favorites,' Purposefully Neglect Younger Chicks

Nov. 8, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that scarlet macaws purposefully neglect feeding the youngest chicks in most broods, even when resources are plentiful. This results in only one or two chicks being able ...

New Study Maps Dramatic 100-Million-Year Explosion in Color Signals Used by Animals

Nov. 7, 2024 — A recent study finds that color vision evolved in animals more than 100 million years before the emergence of colorful fruits and flowers. And there has been a dramatic explosion of color signals in ...

Deaf Male Mosquitoes Don't Mate

Nov. 5, 2024 — Romance is a complex affair in humans. There's personality, appearance, seduction, all manner of physical and social cues. Mosquitoes are much more blunt. Mating occurs for a few seconds in ...

High Survival Rates Explain 20 Years of Rapid Expansion of Wolves in Germany

Oct. 31, 2024 — Since wolves returned to Germany 20 years ago, they have spread quickly in many parts of the country. The rapid increase in the number of wolves was due to high survival and reproduction rates in ...

More Social Species Live Longer

Oct. 29, 2024 — New research has revealed that species that are more social live longer and produce offspring for a greater time-span. This is the first study on this topic which spans the animal kingdom, from ...

Invisible Anatomy in the Fruit Fly Uterus

Oct. 25, 2024 — Drosophila is one of the most thoroughly studied lab animals -- with the exception of the female reproductive tract. Now a team of biologists has taken the first deep look at the Drosophila uterus ...

Plastic Chemical Causes Causes DNA Breakage and Chromosome Defects in Sex Cells, Study Finds

Oct. 24, 2024 — A new study conducted in roundworms finds that a common plastic ingredient causes breaks in DNA strands, resulting in egg cells with the wrong number of ...