Mating and Breeding News

December 23, 2024

Top Headlines

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 in what was already one of the most widely studied ...

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 ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:19pm EST

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 ...

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 can ...

New Research Reveals Bird 'Divorce Rates' Linked to Rainfall

Nov. 25, 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 ...

Bird Study Finds Sons Help Their Parents Less Than Daughters Because They're Scouting Future Prospects

Oct. 24, 2024 — Male birds help their parents less than females because they're too busy scouting for new places to live and breed, a study ...

Cancer Prevalence Across Vertebrate Species Decreases With Gestation Time, May Increase With Adult Mass

Oct. 24, 2024 — Cancer prevalence rates varied widely across vertebrate species and generally increased with higher adult mass and decreased with longer gestation time, according to new ...

Marri Trees a Lifeline for Many Native Bee Species in Biodiversity Hotspot

Oct. 24, 2024 — New research has revealed Marri trees are critical to the survival of more than 80 species of native bee in Western Australia's South West region, which is one of the world's most ...

Real-Time Visualization of Chick Embryo Development from Egg to Chick

Oct. 16, 2024 — Researchers have developed a method for culturing fertilized chick eggs without their shells. The eggs were placed in an artificial culture vessel made of transparent film, allowing for real-time ...

Elucidating the Neural Basis of Reduced Sexual Receptivity in Female Mice During the Non-Estrus Phase

Oct. 16, 2024 — Researchers investigated the neural mechanisms underlying the behavioral transition from the sexually receptive estrus stage to the non-receptive phase, as part of the hormone-dependent behavioral ...

Male Mice Use Female Mice to Distract Aggressors and Avoid Conflict

Oct. 15, 2024 — Researchers tracked the behavior of mice using machine learning to understand how they handle aggressive behavior from other mice. The researchers' findings show that male mice deescalate ...

Dance, Gibbon, Dance!

Oct. 11, 2024 — Female crested gibbons display jerky, almost geometric patterns of movement. Researchers have studied these conspicuous movements, which are comparable to human dances. They describe the structure of ...

In Studying the Mating Rituals of Fruit Flies, Scientists May Have Learned Something About How Brains Evolve

Oct. 9, 2024 — Researchers have identified how the architecture of brain circuits helps different species flexibly adapt to new mating signals across evolutionary ...

Return of the Elephants Seals: From a Few to Thousands

Sep. 27, 2024 — A new international study has revealed the genetic impact of hunting in northern elephant seals. The research shows that this species narrowly escaped extinction by hunting, resulting in lasting ...

Elucidating the Mechanism Underlying De Novo Membrane Formation During Gametogenesis

Sep. 27, 2024 — Researchers meticulously examined the gametogenesis of budding yeast, a process involving meiosis and spore formation, using live imaging techniques. Their findings revealed that during sporulation, ...

Personality Traits in Geese Linked to Love Match and Reproductive Success

Sep. 21, 2024 — Birds of a feather flock together but strong pairing in geese has been shown to produce better breeding results, according to a new study. Focusing on a group of captive greylag geese, bird behaviour ...