The floor of the world’s oldest forest has been unearthed. Scientists are now piecing together a view of this ancient site, dating back about 385 million years ago, which could shed new ligh
Researcher who previously found evidence of the Earth's earliest tree, has gone one step further. The research team has now unearthed and investigated an entire fossil forest dating back 385 million y
A recent decline in ovenbirds, a ground-nesting migratory songbird, in forests in the northern Midwest United States is being linked by scientists to a seemingly unlikely culprit: earthworms.
A rare and endangered monkey in an African equatorial rainforest is providing a look into our climatic future through its DNA. Its genes show that wild drills, already an overhunted species, may see a
Research, using computer models to reconstruct the jaw muscle of Tyrannosaurus rex, has suggested that the dinosaur had the most powerful bite of any living or extinct terrestrial animal.
A new study is the first of its kind to systematically investigate the use of different land cover types for tiger habitat.
The tiny, little-noticed jewel wasp may provide some answers as to how different species differ in size and shape. And that could lead to a better understanding of cell growth regulation, as well as t
Pompeii-like, a 300-million-year-old tropical forest was preserved in ash when a volcano erupted in what is today northern China. Paleobotanists have reconstructed this fossilized forest, lending insi
Bumblebees can use cues from their rivals the honeybees to learn where the best food resources are, according to new research. In a new study, researchers trained a colony of bumblebees (Bombus terres
The famed “corpse flower” plant – known for its giant size, rotten-meat odor and phallic shape – has a new, smaller relative: A botanist has discovered a new sp
The love song of an extinct cricket that lived 165 million years ago has been brought back to life by scientists. The song – possibly the most ancient known musical song documented to date &
To generate phylogenetic trees and investigate relationships between organisms, scientists usually look for similarities and differences in the DNA. Plant scientists were confounded by the fact that t
A new species of prehistoric crocodile has been discovered. The extinct creature, nicknamed "Shieldcroc" due to a thick-skinned shield on its head, is an ancestor of today's crocodiles.
Another attractive theory falls foul of the facts. A census of trees in
Rainforests on three continents has confirmed that competition plays a central role in structuring communities. This contradicts
Biologists just discovered two new species of frogs in New Guinea, one of which is now the world's tiniest known vertebrate, averaging only 7.7 millimeters in size -- less than one-third of an inch. I
A groundbreaking study shows that earthquakes, including the recent 2010 temblors in Haiti and Taiwan, may be triggered by tropical cyclones.
Evidence of the single-celled ancestors of animals, dating from the interval in the Earth's history just before multicellular animals appeared, has been discovered in 570 million-year-old rocks from S
Smithsonian researchers report that the brains of tiny spiders may fill their body cavities and overflow into their legs. As part of research to understand how miniaturization affects brain size and b
Plant scientists have shed light on a problem that has puzzled researchers since the first virus was discovered in 1892 -- how exactly do they cause disease?
Researchers have discovered a key mechanism that -- much like a construction site foreperson -- controls the direction of plant growth as well as the physical properties of the biopolymers that plants
New genetic evidence confirms what is now the eastern United States as the single geographic domestication site of modern sunflowers.
New research shows that evolution can occur so rapidly in organisms that its impact on population numbers and other aspects of biology can be seen within just a few generations. Working on aphids, the
A new study shows that as climate change enhances tree growth in tropical forests, the resulting increase in litterfall could stimulate soil microorganisms leading to a release of stored soil carbon.
A new study of plants that are reproduced by 'cloning' has shown why cloned plants are not identical. Scientists have known for some time that 'clonal' (regenerant) organisms are not always identical.
Whatever does not kill a plant may actually make it stronger. After being partially eaten by grazing animals, for example, some plants grow bigger and faster and reproduce more successfully than they
Scientists present an alarming assessment of several economically important fish populations. The analysis of 61 commercially important species classified 7 species as threatened with extinction and 4 as "near threatened" for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
A dolphin's ability to heal quickly from a shark bite with apparent indifference to pain, resistance to infection, hemorrhage protection, and near-restoration of normal body contour might provide insights for the care of human injuries, according to experts. Researchers interviewed dolphin handlers/marine biologists, and reviewed the limited literature about dolphin healing to offer some new obser
Scientists say new research is expected to profoundly affect the field of ecology and can assist the management of ecosystems, including forests, lakes, and oceans. And it's all because of parasites.
Until recently, scientists were uncertain about how much and where in the world terrestrial carbon is being stored. Now scientists report that, between 1990 and 2007, the world's forests stored about 2.4 gigatons of carbon per year.
The decline of large predators and other "apex consumers" at the top of the food chain has disrupted ecosystems all over the planet, according to a review of recent findings conducted by an international team of scientists. The study looked at a wide range of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems and concluded that "the loss of apex consumers is arguably humankind's most pe