New Discovery on Cat Tongues Leads to 'Soft Robot' Innovations

Nov 30, 2016 08:49 AM EST



New research from Georgia Tech has revealed one interesting discovery on cats’ tongue anatomy. This new discovery has led scientists to conceptualize “soft robotics” which can be used for gripping items.


According to a report from Washington...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/new-discovery-on-cat-tongues-leads-to-soft-robot-innovations/

Invasion Alert! Supercolony of Ants Set To Take Over The Planet, Research Suggests

Nov 29, 2016 03:50 AM EST



A supercolony of ants found in Ethiopian forests is set to invade the globe, a new study suggests.


According to the researchers, the infamous ant species, Lepisiota canescens, is displaying signs of supercolony formation and this could be a global threat.
Fox...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/invasion-alert-supercolony-of-ants-set-to-take-over-the-planet-research-suggests/

190,000 Birds Euthanized in the Netherlands to Avoid Bird Flu Outbreak

Nov 28, 2016 08:01 AM EST



Several countries are fearing another possible pandemic as the H5N8 virus, also known as the bird flu, is spreading across the world like wildfire. Netherlands has reportedly euthanized more than 190,000 ducks in the country in hopes of containing the virus and...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/190000-birds-euthanized-in-the-netherlands-to-avoid-bird-flu-outbreak/

Born to Perform: Conserving the Jaguar in the Amazon

Nov 27, 2016 05:46 AM EST



The central Amazon Jaguar Conservation Unit is the biggest jaguar stronghold in the world, but even here, biological diversity and jaguar populations can fluctuate. The Wildlife Conservation Society has recently presented a plan to help guide m...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/born-to-perform-conserving-the-jaguar-in-the-amazon/

Bluebird Feces Key to Healthy Vineyards

Nov 26, 2016 08:38 AM EST



Research showed that bluebirds inhabiting the California vineyards are beneficial to the winegrowers after studying their poop.


The new study published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances led by Julie Jedlicka from Missouri Western State University, aims to ...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/bluebird-feces-key-to-healthy-vineyards/

US Shift Away from Coal Is Saving Tuna From Mercury Contamination, Study Finds

Nov 25, 2016 06:26 AM EST



President-elect Donald Trump’s stance against climate change is alarming after what appears to be reductions in environmental toxins in the Atlantic bluefin tuna. 
Concern for the species began with a professor in New York found excess levels of mercury ...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/us-shift-away-from-coal-is-saving-tuna-from-mercury-contamination-study-finds/

Cats Locked Inside a House Forced to Eat Each Other to Survive

Nov 24, 2016 05:57 AM EST



A home in Adelaide, Australia was recently raided by local police as there had been reports that more than 10 cats had been locked inside a woman’s home. According to reports, the cats were starved to death and were forced to eat each other to...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/cats-locked-inside-a-house-forced-to-eat-each-other-to-survive/

Natural Sunlight Could Increase the Toxicity of Oil Spills to Wildlife

Nov 22, 2016 05:32 AM EST



A new study revealed that ultraviolet radiation from the sun could exacerbate the toxicity of the contaminants called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from oil spills.


The study, published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, showed...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/natural-sunlight-could-increase-the-toxicity-of-oil-spills-to-wildlife/

Adorable Miniature Pigs and Sheep Help Out in New Zealand Winery

Nov 22, 2016 08:40 AM EST



Are these the cutest animal helpers ever or what? Kunekune pigs and babydoll sheep contribute to the upkeep of the Yealands Winery, nibbling on the weeds and providing natural fertilizer. Plus, they’re too small to snack on the harvest.


According to a...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/adorable-miniature-pigs-and-sheep-help-out-in-new-zealand-winery/

Thanksgiving 2016: Archaeologists Unearth Evidence of Turkey Domestication in Mexico 1500 Years Ago

Nov 22, 2016 07:39 AM EST



Thanksgiving is soon approaching, but have you ever wondered when turkeys were first domesticated? Archaeologists from the Field Museum have discovered the first evidence of domestication as offerings 1,500 years ago.


According to the study published in...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/thanksgiving-2016-archaeologists-unearth-evidence-of-turkey-domestication-in-mexico-1500-years-ago/

LOOK: Real-Life Version of Niffler in J. K. Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'

Nov 21, 2016 06:44 AM EST



Harry Potter spin-off “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” dominated the box office this weekend, and everyone fell in love with the film’s cute beasts. Most of the creatures are just a fantasy, but one beast called the...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/look-real-life-version-of-niffler-in-j-k-rowlings-fantastic-beasts-and-where-to-find-them/

Corals of the Caribbean: How Corals with High Genetic Diversity Survived Climate Change

Nov 20, 2016 04:30 AM EST



Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have discovered one group of corals that survived the Caribbean coral extinction between one and two million years ago continues to adapt to future climate changes because of their high genetic ...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/corals-of-the-caribbean-how-corals-with-high-genetic-diversity-survived-climate-change/

Evidence of Dairying Discovered by Researchers Along Mediterranean Coast

Nov 18, 2016 10:43 AM EST



The significance of meat and dairy products in the Neolithic Mediterranean area is a debatable topic. Studies done in the past have proved that the attraction for milk may have been a driver for the domestication of animals like sheep, goats, and cow.


A new...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/evidence-of-dairying-discovered-by-researchers-along-mediterranean-coast/

US drilling plans spare Arctic’s federal waters

America’s Arctic will be free of new offshore oil and gas drilling, at least for the next five years, and that’s good news for people and wildlife.
Temperatures in the Arctic are warming faster than any other place on Earth, and melting sea ice is opening up access to the region’s previously ...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/us-drilling-plans-spare-arctics-federal-waters/

80,000 Reindeer Starve to Death as Arctic Sea Ice Melts

Nov 18, 2016 06:55 AM EST



In the space of one decade, abnormal weather patterns in Arctic Russia have resulted in the death of 80,000 reindeer due to starvation. What’s even more shocking is the speed with which it happened: 20,000 deer died in 2006 and 61,000 animals starved to...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/80000-reindeer-starve-to-death-as-arctic-sea-ice-melts/

Nine big wins for the world’s tigers

5. Surveys in India and Bhutan show increases in tiger populationsFebruary 2015: A new survey announcing significant increases in India’s Bengal tiger population shows conservation efforts are working: tiger numbers increased from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,226 in 2014. The survey, published by I...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/nine-big-wins-for-the-worlds-tigers/

Fountain of Life Found? Old Mice Revived by Human Teenager's Blood

Nov 17, 2016 05:00 AM EST



Could it be that the long search for the Fountain of Youth is already over? The fountain that we thought to be more like a spring that can automatically change an old person into a young one may probably be coming from us, specifically in our own stream of life...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/fountain-of-life-found-old-mice-revived-by-human-teenagers-blood/

Skilful cockatoos able to shape same tool from different materials

Tool manufacture was once regarded a defining feature of humankind, but it is now known that a variety of animal species use and make their own tools. In nature, some of the most striking cases of tool-related behaviour are seen not just among close relatives of Homo sapiens, such as chimps...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/skilful-cockatoos-able-to-shape-same-tool-from-different-materials/

A hawk's-eye view of raptor hunting

New research from The Auk: Ornithological Advances suggests that the neural processes underlying visual hunting behavior in hawks are similar to those in humans. To study a raptor’s head movements while hunting, the scientists behind the study recruited an unusual research assistant...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/a-hawks-eye-view-of-raptor-hunting/

Scientists uncover genetic evidence that 'we are what we eat'

Researchers at the University of Oxford have demonstrated that the diets of organisms can affect the DNA sequences of their genes.

In a study on two groups of parasites, the team detected differences in DNA sequences that could be attributed to the composition of their food.
The results are...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/scientists-uncover-genetic-evidence-that-we-are-what-we-eat/

Canadian and European boreal forests differ but neither is immune to climate change

Rudy Boonstra has been doing field research in Canada’s north for more than 40 years.

Working mostly out of the Arctic Institute’s Kluane Lake Research Station in Yukon, the U of T Scarborough Biology Professor has become intimately familiar with Canada’s vast and unique...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/canadian-and-european-boreal-forests-differ-but-neither-is-immune-to-climate-change/

How mammary glands appeared in the course of evolution

A joint team of geneticists from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, demonstrated that the emergence of mammary glands in placental mammals and marsupials results from recycling certain ‘architect’ genes....

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/how-mammary-glands-appeared-in-the-course-of-evolution/

Tooling Around: Wild Chimpanzees Use Branches to Fish for Algae

Nov 15, 2016 05:20 AM EST



Man is known to possess reason and intellect, traits that motivate us to observe if other organisms in the world might be similar to us. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany shared their recent discovery ...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/tooling-around-wild-chimpanzees-use-branches-to-fish-for-algae/

When fish come to school, kids get hooked on science

A program that brings live fish into classrooms to teach the fundamentals of biology not only helps students learn, but improves their attitudes about science, a new study finds.

The study of nearly 20,000 K-12 students, who raised zebrafish from embryos over the course of a week, found that...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/when-fish-come-to-school-kids-get-hooked-on-science/

Dinosaur discovery casts light on final flurry of animals' evolution

A dinosaur fossil that almost went undiscovered is giving scientists valuable clues about a family of creatures that flourished just before the mass extinction.

The bird-like species, found at a building site in southern China and nicknamed the ‘Mud Dragon’, was preserved almost...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/dinosaur-discovery-casts-light-on-final-flurry-of-animals-evolution/

6 things to know about Tanzania’s largest protected area—and why we need to save it

Selous Game Reserve, one of Africa’s oldest reserves and Tanzania’s largest protected area, holds vast potential, but it also faces a number of threats. By bringing together governments, local communities, industry and civil society groups, we can transform Selous into a success sto...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/6-things-to-know-about-tanzanias-largest-protected-area-and-why-we-need-to-save-it/

Deformed Wing Virus, A Major Factor to High Mortality Rate Among Honey Bees

Nov 13, 2016 09:46 AM EST



Bees face a whole lot of threats from the environment. A group of Austrian scientists is of the view that one of them is not appreciated, without much studies being conducted. According to researchers, the rate of infection of the fatal deformed wing virus, an...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/deformed-wing-virus-a-major-factor-to-high-mortality-rate-among-honey-bees/

How sharks recycle toxic ammonia to keep their skin moist

The Pacific spiny dogfish shark is a master at recycling the ocean’s toxic ammonia and converting it into useful urea, according to new research from University of British Columbia (UBC) zoologists.

Animals typically eat protein in order to grow, but sharks also require protein to...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/how-sharks-recycle-toxic-ammonia-to-keep-their-skin-moist/

New research shows investing in elephant conservation is smart economic policy

African countries lose approximately $25 million annually in tourism revenue due to current levels of elephant poaching. In east, southern, and west Africa, investing in elephant conservation brings economic gains similar to investments in education. However, this is not the case for the...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/new-research-shows-investing-in-elephant-conservation-is-smart-economic-policy/

Deadly Blue Coral Snake Venom Might Actually Save Lives

Nov 03, 2016 08:24 AM EDT



Branded by scientists as the “killer of killers,” the long-glanded blue coral snake, one of the most feared species of serpents in the world, could actually save lives by using its venom as pain relief.


According to a research of Dr. Brian Fry ...

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http://skpsoft.com/view/animal+news/deadly-blue-coral-snake-venom-might-actually-save-lives/