Posts by animalculum@scholar.social
(DIR) Post #AwOPtfkhpkGctTVUrw by animalculum@scholar.social
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436-million-year-old #brachiopods used bristles to avoid crowding neighbors https://phys.org/news/2025-07-prehistoric-social-distancing-million-year.html paper: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2509354122"Unlike some brachiopods, Nucleospira calypta lacked a stalk and had a smooth, disk-shaped shell—traits that likely let them slide slowly, mm at a time... When 2 individuals got too close, their setae would touch, prompting gradual adjustments over time. The result was a stable arrangement that minimized competition—critical for #FilterFeeders"
(DIR) Post #Awr9xO8pYlf8Ne04Fk by animalculum@scholar.social
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New long-necked marine reptile species discovered in Germany's famous #Jurassic fossil beds https://phys.org/news/2025-07-necked-marine-reptile-species-germany.html paper: New long-necked marine reptile species discovered in Germany's famous Jurassic fossil beds https://phys.org/news/2025-07-necked-marine-reptile-species-germany.html"The #NewSpecies Plesionectes longicollum represents a previously unknown type of plesiosauroid—the group of long-necked marine reptiles that inhabited Earth's oceans during the age of dinosaurs."#PaleoArt by Peter Nickolaus #Plesiosaurs #Fossils #Animals
(DIR) Post #AwtDFuAxsqG37mRIRc by animalculum@scholar.social
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@NiwlCraft reject modernity, embrace tradition:
(DIR) Post #AxNG4z4HTzZdiUawAi by animalculum@scholar.social
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Spectral #bats greet each other with hugs and share food https://phys.org/news/2025-08-spectral-food-video-reveals.htmlCooperative behaviors and social interactions in the carnivorous bat Vampyrum spectrum: Marisa Tietge et al. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0321338"The largest carnivorous bat has a surprisingly rich social life, displaying affectionate greetings and providing food to family group members... The videos revealed a greeting similar to a hug, where one bat would greet another by wrapping its wings around the returning bat's body"
(DIR) Post #AxjeiTWAsQXZpJ7jhA by animalculum@scholar.social
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#Lotus flowers bloom again in Kashmiri lake after three decades https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/05/wular-lake-kashmir-lotus-flowers-bloom-after-three-decades-aoe"#WularLake once supported 5,000 people who harvested the edible roots, until the lake silted up after floods in 1992... Over the next three decades, the condition of the lake worsened. Parts were turned into dumping grounds and its area was drastically reduced... In 2020, the #Wular #Conservation and Management Authority began a de-silting programme... Five years on, the lotus flowers are blooming again."
(DIR) Post #Ay1m6QoYmCl2usN9kG by animalculum@scholar.social
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#NewSpecies of #DeepSea snailfish https://www.mbari.org/news/mbaris-advanced-underwater-technology-reveals-a-new-species-of-deep-sea-snailfish"#MBARI’s team were exploring the outer reaches of #MontereyCanyon, approximately 100 km offshore of Central #California, with MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts at a depth of 3,268 m when they observed this small snailfish swimming above the abyssal seafloor... The bumpy #snailfish has a distinctive pink color, a round head with large eyes, wide pectoral fins with long uppermost rays, and a bumpy texture."
(DIR) Post #Ay5kB5m50Wj3pl9A1I by animalculum@scholar.social
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Restoration brings back fresh water, #wildlife to degraded #páramos in Ecuador https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/restoration-brings-back-fresh-water-wildlife-to-degraded-paramos-in-ecuador/"#Ecuador’s Antisana páramo, southeast of #Quito, was degraded for centuries by cattle ranches... Once non-native livestock were removed and #restoration began, native vegetation, #wetlands, and species like #deer, #rabbits and #foxes returned... One of the most exciting findings was the presence of an #AndeanBear... this species passes down knowledge of trails from one generation to the next"
(DIR) Post #AyZPE8jOCathZqIXrM by animalculum@scholar.social
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First-ever documented case of a plant mimicking ants to attract pollinators https://phys.org/news/2025-09-documented-case-mimicking-ants-pollinators.htmlOlfactory floral #mimicry of injured ants mediates the attraction of kleptoparasitic fly #pollinators https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225011261"Vincetoxicum nakaianum (a #dogbane species native to #Japan described only a year ago) mimics the smell of #ants attacked by #spiders. This scent attracts #flies that feed on these injured #insects and pollinate the #flowers in the process."
(DIR) Post #AzPiaL08K4W25xCweu by animalculum@scholar.social
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World's largest rays may be diving to extreme depths to build mental maps of vast oceans https://phys.org/news/2025-10-world-largest-rays-extreme-depths.html"#MantaRays are capable of diving to depths greater than 1,200 m, far deeper than previously thought... they usually initiated an extreme dive within a day after moving off the continental shelf and into deeper waters... they may use cues such as changes in magnetic field, or sample changes in oxygen, temperature, light levels... to build a mental map that helps them navigate"
(DIR) Post #AzR3xDPF1GGXOZf6BM by animalculum@scholar.social
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One of the world's rarest #whales grows in population https://phys.org/news/2025-10-world-rarest-whales-atlantic-home.html"The #NorthAtlanticRightWhale now numbers an estimated 384 #animals, up 8 whales from the previous year. The whales have shown a trend of slow population growth over the past 4 years. It's a welcome development in the wake of a troubling decline in the previous decade... New measures in #Canada to keep them safe amid their increased presence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have been especially important"#Conservation
(DIR) Post #AzdzDdPs6liBywRhx2 by animalculum@scholar.social
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How #animals get their spots, and why they are beautifully imperfect https://phys.org/news/2025-10-animals-beautifully-imperfect.html"In 1952, Alan Turing hypothesized that as tissue develops, it produces chemicals that diffuse... but simulations produced blurrier spots than in nature... In 2023, Gupta et al. improved this by adding process where the particles pull others along... But the results were a little too perfect... they set off to improve the model... by giving cells defined sizes, they began producing imperfect patterns"
(DIR) Post #AzewCtgK2jkjQy3bNo by animalculum@scholar.social
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Global study reveals seabirds as critical connectors between islands, the ocean, and peoplehttps://phys.org/news/2025-10-global-reveals-seabirds-critical-connectors.htmlThe circular seabird economy: Holly Jones et al. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44358-025-00099-w"#Seabirds function as biological pumps, consuming prey in the ocean and transferring large quantities of nutrients to their breeding grounds... These nutrients, when they leach back into surrounding waters, support coral growth, bolster fish biomass, and enhance the resilience of ecosystems"
(DIR) Post #AzvrVyNfbE7fQVvbNo by animalculum@scholar.social
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US space news: Kremlinology about our own government! Billionaire gossip! We must build this sci-fi supermegathing named after a dude! Conspiracy theory! These numbers explain aliens! Chatbots in space!European space news: Here's another satellite that will make our lives better in subtle & predictable ways. All our science missions are on track. We will have this big meeting to make sure everyone's ok with the long term plans. Oh, the Japanese made a cute mascot for our joint Mercury probe.
(DIR) Post #B0GcWUwp67YpRFK01I by animalculum@scholar.social
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Rare #orchid brought back from brink of extinction https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yp21j5n25o"The #FenOrchid typically grows among reeds nestled in moss that retains moisture and relies on the presence of specific #moss and #fungi to grow... In 2010, it was only found at 3 sites in #EastAnglia and at 1 in #Wales. Now it has been recorded at 7 sites in #England and 3 in Wales - with its population in the UK exceeding 10,000 individual #plants... it is officially no longer considered under threat in #Britain"
(DIR) Post #B1967D2e1ZKFpCjohM by animalculum@scholar.social
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A #NewSpecies of tiny orange #frog discovered in #Brazil's cloud forests https://phys.org/news/2025-12-species-tiny-orange-frog-brazil.html paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0334746"These tiny #frogs are striking, with a bright orange body and distinctive green and brown freckles. Between 8.9 and 13.4 mm, they are among the smallest four-legged #animals on Earth... Scientists identified this new species of #PumpkinToadlet by its unique advertisement call... It consists of groups of two short bursts of sound."
(DIR) Post #B1EuUDf3qys5uCfjhg by animalculum@scholar.social
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#SilentSunday: Étang de Trébel, Côtes d'Armor, #Breizh
(DIR) Post #B1IfVbX3rkJjY7yLq4 by animalculum@scholar.social
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New #bacteria identified in 2025 https://fems-microbiology.org/femsmicroblog-new-bacteria-identified-in-2025/"When grown in high-nutrient media, Rugositalea oryzae produced smooth, rod-shaped cells. Grown in low-nutrient media, however, they showed wrinkles and transformed into shapes similar to fusilli pasta. By producing these wrinkles, cells can hold more transporters in the cell membrane to take up more nutrients from the environment."#FEMSmicroBlog #NewSpecies #Microbes
(DIR) Post #B1L1sjyhljB431m90i by animalculum@scholar.social
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Exploring the new #fungi identified in 2025 https://fems-microbiology.org/femsmicroblog-exploring-the-new-fungi-identified-in-2025/ by Dr. Sarah Wettstadt "From ant-manipulating fungi in Brazil to #RustFungi in Pakistan, and fungi from the #plastisphere in South Korea, 2025 revealed how diverse fungi are, and which ecological roles they play. Also, bamboo-dwelling species with unique morphologies caught our eye, highlighting the beauty of nature."#NewSpecies #FEMSmicroBlog #NewMicrobes
(DIR) Post #B1Xo211GuDbzCgz2fI by animalculum@scholar.social
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#NewSpecies are being discovered faster than ever before, study suggests https://phys.org/news/2025-12-species-faster.htmlRates, patterns, and projections of new species over time https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adz3071"scientists are discovering species quicker than ever before, with more than 16,000 new species discovered each year. The trend shows no sign of slowing... the #biodiversity among certain groups, such as #plants, #fungi, #arachnids, #fishes and #amphibians is richer than scientists originally thought"
(DIR) Post #B1doBZfuanq2EyJIWG by animalculum@scholar.social
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Scientists discovered 20 #NewSpecies deep in the Pacific Ocean https://www.npr.org/2025/12/21/nx-s1-5650781/new-species-deep-pacific-oceanIn the ocean's twilight zone, divers risk their lives in search of mysteries https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/guam-twilight-zone-coral-reefs-new-species"They were found after researchers retrieved 13 reef monitoring devices that had been placed in deep #CoralReefs in #Guam, which had been collecting data since 2018... Known as the #mesopelagic zone, it is a difficult area to reach because of pressure and requires specialized diving equipment."