Plants & Animals

Through a series of prosocial choice tasks, researchers reveal prosocial and antisocial characteristics in male convict cichlid fish. The fish distinguish between female breeding partners, unknown females, and rival males by adjusting their actions to either provide food for both them and the females or avoid providing food for the rival males.

Dead bodies of cetaceans, aquatic mammals like whales and dolphins, are occasionally found washed ashore. A research team from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is the first team worldwide to routinely apply “virtopsy”, a pioneer dead body examination technique, on stranded cetaceans to find out their causes of death, health conditions, as well as the anthropogenic impact on their well-being. The team’s valuable experience and findings could facilitate governmental agencies and stakeholders to implement effective marine conservation plans and policy decisions for vulnerable cetaceans worldwide.

An international team of researchers has found that A. virginicus extracts appear to be effective against several human diseases, including diabetes and cancer. The results were published on Dec. 31, 2020, in a special issue of Plants, titled “Biological Activities of Plant Extracts.”

The roles of physical structures in animal camouflage are not well known. This study illuminates an overlooked role of a mechanism for camouflage. Dr. Imada investigated how larvae of the long-bodied crane flies achieve uncanny resemblance to mosses, highlighting the functions of their special body armature, "fleshy lobes". The lobes on the lateral sides of the body had internal muscles, suggesting that they are not only for tricking enemy's eyes, but may also aid the larvae in crawling.

Expeditions planned this year will help scientists learn more about the species.

The global problem of unowned domestic cats, driven by the cats’ phenomenal reproductive success, carries significant economic, animal welfare and biodiversity costs. Big-data research led by an expert on veterinary medicine and infectious diseases at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), has found that although more than 80% of cats in Australia were desexed, only a fraction have had surgery before reaching puberty, thus creating a “pregnancy gap”. To close this gap and prevent unwanted litters, it is recommended that the age of desexing is before four months.

Researchers from The University of Tokyo have designed a new type of system using listening devices to detect and track deer positions in the wild

A team of scientists in Japan has developed a novel method to induce stem cell generation from the blood samples of dogs. Through this technique, the scientists hope to advance regenerative therapies in veterinary medicine. This would mean that, in the near future, veterinarians might be able to reverse conditions in dogs that were previously thought incurable.

Lingnan University in Hong Kong (LU) has recently established a publicly accessible Natural History Collection (the Collection) of specimens of local amphibians and reptiles to document Hong Kong’s biodiversity, and for research, conservation and education purposes.

Reproduction of native and invasive bitterling fishes and their hybridisation was studied in Japan. We collected mussels in which these bitterlings lay their eggs, kept them in aquaria, collected eggs/larvae ejected from mussels, and genotyped them. We found that hybrids occurred when local mussel density was low. The rapid decline of the host mussels and artificial introduction of an invasive congener interacted to cause the rapid decline of a native fish.

A transporter protein that regulates cell membrane cholesterol likely played an important role in vertebrate evolution, according to a review published by iCeMS researchers in the journal FEBS Letters.

Scientists release genetic results confirming a female turtle captured in October 2020 in Viet Nam is definitively the near extinct Swinhoe’s softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) – also known as the Yangtze giant softshell turtle and Hoan Kiem turtle.

Recognizing species is important for understanding regional biodiversity and for environmental conservation. However, taxonomic identity is sometimes obscure even with the organisms that are closest to human life.

A team of scientists from Hokkaido University has suggested that marimo maintain their characteristic spherical shape due to the rarity of the formation of reproductive cells.

A research team, affiliated with South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) has presented the whole-genome sequence and analyses of the endangered whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the largest extant fish on Earth.

Scientists have discovered an extremely rare species of cymothoid from the mouth of a museum specimen of a deep-sea shark caught from the East China Sea, suggesting its wide distribution around the globe.

Marine biologists studying the genetic structure of the Humboldt squid population found it is vulnerable to overfishing by fleets on its migration path.

Scientists are learning about species adaptation by comparing their stem cell-related genes.

Environmental pollutants threaten the health of marine mammals. This study established a novel cell-based assay using the fibroblasts of a finless porpoise stranded along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, to better understand the cytotoxicity and the impacts of environmental pollutants on the porpoise population. The results revealed that the concentrations of PCBs and DDTs which accumulated in the porpoise are likely to have an adverse effect at the cellular level.

A new study found that animals sampled in the wildlife-trade supply chain bound for human consumption had high proportions of coronaviruses, and that the proportion of positives significantly increases as animals travel from traders, to large markets, to restaurants.

Podonychus gyobu sp. nov., a second species of the genus Podonychus Jäch & Kodada, 1997, hitherto known only to inhabit Indonesia, is reported to have been found in Kyushu, Japan. The endophallic structures and the larva of P. gyobu sp. nov. are described.

A transparent container made by Nagoya University researchers allows easy and quick grafting of very young plants, with benefits for agriculture and plant research.

Scientists could gain insight into atypical sex development in vertebrates, including humans, by studying how nutrition affects sex changes in fish larvae.

When studying the larval morphology of Toramini (Coleoptera: Erotylidae) we found that larvae of the genus Toramus attach their exuviae to their distal abdomen, with each exuvia from the preceding instar attached to the next to form a vertical pile. Exuvial attachment is facilitated by modified hook-like setae with flattened shafts inserted into the exuvia of the previous instar. We discuss the possibility that the exuvial attachment serves as a kind of autotomy — “exuvial autotomy”.

A new feedstock featuring a local grass could provide a more reliable and nutritious food supply for livestock in Malaysia.

Policymakers will need to step up to the challenges caused by significant shifts in fish species distributions caused by climate change.

A calf was born from an embryo lacking cells which form a large part of the placenta, providing new insight into the regenerative capacity of mammalian embryos.

Researchers at the International Islamic University Malaysia have developed biodegradable food packaging container featuring the skin of the durian fruit that can also be used as 3D printing filament.

The relationship between body size and climate in lizards and snakes is more complex than originally thought.

Analysis of the Nomura’s jellyfish genome has identified unique genetic adaptations that helped them become early, successful multi-cellular predators.