Mating and Breeding News

April 25, 2024

Top Headlines

With Hybrid Brains, These Mice Smell Like a Rat

Apr. 25, 2024 — Mice lacking an olfactory system have had their sense of smell restored with neurons from rats, the first time scientists have successfully integrated the sensory apparatus of one species into ...

Color Variants in Cuckoos: The Advantages of Rareness

Apr. 24, 2024 — Every cuckoo is an adopted child -- raised by foster parents, into whose nest the cuckoo mother smuggled her egg. The cuckoo mother is aided in this subterfuge by her resemblance to a bird of prey. There are two variants of female cuckoos: a gray ...

Squids' Birthday Influences Mating

Apr. 23, 2024 — The day a male spear squid hatches determines which mating tactic he will use throughout his life, according to new research. Spear squid (Heterololigo bleekeri) that hatch earlier in the season become 'consorts' which fight for mating ...

New Butterfly Species Created 200,000 Years Ago by Two Species Interbreeding

Apr. 17, 2024 — Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a hybrid species, formed by two other species breeding together almost 200,000 years ago. Researchers have shown that an Amazonian butterfly is a ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:54pm EDT

'Itinerant Breeding' in East Coast Shorebird Species

Apr. 19, 2024 — A study has found direct evidence of a species -- the American woodcock, a migratory shorebird from eastern and central North America -- that overlaps periods of migration and reproduction, a rare ...

Older Males out-Compete Young Males Outside Breeding Pairs, Bird Study Shows

Apr. 16, 2024 — Young male blue tits are less successful in fathering offspring outside their breeding pair, not because of a lack of experience, but because they ...

Twisted Pollen Tubes Induce Infertility

Apr. 16, 2024 — Plants with multiple sets of chromosomes, known as polyploids, are salt-tolerant or drought-resistant and often achieve higher yields. However, newly formed polyploid plants are often sterile or have ...

Bonobos Are More Aggressive Than Previously Thought, Study Shows

Apr. 12, 2024 — Chimpanzees and bonobos are often thought to reflect two different sides of human nature -- the conflict-ready chimpanzee versus the peaceful bonobo -- but a new study shows that, within their own ...

Oxidant Pollutant Ozone Removes Mating Barriers Between Fly Species

Apr. 11, 2024 — Researchers show that ozone levels, such as those found in many places on hot summer days today, destroy the sex pheromones of fruit fly species. As a result, some natural mating boundaries ...

Deforestation Harms Biodiversity of the Amazon's Perfume-Loving Orchid Bees

Apr. 10, 2024 — A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of ...

How and Why Animals Can Live Alongside Humans

Apr. 2, 2024 — New research suggests animals can thrive in human-dominated environments by being expert judges of risk. Researchers examined the behavior of great-tailed grackles, a bird species successfully ...

Lyrebird Synchronizes Elements of Its Mating Dance

Mar. 28, 2024 — To woo a mate, the Albert's Lyrebird of Australia becomes a real song-and-dance bird. Each male first chooses a stage of entangled vines, then in performance he shakes the vines as part of his ...

The Behavior of Ant Queens Is Shaped by Their Social Environment

Mar. 26, 2024 — The queens in colonies of social insects, such as ants, bees, and wasps, are considered the veritable embodiment of specialization in the animal kingdom. The common perception is that the queen's ...

Severe Hurricanes Boost Influx of Juveniles and Gene Flow in a Coral Reef Sponge

Mar. 26, 2024 — A study is the first to evaluate substrate recolonization by sponges in the U.S. Virgin Islands after two catastrophic storms using genetic analyses ...

Sap Beetles Vs Wind: What Pollinates Screw Pines?

Mar. 27, 2024 — Researchers have discovered the first species pollinated by sap beetles in the genus Pandanus, a group of palm-like plants native to the tropics and subtropics of Africa and Eurasia. The discovery ...

Wild Bird Gestures 'After You'

Mar. 25, 2024 — A small-bird species, the Japanese tit (Parus minor), uses wing movements as a gesture to convey the message 'after you,' according to new research. When a mating pair arrives at their nest ...

Why Do Tree Frogs Lay Their Eggs on the Ground?

Mar. 19, 2024 — A curious aspect of tree frogs is that they often lay their eggs on the ground where the risk of predation by natural enemies is greater than in the trees where they live. A research team suggested ...

Scientists Discover How Diadem Butterfly Mimics African Queen

Mar. 18, 2024 — Scientists have discovered how female Diadem butterflies have evolved to look like African Queen butterflies to repel ...

New Study on Mating Behaviors Offers Clues Into the Evolution of Attraction

Mar. 14, 2024 — In examining the mating rituals of roundworms, researchers uncovered a unique approach to reproduction that maximizes genetic ...

New Discovery Reveals How the Egg Controls Sperm Entry

Mar. 14, 2024 — After the egg has been fertilized by a sperm, the surrounding egg coat tightens, mechanically preventing the entry of additional sperm and the ensuing death of the embryo, a new study finds. The work ...

Menopause Explains Why Some Female Whales Live So Long

Mar. 13, 2024 — Females of some whale species have evolved to live drastically longer lives so they can care for their families, new research ...

Rope Entanglement Cause of Low Breeding Rates in Right Whales, Analysis Finds

Mar. 13, 2024 — New findings show the severe impact of fishing gear entanglements on the survival of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, with every injury from entanglements impacting population ...

Tsetse Fly Fertility Damaged After Just One Heatwave, Study Finds

Mar. 12, 2024 — The fertility of both female and male tsetse flies is affected by a single burst of hot weather, researchers have ...

New Study Reveals Transgenerational Effects of Pesticide Linuron on Frogs

Mar. 11, 2024 — Grand-offspring of male frogs exposed to the pesticide linuron exhibited changes in their DNA that was linked to significant physiological impacts, a study reveals. The research highlights the ...

Research Sheds Light on New Strategy to Treat Infertility

Mar. 8, 2024 — New research describes the science behind a promising technique to treat infertility by turning a skin cell into an egg that is capable of producing viable embryos. The technique could be used by ...

Mutation Solves a Century-Old Mystery in Meiosis

Mar. 8, 2024 — A team deciphers complicated mechanism underlying genetic ...

How Does a Virus Hijack Insect Sperm to Control Disease Vectors and Pests?

Mar. 7, 2024 — A widespread bacteria called Wolbachia and a virus that it carries can cause sterility in male insects by hijacking their sperm, preventing them from fertilizing eggs of females that do not have the ...

Research Explores the Cooling Effects of 'Scuba-Diving' in Lizards

Mar. 5, 2024 — Anoles are the scuba-diving champions of the lizard world, able to stay underwater for more than 16 minutes. For animals whose body temperature depends on the environment, time spent in a cool ...

Dung Beetles Show Their Love by Sharing the Load

Mar. 1, 2024 — Dung beetles share the load when it comes to showing their affection for each-other, when transporting a 'brood ...

Shining a Light on the Effects of Habituation and Neural Adaptation on the Evolution of Animal Signals

Feb. 29, 2024 — A new paper examines the possible effects of two properties of receiver playing fields documented in studies of animal psychology -- habituation and neural adaptation -- on the efficacy of mate ...

Walleye Struggle With Changes to Timing of Spring Thaw

Feb. 27, 2024 — Walleye are one of the most sought-after species in freshwater sportfishing, a delicacy on Midwestern menus and a critically important part of the culture of many Indigenous communities. They are ...

Pollinator's Death Trap Turns Into Nursery

Feb. 19, 2024 — In a group of plants that is famous for luring its pollinators into a death trap, one species offers its flowers as a nursery in exchange. The discovery blurs the line between mutualism and ...

Giant Antarctic Sea Spiders Reproductive Mystery Solved

Feb. 18, 2024 — Instead of carrying the babies until they hatched, as in most species of sea spiders, one parent (likely the father) spent two days attaching the eggs to the rocky bottom where they developed for ...

Asexual Propagation of Crop Plants Gets Closer

Feb. 15, 2024 — When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered ...