Mating and Breeding News

June 13, 2025

Top Headlines

A Head and a Hundred Tails: How a Branching Worm Manages Reproductive Complexity

May 19, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered the genetic underpinnings of one of the ocean's most bizarre animals: a branching marine worm named Ramisyllis kingghidorahi that lives inside sea sponges and reproduces in ...

Scientists Describe 71 New Australian Bee Species

May 19, 2025 — A team of researchers has discovered 71 new native bee species belonging to the resin pot bees, or Megachile (Austrochile), which are unique to Australia and present in every state and territory except ...

Fitness Fight: Native Bees Struggle Against Invasive Honey Bee

May 19, 2025 — New research has revealed that high densities of European honey bees could be harming Australian native bees' 'fitness' by reducing their reproductive success and altering key traits linked to ...

Echidna Microbiome Changes While Mums Nurse Puggle

May 12, 2025 — Research shows microbial communities in echidna pseudo-pouches undergo dramatic changes while the animal is lactating, which could help in creating an environment for their young, known as puggles, to ...

Can Frisky Flies Save Human Lives?

May 9, 2025 — A scientist decided to find out why a bacterial infection makes fruit flies promiscuous. What he discovered could help curb mosquito-borne diseases and manage crop ...

A 'Roadmap' of the Fruit Fly Brain

May 7, 2025 — Researchers have gained comprehensive insights into the entire nervous system of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). The study describes in detail the neurons that span the entire nervous system of the adult fruit fly. The researchers also ...

Gorilla Study Reveals Complex Pros and Cons of Friendship

May 5, 2025 — Friendship comes with complex pros and cons -- possibly explaining why some individuals are less sociable, according to a new study of ...

Palatable Versus Poisonous: Eavesdropping Bats Must Learn to Identify Which Prey Is Safe to Eat

Apr. 29, 2025 — Scientists found that the fringe-lipped bat, known to eavesdrop on frog and toad mating calls to find its prey, learns to distinguish between palatable and unpalatable frogs and toads through ...

Female Bonobos Keep Males in Check -- Not With Strength, but With Solidarity

Apr. 24, 2025 — Female bonobos team up to suppress male aggression against them -- the first evidence of animals deploying this strategy. In 85% of observed coalitions, females collectively targeted males, forcing ...

Even Sublethal Insecticide Dose May Disrupt Pollinator Mating Process

Apr. 21, 2025 — Insecticides can help protect crops against troublesome pests, but they also pose a risk for beneficial insects such as pollinators. A new study provided insight into how even sublethal doses of insecticides can negatively affect pollinators by ...

Little Birds' Personalities Shine Through Their Song -- And May Help Find a Mate

Apr. 15, 2025 — In birds, singing behaviors play a critical role in mating and territory defense. Although birdsong can signal individual quality and personality, very few studies have explored the relationship ...

First New Plant Tissue Discovered in 160 Years Boosts Crop Yields

Apr. 10, 2025 — A research team has discovered a new tissue in plants that plays an essential role in seed formation by regulating the flow of nutrients into the seed. The team used their findings to increase the yields of important crop plants, including rice. ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:11pm EDT

Pincer Plot Twist: How Female Earwigs Evolved Deadly Claws for Love and War

June 12, 2025 — Female earwigs may be evolving exaggerated weaponry just like males. A study from Toho University found that female forceps, once assumed to be passive tools, show the same kind of outsized growth ...

Scientists Reveal the Hidden Pause That Keeps Bee Colonies Alive

June 10, 2025 — Bumblebee queens don t work nonstop. UC Riverside scientists discovered that queens take strategic reproductive breaks early in colony formation likely to conserve energy and increase the chance of ...

Love Songs in the Sand: Researchers Listen in to Fiddler Crab Courtship

Apr. 9, 2025 — A study has 'listened in' to the fascinating courtship displays of Fiddler crabs using geophones. The findings provide new insights into how the animals communicate effectively on the noisy ...

Protein Necessary for Fruit Fly Fertility

Apr. 9, 2025 — Researchers have found a new role for the transcription factor (proteins that regulate the transcription, or copying, of genes). In the fruit fly, this transcription factor, named Traffic Jam, ...

Reduced Movement of Starlings With Parasite Infections Has a Negative Impact on Their Offspring

Apr. 9, 2025 — Infections with parasites often entail no recognizable signs in many wildlife species, but can have still negative effects across generations. ...

From Bacterial Immunity to Plant Sex

Apr. 9, 2025 — Could it be that one of only three known markers directly targeting the DNA does not exist outside the realm of microbes? Now, researchers have demonstrated that this marker -- N4-methylcytosine ...

New Research Finds Fluorescence in Feathers of Long-Eared Owls

Apr. 8, 2025 — Researchers report their discovery of fluorescent pigments in the feathers of Long-eared Owls, that can only be seen by humans with the help of ultraviolet ...

How This Tiny Snake Could Change Our View of Genetics

Apr. 2, 2025 — By analyzing the flowerpot snake's unique genome, scientists are uncovering how the tiny reptile repairs its DNA and prevents harmful mutations. The findings provides valuable insights into genetic ...

Corpse Flowers Are Threatened by Spotty Recordkeeping

Apr. 3, 2025 — Plant biologists examined records for nearly 1,200 individual corpse flower plants from 111 institutions around the world. The data and records were severely lacking and not standardized. Without ...

Butterflies Choose Mates Because They Are More Attractive, Not Just Easier to See

Mar. 11, 2025 — A simple neural change alters mating preferences in male butterflies, aiding rapid behavioral evolution, researchers ...

New STI Impacts 1 in 3 Women: Landmark Study Reveals Men Are the Missing Link

Mar. 5, 2025 — A landmark study reveals that bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition affecting nearly a third of women worldwide and causing infertility, premature births and newborn deaths, is in fact an STI, paving ...

Giant Clone of Seaweed in the Baltic Sea

Mar. 4, 2025 — Researchers have discovered that what was previously thought to be a unique seaweed species of bladderwrack for the Baltic Sea is in fact a giant clone of common bladderwrack, perhaps the ...

Naturally Occurring Mechanism Hampers Fertility

Mar. 3, 2025 — A research team has uncovered how a naturally occurring biological mechanism found in mammals is able to prevent sperm cells from interacting with an egg, preventing fertilization. The discovery, ...

'Smarts' Count: Evolution of Intelligence

Feb. 25, 2025 — The Beatles said it best: Love is all you need. And according to new research, the same may be true in the animal kingdom. Well, at least for mosquitofish -- a matchstick-sized fish endemic to ...

Turtles Change Nesting Patterns in Response to Climate Change

Feb. 20, 2025 — New research shows that turtles are responding to climate change by nesting ...

Function of Red Stigmas in Wind-Pollinated Flowers

Feb. 13, 2025 — Scientists discovered that the red stigmas in wind-pollinated trees accumulate anthocyanin, the same compounds that are revealed in autumn leaves after green chlorophyll production slows down and ...

How Fruit Flies Flit Between Courtship and Aggression to Fight for Mates

Feb. 13, 2025 — Male fruit flies don't just sing to their mates; they also use sound-cancelling wing-flicks to jockey with rivals. This new understanding of how male flies compete for female partners could shed ...

Female Hoverflies Beat Males on Long-Distance Migrations

Feb. 11, 2025 — Male hoverflies are outflown by females when it comes to long-distance migration, research ...

Birds-of-Paradise Are Biofluorescent

Feb. 11, 2025 — New research reports, for the first time, the widespread occurrence of biofluorescence in birds-of-paradise. The study, based on specimens collected since the 1800s, finds biofluorescence in 37 of ...

Male Flies Sharpened Their Eyesight to Call the Females' Bluff

Feb. 5, 2025 — With bloated bellies and hairy legs, female flies try to look bigger to get food from courting mates. But male flies, in turn, have sharpened their eyesight to call their bluff. A new study suggests ...

Octopuses Have Some of the Oldest Known Sex Chromosomes

Feb. 3, 2025 — Researchers have identified a sex chromosome in the California two-spot octopus. This chromosome has likely been around for 480 million years, since before octopuses split apart from the nautilus on ...

First Mouse With Two Male Parents to Reach Adulthood

Jan. 28, 2025 — A team of stem cell scientists have successfully used embryonic stem cell engineering to create a bi-paternal mouse -- a mouse with two male parents -- that lived until adulthood. Their results ...

Evolution Without Sex: How Mites Have Survived for Millions of Years

Jan. 24, 2025 — An international research team has discovered various mechanisms in asexual mites that generate genetic diversity and thus ensure ...

Fruit Flies' Courtship Song May Hold Key to Controlling Mosquitoes

Jan. 24, 2025 — Researchers have found and confirmed a gene that allows female fruit flies to get on the same frequency as courting males. Mosquitoes have the same gene and a similar courtship ritual, meaning that ...

The Secret 'Sex Lives' of Bacteria: Study Challenges Old Ideas About How Species Form

Jan. 23, 2025 — New research shows bacteria form distinct species and maintain cohesion through frequent DNA exchange via homologous ...

More Acidic Oceans May Affect the Sex of Oysters

Jan. 23, 2025 — Rising carbon dioxide levels affect more than just the climate; they also affect the chemistry of the oceans. When saltwater absorbs carbon dioxide, it becomes acidic, which alters the aquatic animal ...

Uncovering the Role of Y Chromosome Genes in Male Fertility in Mice

Jan. 23, 2025 — Researchers have uncovered which genes on the Y chromosome regulate the development of sperm and impact fertility in male mice. This research could help us understand why some men don't produce ...

Super Enzyme That Regulates Testosterone Levels in Males Discovered in 'Crazy' Bird Species

Jan. 23, 2025 — A single gene that regulates testosterone levels in a 'crazy' species of shore bird controls the development of three wildly different types of males, a new study has found. Ruffs have long ...

Plant's Name-Giving Feature Found to Be New Offspring-Ensuring Method

Jan. 23, 2025 — 130 years after a fungus-eating plant received its name, a researcher has uncovered the purpose of the structure that inspired its name -- revealing a novel mechanism by which plants ensure ...

Ecologists Uncover Significant Ecological Impact of Hybrid Grouper Release Through Religious Practices

Jan. 19, 2025 — Ecologists have identified significant ecological risks associated with the release of hybrid groupers into Hong Kong's coastal waters, a practice often linked to religious 'mercy ...