As forests shrink, mammals are stressed out— with possible fallout for humans

As forests shrink, mammals are stressed out— with possible fallout for humans

Humans aren’t the only ones feeling anxiety about environmental destruction. As forests shrink, small mammals are also feeling stressed, and we can tell by their fur. A team of scientists collected fur samples from 106 small rodents and marsupials in six forest fragments in the Atlantic Forest of Paraguay. After grinding each fur sample into […]

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Death by 1,000 cuts: Are major insect losses imperiling life on Earth?

Death by 1,000 cuts: Are major insect losses imperiling life on Earth?

Chances are, the works of the world’s insects touch your lips every day. The coffee or tea you savor, both are insect pollinated. Apples, oranges, cabbages, cashews, cherries, carrots, broccoli, watermelon, garlic, cinnamon, basil, sunflower seeds, almonds, canola oil — all are insect pollinated. Honey, dyes, even some vaccines require insects to come to fruition. […]

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A jaguar nicknamed “Short-Tail” the first known to cross between Belize and Guatemala

A jaguar nicknamed “Short-Tail” the first known to cross between Belize and Guatemala

An adult male jaguar nicknamed “Short-Tail” (due to his partially missing tail) was caught on camera in both Belize and Guatemala, making him the first individual confirmed to cross the international boundary between the two countries. Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists published their observation in CATnews, the newsletter of the Cat Specialist Group, a component […]

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Birds in Amazon forest fragments: New study summarizes 40 years of research

Birds in Amazon forest fragments: New study summarizes 40 years of research

For the past 40 years, researchers have studied Amazonian bird communities in the world’s longest-running experiment on tropical forest fragments. This research, summarized in a newly published paper in The Condor: Ornithological Applications, sheds light on the way Neotropical birds respond to and recover from deforestation in a dynamic tropical landscape. The Biological Dynamics of […]

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Conservationists set the record straight on COVID-19’s wildlife links

Conservationists set the record straight on COVID-19’s wildlife links

The World Health Organization has categorized the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemicin light of its spread around the world. Ever since the first cases emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan last December, there’s been much speculation — and misinformation— about the origins of the virus. And while scientists suspect it may have […]

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