Mammals have evolved flight more often than birds. By studying the genes of the sugar glider, biologists have found a ‘molecular toolkit’ for flight membranes that’s been in us all along.
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Articles on Mammals
Displaying 1 - 20 of 141 articles
Avian influenza viruses have evolved to infect birds, but the current H5N1 outbreak is also infecting a wide range of mammals. This suggests that it could mutate into forms that threaten humans.
Research on Denmark’s hedgehogs offers insight into their cause of death – and how to help them.
By learning what parts of the brain are crucial for imagination to work, neuroscientists can look back over hundreds of millions of years of evolution to figure out when it first emerged.
In birds, big brains aren’t associated with living in large social groups – instead, they’re linked to long stints of parental feeding.
Huge swathes of Africa remain unstudied and their species undocumented.
Rodents are the most numerous – and least studied – of all Earth’s mammals.
In winter, light in the northern latitudes is dim and very blue compared to summer light. Reindeer eyes have evolved to be better suited at seeing in this unique environment.
New research shows rewilding with invertebrates – insects, worms, spiders and the like – can go a long way in bringing our degraded landscapes back to life.
Koalas are often regarded as cute but dumb: slow, sleepy and incapable of change. But they have been known to approach humans for help. And maybe they have been set free by their remarkable diet.
Palaeontologists studied Pantolambda fossils in forensic detail to learn about its lifestyle.
Warm-bloodedness is the key to what makes mammals what they are today. That’s why working out when it emerged in mammal ancestors matters.
If you’re hot, so are your four-legged neighbours.
Garden surveys reveal what makes a house a home for Britain’s favourite mammal.
The new paper also found some mammals are suffering due to a lack of fire.
A new study shows that when free-ranging cats are more than a few blocks from forested areas in cities, such as parks, they’re more likely to prey on rats than on native wildlife.
Roughly 90% of species on Earth are believed to be undiscovered. Whether researchers will be able to identify them before they go extinct is unclear.
Thanks to our new technique using fossilised tracks, we have been able to learn more about the locomotion of the largest creatures ever to have roamed this planet.
John Woinarksi’s copy of this 1935 classic of environmental writing is older than him, mostly broken, much read and priceless.
Forests around the world will need to shift their ranges to adapt to climate change. But many trees and plants rely on animals to spread their seeds widely, and those partners are declining.
Top contributors
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Senior Researcher in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor of Conservation Biology, Charles Darwin University
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Associate professor, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor in Ecology, Charles Sturt University
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ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Sydney
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Lecturer, Macquarie University
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Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook University
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Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University
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Associate professor, University of New England
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Research fellow, Australian National University
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Honorary Associate Professor, The University of Queensland
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Adjunct Research Fellow, University of New England
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Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney
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Adjunct Lecturer/ Ecologist, University of New England
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Research Associate in Palaeontology, University of Bristol
