mammals

7 Texas mammals listed as threatened on Global Mammal Assessment

harminka — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:20:40 -0500

When the Global Mammal Assessment project results are announced this week at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, Spain, there will be at least seven Texas species on the globally threatened list.

Researchers document world's mammals in crisis

harminka — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:56:33 -0500

From majestic African elephants to tiny and often unappreciated rodents, mammals on Earth are in a state of crisis. One in four mammal species on Earth is being pushed to extinction, according to the Global Mammal Assessment, the most comprehensive assessment of the world's mammals.

Redesigned hammer that forged evolution of pregnancy in mammals

harminka — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:43:31 -0500

Yale researchers have shown that the origin and evolution of the placenta and uterus in mammals is associated with evolutionary changes in a single regulatory protein, according to a report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers find new mode of gene regulation in mammals

harminka — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:55:20 -0500

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have discovered a type of gene regulation never before observed in mammals--a "ribozyme" that controls the activity of an important family of genes in several different species.

Evolution of an imprinted domain in mammals

harminka — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:09:50 -0500

The normal human genome contains 46 chromosomes: 23 from the mother and 23 from the father. Thus, you have two copies of every gene (excluding some irregularity in the pair of sex chromosomes). In general, which parent contributes a chromosome has no effect on the expression of the genes found on it.

Duck-billed platypus genome sequence published

harminka — Thu, 08 May 2008 06:02:04 -0500

The first analysis of the genome sequence of the duck-billed platypus was published today by an international team of scientists, revealing clues about how genomes were organized during the early evolution of mammals. The research was supported in part by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

First analysis of platypus genome may impact disease prevention

harminka — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:45:48 -0500

There’s no doubt about it ... the platypus is one odd duck-billed, egg-laying, lactating mammal. With adaptations like webbed feet to fit its aquatic lifestyle and the poison spurs that decorate males, the platypus represents for many a patchwork of evolutionary development.

Dwarf cloud rat rediscovered after 112 years

harminka — Fri, 02 May 2008 01:46:16 -0500

A team of Filipino and American scientists have rediscovered a highly distinctive mammal ЁC a greater dwarf cloud rat ЁC that was last seen 112 years ago. Furthermore, it has never before been discovered in its natural habitat and was thought by some to be extinct.

For Good Or Ill Ireland Gains Another Mammal Species

harminka — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:37:20 -0500

A recent study, soon to be published in Mammal Review, details the discovery of a mammal which has never been seen before in Ireland. The shrew, which has been spotted in Tipperary and Limerick, is only the third new mammal to be found on the island in almost 60 years.

Rare animals battling extinction threat

seher — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:28:02 -0500

Since European settlement two centuries ago, Australia has lost almost a third of its unique mammal species.

Slow-motion video study shows shrews are highly sophisticated predators

harminka — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 05:23:48 -0600

Shrews are tiny mammals that have been widely characterized as simple and primitive. This traditional view is challenged by a new study of the hunting methods of an aquatic member of the species, the water shrew. It reveals remarkably sophisticated methods for detecting prey that allow it to catch small fish and aquatic insects as readily in the dark as in daylight.

New mammal species discovered in Tanzanian highlands

harminka — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 11:52:09 -0600

Although there is unquestionably much left to be discovered about life on Earth, charismatic animals like mammals are usually well documented, and it is rare to find a new species today—especially from a group as intriguing as the elephant-shrews, monogamous mammals found only in Africa with a colorful history of misunderstood ancestry.