Ice Age extinction claimed highly carnivorous Alaskan wolves
The extinction of many large mammals at the end of the Ice Age may have packed an even bigger punch than scientists have realized. To the list of victims such as woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats, a Smithsonian-led team of scientists has added one more: a highly carnivorous form of...The mouflons of the Kerguelen archipelago
... in Paris. He studied the ecology and behaviour of mammals (mouflons, sheep and reindeer) introduced into the Islands. Ten years later, Renaud Kaeuffer, a doctoral student in biology at UQAM, supervised jointly by Denis Rale and Dominique Pontier of the Universit Claude Bernard Lyon I in France, went to th...Reconstructing the biology of extinct species: A new approach
...included 119 additional species, most of which are mammals ranging in size from mouse to elephant, that habitually move in diverse ways in varied environments. The project is the first large-scale study to document the relationship of the dimensions of the semicircular canals to locomotion. These structur...Fruit bats are not 'blind as a bat'
...lso available in German . The retinas of most mammals contain two types of photoreceptor cells, the cone...ears small, but from studies of other night-active mammals we know that it allows daylight vision", says lead author Brigitte Mueller. For example, cats and do...Research finds that circadian rhythms dominate all life functions
...University shows that the function of all genes in mammals is based on circadian -- or daily -- rhythms. The ...e oscillation is significantly more organized when mammals are exposed to regular periods of day and night. Oscillation can become chaotic in states of consist...'Wurst' ensures that the respiratory system works
...ngle "Wurst" gene. "We assume that this protein in mammals plays a role in lung maturation and liquid resorption," says Michael Hoch. "This is supported by the initial findings of our experiments." The researchers now want to examine what happens when this gene is switched off in laboratory mice. If they ...Massive herds of animals found to still exist in Southern Sudan
...his could represent the biggest migration of large mammals on earth. Fay, Elkan and Marjan also report an estimated 8,000 elephants, with concentrations mainly in the Sudd, the largest freshwater wetland in Africa. They also found evidence of even larger numbers of elephants in Boma and in the Jonglei landsc...Study helps preserve Arctic whale, Eskimo subsistence hunt
...ETTE, Ind. -- Research on one of the oldest-living mammals - the bowhead whale - has helped preserve a primary food source for Eskimos in the far reaches of Alaska, and also may provide a useful tool for studying genetic variation in other migratory animals. The bowhead whale, devastated in the 19th and e...Although mammals have a limited capacity to regenerate teeth, mouse incisors contain stem cells and grow continuously throughout life. Using a combination of mouse mutant analyses, organ culture experiments, and gene expression studies, Xiu-Ping Wang and colleagues i...Study focuses on only carnivore with 'fingerprints'
...with more study." says Dr. Roland Kays, curator of mammals at the State Museum, who co-authored the Journal article, along with Higgins and others. "Identifying individuals allows us to actually count how many animals are in different areas, which is essential information for monitoring their conservation ...Clock gene plays role in weight gain, study finds
...w the genes and proteins of the circadian clock in mammals affect not only activity cycles but also metabolism, which are tied to feeding cycles. Circadian rhythms were set in motion early in the history of life on the planet, and tied through evolution to the astronomical cycles that effect Earths environm...Herpes infection may be symbiotic, help beat back some bacteria
...implications for immune research. Humans and other mammals have spent millions of years living and evolving with latent viral infections, Virgin notes, and the new results imply that infections may have altered our immune systems at a fundamental level. This could mean the virus-free animal models scientists...First demonstration of new hair follicle generation in an animal model
... like other animals such as newts and salamanders, mammals have the power to regenerate. These findings are p...les. In fact, investigators generally believe that mammals had essentially no true regenerative qualities. (The liver can regenerate large portions, but it is ...Dinosaur hearing, listening to muscle noise, quieter cubicles
...in session 2aAB will explore how the middle ear of mammals evolved as they made the transition from water to ...sh themselves by feeding primarily on other marine mammals such as seals, refrain from vocalizing while hunting so that prey will not be alerted to their prese...Researchers publish first marsupial genome sequence
...rove human health." Marsupials are unique among mammals because their young are born at an extremely early...uthor. Marsupials and the ancestors of placental mammals diverged 180 million years ago. By comparing the opossum and human genomes, researchers were able to...LSU professor involved in genome sequencing of the first marsupial
...ly 180 million years ago. Marsupials and placental mammals are more closely related to one another than to an...ill help to identify genome features common to all mammals and will also help to pinpoint specific differences between placental and non-placental mammals. "M...'Insulator' helps silence genes in dormant herpes virus
...ed CTCF, a protein known to act as an insulator in mammals and in fruit flies. What's more, the findings revealed that the viral DNA binds to CTCF in the same manner as the host DNA binds to the protein. "By binding in this manner, we believed the CTCF protein was interacting with other viral proteins to ...A rainbow of methods promises insights into biological processes and diseases
...ow to grow cells from bacteria, yeast, insects, or mammals in media containing the stable isotope nitrogen-15. As the cells grow, they produce nascent proteins that include nitrogen-15, a marker that distinguishes newly formed metabolic products from pre-existing ones. The differences between these cells a...Researchers create interactive map with Google technology to track avian flu spread
...estic fowl, shorebirds, raptors, songbirds, hoofed mammals and carnivores, said Guralnick. In one instance the supermap shows a direct line spreading from Thailand to Europe in a single rapid event, illustrating a 2004 incident when several infected eagles were smuggled into Belgium, said Hill. While th...Salk scientists hammer out a pathway that promotes muscle cell survival in mice
...tissue types and in other species." Indeed, all mammals have SIK1, not just mice, and even worms and fruit flies use variations of the enzyme. And as Montminy adds, "Application of this same pathway over and over across species further emphasizes its importance."...