Blog written by Theresa Hügel and Holger Goerlitz. Read the full paper here. For millennia, humankind has modified its environment by working the land to harvest crops, building traps or lures to hunt animals, or logging wood to build huts and start fires providing warmth and light. These modifications have massively expanded, first by population... Continue Reading →
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A thin skin is key to a successful invasion for cane toads
Blog written by Georgia Kosmala, Gregory Brown, Richard Shine & Keith Christian. Read the full paper here. You might also enjoy the 'sequel' published here. Photo of cane toad by Richard Shine. Cane toads are one of the most infamous amphibian invaders in the world, having been translocated from their native range in South America... Continue Reading →
Mitochondrial Diversity Offers Insight on Invasive European Starling Populations Worldwide
Blog written by Julia Zichello and Louise Bodt. Read the full manuscript here. The European starling is one of the most wide-spread and successful invasive avian species in the world. Their native range extends across Europe and into Western Asia. Since the mid-1800’s, there have been multiple deliberate introductions of European starlings outside of their... Continue Reading →
Is Smart Sexy? Testing female preferences for problem-solving males in zebra finches
Blog written by Clara Howell. Read the full paper here. A huge and diverse taxonomic group of birds, from temperate crows to tropical birds-of-paradise, learn their songs by imitating adults of their species that they hear when young. Understanding the complicated genetic and cultural evolution of song is interesting not just in its own right,... Continue Reading →
Skull shape in an endangered marsupial: would northern quolls rather ship out than shape up?
Blog written by Pietro Viacava & Vera Weisbecker. Read the full paper here. Featured image: scientific illustration by Nellie Pease. When a species is threatened by habitat loss and environmental change, it is important to understand how to best preserve its populations. This cannot be done without a solid understanding of how diverse populations are.... Continue Reading →