Their dung consumes the oxygen around it, creating lethal pulses of suffocating water. At first, Chris Dutton and Amanda Subalusky had no idea why the fish were dying. At a bridge on the border between Kenya and Tanzania, they noticed that whenever the Mara River rose by a few feet, dead fish would wash up on its banks, sometimes in the thousands. Storks, vultures, crocodiles, and hyenas made shor

Scientists have captured the first footage in the wild of one of the world's rarest - and ugliest - pigs. The Javan warty pig is under such threat from hunting and habitat loss that conservationists surveying its habitat believed it might already have been driven to extinction.

A juvenile tapir in Zoo Negara, with World Tapir Day being celebrated to instill greater concern and protection for this endangered species - Photo courtesy of Malaysian Nature Society. KOTA KINABALU: Plans are underway to reintroduce the tapir to Sabah, with three to four of the mammals to be translocated to the state from the peninsula as early as next year. Malaysian Nature Society president Ta

An Ecuadorian naturalist collected the bald-faced Vanzolini saki in 1936 along the Eiru River. His record was the first and last known living evidence of the species.In February 2017, an expedition called Houseboat Amazon set out to survey the forest along the Juruá River and its tributaries, with the hopes of finding the Vanzolini saki.After just four days, the team spotted one leaping from branc

結合双生児のコウモリの赤ちゃん。ブラジルの林床で見つかった。（PHOTOGRAPH BY MARCELO NOGUEIRA, LABORATÓRIO DE CIÊNCIAS AMBIENTAIS, UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DO NORTE FLUMINENSE） 「1人よりも2人の頭で考える方がいい」ということわざがあるが、良いことばかりではないようだ。体が結合したコウモリの双子（結合双生児）についての珍しい事例が、学術誌に報告された。（参考記事：「頭が2つあるサメの報告が世界で増加、原因不明」） 今回発表されたコウモリの結合双生児は、2001年にブラジル南東部のマンゴーの木の下で見つかった。その時にはもう死んでおり、発見者がルラウ・ド・リオ・デ・ジャネイロ国立大学のコレクションに寄贈。先月、ノルテ・フルミネンセ・ダルシ・リベイロ州立大学のマルセロ・ノゲイラ氏らが学術誌

Humans: Unusually Murderous Mammals, Typically Murderous Primates A new study looks at rates of lethal violence across a thousand species to better understand the evolutionary origins of humanity’s own inhumanity. Which mammal is most likely to be murdered by its own kind? It’s certainly not humans—not even close. Nor is it a top predator like the grey wolf or lion, although those at least are #11

絶滅危惧種・アマミトゲネズミの体細胞で作ったｉＰＳ細胞（人工多能性幹細胞）から卵子と精子を作り出すことに成功したと、宮崎大の本多新（あらた）研究員（発生生物学）らの研究チームが１２日付の米科学誌電子版に発表した。ラットとマウス以外のｉＰＳ細胞からできたのは世界初といい、希少種の絶滅防止対策に役立つ可能性があるという。 アマミトゲネズミは体長約１２～１５センチの哺乳類。鹿児島県の奄美大島にのみ生息する国の天然記念物のため、通常は実験で使えない。チームは、保護のため捕獲しようとした時に偶然切れ落ちた雌の尾の細胞から、さまざまな組織や臓器に変化するｉＰＳ細胞を作製。これをマウスの受精卵（胚）に注入して雌マウスの子宮に移植して出産させた。すると、生まれた雌マウスはアマミトゲネズミの卵子、雄マウスはその精子をもっていた…