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Biology

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 25-Oct-2026 16:15 ET (25-Oct-2026 20:15 GMT/UTC)

First identification of a Mosasaur Premaxilla in Japan

Okayama University of Science
Reports and Proceedings

Researchers from Okayama University of Science and collaborating institutions have identified four previously unrecognized mosasaur fossil bones from a rock collected about 30 years ago in Osaka Prefecture, including the first confirmed mosasaur premaxilla ever found in Japan. The fossils, recovered during a reexamination of museum specimens, also display unique anatomical features that differ from those of known mosasaurs, suggesting the possibility of a previously unknown species. The discovery demonstrates the scientific importance of revisiting existing museum collections and provides new insights into Late Cretaceous marine ecosystems in the northwestern Pacific.

Organic fertilizer compounds help biochar lock cadmium in contaminated soil

Shenyang Agricultural University Collaborative Journals
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Cadmium contamination in agricultural soil threatens crop safety because the toxic metal can be absorbed by plant roots and enter the food chain. A new study shows that combining biochar with selected components from organic fertilizer could help convert cadmium into less mobile forms, with larger organic molecules generally providing stronger protection.

Journal: Agricultural Ecology and Environment

An asteroid doomed the dinosaurs. But did it drive tuna evolution?

Yale University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A long-held theory suggests that the asteroid strike that killed off non-avian dinosaurs — and most large marine predators — 66 million years ago created an ecological opportunity that spurred the rapid evolution of tunas, and other large, fast, and warm-blooded predators.

The idea is that tunas and their carnivorous counterparts filled a niche left by their massive, predatory predecessors, much like how mammals replaced the world’s non-avian dinosaurs after the K-Pg extinction event.

But that theory doesn’t quite hold water, according to a new Yale study that provides new insights into how these economically important fishes evolved their imposing size, speed, and ability to regulate their body temperatures in cold seas.

Wild snapdragons paint themselves in subtle shades to attract bees

John Innes Centre
Peer-Reviewed Publication

John Innes Centre researchers in the group of Professor Enrico Coen working alongside colleagues in Austria, China and Australia, investigated shades of yellow in wild populations of snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus).

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: UKRI/BBSRC

Researchers identify class of 'oddball' meteorite that killed the dinosaurs

University of British Columbia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Earth scientists are slowly closing in on the class of impactor that caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event — new research indicates it wasn’t a garden-variety space rock.

Journal: Science Advances

Helical opto-thermoviscous flow-driven microrotation enables multiview 3D microscopy

Light Publishing Center, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics And Physics, CAS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Contact-free and object-agnostic 3D rotation at the micro/nanoscale is playing an increasingly important role in advanced imaging, biology, and microrobotics. Towards this goal, Scientist in Germany developed an opto-thermoviscous micromanipulation strategy that enables robust out-of-plane spinning and sheathless focusing in highly viscous media. The technique opens new avenues for all-optical manipulation-enabled multiview 3D microscopy and advanced biological imaging.

Journal: Light: Science & Applications
Funder: European Research Council, Germany's Excellence Strategy, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

Rapid reactivation of gene expression after thermal stress

The University of Osaka
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from the University of Osaka found that localization of the CLK1 kinase to nuclear stress bodies during thermal stress and recovery is regulated by PP1-mediated dephosphorylation and RIOK2-mediated rephosphorylation. This mechanism, which controls pre-mRNA splicing under stress conditions, could provide new insight into stress-related diseases.

Journal: Molecular Cell
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Japan Science and Technology Agency

For biodiversity to thrive across Europe, laws should treat wildlife as individuals capable of suffering – experts argue

Taylor & Francis Group
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Wildlife protection frameworks in both the EU and the UK need stronger and more consistent implementation – and must recognise animals as “individuals capable of experiencing suffering”, rather than mere ecological assets.

Journal: Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy

Human activities compromise coral health and resilience

University of Hawaii at Manoa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of local coral reefs, according to a new study. The research team discovered that 25 contaminants from agricultural, industrial, and pharmaceutical sources accumulated in the soft tissues of coral around Maui, Hawai‘i. Additionally, in areas impacted by human activities, the energy and nutrient availability within the coral’s tissue decreases, making them significantly less resilient to environmental stressors such as warmer or acidic waters.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: NASA Ecological Forecasting Program, Australian Research Council