Ecology

Gathering genetic material from treetops in tropical rainforests would be a near-impossible task to perform safely by hand. That's why scientists have developed a system that allows a drone to do the job, without even touching the trees itself.

This stunning image of a bearded dragon soaking up the rays in southern Australian has taken out the overall prize in the 2024 British Ecology Society's photography competition, an annual contest open to any nature snapper around the globe.

Seeing a wombat in regional Australia is not a rare experience, but when ecologists captured this particular one emerging from a den and casually wandering past a motion-sensor camera in the middle of the night, there was serious cause for celebration.

In its eighth year, the Beaker Street Festival's Science Photography Prize tells the story of one of the more remote places on Earth, Australia's southern island state of Tasmania. The 12 finalists capture the beauty and diversity of this stunning land.

If a giant prehistoric salmon isn't scary enough for you, how about one with warthog-like tusks? According to a new study, Oncorhynchus rastrosus possessed just such appendages – even though the fish likely fed on tiny plankton.

Scientists have discovered that audio recordings of healthy coral reefs may help attract free-swimming coral larvae to damaged ones. The finding could be a major step toward preserving the world's coral reefs.

Although the humble sea cucumber may not look like much, it could soon be recruited to help save the world's coral reefs. The bottom-dwelling animals have been found to play a vital role in protecting corals from harmful bacteria.

For the first time ever, a lone orca has been observed killing and eating a great white shark. Although orcas were already known to hunt great whites in packs or pairs, one had never been seen going solo before. The finding suggests the emergence of a new hunting strategy.

No-one has seen the Yellow-crested Helmetshrike for about 20 years. That changed when researchers embarked on a six-week expedition in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and captured the dramatic-looking yellow-topped bird in its first-known photo.

There's been a takeover of North America's soil by scores of non-native earthworm species this past century. It's time we pay more attention to the invaders and their potentially major impact on the continent's ecosystem, says a new Stanford study.

Ordinarily, once a fern's leaf fronds have died, the plant has no further use for them. Such is not the case with the Cyathea rojasiana fern, though – a scientist has discovered that its dead fronds become "zombie leaves" which suck nutrients from the soil.

Hard though it may be to believe, there has apparently never been a confirmed sighting of a live newborn great white shark. Such may no longer be the case, however, thanks to recently analyzed aerial drone footage shot in California.