Marine Biology
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Trilobites are one of the most common creatures found in the fossil record, but now some particularly well-preserved specimens have revealed some intriguing new details. It turns out that trilobites breathed oxygen – through their legs.
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It’s normally a leg here or a tail there, but scientists have now discovered one of the most extreme examples of limb regeneration ever seen in an animal – sea slugs that voluntarily detach their own heads and then regrow an entire body from it.
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Scientists studying more than half a century of data on bottom-dwelling shellfish have uncovered evidence of a feedback loop in which generations of these marine creatures are becoming trapped in warmer areas that threaten their survival.
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Fabien Cousteau, grandson of famed underwater filmmaker and scuba co-inventor Jacques Cousteau, is planning to build an underwater living habitat and research station three times the size of any ever built, named after the grandson of Poseidon.
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Although cold waters aren't known for their coral reefs, they do contain ecologically important "glass reefs" created by live sponges. Now, scientists have discovered a previously unknown species of sponge living on those reefs, in Canada.
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A new study out of the UK has revealed what plastic pollution might mean for hermit crabs, with an environment rich in microplastics seeming to affect their cognitive performance when selecting a home.
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Sea turtles are one example of a creature that regularly consumes plastic trash for dinner, and a new study offers up new answers as to why revealing that they can mistake the smell of plastic for food as part of an “olfactory trap.”
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Grey whales may be "blinded" by solar storms, according to a new study. The solar activity interferes with the whales’ internal magnetic navigation system, causing them to become stranded on the shore, often resulting in death.
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A new survey led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) indicates that blue whales and other large whale species are making a welcome comeback in waters off South Georgia, with 55 of the critically endangered whales spotted in 2020.
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A team of scientists led by the University of Cambridge have found that when cuttlefish know they're getting shrimp for dinner, they'll only have a light lunch of crabs. This ability to anticipate is an indication of the cephalopod's complex brain.
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New research is shedding new light on the surprising complexity of squid brains. Using MRI scanning, researchers from the University of Queensland have produced a new map of neural connections to improve our understanding of their behavior.
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Scientists have observed four new species of shark using their fins to walk across the sea floor, a motion rarely seen in the animals and one that affords them a strong advantage over the smaller creatures they prey on.