Brazilian researchers have identified a species of thecamoeba with a carapace that resembles the wizard's hat worn by Gandalf, one of the most important characters in The Lord of the Rings, a series of novels by J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973). The new species are named Arcella gandalfi as a tribute to Tolkien's wizard.

Published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a study shows that the number of vampire bats, which transmit rabies and are a concern for livestock breeders, may be increasing in Brazil and the Americas along with growth in the populations of invasive feral pigs and wild boars (Sus scrofa).

The cane toad, which overran Australia when introduced there, and Panama's iconic, endangered golden frog both belong to the family Bufonidae. Researchers combed through many research papers to compile all of the known chemicals produced by members of this amphibian family well known to practitioners of folk medicine. This is a first step toward the identification of new pharmaceuticals from amphibians at a time when human diseases are becoming alarmingly antibiotic resistant.

Zika virus (ZIKV) interferes with the cellular machinery controlling cell division and alters the expression of hundreds of genes responsible for guiding the formation and development of brain cells, according to findings released on Jan. 23 by Scientific Reports.

A new study by Smithsonian scientists and colleagues that reveals 3,000 years of change in reefs in the western Caribbean provides long-term, compelling evidence that parrotfish, which eat algae that can smother corals, are vital to coral-reef growth and health.

Rainforests on infertile wet soils support more than half of all plant species. Shrublands on infertile dry soils in southwestern Australia, jokingly called 'knee-high tropical rainforests', support another 20 percent of all plants. In both, plants team up with soil bacteria or fungi to gather nutrients more efficiently. The plants' choice of microbial teammates influences a suite of other plant-soil interactions that help explain why such different environments are so biologically diverse.