A 7-year study reveals the endangered Key Largo woodrat has plummeted post-Hurricane Irma and python invasion, while the co-occurring cotton mouse unexpectedly increased—offering critical insights for island biodiversity conservation.

Kyoto, Japan -- Bright colors in animals are beautiful but often considered risky because they are more obvious to predators. However, conspicuous colors can also serve defensively, signaling toxicity or even luring predators away from more vulnerable body parts.

Previous studies have shown that the presence of predators such as dragonfly nymphs can induce tadpoles to develop bright orange tail coloration, an ability called phenotypic plasticity. But how this color change helps them avoid predation has not been clear. While observing tadpoles of the East Japan tree frog, Dryophytes leopardus, a team of researchers at Kyoto University was inspired to investigate how their predator-induced orange tails function as a defensive trait.

"After seeing these tadpoles with orange tails at the university's experimental farm, I wondered what role such a bright tail could have," says corresponding author Akihiro Noda.

Leaders from academia, industry and sustainability advocacy examined how stronger alignment can support the adoption of low-carbon materials across the region.

An international team of researchers from Japan and Malaysia has shown that wild orangutan juveniles continue to consume their mother’s milk continuously until at least six and a half years of age, the longest breastfeeding period known among mammals. Using a new technique called fecal proteomics, the team detected milk-specific proteins in the feces of wild Bornean orangutans in Malaysian Borneo. The study also suggests that prolonged breastfeeding supports intestinal defenses and a healthy gut microbiome, helping sustain orangutans’ slow reproductive rates and lower juvenile mortality.

There’s a conundrum that has perplexed biologists since Charles Darwin himself. Why do some exotic species take off as invasive pests while others don’t?

When the Dome Fire tore through the Mojave Desert in 2020, it reduced one million Eastern Joshua trees to blackened skeletons. Scientists expected the underground ecosystem to be equally devastated. Instead, they found it thriving. This outcome suggests the loss of soil fungi is likely not what's preventing the trees from recovering.