Welcome to In the Spotlight, where each month we shine a light on something exciting, timely, or simply fascinating from the world of science.

This August, we're exploring the science behind the animals that share our planet. From the behaviors and adaptations that help species thrive to the conservation efforts protecting wildlife around the world, animal awareness days like World Lion Day, World Elephant Day, International Cat Day, and International Wolf Day are an opportunity to celebrate biodiversity and discover the research helping us better understand and protect the species that call our planet home.

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Oct-2026 23:16 ET (22-Oct-2026 03:16 GMT/UTC)

18-Sep-2026

 

UCF researcher uses conservation genomics to advance Florida scrub-jay recovery

University of Central Florida
Grant and Award Announcement

Recent research from UCF on Florida scrub-jays suggests that translocation may do more than establish new populations — it may also disrupt long-standing social and reproductive patterns, with implications for conservation and ultimately species recovery. 

18-Sep-2026

 

New form of plastic pollution discovered on the shores of vulnerable coral reefs

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Plasticorals, the latest type of plastiglomerate to be described, is created when polymers from household plastic melt and seep into the skeletal pores of coral rubble. Found on beaches throughout the subtropical island of Okinawa, Japan, including within a protected natural park, they are a lasting reminder of human interaction with these threatened ecosystems and may pose a distinct chemical and physical threat to corals and their reef habitats.

Journal

Marine Pollution Bulletin

Funder

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, University of the Ryukyus

18-Sep-2026

 

Research news from the Ecological Society of America’s journals

Ecological Society of America
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Where giant salamanders sit in the food web, the conservation value of China’s fengshui forests and more from ESA’s journals.

17-Sep-2026

 

Microplastics may help antibiotic resistance travel farther through livestock waste

Shenyang Agricultural University Collaborative Journals
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Large livestock and poultry operations can generate manure containing a mixture of emerging contaminants, including antibiotic residues, antibiotic resistance genes and microplastics. A new review suggests that these pollutants should not always be considered separately. Microplastics may act as mobile carriers that concentrate antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes, creating hotspots where antibiotic resistance can persist and spread more easily.

Journal

Agricultural Ecology and Environment

16-Sep-2026

 

Capybaras in the desert? Fossil casts doubt on Atacama as world's oldest continuously dry region

University of Arizona
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists were stunned when they discovered a fossilized tooth from a capybara that lived in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile almost 9 million years ago.

Journal

Scientific Reports

Funder

National Geographic Society, Phoenix Foundation, Society for Sedimentary Geology, American Philosophical Society, Geological Society of America