Polish scientists discover unusual fish from 365 million years ago
Polish scientists have discovered an over two-meter-long predatory armoured fish with an extremely elongated lower jaw in rock sediments from 365 million years ago in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. The remains do not resemble any other animals from the Devonian.
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Bacteria and their viruses: Arms race halted for millennia
Well-preserved DNA of several hundred species of bacteriophages from over a thousand years ago - viruses that infect bacteria - have been found in samples of human faeces and in the guts of an ancient mummy. It turns out that the genome of one of the species is almost the same as that of modern viruses. Why has the evolution of this species halted for so long?
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Body size of monomorphic ants does matter
It turns out that the body size of monomorphic ants does matter and affects their behaviour, say biologists from Kraków. Their latest research on a species living in the Błędów Desert shows that in the case of rescue behaviour, small workers are more persistent.
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Scientists investigate the physics of mouse interactions
What are the dynamics of mouse behaviour when the animal is alone and when the mouse is in a group? How long does it take on average before a mouse starts looking for company or escapes from a place that is too crowded? The physics of such mouse interactions has been modelled by scientists from a Polish-French team.
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Mismatched arrival schedule is problematic for cuckoos
Cuckoos, which are breeding parasites, and the birds in whose nests they lay their eggs, have increasingly mismatched dates of spring arrivals. Additionally, they are out of synch with their prey: caterpillars and beetles, report naturalists from Poznań.
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Biologists from University of Łódź discover over 300 new species of marine organisms off the coast of Ghana
Biologists from the University of Łódź in cooperation with scientists from the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Bergen have discovered over 300 new species of organisms living on the seabed off the coast of Ghana.
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Deer hunters: Human role greater than that of predators in Europe's ecosystems
Scientists from Germany, Italy and the Mammal Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Białowieża checked whether large predators still mattered in ecosystems heavily dominated by humans. Human activity, such as hunting, may affect ungulate populations more than the presence of predators, they say.
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Study: Genetic diversity monitoring important as climate changes
For the protection of plants and animals, it becomes important to monitor changes that occur in the genomes of individual species with climate change, especially in the driest and warmest areas, believe researchers from an international team, including scientists from Poland.
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Shells attack! Amoebas' ‘hidden kiss of death’
Until recently, the consensus was that testate amoebae used their shells to defend themselves from enemies or from drying out. It now turns out that these shells are also useful as a weapon that makes it easier to get to the prey.
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Crabs and the Anthropocene: Bottle caps instead of shell houses
Many species of hermit crabs have started using plastic covers instead of 'traditional' shells of animal origin. Scientists from Poznań and Warsaw describe this phenomenon in Science of the Total Environment. They emphasise that this is one of the signs of the environmental changes of the Anthropocene: plastic pollution on a massive scale.
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Peatland vegetation diseases can be detected with AI and satellite systems
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Canine 'Jack the Ripper' - last Eurasian lycaon from Polish lands
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Unique collection of 16th-17th century fabrics and shoes discovered at ECF Camerimage construction site
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Polish sensor for non-invasive monitoring of body water level
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Polish scientists reinterpret petroglyphs of Toro Muerto
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Polish scientists reinterpret petroglyphs of Toro Muerto
The geometric patterns, lines and zigzags that accompany the images of dancers (danzantes) carved in the rocks of the Peruvian Toro Muerto are not snakes or lightning bolts, but a record of songs - suggest Polish scientists who analyse rock art from 2,000 years ago.
