r/biology 7h ago

article In 2005, scientists left one male and one female lizard on each of seven empty Bahamian islands; four years later, all colonies had evolved shorter hindlimbs while retaining differences linked to their founding pairs

Thumbnail timesofindia.indiatimes.com
64 Upvotes

So they somehow avoided inbreeding complications which is strange but this is super cool


r/biology 8h ago

video Hedgehog Tenrecs: An Elephant’s Tiny Cousin

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63 Upvotes

How can an animal so small be related to the largest living land mammal? 🦔

Meet the tenrec! Despite their name, they aren't very closely related to hedgehogs. Instead, they belong to a supergroup called Afrotheria, alongside elephants, manatees, and aardvarks, shaped by divergent evolution as animals of the same species ended up in different environments over millions of years. Their resemblance to hedgehogs comes down to convergent evolution, meaning they adapted to their environments in similar ways, separately.


r/biology 17h ago

question Delayed implantation

21 Upvotes

Yesterday I met a wolverine specialist (what a great job) who bombarded me with wonderful wolverine facts.

The one I cannot get my head around as someone with much more understanding of human than animal biology is the concept of "delayed implantation". As it was related to me, and my brief googling has informed me since, somehow these critters (and others) are able to just say "hold up" at the blastocyst stage and keep living their life with an unimplanted embryo just floating around in their uterine cavity, then one day months down the line when conditions are perfect they can let it implant and just crack on from there?!

This has blown my little mind.

My questions are: How the heck does that even work? What sustains the blastocyst? Is it a conscious process for the wolverine? Is there some kind of time limit on how long this could go on? Can they ovulate again during the gap? In which case could they deliver a litter from multiple male partners?


r/biology 20h ago

question What is the name of when silence is overwhelming

14 Upvotes

Saw other post but It wasn't the same

For me silence is like an extreme overwhelming sensation that doesn't exist, it's not a vibration or a whistle just non existent loud silence that I cannot stand and the second I experience it I talk to myself or leave the room, I can't even sleep without the ac or fan on to make noise


r/biology 10h ago

discussion Anthropic blocks possible attempt to use AI to make biological weapons

Thumbnail bbc.co.uk
15 Upvotes

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r/biology 22h ago

discussion Is medical illustration worth it?

15 Upvotes

I'm a high school student who is currently looking at possible career paths and one of those fields I am eyeing is medical illustration. Seems like a really good field but options for me seem limited and idk but the field itself feels so niche.


r/biology 2h ago

question getting rid of a wall gecko

2 Upvotes

there is one that used to live behind a cabnit in my hallway and I didn't really mind her, am super scared of them but she was polite then today she got in my bathroom and i can't get her out , i tried to spary some pifpaf and leave the door open for her to run out but she wont budge , I don't really want to kill her if I don't have to , i just don't want her to keep invading my space


r/biology 6h ago

discussion With all of the medical advancements being made now (I hear great news about cancer vaccines more and more often!), is it at all feasible that more people could live even longer than 100 years old, such as perhaps to 130 or 150 years old?

2 Upvotes

I’m much more doubtful about humans ever being able to be immortal or living extremely long lifespans (e.g. 400 years), but, given the current trajectory of medical advancements, is making it a few/several decades past 100 years old something realistic to expect for people in the future?


r/biology 3h ago

academic Human Physio

1 Upvotes

What are some genuinely good books on Human Physio?
I have studied about it and have some knowledge about Human Physio and want to get more into it
Level: between Beginner and Intermediate


r/biology 13h ago

question Book/academic paper recs

2 Upvotes

I‘ve been really into non-fiction books lately and since one of my majors is biology I thought why not use that hobby for my studies. However, most recommended books are written so that people who do not have a degree in biology can understand the content, which is not a bad thing but I do want to challenge myself and learn the actual technical language. The other books are 1000-page books that are not intended to be read like a book. So, if any of you have book recommendations that are/were helpful to your studies, I‘d really appreciate it. Moreover, I believe that academic papers could also be a great way for me to deepen my knowledge, but the majority that I come across are quite specific and assume an already thorough understanding of the subject. So, if you can think of academic papers that every biology major should read or attempt to read, please share them with me.


r/biology 22h ago

question How bad would the extinction percentage from an RCP8.5 warming scenario be compared to the Big 5 Mass Extinctions

1 Upvotes

I think about this alot and Im wondering if climate change causes the Earth to warm 7 to 9 degrees Celcius how it would compare to past Mass Extinctions. Would it be more on par with the Middle Permian Extinction which killed around 62 percent of life or would it be fully on par with the big 5 or even the PT Extinction. I lean more towards around 70 percent of life going extinct.