PeerJ is an open access peer-reviewed scientific mega journal covering research in the biological and medical sciences.
A newly described fossil reveals that leeches are at least 200 million years older than scientists previously thought, and that their earliest ancestors may have feasted not on blood, but on smaller marine creatures.
Plants & Animals
Oct 1, 2025
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5
An international research team set out to test whether diurnal moths—less threatened by echolocating bats—would have reduced tympanal organs. These specialized hearing organs allow moths to detect the high frequency calls ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 28, 2025
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0
Connecticut College researchers have found that chemical byproducts produced by the amphibian-killing fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis—commonly known as Bd—may actually help ghost shrimp survive. Their study, published ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 8, 2025
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21
Paleontologists have identified a new species of ancient marine reptile from Germany's world-renowned Posidonia Shale fossil beds, expanding our understanding of prehistoric ocean ecosystems that existed nearly 183 million ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Aug 4, 2025
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147
With each new discovery in paleontology, we are gradually moving away from the Hollywood-inspired image of dinosaurs popularized by the Jurassic Park series. One of the most striking shifts has been in how we envision their ...
A new study led by Virginia Tech found that volunteer dog-handler teams—made up of everyday people and their pets—can effectively detect the elusive egg masses of the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect that's damaging ...
Ecology
Jul 16, 2025
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82
A recent study has established a predictive framework for identifying the source populations of Chondria tumulosa, a cryptogenic red macroalga that has been rapidly overtaking coral reef ecosystems in Hawai'i's Papahānaumokuākea ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 24, 2025
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0
Researchers have successfully adapted a standardized system for analyzing facial expressions to include bonobos, our closest living relatives, alongside chimpanzees.
Plants & Animals
Jun 13, 2025
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70
A team of scientists from the SETI Institute and the University of California at Davis has documented, for the first time, humpback whales producing large bubble rings, like a human smoker blowing smoke rings, during friendly ...
Astrobiology
Jun 5, 2025
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311
Scientists from the University of Portsmouth's Center for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology have created the first anatomically-based descriptions (ethogram) of equine facial behavior, mapping how horses use their faces ...
Plants & Animals
May 28, 2025
0
30
