Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

Songbird species work together to mob predator owls, but only strike when the time is right

January 31, 2023 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Northern pygmy owl, Glaucidium gnoma. Image credit: W Douglas Robinson Scientists have now shown that songbirds don’t just flee [...]

From pylons to pandas: 5 Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

January 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

Evolution of bat wings and calls through ‘foraging syndromes’ allows diversity to flourish

December 9, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Egyptian slit-faced bats, Nycteris thebaica In a new study, scientists show that the wing shape and the echolocation frequency of [...]

World’s heaviest flying bird may be self-medicating on plants used in traditional medicine

November 23, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Great bustard male displaying on lek. Image credit: Carlos Palacín Researchers show that great bustards in Spain prefer to eat [...]

From ghost gear to microbe memories: 4 Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

November 4, 2022 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

Secret behind spectacular blooms in world’s driest desert is invisible to human eyes

October 21, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer The 2021 ‘desierto florido’ near Caldera, Chile. The purple flowers are the pussypaw Cistanthe longiscapa (family [...]

From chili-heat pain relief to blue whale migration: 5 Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

October 13, 2022 // 0 Comments

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

The ultimate death stare: How moth wing patterns scare off predatory birds with amazing optical illusion

October 12, 2022 // 0 Comments

by Dr Hannah Rowland, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, and Dr John Skelhorn, Newcastle University Image: Dr Hannah Rowland Many prey species have eyespot markings [...]

Bees, blue light, and bacteria in beetles’ ‘back pockets’: Most viewed articles of August 2022

September 23, 2022 // 0 Comments

Image: Shutterstock.com by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Each month, Frontiers shines a spotlight on some of the leading research across a wide range of [...]

Humans have totally altered small mammal communities in just a few centuries

August 15, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Suzanna Burgelman, science writer Image: Paul Abrahams/Shutterstock.com Researchers have found that small mammal communities today are fundamentally different from even a [...]

Researchers challenge claim of historic human brain ‘shrinking’ and 3 other papers you don’t want to miss

August 11, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey and Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writers Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with [...]

Yoda-like tarsiers push virtuoso singing to their physiological limits

August 2, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Pair of Gursky’s spectral tarsiers, Tarsius spectrumgurskyae. Image credit: Arie de Gier / Shutterstock.com Researchers [...]

Could cranberries help us prevent dementia? Check out 5 fascinating Frontiers articles you don’t want to miss

June 9, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers Science Communications Manager Image: Jean Beaufort At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

Most read article of May 2022: Surprising finding shows children grow faster during the school year than summer vacation

June 3, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers Science Communications Manager Image: Shutterstock.com Each month, Frontiers shines a spotlight on some of the leading research across a wide range [...]

Climate crisis is driving cousins of The Lion King character to local extinction

May 19, 2022 // 0 Comments

Climate crisis is driving cousins of The Lion King character to local extinction, finds new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

How bees prove to be skilled mathematicians and 3 other amazing science stories you may have missed

May 5, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

Think fast! Clever monkeys plan their food trips to avoid stronger rivals

April 26, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Vervet monkey, Chlorocebus pygerythrus, from K social group in Uganda. Image credit: TJM Arseneau-Robar, KA Anderson, EN Vasey, P [...]

Most read articles of March 2022: Secrets of ancient leftovers revealed and endangered shark discovered in pet food

April 20, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager, Frontiers Image: Shutterstock.com Each month, Frontiers shines a spotlight on some of the leading research across a wide range [...]

The answer to keeping moose populations healthy? Wolves

April 20, 2022 // 0 Comments

The answer to keeping moose populations healthy? Wolves, finds a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Extreme heat harms forest-dwelling bird chicks more than city ones

March 23, 2022 // 0 Comments

Extreme heat harms forest-dwelling bird chicks more than city ones, finds a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Leftovers in prehistoric pots let scientists peek into the kitchen of an ancient civilization

March 21, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers Science writer Image credit: Marko Kukic / Shutterstock.com Scientists studied animal lipids and microscopical remains of plants in vessels from [...]

Possible treatment for tinnitus? 4 fascinating Frontiers articles you may have missed

March 14, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of [...]

5 fascinating Frontiers articles you may have missed in January 2022

February 8, 2022 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager A newly born desert tortoise. Image: K. Kristina Drake/ USGS. At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a [...]

When and why did human brains decrease in size 3,000 years ago? New study may have found clues within ants

October 22, 2021 // 0 Comments

When and why did human brains decrease in size 3,000 years ago? New study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution may have found clues within ants [...]

Surprising discovery in Arctic songbird may reveal how it survives challenging migrations

October 6, 2021 // 0 Comments

By K.E.D Coan, science writer Snow buntings in winter. Image: Mircea Costina/Shutterstock.com There is still much to learn about how Arctic migratory birds adjust their [...]

Bat guts become less healthy through diet of ‘fast food’ from banana plantations

September 23, 2021 // 0 Comments

By Tania Fitzgeorge-Balfour, science writer Pallas’s long-tongued bat (Glossophaga soricina) feeding on banana flowers. Image credit: Julian Schneider New research [...]

Scientists pretend to be Neanderthals to explore how they caught birds in caves for food

September 16, 2021 // 0 Comments

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Image credit: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock.com From fossil evidence and through scientific role-play, researchers reconstruct that [...]

Secret to speediness of ancient bipedal reptile has been revealed

August 16, 2021 // 0 Comments

By Clarissa Wright, Frontiers science writer Close-up of a reptile eye, but not the ancient Eudibamus cursoris. Image Aedka Studio/Shutterstock.com The Early Permian marked a [...]

First-of-its-kind flower smells like dead insects to imprison ‘coffin flies’

May 21, 2021 // 0 Comments

The first known case of a flower mimicking dead arthropods to attract pollinators: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Majority of bird species in Americas could survive climate change, shows study

May 5, 2021 // 0 Comments

By Robert Hanley / Durham University communications team The Arenal Volcano seen from the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Monteverde-Arenal is one of 21 Important Bird and [...]

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 2020 Editor Awards

April 22, 2021 // 0 Comments

The editors who have made outstanding contributions to the journal, supporting the review process, helping to build exciting content and driving journal growth. [...]

As plant/animal diversity wanes, is microbial life changing too? A perilously ‘profound ignorance’

April 19, 2021 // 0 Comments

Is microbial biodiversity worldwide increasing or decreasing? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Team reveals amazing reconstructions of our ancestors to correct mistakes of the past

February 26, 2021 // 0 Comments

How to ensure accuracy in soft tissue reconstructions of early hominins such as Lucy? A review in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Improving water quality could help conserve insectivorous birds — study

February 26, 2021 // 0 Comments

Scarcity of insect prey in disturbed lakes and streams contributes to bird decline, show new results By Anna Sigurdsson and Mischa Dijkstra, science writers A new study shows [...]

Scientists propose three-step method to reverse significant reforestation side effect

February 10, 2021 // 0 Comments

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer Image: Farid Suhaimi/Shutterstock Reforestation efforts using a monoculture of a fast-growing tree species, while effective, [...]

Infographic: Better learners in flycatchers more likely to copy competitors

January 11, 2021 // 0 Comments

Better learners in collared flycatchers are more likely to copy information from competing species: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Better learners in collared flycatchers are more likely to copy information from competing species

December 22, 2020 // 0 Comments

Ability to use social information depends on individual cognitive skills in female collared flycatchers: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

“Helper” ambrosia beetles share reproduction with their mother

November 4, 2020 // 0 Comments

Fungus-growing Xyleborus affinis beetles have independently evolved a similar social structure to many casteless wasps and bees: Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Priyanga Amarasekare joins Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

October 20, 2020 // 0 Comments

Priyanga Amarasekare (UCLA) joins Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution as a Specialty Chief Editor for the journal's dedicated Models in Ecology and Evolution specialty section. [...]

Sky islands and tropical alpine sunflowers at risk of disappearing

September 24, 2020 // 0 Comments

What will happen to the Andean Páramos under climate change? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Dr. Orsolya Valkó joins Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

September 4, 2020 // 0 Comments

Co-Specialty Chief Editor Dr. Orsolya Valkó brings a renewed focus on ecosystem restoration to Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Ecological theory and modelling finds its habitat

January 15, 2020 // 0 Comments

Landscape photograph of hills and snow-capped peaks and mountains surrounding a lake

University of Auckland's Prof George Perry leads new section on Models in Ecology and Evolution. [...]

Wolf-dog ‘swarms’ threaten Europe’s wolves

September 5, 2019 // 3 Comments

A new study reveals that scientists are divided on issues such as how to remove hybrids and free-roaming dogs, and whether they should be kept captive, sterilised and released or killed; Frontiers in Ecology in Evolution [...]

Winter is coming: a stark divide in red-neck phalarope migration

August 15, 2019 // 0 Comments

Red-neck phalaropes split between the Pacific Ocean and the Arabian Sea for the colder months, researchers discover; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Young frogs that were stressed as tadpoles move less on land, putting their survival at risk

July 1, 2019 // 0 Comments

New Oregon State University research shows that juvenile northern red-legged frogs that have experienced climate-related stress as tadpoles are less likely to move on land, putting their survival at risk; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Is one toe really better than three? How horses’ legs evolved for travel rather than speed

June 21, 2019 // 0 Comments

The real evolutionary 'step forward' in horse foot anatomy was not the loss of additional toes, but the evolution of the 'spring foot', say researchers; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

Research shows cattle ranching could help conserve rare African antelope, lions

June 19, 2019 // 0 Comments

Endangered African antelope and the lions that prey on them may benefit from certain cattle ranching practices in Kenya; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

What’s your poison? Scrupulous scorpions tailor venom to target

June 11, 2019 // 0 Comments

Scorpions adapt their stinging, stingers and sting contents to minimize the costs of venom use; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]

How light from street lamps and trees influences the activity of urban bats

May 23, 2019 // 0 Comments

The team found that the response of bats to artificial light was intensified in areas with high tree cover. Credit: Christian Giese. A German study sheds new light on how [...]

Scientists propose rethinking ‘endangered species’ definition to save slow-breeding giants

May 17, 2019 // 0 Comments

Researchers at the Smithsonian Institute have proposed a ‘demographic safe space’ for Asian elephants, to improve conservation of these and other large, slow-breeding animals; Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution [...]