Plants

Plants

Island life prompts evolution of larger plant seeds

In 40 species of plants, the island versions of seeds were larger than mainland counterparts, perhaps to keep the seeds from being lost at sea.

Paleontology

Loblolly sets record for biggest genome

At 20 billion base pairs, the loblolly pine is the largest genome sequenced to date.

Plants

South American vine is a masterful mimic

The vine Boquila trifoliolata changes the shape of its leaves to match its host and avoid getting eaten.

Plants

Milkweed ‘horns’ may equal wins in reproduction battle

Plants may be ripping a page right from bucks’ playbooks, developing hornlike weapons to improve their chances of reproduction.

Plants

Fossil fern showcases ancient chromosomes

Fossil nuclei and chromosomes seen in a 180-million-year-old fern reveals that the plants have stayed mostly the same.

Plants

Moss still grows after 1,500-year deep freeze

After incubating slices of moss that have been frozen for 1,500 years, the plants began to grow again.

Microbes

Osmotroph

An organism that eats by osmosis, relying on nutrients diffusing into its body from a higher concentration in its environment.

Plants

Australian flowers bloom red because of honeyeaters

Many flowering plants converged on similar a color to attract the common birds.

Life

Nonhuman city natives in decline but can be conserved

Cities have been a downer on biodiversity but native populations still remain in urban areas, offering a starting point for possible conservation efforts.

Genetics

When flowers died out in Arctic, so did mammoths

Genetic analysis finds vegetation change in the Arctic around same time as megafauna extinction.

Ecosystems

Amazon doesn’t actually go green in dry seasons

An optical illusion in satellite data made forests appear to grow faster.

Plants

Sexually deceived flies not hopelessly dumb

Pollinators tricked into mating with a plant become harder to fool a second time.