Wild African elephants address each other with name-like calls, a rare ability among nonhuman animals, according to a new study. Researchers used machine learning to confirm that elephant calls contained a name-like component identifying the intended recipient, a behavior they suspected based on observation. The study suggests elephants do not imitate the receiver's call to address one another but instead use arbitrary vocal labels like humans.| ScienceDaily
Scientists monitor the brain activity of black-capped chickadees while they stashed and retrieved seeds to learn more about episodic memory.| Promega Connections
Elephants may use name-like vocalizations to identify each other, highlighting their complex cognition and communication skills.| Promega Connections
Recent research reveals that starfish anatomy is even stranger than previously thoughtMost animals in the world are what biologists refer to as “bilateral”—their left and right sides mirror one another. It is also typically easy to tell which part of most animals is the top and which is the bottom. The anatomical arrangements of certain other animals, however, are slightly more confounding, for instance in the case of echinoderms, which include sea urchins, sand dollars and starfish. Th...| Promega Connections
Xylella fastidiosa is a plant pathogen that has devastated crops around the world, including olive groves, grapevines and citrus trees.| Promega Connections