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Human Behavior

32 animals that act weirdly human sometimes – Livescience.com

Humans often think we are unique, with abilities and behaviors far more complex than our distant animal cousins. But in fact, many creatures, from tiny insects to our closest living relatives, exhibit a surprising repertoire of behaviors that can seem eerily human. From elephants mourning their dead to bees that get pessimistic when faced with setbacks, here are some of the most human-like behaviors demonstrated by other members of the animal kingdom.

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), along with bonobos, are our closest living relatives. A 2018 study found that chimpanzees not only share the same five major personality traits with humans conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, extraversion and neuroticism but that these traits could be linked to life span. Scientists found that more agreeable male chimpanzees formed stronger social bonds and tended to live longer.

A separate 2020 study published in the journal Science found evidence of social selection in aging male chimpanzees, with individuals showing a preference for more meaningful social interactions with older friends in a smaller group. This is similar to aging human adults, who tend to choose lifelong friends and socialize in smaller groups than in our youth, the study noted. Another study showed that chimpanzees, much like young children, copy human behaviors such as waving, clapping and kissing. And like humans, chimps also "wage war" to expand their territory.

The gorilla is another large primate that exhibits human-like traits. Scientists have found evidence of gorillas displaying the five human-like personality traits in both the wild and captivity. They use facial expressions and gestures to communicate, and feel joy, empathy and sadness. A 2016 study of gorilla behavior even found personality variations among different gorilla populations. And cultural traits a largely human behavior varied among five groups of gorillas, including mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) and western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), in different African habitats.

Dolphins are known for their intelligence and sociability, and a 2021 study found that, similar to humans and other primates, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have the personality traits of openness, sociability and disagreeableness. Interestingly, researchers also identified a fourth personality trait, dubbed directedness, which is unique to dolphins and combines elements of low neuroticism and conscientiousness.

"Throughout our lifetime, we interact and form relationships with a wide variety of people dolphins do the same with each other," Blake Morton, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Hull in the U.K., said in a statement. "Collectively, being smart and social,regardless of what ecosystem you live in, may play an important role in the evolution of certain personality traits."

With their huge brains, high intelligence, strong social bonds and empathetic behavior, Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) display many human-like traits, including facial recognition. In 2006, researchers found that, like humans, elephants recognize themselves in a mirror, and in 2015, a separate research team found that elephants have incredible long-term memories.

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A 2009 study found evolutionary evidence that genes that affect brain function, energy usage and metabolism, have evolved similarly in large-brained mammals such as elephants and humans. A separate 2023 study found that, like humans, elephants have followed an evolutionary process of domesticating themselves, in which their cultural and societal structures helped increase sociability and reduce aggression in creatures over time.

Like humans, magpies, a member of the crow or corvid family, can make and use tools to feed their young and mimic human voices. Another study also found evidence that European magpies (Pica pica) recognize themselves in a mirror.

Sometimes nicknamed "feathered apes" because their cognitive ability has been found to rival that of nonhuman) primates, Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius) are also members of the corvid family. They can learn how to use tools and demonstrate an extraordinary level of self-restraint. A 2022 study found that Eurasian jays possess self-control. In that research, scientists found that Eurasian jays could pass an avian version of the "marshmallow test" they could withhold the temptation to eat mealworms right away. The scientists found that the jays with the most self-control scored the highest on intelligence tests.

Orcas (Orcinus orca), also known as killer whales, form strong social bonds and live in close-knit family groups called pods. Orcas have been recorded hunting, sharing food, communicating and socializing within their pod, demonstrating advanced cultural and personality traits. While studying the behavior of 24 captive orcas, researchers found that, like humans and chimpanzees, orcas have the personality trait of extraversion, as demonstrated by their playfulness and affection. Further research has found that captivity can change orcas' behavior, increasing their aggression and neuroticism.

A 2011 study found that rats display prosocial behavior. In that research, scientists recorded evidence of rats helping one another by allowing one rat to roam freely while another was trapped in a container. It appeared that the free rat shared the emotional distress of the trapped rat, despite no reward being offered each time it willingly freed the captive rat. However, a 2014 study suggested that it was a desire for social contact, rather than empathy, that encouraged the rat to rescue the captive rat.

In a much earlier experiment in 1958, researchers allowed rats to feed only if they pulled a lever that shocked fellow rats. The rats refused to do so, which, according to the researchers, indicated empathy and compassion.

In a 2018 study published in the journal Learning and Behavior, researchers found that dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) notice when people are in distress and seek to comfort them a behavior the researchers interpreted as evidence of empathy.

In the experiment, dog owners cried or hummed behind a closed door. The dogs that suppressed their own stress reaction in order to comfort the humans opened the door the fastest.

Male mountain bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) seem to get jealous when spurned in mating, according to a 1975 study published in the journal The American Naturalist. Researchers found that when a male bluebird leaves the nest to forage, its female partner may move on with another male. In response, the male bluebird was found to savagely beat their partner by pulling out feathers and snapping beaks.

Like humans, horses (Equus caballus) can interpret facial expressions and distinguish human emotions. Similarly to dogs, horses are known for having close relationships with their owners.

In a 2018 study, the researchers found that horses cross-modally recognized the voices, facial expressions and emotional states of their primary carers and strangers. "Our study could contribute to the understanding of how humans and companion animals send and receive emotional signals to deepen our relationships, which could help establish a better relationship that emphasizes the well-being of animals," Ayaka Takimoto, an associate professor at Hokkaido University in Japan and co-author of the study, said in a statement.

Don't be fooled by their cute and fluffy appearance; female meerkats (Suricata suricatta) will kill any female rivals. Nonetheless, meerkats do exhibit a more caring side, with adults taking turns babysitting young meerkats and spending time educating them in essential life skills. This human-like child-rearing behavior has a strong evolutionary motivation, as it allows the dominant female meerkat to devote her time to breeding.

As part of a three-year study launched in 2023, researchers are investigating whether meerkats mirror human emotion and display empathy, with the aim of better understating human-animal interactions.

Although cats don't adore us in the intense way dogs do, a 2021 study found that they are capable of forming bonds with humans depending on the emotional behavior of the owner. A 2020 study also found evidence that cats (Felis catus) released the "bonding" hormone oxytocin when stroked, although to a much lesser degree than dogs.

However, when it came to displaying complex human-like emotions, jealousy was more commonly seen in cats than empathy or compassion, according to a 2016 study.

Pigeons have been shown to understand dozens of human words. And a 2016 study found that a pigeon could distinguish up to 60 words, marking the first time a nonprimate could recognize letters and have an orthographical brain, meaning they can process and understand letters.

According to study lead author Damian Scarf, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Otago in New Zealand, the findings provided more insight into human brain development and our cognitive skills. "If you find something like this with pigeons, you can argue that it must've been common to our last common ancestor with pigeons, which is about 300 million years ago," Scarf said in a statement. "So the same flexibility and plasticity of the human brain that lets us pick up on words and the statistics behind them must've been present when we were still joined with pigeons."

Like humans, dragonflies can shut out unnecessary information, enabling them to focus on a specific task. This behavioral trait is seen in primates, which have a limited amount of attention and thus must choose between focusing in depth on a single task or multitasking with less focus.

In 2012, scientists found evidence that dragonflies have "human-like" selective attention when hunting their prey. Using a microscopic sensor in a dragonfly's brain, they found that this brain activity, known as neural filtering, enabled the insect to successfully capture their prey 97% of the time.

Scientists have found that, like humans, honeybees feel more pessimistic after a stressful experience.

In a 2011 study, bees were offered sugar or quinine, with a mix of odors, before being shaken in a way that stimulated a predator attack. The shaken bees had lower levels of the feel-good hormones dopamine and serotonin, suggesting they might experience some negative human-like emotions, according to the researchers.

Although they're not commonly associated with cleanliness, cockroaches have a preference for self-hygiene and groom themselves incessantly.

According to a 2013 study, cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) do this to keep their antennae working efficiently, as a buildup of environmental pollutants and their own waxy secretions harm their ability to smell pheromones to find a mate, source food and sense danger.

"The evidence is strong: Grooming is necessary to keep these foreign and native substances at a particular level," Coby Schal, an entomologist at North Carolina State University and co-author of the study, said in a statement. "Leaving antennae dirty essentially blinds insects to their environment."

Other than when they mate, Snakes are generally known for being solitary. But a 2023 study published in the journal Frontiers in Ethology found that, like humans, snakes may comfort one another in periods of stress. When adult southern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus helleri) in the study experienced a stressful situation with another snake of the same species, they had a lower heart rate than a snake that had not experienced such an encounter.

Facial recognition is essential to forming complex social connections. Humans as young as 2 months have mastered this skill.

Unlike primates, fish lack a large brain and visual cortex that aids in processing images. Yet archerfish can recognize human faces. In a 2016 study, scientists found that archerfish could learn and recognize human faces with accuracy.

"The fact that archerfish can learn this task suggests that complicated brains are not necessarily needed to recognise human faces," Cait Newport, a researcher in the University of Oxford Department of Zoology and first author of the study, said in a statement.

While studying Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) in 2024, scientists found that nerve cells in the brain's premotor cortex, which prepares and executes movement in the limbs, strongly responded when tasked with adding and subtracting.

And back in 2008, a group of captive Japanese macaques were trained to use tools, with scientists finding cognitive similarities with humans. A 2021 study found that Japanese macaques can respond to the human gaze flexibly depending on the context, indicating a high level of perspective of others and their intent.

Along with chimpanzees, bonobos (Pan paniscus) are humans' closest living relatives. Known for living peacefully in close-knit social groups, bonobos engage in sex with both sexes, by touching genitals to greet each other and to deescalate violence.

According to a 2022 study, bonobos, like humans, can form harmonious relationships outside their immediate group by helping those in need. However, it appears their social interactions may not be completely harmonious, with a 2024 study finding evidence of aggression between male bonobos.

Whales use song to form social groups, find a mate and communicate. Much like humans, their taste in music evolves over time, with each whale species creating their own song. A 2017 study into cetacean culture and behavior found that, like humans, whales and dolphins of various species live in tight-knit social groups, form mutually beneficial alliances and enjoy playing. Scientists attribute much of whales' social behavior to their large brains.

Female Northern mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) can not only distinguish familiar humans but also judge which individual poses the greatest threat, allowing them to flee from their nest to safety, a 2023 study found. This finding suggests these birds have higher cognitive ability than scientists previously thought.

This research adds to findings from a 2009 study showing that wild mockingbirds don't forget people and have been found to chase away familiar humans they perceive as threatening.

Scientists have found that big cats including cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), lions and tigers can recognize human voices and distinguish them from those of strangers. The 2024 study found that these cats reacted more quickly and more intensely to human voices they recognized. The study authors said the findings indicate that less-social feline species can still have socio-cognitive abilities.

A separate 2018 study of captive and wild cheetahs found that they not only recognized human voices but also discriminated between caregivers and strangers and changed their activity in response. Wild cheetahs also appeared to recognize human voices, potentially because they lived in close proximity to humans.

With their blue blood and multiple brains and hearts, octopuses may seem otherworldly. However, they are also known for being highly intelligent, with strong facial recognition and learning abilities. A 2010 study found that giant Pacific octopuses (Enteroctopus dofleini) could recognize individuals using their large orbital lobes, an area of the brain used for vision. Researchers found that these octopuses were picky about who they liked and disliked, with each octopus showing a strong preference for the keeper who fed it.

Octopuses are also the only known marine invertebrate that can use tools, thanks to their long arms, each of which contains a brain.

Parrots not only have the extraordinary ability to mimic human speech but also exhibit social complexity and, like humans, use memories of past actions to influence future behavior. A 2022 study found that blue-throated macaws (Ara glaucogularis) demonstrated mental self-representation and episodic memory.

In 2020, an African gray parrot named "Griffin" (Psittacus erithacus) outperformed Harvard students in a memory-test game. According to the researchers, both the parrot and humans used a part of their working memories known as manipulation to remember and manipulate information, suggesting a similar ancient evolutionary capability.

Research shows that some penguins communicate by "singing" and can adapt their behavior to their environment. For example, Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) huddle together for warmth.

Penguins are complex social creatures that, like humans, rely on collaborative social skills to problem-solve for tasks such as hunting.

A 2021 study found that African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) could recognize an individual by matching their appearance to their voice, and a 1999 study found that a penguin could identify its mate's voice in a crowd.

Tamarin monkeys small, orange primates that live in South and Central America display several behaviors that could be considered human-like. In a 2013 study, scientists found evidence of cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) "whispering" to one another when in the presence of a human they disliked.

Ants are highly intelligent insects that live in huge colonies and form complex social structures. Like humans, ants teach one another new skills, a 2006 study found. Scientists observed ants performing a "tandem-running" style of teaching, with one ant showing another the route to a food source.

According to researchers, this indicates that teaching can evolve in animals with small brains. Even though the tandem leader doesn't immediately benefit, the tandem follower was found to quickly learn and show others, ultimately benefiting the entire colony.

Crickets are another insect with impressive memory skills. A 2006 study found that crickets of the species Gryllus bimaculatus could remember seven odors at a time and, like humans, have long-term memory. In a 2022 study, researchers found that crickets could learn and remember food sources using odors.

In 2011, scientists found that, like caring humans, crickets often put the needs of their mate before their own.

"Relationships between crickets are rather different from what we'd all assumed," Rolando Rodrguez-Muozof, a researcher at the University of Exeter in the U.K. and co-author of the study, said in a statement. "Rather than being bullied by their mates, it seems that females are in fact being protected. We could even describe males as 'chivalrous.'"

Like humans, orangutans are social primates with opposable thumbs, which they use to grasp things and swing through the trees.

Also like humans, orangutans (Pongo) can learn their own "languages" and often communicate using body language. A 2018 study found evidence that orangutans can "talk" about the past. Researchers observed female orangutans warning their young of past dangers in a form of language known as "displaced reference," providing insight into how vocal systems have evolved in humans.

Crows are highly intelligent birds with complex brains that allow them to solve problems and use tools to their advantage. A 2019 study found evidence of New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) using a hooked tool to forage plants.

Like humans, crows also possess self-awareness and can make decisions. A 2020 study published in the journal Science showed that crows use sense and reason to problem-solve, and a 2017 study found that crows rival some primates in intelligence.

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32 animals that act weirdly human sometimes - Livescience.com

Human Behavior

NBC Is Using Animals To Push The LGBT Agenda. Here Are 5 Abhorrent Animal Behaviors Humans Shouldn’t Emulate – The Daily Wire

Caution: The following article contains graphic descriptions of disturbing animal-on-animal violence and sexual deviancy.

In an apparent response to the common argument that the LGBT spectrum of sexualities isnt natural, NBC is showcasing the unorthodox sexual proclivities of the lower life forms in a stunning and brave new documentary titled Queer Planet.

The documentarys trailer, which was posted publicly on X, opens with a shot of a male lion sexually mounting another male, and clips of various presumably same-sex animals nuzzling each other are interspersed with soundbites from expert scientists assuring you that everything you were told as a kid is wrong, this is a queer planet, and its only in humans that we have such a stigma about it.

If you have the stomach for it, take a look at the full trailer below:

Weve all heard of gay penguins, but this film really opened my eyes to the full spectrum of LGBTQ+ behaviors across the natural world, narrator Andrew Rannells said in a press statement. And what could be more natural than being who you are? Im excited to be part of Queer Planet, especially during Pride Month, and on Peacock, surely the most colorful and glamorous of all the streaming services.

The specials official synopsis claims its an exploration of the rich diversity of animal sexuality from flamboyant flamingos to pansexual primates, sex-changing clownfish to multi-gendered mushrooms and everything in between. This documentary looks at extraordinary creatures, witnesses amazing behaviors, and introduces the scientists questioning the traditional concept of whats natural when it comes to sex and gender.

Of course, there are numerous questions surrounding the findings of the documentary and whether homosexual behavior in the animal kingdom really is natural, but the implication of using animal behavior as a justification for similar human behavior may be even more insidious.

Since NBC apparently wants you to believe that something is morally justifiable just because animals do it, here is a non-exhaustive list of some reprehensible things that, according to Queer Planets logic, should be permissible because they are widely practiced in the animal kingdom.

Infanticide within the animal kingdom is extremely common. It is most often practiced by males as part of their reproductive strategy.

For example, when a male liontakes overan established pride, he will often kill any existing young in the group to extinguish the bloodline of the previous dominant male. The loss of the cubs also makes lionesses reenter heat more quickly, allowing the new male to reproduce and pass on his genes in his new pride. Male bears and other mammals such as dolphins and baboons have exhibited the same behavior.

Males committed infanticide more frequently in species where males and females lived together and a few males dominated as mates but only remained at the top of the pack for brief periods of time. The practice was also associated with non-annual or seasonal reproduction cycles, meaning females could mate whenever. Through infanticide, males can eliminate the offspring of their competition and get the female back to full baby-making capacity faster, Smithsonian Magazine noted.

The Smithsonian also noted that mothers will also abandon offspring that are ill and may alsokillthe offspring of other females to cut down on competition if food is scarce.

Cannibalism is also a common occurrence among animals when food is scarce. In cases of drought and famine, many carnivores will feed on the dead bodies of their own species, including their own young.

Certain species of sharks give birth to live young instead of laying eggs like the vast majority of fish do. Those young developing in their mothers womb are often conscious and are able to move about freely. These shark pupswill eateach other while still inside their mother if her nutritious yolk is depleted. This form of cannibalism is so common in the sand tiger shark that a female usually only gives birth to two pups at a time because they have eaten all of their other siblings in the womb.

Many female insects will cannibalize their mates soon after the act of reproduction in order to gain additional nutrients for their eggs. The female praying mantis will infamouslydevourher mate once theyve coupled, usually starting with the head, in order to provide a boost of nutrients to her fertilized eggs. Similarly, black widow spiders often live up to their name bykilling and eatingmuch smaller males after theyve been impregnated.

Mammals like lions, macaques, and leopards have also been knownto engagein cannibalism. Mothers will often cannibalize their dead young in order to recoup nutrients.

Violence akin to what we would consider torture has been observed in a select few animal species, mostly concentrated among those with a high degree of intelligence.

Felines, dolphins, killer whales, and primates have all been observed toying with their prey before killing them.

Many people who have owned cats have seen them play with small birds, rodents, or reptiles before finally killing them. Dolphins and killer whales often exhibit similar behavior with seals and fish.

Chimps will often attack strategic points on an enemys body, most commonly the hands and genitals, to maim them before killing them. Theyve also been observed desecrating the dead bodies of adversaries. One notable instance saw a troop of chimps kill a former leader who had been ejected from the group. They then spent hours eating and mutilating his dead body.

Coerced sexual activity occurs on a fairly regular basis in the animal kingdom. Harassment and intimidation by males are common occurrences among dozens of species.

Rape is a normal reproductive strategy in mallards, Dutch scientist Kees Moeliker told The Guardian in 2005. He observed that male ducks would often chase female ducks and force them to land in order to initiate sexual activity with them.

Instances of sexual coercion by male grey seals in the North Sea were so violent that they resulted in the deaths of several female harbor seals, according to a paper published in 2020. Male dolphins off the coast of Australia work together to isolate a single female and then force copulation.

Sexually coercive behavior has also been documented in chimpanzees and orangutans. Its been theorized that female bonobos create alliances with each other to discourage sexual aggression from males.

Several instances have been observed of animals attempting to mate with the corpses of members of their own species.

Cases of both heterosexual and homosexual acts of necrophilia have beenreported among ducks. Moeliker first observed necrophilic behavior in mallards in 1995. He saw a male mallard die after it flew directly into a window and reportedthat another male attempted to mate with the corpse continuously for almost 75 minutes.

In 2014, scientists in Japan reported that three male sand martin birds attempted to mate with the corpse of another male. A herpetologist witnessedtwo male white and black tegu lizards from Brazil try to mate with a dead female in 2013.

Scientists set upa camera trap near the corpse of a female stump-tailed macaque (a type of monkey) in Thailand, and over three days of observation three different male macaques attempted to have intercourse with the dead female.

Penguins have become one of the mascots of the LGBT animal movement, largely due to several high-profile instances of male penguins forming bonded pairs. A childrens book depicting the same-sex romance between two chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo won multiple awards when it was released in 2005.

However, these birds run the gamut on deviant sexual behavior.

In 1912, a British naturalist who joined Robert Scotts famous Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica described the astonishing depravity of the local Adlie penguins. Calling them little knots of hooligans, the naturalist observed instances of rape, necrophilia, infanticide, and abuse of chicks. He also noted instances of homosexuality.

The preceding account may seem a little morbid, even brutal, but it illustrates the danger in justifying certain human behaviors by pointing to similar behavior in animals. Though it can often look idyllic in documentaries or during a casual stroll in a park, morality is often absent in the natural world, and humans ability to discern it is one of our primary advantages over animals.

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NBC Is Using Animals To Push The LGBT Agenda. Here Are 5 Abhorrent Animal Behaviors Humans Shouldn't Emulate - The Daily Wire

Genetics

The same genetic mutations behind gorillas’ small penises may hinder fertility in men – Livescience.com

Silverback gorillas are famous for their impressive, bulging physiques and their rather modest genitalia. Now, scientists have uncovered a potential genetic link between these apes' small members and infertility problems in male humans.

Coming in at just 1.1 inches (3 centimeters) long, on average, the penis of the adult male gorilla (Gorilla) is the smallest phallus of all apes. The gorilla's genital size comes with other deficits in its reproductive capacity, such as low sperm count compared to other primates, and sperm with poor motility and a diminished ability to bind to eggs.

Given that these are reproductive issues that can also affect humans, it may seem surprising that all male gorillas share these traits. However, this can be explained by gorillas' mating system, said Jacob Bowman, lead author of the new study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University at Buffalo.

Gorillas operate in a polygynous system, in which a dominant male has near-exclusive access to females in his troop. The silverback's unwieldy physique means it has no problem securing mates, and thus, its sperm doesn't have to compete with that of other males and it can produce offspring without many, highly motile swimmers. The theory is that this lack of sperm competition led to the evolution of gorillas' small genitalia.

Related: Move over, Viagra this spider's boner-inducing venom could treat people let down by the blue pill

This got researchers "wondering if, at a genetic level, we can find genes associated with spermatogenesis [sperm production] or that we see leading to poor-quality sperm," Bowman told Live Science. Gorillas and humans share the vast majority of the same genes so if the researchers could pinpoint suspect genes in gorillas, they could next turn their attention to the human genome.

Roughly 15% of U.S. couples have trouble conceiving, according to Yale Medicine, and more than half of those cases involve male infertility. Around 30% of infertility cases have a genetic basis, said Vincent Straub, a doctoral student in population health at the University of Oxford who was not involved in the new study. However, the genes involved in male infertility are poorly understood.

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To help unravel those genetics, Bowman and colleagues combed through a database of more than 13,000 genes across 261 mammals. This involved looking at genes' underlying sequences, to see how they changed over time in related animals. The aim was to see if certain genes in the gorilla branch of the tree of life were evolving at dramatically reduced rates, Bowman said.

This can happen when there isn't strong pressure to get rid of genetic mutations that could hinder a population's survival such as those related to gorillas' low-quality sperm. This process, called "relaxed purifying selection," can result in seemingly harmful mutations becoming common in a species.

The data turned up 578 genes in the gorilla lineage that underwent this type of selection. An analysis and existing data suggested that many of these genes are involved in making sperm. However, not all the flagged genes had known roles in male fertility.

To better understand these genes' functions, the team turned to the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), a commonly used genetic model in biology. They systematically silenced each of the genes in male flies to see if they affected the insects' ability to reproduce. In this way, they uncovered 41 new genes that hadn't previously been tied to male fertility.

The researchers then connected the dots back to humans using a genetic database with data from 2,100 men with infertility, who either had very low amounts or a lack of sperm in their semen. They also looked at data from fertile men, focusing on the genes they'd flagged in gorillas. They found that, in 109 of relaxed gorilla genes, the infertile men carried more loss-of-function mutations than did fertile men; loss-of-function mutations reduce a gene's ability to make the protein it codes for.

While it's likely these genes are involved in human male fertility, more research is needed to learn exactly how they work in the body. Straub emphasized that infertility is very complex, and that not all of it comes down to genetics. To fully understand it, scientists need to account for how different genes interact with one another and with an organism's environment and its behavior.

The findings drawn from gorillas open the door to future explorations about how these genes, and others closely associated with them, might influence fertility in people, Straub said. The study was published May 9 in the journal eLife.

Ever wonder why some people build muscle more easily than others or why freckles come out in the sun? Send us your questions about how the human body works to community@livescience.com with the subject line "Health Desk Q," and you may see your question answered on the website!

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The same genetic mutations behind gorillas' small penises may hinder fertility in men - Livescience.com

Genetics

Genetics reveals surprising origin of the German cockroach – Cosmos

The German cockroach lurks in human homes, cities, and structures worldwide. You wont find it crawling through natural habitats its entirely domesticated.

The pest species, Blattella germanica, was first recorded in central Europe about 250 years ago. But its origin and spread has remained a mystery until now.

But a team of researchers has now confirmed the species evolved from the Asian cockroach Blattella asahinaiabout 2,100 years ago and probably did this by adapting to human settlements in India or Myanmar.

We found that the sequence for the German cockroach was almost identical to that of B. asahinai, a species native to the Bay of Bengal, from east India to Bangladesh and into Myanmar, says Theo Evans of the University of Western Australia, who co-authored the study published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Genomic analysis of DNA collected from 281 cockroaches, from 17 countries across 6 continents, revealed 2 routes through which the species spread across the globe.

We found an early spread route around 1,200 years ago, which was from eastern India westwards, likely from increasing trade and military activities of the Islamic Umayyad or Abbasid Caliphates, says Evans.

The next spread route was eastwards around 390 years ago into the Indonesia archipelago, likely facilitated by various European East India Companies.These companies traded spices, tea, cotton and other products within South and Southeast Asia, and back to Europe.

We estimated that German cockroaches arrived in Europe about 270 years ago, which matches the historical records from the Seven Years War. From Europe the German cockroach spread to the rest of the world, around 120 years ago, probably from faster transportation on steam ships.

B. germanica grows to about 1.1-1.6 centimetres long and varies in colouration from tan to almost black. They are omnivorous scavengers attracted to meats, starches, sugars and fatty foods.

To survive, cockroaches have to avoid being seen by humans. German cockroaches have evolved to be nocturnal, avoid open spaces, and although it retained its wings it has stopped flying, says Evans.

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Genetics reveals surprising origin of the German cockroach - Cosmos

Genetics

Optimizing genetics to advance controlled environment agriculture – AgriLife Today – AgriLife Today

Texas A&M AgriLife is adding crucial expertise to help guide future innovations in controlled environment horticulture as the burgeoning field continues to evolve.

Krishna Bhattarai, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant breeder for controlled environment horticulture and assistant professor, has joined the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Horticultural Sciences. His research uses genetics and genomics to develop new horticulture crop cultivars specifically for controlled environment production.

Bhattarais research will be performed at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Dallas.

Amit Dhingra, Ph.D., head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences, said Bhattarais hiring is a major step forward for the controlled environment horticulture program. He said technological advances have spurred much of the burgeoning fields momentum, and Bhattarais arrival and focus on optimization of plant genetics in these systems comes at a critical time.

Dhingra said he believes the next step in the evolution of controlled environment horticulture is cohesion between plant genetics and the grow systems they support. The idea is not only to optimize yields but also focus on other cultivar characteristics like nutritional density and growth habit as well as aesthetics and flavor.

Daniel Leskovar, Ph.D., director at the Dallas center, said Bhattarais hire resulted from the strategic plan and vision of the controlled environment horticulture program at Texas A&M AgriLife.

His expertise in plant breeding and phenotyping tools will provide very valuable synergy to our growing CEH multidisciplinary programs at Texas A&M University, he said.

Specifically, his expertise in plant breeding and genetics focused on developing new fruits and vegetable cultivars with improved resource use of efficient traits, disease and abiotic stress resistance, and with high nutritional and sensorial quality will ultimately benefit consumers, as well as the controlled environment growers and industry.

The controlled environment program at the Dallas center includes small-acreage/urban horticulturists, Joe Masabni, Ph.D., and Genhua Niu, Ph.D., both professors in the Department of Horticultural Sciences; Azlan Zahid, agriculture engineer from the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering and entomologist, Arash Kheirodin, Ph.D., in the Department of Entomology. The team also includes Shuyang Zhen, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, College Station.

Dhingra said Bhattarais arrival provides important expertise for the programs holistic approach, making Texas A&M an innovator and leader in the field.

Researchers in the controlled environment horticulture program are experimenting with plants in a range of technologies that include long-standing methods like high tunnels and greenhouses and aquaponic and hydroponic systems.

They are also engaged in concepts like precision agriculture that rely on innovative technologies such as remote sensors to collect a range of data related to environmental and plant conditions. Sensing technology allows growers to incorporate other cutting-edge advancements like automation, robotics and artificial intelligence to manage plants.

The next frontier in controlled environment production of horticultural crops is plant genetics, Dhingra said. We hope to increase the efficiency, sustainability and profitability for controlled environment growers by harnessing the genetic potential in plant material so that crops perform at optimal levels in these systems.

Bhattarai said he is aware of only one other plant breeder conducting public research dedicated to controlled environment production.

A lot of research has been done on the structural and software programming side of controlled environment horticulture, but plant breeding specifically for those systems is lagging, he said. Cultivar development dedicated to controlled environment production is a field where there is a lot of opportunity to explore and contribute.

Bhattarais previous research covered a broad range of horticultural crops, including flowers, fruits and vegetables.

Bacterial leaf spot resistance was the focal point of his research as a graduate research assistant in the North Carolina State University tomato breeding program. The disease is problematic for open-field tomato production.

In 2014, while a masters student at the University of Florida, his focus shifted to ornamental plants, including the prevention of powdery mildew in cut flowers like Gerbera daisies.

Bhattarais research took another turn as a postdoctorate researcher at the University of California, Davis. Instead of breeding for plant disease resistance, he started analyzing genomic regions of strawberries in search of improved aroma and flavor.

Since I have experience in all three of these important commodities, I thought I could deliver some good research that could impact plant breeding for controlled environment production in Texas, he said. We have seen tremendous growth of controlled environment production in Texas, and that makes Texas A&M an ideal place to be.

Controlled environment horticulture is emerging as a sustainable production method that can supplement traditional field production. As agriculture grapples with the potential impacts of climate change, water scarcity, land fragmentation and other challenges, systems that optimize resources, operate within small footprints and are not subject to the whims of Mother Nature continue to gain momentum.

Bhattarai said Texas is rapidly becoming a leader in controlled environment production, which puts Texas A&M AgriLife in a position to help the industry and producers navigate challenges. Breeding plants to optimize their uptake of water and fertilizer is a focus, but he is also looking at genes that determine plant structure and inflorescence to maximize yields in limited space.

According to grower surveys, he said many of these systems are dedicated to leafy green production, but Bhattarai wants to expand grower options and crop variety.

Producers have to be profitable, and the ability to harness traits in cultivars for these targeted environments will be a critical part of the industrys evolution, he said. The genetic side of innovation in this field will optimize technological innovations in these systems.

Using genetic tools to identify and harness traits for specific growing systems will drive system optimization and industry sustainability, Bhattarai said.

For instance, in hydroponic systems, plants do not need high root biomass because nutrients are readily available. Bhattarai will select for cultivars producing higher volumes of the consumable products, whether fruit, shoots or leaves, for hydroponic growers. Genetics influencing inflorescence could also be chosen to optimize the systems ability to automate the crop harvest.

Identifying and expressing plant genes that open pathways to better flavors, better nutrition and other distinct characteristics will help controlled environment producers grow premium produce, Bhattarai said. Plant breeding programs will also help create high-value fruit and vegetables that are distinct in the marketplace.

The idea is to give controlled environment growers options and to optimize those options, Bhattarai said.

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Optimizing genetics to advance controlled environment agriculture - AgriLife Today - AgriLife Today

Genetics

Genetics help combat illegal movement of feral swine – The Wildlife Society

May 21, 2024 by Gail Keirn and Tim Smyser, USDA Wildlife Services

Most wild pigs are hybrids, offering clues to distinguish them from domestic pigs

When the gate swings open on a trailer, it doesnt take long for wild pigs to pour out into their new environment. Experts are not sure how often people move wild pigs, but they know it is contributing to the spread of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) across the United States.

The illegal transportation of wild pigs (also known as feral swine) for hunting purposes has contributed to the rapid expansion of this invasive species across to the United States over the past 40 years. They are now reported in at least 35 states. To help curb the spread of these invasive animals, multiple states have passed laws prohibiting their possession or transport. However, the similarities between domestic pigs and invasive wild pigs pose a challenge to enforcing these regulations.

Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish a domestic pig from an invasive wild pig just by looking at them, said NWRC geneticist Dr. Tim Smyser. But genetic analysis shows that about 97% of invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in the U.S. are hybrids of wild boars and domestic pigs, Smyser said.

That has allowed NWRC researchers and partners to exploit the wild boar ancestry found in most invasive pigs to differentiate them from domestic pigs. Approximately 1,400 samples from 33 domestic breeds and 16 wild boar populations were genotyped and sorted into five genetically cohesive reference groups: mixed-commercial breeds, Durocs, heritage breeds, primitive breeds and wild boars.

Then, researchers used well-established genetic clustering techniques to evaluate the likelihood that some level of wild boar hybridization took place.

The technique we developed basically allows wildlife managers and law enforcement officials to collect a genetic sample from a captured pig, genotype it and determine how likely it is that the pig descended from one of the domestic breed lineages, a pure wild boar lineage or a hybrid of the two, Smyser said.

Researchers evaluated the discriminatory power of this approach using simulated genotypes and real data from an additional 29 breeds of domestic pigs and more than 6,500 invasive wild pig samples. All the simulated and real data from domestic pigs fell within the statistical distribution of the domestic pig reference groups, while 74% of the wild pig data exceeded the maximum threshold for the domestic pig reference groups and could be statistically classified as having wild boar ancestry.

The ability to curtail illegal translocations of invasive wild pigs is an important part of reducing their spread and damage to the economy and the environment, Smyser said. This new genetic and statistical approach will aid in the enforcement of prohibitions on wild pig movement and introduction.

Wildlife Services is a Strategic Partner of TWS.

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Genetics help combat illegal movement of feral swine - The Wildlife Society

Genetics

Tracking the cellular and genetic roots of neuropsychiatric disease – Yale News

A new analysis has revealed detailed information about genetic variation in brain cells that could open new avenues for the targeted treatment of diseases such as schizophrenia and Alzheimers disease.

The findings, reported May 23 in Science, were the result of a multi-institutional collaboration known as PsychENCODE, founded in 2015 by the National Institutes of Health, which seeks new understandings of genomic influences on neuropsychiatric disease. The study was published alongside related studies in Science, Science Advances, and Science Translational Medicine.

Previous research has established a strong link between a persons genetics and their likelihood of developing neuropsychiatric disease, saysMark Gerstein, the Albert L. Williams Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the new study.

The correlations between genetics and your susceptibility to disease are much higher for brain diseases than for cancer or heart disease, said Gerstein. If your parents have schizophrenia, youre much more likely to get it than you are to get heart disease if your parents have the disease. There is a very large heritability for these brain-related conditions.

Whats less clear, however, is how this genetic variation leads to disease.

We want to understand the mechanism, said Gerstein. What is that gene variantdoingin the brain?

For the new study, researchers set out to better understand the genetic variation across individual cell types in the brain. To do so, they performed several types of single-cell experiments on more than 2.8 million cells taken from the brains of 388 people, including healthy individuals and others with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Alzheimers disease.

From that pool of cells, the researchers identified 28 different cell types. Then they examined gene expression and regulation within those cell types.

In one analysis, the researchers were able to link gene expression to variants in upstream regulatory regions, bits of genetic code situated before the gene in question that can increase or decrease the genes expression.

Thats useful because if you have a variant of interest, you can now link it to a gene, said Gerstein. And thats really powerful because it helps you interpret the variants. It helps you understand what effect theyre having in the brain. And because we looked across cell types, our data also allow you to connect that variant to an individual cell type of action.

The researchers also assessed how particular genes, such as those associated with neurotransmitters, varied across individuals and cell types, finding variability was usually higher across cell types than across individuals. This pattern was even stronger for genes that code for proteins targeted for drug treatment.

And thats generally good for a drug, Gerstein said. It means that those drugs are homing in on particular cell types and not affecting your whole brain or body. It also means those drugs are more likely to be unaffected by genetic variants and work in many people.

Using the data generated by the analysis, the researchers were able to map out within-cell type genetic regulatory networks and between-cell communication networks, and then plug those networks into a machine learning model. Then, using an individuals genetic information, the model could predict whether they had a brain disease.

Because these networks were hard coded in the model, when the model made a prediction we could see which parts of the network contributed to it, said Gerstein. So we could identify which genes and cell types were important for that prediction. And that can suggest candidate drug targets.

In one example, the model predicted an individual with a particular genetic variant might have bipolar disorder, and the researchers could see that prediction was based on two genes in three cell types. In another, the researchers identified six genes in six cell types that contributed to a schizophrenia prediction.

The model also worked in the opposite direction. The researchers could introduce a genetic perturbation and see how that might affect the network and an individuals health. This, Gerstein says, is useful for drug design or previewing how well drugs or drug combinations might fare as treatments.

Together, the findings could help facilitate precision-medicine approaches for neuropsychiatric disease, said the researchers.

To further this work, the consortium hasmade its results and model availableto other researchers.

Our vision is that researchers interested in a particular gene or variant can use our resources to better understand what its doing in the brain or to perhaps identify new candidate drug targets to investigate more, said Gerstein.

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Tracking the cellular and genetic roots of neuropsychiatric disease - Yale News

Genetics

Seedling root system adaptation to water availability during maize domestication and global expansion – Nature.com

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Seedling root system adaptation to water availability during maize domestication and global expansion - Nature.com