An updated phylogeny of bats is presented, based on new genome assemblies and many ancient fossils and including all known bat families.

A $1-million gift from Margaret Atwood in honour of her longtime partner will create the Graeme Gibson Chair in Avian Biology at Western.

Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) aims to prevent wildlife extinction and facilitate the recovery and management of species imperilled due to human activity. A species may only be included on SARA after scientific assessment and a Cabinet decision. Recommended timelines for each stage of this process were introduced in 2017. We evaluated the influence of these recommendations by comparing delays before and after 2017, focusing specifically on the second stage where timelines are not mandatory. We also analyzed stated causes of delay for each species considered for listing. We found that decisions were made within the timeframe for only 6% of 288 species, and 31% were listed after delays. Critically, 85% of 181 species waiting for a decision have already exceeded recommended timelines. Timeline compliance did not improve after the 2017 policy was introduced (longer median decision times and proportionally fewer species advanced to decision), where decisions exceeded the timelines by an average of 477 days (versus 484 days pre-2017). Certain species groups, particularly marine vertebrates, experienced disproportionate delays, but publicly available information highlighting causes of delays is limited. Despite the intention of the 2017 policy to expedite decision-making, species at risk in Canada continue to wait.

The largest analysis of bat genomes and fossils suggests that the first bats emerged in Europe roughly 65 million years ago and that echolocation evolved early.

Comprehensive knowledge of predator diets is essential for studying predator-prey dynamics and understanding predation risk for species of economic importance and conservation concern. Globally, natic...

More than 60 years after surveys suggested a deep coral reef off Benin was probably dead, scientists have found it alive. Cameras revealed healthy-looking coral patches supporting multiple fish…

In an era of large-scale stressors, scientists are racing to collate equally large datasets to answer macroecological questions. Coral reefs lie at the forefront of system-wide transformations and…

Ocean is a one-eyed kororā, who's gone from rescue and rehabilitation, to taking out the National Aquarium's top penguin title.

A team of researchers worked grueling, hot hours in the desert to understand the history of life in Earth’s oceans after a major extinction event.