A new study on songbirds sheds light on the power of social interaction to facilitate learning, insights that potentially apply to human development.
Ď㽶ĘÓƵ researchers discovered that zebra finches deprived of early social experiences could still form strong bonds with a partner later in life. Once placed into cohabitation with a male, females that had never heard a mating song before could quickly develop a preference for his melody.
In a published today in Nature Communications, a team of McGill researchers led by of the Department of Biology examines the spatial organization of neurons in the cerebellar cortex. The findings offer new insight into how information is integrated in the cerebellum and shed light on the role of the often-overlooked cerebellar nuclei.Ěý
As the climate warms, many species are on the move, raising new challenges for policy-makers around the world. Shifts in the ranges of mosquitoes and disease-bearing ticks and bats are introducing illnesses such as malaria and Lyme disease into regions where health-care systems are unprepared. Movements of commercially important fish from one jurisdiction to another are shifting job opportunities and causing trade disputes.
Ehab Abouheif,ĚýJames McGill Professor in the Department of Biology at McGill,Ěýhas been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the highest distinctions in the global science community, which recognizes contributions to science and technology, scientific leadership, and extraordinary achievements across disciplines.
Located in the heart of the MontĂ©rĂ©gie region, in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Ď㽶ĘÓƵ’s Gault Nature Reserve comprises more than 1,000 hectares of lush old-growth deciduous forest, just 40 km from Montreal. A refuge for migratory birds, Gault is at the heart of Canada’s first UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve.Ěý
Evolutionary biologists have long suspected that the diversification of a single species into multiple descendent species – that is, an “adaptive radiation” – is the result of each species adapting to a different environment. Yet formal tests of this hypothesis have been elusive owing to the difficulty of firmly establishing the relationship between species traits and evolutionary “fitness” for a group of related species that recently diverged from a common ancestral species.
Researchers zero in on spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, a disease that disrupts brain function
Researchers from Ď㽶ĘÓƵ, led by Professor of the Department of Biology, have identified previously unknown changes in brain cells affected by a neurological disease. Their research, published in , could pave the way to future treatments for the disease.
±ő˛ÔĚýĚýfrom Ď㽶ĘÓƵ, researchers bring science into an unexpected setting: a tattoo parlor. In this first characterization of the human piercing microbiome, the uniquely human cultural practice of piercing serves as a model system to help us better understand how biological communities (re)assemble after catastrophic environmental disturbances.
Sixteen McGill researchers have been included on theĚýĚý(HCRs) list, as published by Clarivate. To be included in the prestigious list, researchers must rank in the top 1 per cent worldwide for their fields and publications in the Web of Science index. In being named to this list, these investigators join a cohort of 6,849 individuals around the world who have been recognized for their academic contributions.
When you learn you’ve been awarded Canada’s largest scholarship for STEM studies, it’s a pretty heady moment. Just ask some ofĚý. These new McGill students hail from New Brunswick to Vancouver and are among the 100 recipients in Canada this year of Schulich Leader Scholarships, valued at up to $120,000.
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Biological invasions are a major threat to ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being, resulting in ecosystem degradation and causing economic costs in the multi-trillions of euros globally. A led by Ď㽶ĘÓƵ sheds light on the stark economic cost resulting from biological invasions in the European Union (EU).
Congratulations to , Department of Biology, for being awarded the 2023 Leo Yaffe Award for Excellence in Teaching!Ěý
Just shy of 100 faculty, students, and friends packed the Redpath Auditorium on May 12th to celebrate the retirement of Graham Bell, James McGill Professor in the Department of Biology at McGill. For the occasion, Bell delivered a “final “seminar to the audience, which included his wife and three sons, surveying his career as an evolutionary biologist.
Surveying the body sizes of Earth’s living organisms, researchers from Ď㽶ĘÓƵ and University of British Columbia found that the planet’s biomass – the material that makes up all living organisms – is concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum.
The researchers spent five years compiling and analyzing about the size and biomass of every type of living organism on the planet—from tiny one-celled organisms like soil archaea and bacteria to large organisms like blue whales and sequoia trees.
On le sait désormais : la préservation de l’environnement ne s’arrête pas à la simple réduction des émissions de carbone dans l’atmosphère. Grâce, notamment, à la tenue de la Conférence de l’ONU sur la biodiversité (COP15) à Montréal en décembre 2022, l’importance de la protection de la biodiversité est aujourd’hui bien présente dans l’actualité. Pour des chercheurs comme Andrew Gonzalez, professeur de biologie à l’Université McGill, il était plus que temps.
