#Richard Collins

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#Richard Collins

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

<p>New research reveals that long-held beliefs about how the Black Death swept rapidly across Asia originated from a centuries-old Arabic literary tale, not historical fact. Image: People praying for relief from the bubonic plague, black death. Designed by E Corbould, litograph by F Howard. Picture: Hulton Archive</p>

outdoors

Richard Collins: Black Death myths challenged in new research paper

A millennium ago, climate change began drying out grasslands in Asia. Black rats there sought sanctuary in human dwellings. When the rats died of the plague, their fleas jumped onto people

<p>Male and female Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula). The inheritance mechanism in birds is the opposite of the mammal one. It’s the female who is ‘heterogametic’ — she has both a W and a Z chromosome. Male birds with their second Z, therefore, are less prone to suffer mutation damage than females. And so they live longer.</p>

outdoors

Why female mammals live longer than males but female birds die first

<p>Culiseta annulata mosquito — one of the largest species of mosquito, recognised by its banded legs</p>

outdoors

Richard Collins: Is human-induced global warming opening the door to dangerous insects?

Right Whales

outdoors

Richard Collins: Are we finally going to do right by the 'right whale'?

Migration and aging link revealed by long-term flamingo study

outdoors

Migration and aging link revealed by long-term flamingo study

Brent Pease TON

outdoors

The working day of some birds may be up to an hour longer than ‘normal’ due to artificial light

Richard Collins: No smiles for illegally released crocodile in Spain

Richard Collins: No smiles for illegally released crocodile in Spain

The one-metre long yacare caiman was smuggled into Spain from South America. As it grew, the exotic pet probably became too difficult to keep at home, so its owner dumped it into the reservoir

Thu, 04 Sep, 2025

Female gorillas choosy about which group to settle in — potentially an inbreeding avoidance strategy

Female gorillas choosy about which group to settle in — potentially an inbreeding avoidance strategy

Scientists have found that female gorillas shunned troops in which males from their own neck-of-the-woods were present, but opted to join ones in which no males were their close relatives

Thu, 28 Aug, 2025

Richard Collins: A joy to learn about extinct and 'resurrected' creatures

Richard Collins: A joy to learn about extinct and 'resurrected' creatures

From Ireland's last Great Auk to a fish thought to have been extinct for 70 million years — there's so much to discover in this new zoological book

Thu, 24 Jul, 2025

Does your cat prefer to sleep on their left side? Scientists have investigated why...

Does your cat prefer to sleep on their left side? Scientists have investigated why...

Researchers found that 65% of cats sleep on their left side and only 35% prefer the right — this trait may have evolved as a way of responding to danger and for hunting prey more efficiently

Thu, 17 Jul, 2025

Richard Collins: Baboons walk in line to be close to their friends

Richard Collins: Baboons walk in line to be close to their friends

Researchers investigated whether baboon progressions form to avoid predators or whether it's a leadership bid — but now scientists say it's due to 'patterns of social affiliation' or friendships

Thu, 26 Jun, 2025

Image showing hirudotherapy procedure

Richard Collins: Leeches suck — which can be handy at times

Napoleon suffered from haemorrhoids and was prescribed 25 leeches to be applied to the 'swelling' on the day before the battle of Waterloo

Thu, 19 Jun, 2025

Richard Collins: Capybara are in the 'rodents we love' category

Richard Collins: Capybara are in the 'rodents we love' category

Guinea pigs and gerbils make loveable pets; we find squirrels endearing but rats inspire loathing everywhere

Thu, 12 Jun, 2025

Seabirds in trouble due to fewer sand eel and sprat

Seabirds in trouble due to fewer sand eel and sprat

Puffins must now travel ever longer distances to harvest fish for their chicks. Flying long distances, with fish held in the bill, is an additional burden on stressed parents. Chicks are undernourished and their survival rates fall

Thu, 05 Jun, 2025

Greater Spotted Woodpecker on tree through branches

Like a phoenix... rare woodpecker spotted in city park

Have you heard a woodpecker 'drumming' on trees in Phoenix Park in Dublin — or elsewhere across the country?

Thu, 29 May, 2025

Three ground-breaking studies on family lives of great apes... our nearest and dearest

Three ground-breaking studies on family lives of great apes... our nearest and dearest

From mother and baby bonds to linguistic traits, animal studies have helped us understand many of the peculiarities of human behaviour

Thu, 22 May, 2025

Did other birds copy owls' state-of-the-art navigation system?

Did other birds copy owls' state-of-the-art navigation system?

A new harrier biology study says these large daylight-hunting hawks have evolved an auditory system similar to owls

Thu, 15 May, 2025

Bone analysis proves gladiators fought lions in Britain

Bone analysis proves gladiators fought lions in Britain

Maynooth University anthropologists confirm that Roman gladiators battled wild animals — the 'sport' considerably impacted the population of North African big cats

Thu, 08 May, 2025

The mystery of a swan's death in County Offaly

The mystery of a swan's death in County Offaly

The commonest cause of death in mute swans is collision with cables when flying. A swan’s eyes, located at the sides of the head, give it virtual all-round vision, warning it of impending attack by predators. But it can’t see well in front of it and may not notice a cable until it’s too late to avoid a collision

Thu, 24 Apr, 2025

Mine-clearing record for hardworking Ronin the rat

Mine-clearing record for hardworking Ronin the rat

Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat — Elizabeth BowenVisiting Cambodia some years ago, I came upon a band of musicians busking at the side of the road.

Thu, 17 Apr, 2025

They're 'elegant little killers' but what's a weasel's favourite food?

They're 'elegant little killers' but what's a weasel's favourite food?

No weasel words when it comes to weasel treats — baited camera traps have revealed the winner dinner

Mon, 14 Apr, 2025

Rare turtle stranded due to Donald Trump aid freeze

Rare turtle stranded due to Donald Trump aid freeze

Executive orders signed in the White House means international marine turtle conservation work is on hold for now, leaving Rhossi stranded on this side of the Atlantic. Kemp's ridley turtles are critically endangered — it is believed that only about 7,000 females exist

Wed, 02 Apr, 2025

Daddy long legs mosquito swarm in England

Insect population collapse and why it matters now

Bird populations here and elsewhere have been halved during our lifetimes, with a 40% decline in the last decade alone.

Thu, 27 Mar, 2025

Rare black wolves — could they be wolf-dog mixes?

Rare black wolves — could they be wolf-dog mixes?

Camera traps in a forest have caught video of two all-black wolves. Now scientists are investigating where they might have come from.

Thu, 20 Mar, 2025

Narwhal couple, two Monodon monoceros swimming together in the ocean (3d rendering)

How drones are helping in elusive 'unicorn' research

The underwater behaviour of the secretive narwhal has been almost impossible to study until now — but drone technology means we can now see what they are up to and what they are really doing with those tusks

Thu, 13 Mar, 2025

COMMON EIDER somateria mollissima, EGGS IN NEST, SCOTLAND

Richard Collins: Nesting eider ducks will pay farmers 'rent'

The eider, twice as heavy as a mallard, is Europe’s biggest duck. On leaving the nest, the female covers her eggs in down plucked from her breast. The grey fluffy material is a ‘gold standard’ insulator. It traps the bird’s heat better than does the domestic goose down we stuff into pillows

Thu, 06 Mar, 2025

Richard Collins: No animals eligible for Oscars even if they are the real stars

Richard Collins: No animals eligible for Oscars even if they are the real stars

New research finds that whale song has a human language-like structure

Thu, 27 Feb, 2025

Tiger population increase

Richard Collins: How has India turned the fortunes of its tigers around?

A paper just published claims that tigers are staging a comeback in India

Thu, 20 Feb, 2025

Richard Collins: Cultural loss in chimp groups — and the role of humans

Richard Collins: Cultural loss in chimp groups — and the role of humans

Humans have caused the loss of the only male chimpanzee in one social group — and as a result at least one traditional courting gesture has disappeared

Thu, 13 Feb, 2025

Are we prone to contagious urination and have we inherited peeing behaviours from chimpanzees?

Are we prone to contagious urination and have we inherited peeing behaviours from chimpanzees?

Is synchronised peeing a 'thing' and could there be a benefit to it...

Thu, 30 Jan, 2025

Iberian lynx saved from extinction... for now

Iberian lynx saved from extinction... for now

Thanks to captive breeding programmes, and tender loving care, there are now more than 2,000 of these carnivores — Europe’s rarest mammal — in the wild

Thu, 23 Jan, 2025

Richard Collins: Identification of new moray species is the eel deal

Richard Collins: Identification of new moray species is the eel deal

The Hades' Snake Eel was found in the Philippines. But the oceans are warming relentlessly... fish from sub-tropical seas are visiting our shores. In 1997, a 1.12m long Mediterranean moray eel was caught off the Waterford coast, the first member of its species to be taken in Irish waters and the most northerly moray record in the North Atlantic at the time

Thu, 16 Jan, 2025

Lyell Canyon

Richard Collins: 150th anniversary of geologist with lunar and Martian craters named after him

The highest peak in Yosemite National Park is also called after Charles Lyell

Thu, 09 Jan, 2025

They're gonna hear me roar: What do big cats' roars mean?

They're gonna hear me roar: What do big cats' roars mean?

Audible more than a kilometre away, a leopard’s roar proclaims the caller’s identity and status, alerting potential mating partners and warning off same-sex intruders

Thu, 02 Jan, 2025

Richard Collins: The worst single-species die-off in the modern era

Richard Collins: The worst single-species die-off in the modern era

Millions of seabirds and other wildlife have been affected by 'the blob' — seal, sea-lion, cod, and humpback whale numbers have fallen drastically

Fri, 27 Dec, 2024

Leatherback Turtle

Richard Collins: Leatherback turtles are long-distance seasonal migrants to Irish waters

Unfortunately a leatherback turtle found on a beach at Portmarnock this month had died

Thu, 19 Dec, 2024

Trying to hear what prehistoric hunter-gatherers heard by examining rock art site acoustics

Trying to hear what prehistoric hunter-gatherers heard by examining rock art site acoustics

The sites consist of vertical cliffs rising directly from the lakes, with painted images of humans, boats, and animals, sometimes also drummers and typically gave clear and distinct echoes

Thu, 12 Dec, 2024

Urban fox research

Richard Collins: Not quite zebras crossing, but animals are taking to city life

Foxes, peregrines, and even mountain lions, are setting up shop inside the lion's den

Thu, 28 Nov, 2024

scarlet macaws

Back to the fuchsia: the evolution of colour sensitivity

There has been a dramatic explosion in the use of colour vision during the last 100 million years. Its greatest users are fish, birds, butterflies, and reptiles. Furry mammals are less enthusiastic about colour — they prefer scent

Thu, 21 Nov, 2024

Bohemian waxwing with rowan berries (Bombycilla garrulus)

Richard Collins: Berry berry drunk — it's only natural

Scientists say that alcohol has been in the natural world for millions of years: "moderate ethanol intake is associated with nutritional medicinal and cognitive benefits. Evidence is growing that humans are not drinking alone and that many animals ingest ethanol in their natural environment"

Thu, 14 Nov, 2024

Snake charmer plays music for his cobra at the Jemaa el-Fnaa square in Marrakesh

Richard Collins: Human cruelty to wildlife still persists

Cobras, their mouths stitched closed, or their poison receptacles removed, still perform for tourists on the great square at Marrakesh

Thu, 07 Nov, 2024

Richard Collins: A mother mad for revenge — or just boisterous orca play?

Richard Collins: A mother mad for revenge — or just boisterous orca play?

White Gladis is the female leader of an orca pod and some scientists suggest she may have started ramming boats after being injured by a vessel — and she may even be training young whales to do the same now

Thu, 31 Oct, 2024

Blackbird

Richard Collins: Bird migration is dangerous and demanding — why do it?

It was originally thought birds migrated to save energy in a warmer climate but new research is challenging this idea

Thu, 24 Oct, 2024

A Greylag Goose pair accompanies their two young

Richard Collins: Does the quality of parents' relationship affect their offspring's fortunes?

Scientists studied the personalities of greylag geese and observed how their eggs and goslings fared

Thu, 17 Oct, 2024

Elephant Seals Mirounga angustirostris Sparring

Richard Collins: From the brink of extinction, northern elephant seal population rises to 225,000

Experts say the population was likely reduced to fewer than 25 animals at the start of the 20th century. Inbreeding still threatens its survival, but all is not lost

Thu, 10 Oct, 2024

Richard Collins: Would you have picked pigs as the most picky eaters?

Richard Collins: Would you have picked pigs as the most picky eaters?

Pigs are not strict vegetarians — eating both plant and animal material, they can afford to turn their noses up when more tempting morsels are available

Thu, 03 Oct, 2024

Richard Collins: Resourceful and intelligent rooks celebrated in watercolour

Richard Collins: Resourceful and intelligent rooks celebrated in watercolour

Five of the 17 pictures by Mildred Anne Butler at the National Gallery of Ireland depict rooks. She also painted cattle, steam-powered threshing machines, and doves

Thu, 26 Sep, 2024

Waved Allbatross

Albatrosses — creatures of the wind that scarcely need to flap their wings

Doldrums are what happen when the wind 'withdraws its services'... and scientists are learning more about them using data collected from buoys in the Atlantic

Thu, 19 Sep, 2024

Richard Collins: Learn about the 'common enemy effect' from bonobos

Richard Collins: Learn about the 'common enemy effect' from bonobos

Creatures facing a new threat, real or perceived, tend to draw closer to their peers. Forming alliances, they become more willing to cooperate with each other

Thu, 05 Sep, 2024

Burning asteroid moving through the Earth

Forensic examination of asteroid dust

The 10-kilometre wide asteroid which slammed into earth around 66 million years ago left a 200-metre-wide crater, killed dinosaurs... and led to the age of mammals

Sun, 01 Sep, 2024