News

Avian flu viruses which are transmissible between humans could evolve in nature

4 July 2013

It might be possible for human-to-human airborne transmissible avian H5N1 influenza viruses to evolve in nature, new research has found. The findings, from research led by Professor Derek Smith and Dr Colin Russell from the Department, were published last month in the journal Science . Currently, avian H5N1 influenza, also...

L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Award

4 July 2013

Many congratulations to Claire Spottiswoode, who has been awarded one of this year's four L'Oreal "Women in Science" Fellowships for her work on the genetics of mimicry in Cuckoo eggs.

Solving the riddle of horse domestication

4 July 2013

Domestic horses likely arose from the western Eurasian steppe-the area of present day Ukraine and West Kazakhstan-and repeatedly interbred with wild horses as the herds spread, a study suggests.

Research raises doubts about whether modern humans and Neanderthals interbred

4 July 2013

New research raises questions about the theory that modern humans and Neanderthals at some point interbred, known as hybridisation. The findings of a study by researchers at the University of Cambridge suggests that common ancestry, not hybridisation, better explains the average 1-4 per cent DNA that those of European and...

Good news for a change

4 July 2013

News about the environment can seem like one long litany of loss, but is nature’s continued decline inevitable? Certainly not, argues Andrew Balmford in his book Wild Hope, published by University of Chicago Press, which instead explores the successful side of conservation.

Courtship in Drosophila melanogaster

4 July 2013

A new paper published in Current Biology this week by several members of the department looks at substrate-borne vibratory communication during courtship in Drosophila melanogaster.

John Gurdon wins Nobel Prize

4 July 2013

The Department is delighted to congratulate Sir John Gurdon on the award of this year's Nobel prize for medicine, announced on 8th October 2012.

Dr Ken Joysey

4 July 2013

The Department received with sadness the news of the death of Dr Ken Joysey on 25th November 2012.

The remarkable notebook of a 19th-century naturalist

4 July 2013

A notebook recording the fauna of Cambridgeshire observed and collected by the Reverend Leonard Jenyns between 1820 and 1849 has been published in full for the first time. A significant naturalist in his own right, Jenyns turned down the offer of a place on HMS Beagle, recommending instead a younger colleague, Charles Darwin.

Crop Expansion and Conservation Priorities in Tropical Countries

4 July 2013

Ben Phalan and Andrew Balmford from the department, along with a team of researchers from other institutions, have had a paper published in PLOS ONE looking at the expansion of cropland in tropical countries and biodiversity loss. The paper can be read online on the PLOS ONE website . There is also an excellent blog post...

Department of Zoology

Avian flu viruses which are transmissible between humans could evolve in nature

L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Award

Solving the riddle of horse domestication

Research raises doubts about whether modern humans and Neanderthals interbred

Good news for a change

Courtship in Drosophila melanogaster

John Gurdon wins Nobel Prize

Dr Ken Joysey

The remarkable notebook of a 19th-century naturalist

Crop Expansion and Conservation Priorities in Tropical Countries

Zoology Features in University Research News

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