The Leibniz-IZW regular publishes press releases on key findings and insights from its research and on events, awards or personalia. The press releases are distributed directly to journalists on our press release distribution mailing list. Press releases are also disseminated through the distribution services Informationsdienst Wissenschaft, AlphaGalileo and EurekAlert. Are you interested in receiving our press releases directly via e-mail? In this case please send us an email to seet@izw-berlin.de.

Current press releases

Golden jackal (Canis aureus). Photo: Oliver Höner/ IZW

An international team of researchers led by scientists at the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) genetically describe the first kobuviruses to be reported from Africa. The results show that the viruses are less host-specific than previously assumed. The study has been published in the scientific journal “Virology”.

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Photo: Jennifer Zahmel/ IZW
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Photo: Jennifer Zahmel/ IZW

Scientists from Berlin successfully produced embryos from African lions via assisted reproduction. What is genuinely new is the fact that they used immature eggs that were retrieved from African lionesses. After artificial maturation these eggs were injected with lions’ sperm, previously stored in a cryobank. To surprise of the scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) the development of the lion embryos was retarded in comparison to similar embryos from domestic cats.

Spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Photo: Oliver Höner/IZW
Spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Photo: Oliver Höner/IZW

Quantifying the by-products of hormone degradation in urine and faeces is crucial for studies in wildlife conservation. Scientists from the German Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) established a new method that allows comparison of such measurements over long periods of time and between different laboratories. The results of this study have been published in the scientific journal “Methods in Ecology and Evolution”.

Flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps); Authors: Wilting, Mohamed/ Sabah Wildlife Depatment, Sabah Forestry Department
Flat-headed cat; Photo: Wilting, Mohamed/ Sabah Wildlife Depatment, Sabah Forestry Department

Despite the fact that many of Borneo’s rare species are in trouble new research published in the journal Current Biology shows that by using targeted conservation measures many of these species could be saved.

A young brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). Testes and white blood cells shown. Photo: IZW/Jundong Tian
A young brown rat (Rattus norvegicus). Photo: IZW/Jundong Tian

It has been assumed that the increased transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases in the case of mating promiscuity is influential in shaping the immune system of mammals. Results published in the scientific journal “Functional Ecology” this week demonstrate that this simple idea does not apply to rodents, and that living circumstances and the environment can be a key factor in determining variation in immune investment among mammals.

Dr Erik Meijaard of Borneo Futures, Jakarta
Orang-Utan: Dr Erik Meijaard of Borneo Futures, Jakarta

New conservation research has discovered that up to 74% of current orang-utan habitat in Borneo could become unsuitable for this endangered species due to 21st century climate or land-cover changes.

Caption see below press release. Photo: Thomas Hackmann

Over the millennia people have repeatedly changed the coat patterns and colours of domestic animals through selective breeding. In particular, leopard complex spotting in horses has been repeatedly a favourite pattern since the beginning of domestication about 5500 years ago, as an international team of scientists has now been able to demonstrate. The study emphasises how changing fashions and repeated cross-breeding of wild and domestic horses have substantially enhanced the genetic diversity of the domestic horse. The results of the study have just been published in the renowned scientific journal Philosophical Transactions B of the Royal Society.

Fig.: IZW

Scientists from the IZW led by Alex Greenwood publish a simple way to retrieve small genomes from a mix of various organisms.