Newt-sniffing dog called Freya is helping to locate elusive amphibians

Life

Great crested newts live mostly underground, so they’re tricky to find – a researcher trained her dog, Freya, to detect the threatened amphibians deep in the soil with more than 87 per cent accuracy

By Spider Wetzel

Two year old English springer spaniel, Freya, has been trained to detect great crested newts

Freya, an English springer spaniel, has been trained to detect great crested newts

Nick Upton for Wessex Water

Great crested newts are threatened amphibians that live in lowland areas of England, but their underground lifestyle makes them tricky to find. Scientists have now trained a dog to sniff out the threatened newts even when they are far away or deep below the soil, which could boost conservation efforts.

Because great crested newts (Crushed hair) nest in underground burrows and rocky crevices as adults, they are incredibly challenging to find. As a result, researchers know a …

View introductory offers

No commitment, cancel anytime*

Offer ends 14th June 2023.

*Cancel anytime within 14 days of payment to receive a refund on unserved issues.

Inclusive of applicable taxes (VAT)

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account

More from New Scientist

Explore the latest news, articles and features

Popular articles

Trending New Scientist articles

Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here

Related Posts
Landmark Webb Observatory Is Now Officially a Telescope thumbnail

Landmark Webb Observatory Is Now Officially a Telescope

After several tense days of unfurling and clicking its various parts into place, the biggest and most sophisticated space telescope ever launched is now complete. On 8 January, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope slowly swung the last 3 of its 18 hexagonal mirror segments into position, locking them together into one 6.5-metre-wide, gold-coated cosmic eye.…
Read More
Unlocking Climate Secrets: The Hidden Physics Behind Temperature and Radiation thumbnail

Unlocking Climate Secrets: The Hidden Physics Behind Temperature and Radiation

By Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences December 16, 2023A groundbreaking study explores the intricate link between Earth’s surface temperature and outgoing longwave radiation, revealing deviations from the expected quartic pattern. This research enhances our comprehension of climate sensitivity and the factors influencing it, such as greenhouse gases and atmospheric dynamics. Credit: SciTechDaily.comResearch
Read More
Gravitational action of Sun and Moon influence behavior of organisms thumbnail

Gravitational action of Sun and Moon influence behavior of organisms

All organisms exhibit cyclical modulations in their activity levels, considering the need for an adaptation. Long-term and short-term cycles are thus predominant and are temporally organized homeostatic activity dictated by or even exploiting the cyclic variations of environmental variables. Such variations are diverse and well known; examples are variations in day and night, the passing…
Read More
Here’s When to Get Your Older Kids Their Booster Shot thumbnail

Here’s When to Get Your Older Kids Their Booster Shot

Photo: Marina Demidiuk (Shutterstock)Teenagers are now eligible for booster doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC has announced. Until now, boosters were only for adults aged 18 and up. Children with weakened immune systems can now also get a third primary dose, even if they are not old enough for a booster.The timeline is also…
Read More
Unmanned, solar-powered US space plane back after 908 days thumbnail

Unmanned, solar-powered US space plane back after 908 days

Nov. 12, 2022Updated: Nov. 15, 2022 11:02 a.m.The Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) is shown at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022. The unmanned U.S. military space plane landed early Saturday after spending a record 908 days in orbit for its sixth mission and conducting science experiments. The solar-powered vehicle
Read More
Index Of News
Total
0
Share