It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Friday, February 06, 2026
The vulnerable Amazonian manatee is most often found where human activity is low, with a new eDNA-based method most commonly detecting the freshwater mammal in the remote western Amazon
Article title: Survey of vulnerable Amazonian manatees using environmental DNA (eDNA): A method for survey in remote field settings
Author countries: U.S., Brazil
Funding: Donation to the International Sportfish Fund from the estate of George and Carolyn Kelso (KR and KOW), and a productivity research fellowship from the Brazilian National and Technological Development Council—CNPq: IPF (CNPq #316531/2023-5), and TH (CNPq #316532/2023-1).
Survey of vulnerable Amazonian manatees using environmental DNA (eDNA): A method for survey in remote field settings
Article Publication Date
4-Feb-2026
Anthropological influence on manatee eDNA detection. Manatee DNA detections in the three regions based on distance from anthropological influence. Twenty-one samples were detected in rural or protected areas and eight were detected in urban areas. Rural and urban categories were determined by overall amounts of boat traffic, settlements, and pollution in each sample area.
Credit
Romoser et al., 2026, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
The ideal scent detection dog is confident, persistent and resilient, without insecurities or neuroticism, according to a study featuring Dutch police dog handlers
The ideal scent detection dog is confident, persistent and resilient, without insecurities or neuroticism, according to a study featuring Dutch police dog handlers.
Credit: Anthony Duran, Unsplash, CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
The ideal scent detection dog is confident, persistent and resilient, without insecurities or neuroticism, according to a study featuring Dutch police dog handlers
Article title: Exploring ideal scent detection dog characteristics for successful professional deployment as derived from face-to-face structured interviews with professional scent detection dog handlers
Author countries: The Netherlands
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Exploring ideal scent detection dog characteristics for successful professional deployment as derived from face-to-face structured interviews with professional scent detection dog handlers
Article Publication Date
4-Feb-2026
Dog behavioral traits are linked with salivary hormone cortisol and neurotransmitter serotonin
Well-behaved dogs generally had lower levels of cortisol, the “stress hormone” and higher level of serotonin, the “happiness neurotransmitter’
Credit: Jung et al., 2026, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Dogs who scored well on the Wesen test, which is used to analyze a dog’s temperament, tended to have lower levels of cortisol, often called the “stress hormone,” and higher levels of serotonin, often called the “happiness hormone”, according to a study published February 4, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS One by Minjung Yoon from Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea, and colleagues.
In the new research, twenty-four dogs (of various breeds) were analyzed with a version of the Wesen test, in which a human observer judges a dog’s temperament by watching their reaction to a series of situations and interactions. In one situation, for example, the observer focused on how anxious or relaxed the dog seemed while alone and then around a stranger. In another, the judge assessed the dog’s attention, fear, confidence, interest, and relaxation during the Wesen test.
The Wesen test is intended to help determine if a dog may be suitable as a pet or a working animal — but because it’s based on an observer’s opinion, there have been concerns that it might be subjective. In the new study, the researchers also took saliva samples to measure each dog’s cortisol and serotonin levels. Prior research has linked lower levels of cortisol, and higher levels of serotonin, with less aggressive behavior in dogs.
In these dogs, salivary cortisol levels from samples taken both before and after the Wesen test showed that dogs scoring higher for “good” behaviors tended to have lower cortisol levels. In addition, higher-scoring dogs tended to see a less marked spike in cortisol levels after being subjected to the tests. Sixteen of the dogs had their salivary serotonin levels assessed: while higher serotonin levels pre-test also trended toward being correlated with higher test scores, this result was not significant. Interestingly, dogs with higher test scores had significantly higher pre-test serotonin levels than dogs with lower scores.
This study was small, consisting of just 24 dogs, and cannot show any causative link between hormone levels and different dog behaviors. The authors note that their study provides potential evidence that assessment of salivary hormones and neurotransmitters could be an objective way to assess a dog’s temperament.
The authors add: “Our study shows that physiological concentrations of hormones and neurotransmitters can serve as biomarkers of canine temperament. These results could help identify dogs suited for specific working roles—such as military, police, guide, or therapy dogs—and assist in making better-informed companion dog adoption decisions.”
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/3YXLr3Z
Citation: Jung Y, Song Y, Yang K, Yoo K, Heo Y, Yoon M (2026) Associations between canine temperament and salivary concentrations of cortisol and serotonin. PLoS One 21(2): e0337781. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0337781
Author countries: Republic of Korea
Funding: This work was supported by the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea (URL: https://www.rda.go.kr/main/mainPage.do). The award was granted to K.Y., K.Y., Y.H., and M.Y. under grant number RS-2023-00232319. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Example of canine temperament assessment procedure (for illustrative purposes only).
Credit
Youngtae Heo and Yujin Song, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Different regions of the United States are experiencing different patterns of warming climate, requiring region-specific adaptation, according to a study published February 4, 2026 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by María Dolores Gadea Rivas of the University of Zaragoza, Spain and Jesús Gonzalo of University Carlos III, Spain.
Climate change is a global issue, but the effects can vary regionally, requiring targeted local mitigation strategies and climate policy decisions. This variability is rarely examined in detail, in contrast to other policy-relevant issues like public health and economic status. In this study, the authors provide a framework for comparing detailed temperature trends across the contiguous 48 United States.
The team compiled a dataset of average temperatures between 1950 and 2021, combined with over 26,000 daily temperature observations per state to assess the full range of local temperatures. Consistent with previous research, the results show that only 27 states (55%) show an increase in average temperatures, but 41 states (84%) show an increase in at least one part of their temperature range. For example, West Coast states have experienced increases in their highest annual temperatures, while many northern states have experienced increases in the lower range of temperatures.
These regional differences are likely to have varying impacts on factors such as agriculture and public health, as well as public perception and commitment to climate action, all of which are highly relevant to local policy decisions. This same analytical method could also be applied in future studies to other variable climate impacts such as changes in precipitation and sea level rise.
The authors summarize: “Looking beyond average temperatures, we show that most U.S. states are warming in specific parts of the temperature distribution, even when average warming is not statistically significant. This reveals strong regional inequalities in how climate change is experienced across the United States.”
In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Climate: https://plos.io/4q9tXwJ
Funding: Gobierno de Aragón and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, EU), grant LMP71-18 — received by MDG. Agencia Española de Investigación (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and ERDF, grants PID2020-114646RB-C44 (MDG), PID2023-147593NB-I00 (JG), PID2023-150095NB-C44 (MDG), RED2022-134122-T (LG, JG). MCIN/AEI and European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR, grant TED2021-129784B-I00 — received by MDG and JG. MCIN/AEI, grant CEX2021-001181 (María de Maeztu) — received by JG. Comunidad de Madrid, grants EPUC3M11 and V PRICIT — received by JG. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
