Louis-Philippe Bateman’s fascination with megalodon began with a single sentence in a book about Canada’s geological evolution. It described giant, mysterious fossilized shark teeth discovered in the 1960s by fishermen dredging for scallops off Canada’s Atlantic coast. The curiosity felt by the teenager with a budding interest in paleontology would resurface in a meaningful way during his undergraduate years at McGill University.

A new study on songbirds sheds light on the power of social interaction to facilitate learning, insights that potentially apply to human development.

McGill University researchers discovered that zebra finches deprived of early social experiences could still form strong bonds with a partner later in life. Once placed into cohabitation with a male, females that had never heard a mating song before could quickly develop a preference for his melody.

As the climate warms, many species are on the move, raising new challenges for policy-makers around the world. Shifts in the ranges of mosquitoes and disease-bearing ticks and bats are introducing illnesses such as malaria and Lyme disease into regions where health-care systems are unprepared. Movements of commercially important fish from one jurisdiction to another are shifting job opportunities and causing trade disputes.

Located in the heart of the Montérégie region, in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, McGill University’s Gault Nature Reserve comprises more than 1,000 hectares of lush old-growth deciduous forest, just 40 km from Montreal. A refuge for migratory birds, Gault is at the heart of Canada’s first UNESCO-recognized biosphere reserve. 

Researchers zero in on spinocerebellar ataxia type 6, a disease that disrupts brain function

Researchers from McGill University, led by Professor Alanna Watt of the Department of Biology, have identified previously unknown changes in brain cells affected by a neurological disease. Their research, published in eLife, could pave the way to future treatments for the disease.

Sixteen McGill researchers have been included on the Highly Cited Researchers™ (HCRs) list, as published by Clarivate. To be included in the prestigious list, researchers must rank in the top 1 per cent worldwide for their fields and publications in the Web of Science index. In being named to this list, these investigators join a cohort of 6,849 individuals around the world who have been recognized for their academic contributions.

Biological invasions are a major threat to ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being, resulting in ecosystem degradation and causing economic costs in the multi-trillions of euros globally. A study led by McGill University sheds light on the stark economic cost resulting from biological invasions in the European Union (EU).