What do you do when a vulture with a crushed beak needs a new beak and two attempts to fit an acrylic beak fail? You improvise and use the beak of a deceased vulture, successfully enabling the injured bird to feed again.
University of Pretoria (UP) researchers are at the forefront of a very special first for South African plant sciences. They have unravelled the precise genetic make-up of the country’s national flower, the king protea (Protea cynaroides). It is the first plant that’s unique to South Africa – and the species-rich fynbos biome in particular – to have its entire genome sequenced in-depth.
University of Pretoria researchers find that the common ancestor of the approximately 100 species of Protea found in South Africa and Australia’s related macadamia nut trees (such as Macadamia integrifolia) and waratah (Telopea speciosissima) dates back to when dinosaurs went extinct.
With climate change said to be affecting the intensity of rainfall, experts at the University of Pretoria (UP) have investigated if there are observable changes in the probability of significant to extreme daily rainfall across South Africa.
The South African portion of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2021 conducted by UP has found that 81% of South African Grade 4 learners are struggling to read for comprehension at age 10.
A UP-led study has found that certain areas in South Africa are likely to experience more extreme rainfall, which is probably a feature of climate change.
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