Category: Herpetozoa

Pensoft launches ORPHO: A new intelligent workspace for scientific writing

The beta release of an innovative collaborative stand-alone authoring tool transforms manuscript preparation with semantic enrichment and real-time collaboration capabilities.

Scholarly publisher and technology provider Pensoft Publishers announces the beta launch of ORPHO, a revolutionary online platform designed to streamline collaborative scientific writing and produce AI-ready, future-proof scholarly literature. 

ORPHO presents a significant advancement in scholarly publishing technology, combining intuitive writing features with sophisticated semantic enrichment capabilities. The new platform builds upon Pensoft’s fifteen years of experience as a developer of semantic publishing infrastructure.

Key Features

Within a shared online workspace, researchers can start with built-in customisable templates, create their own or import an existing file. They can then team up with collaborators in real time using track changes, role-based user rights, inline comments, and document-level chat. More significantly, ORPHO automatically structures scientific content according to international publishing standards, making research outputs findable, discoverable, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) once published. 

Unlike its predecessor, the ARPHA Writing Tool, ORPHO is available as a standalone real-time collaborative workspace decoupled from journals hosted on Pensoft’s ARPHA Publishing Platform. Once a manuscript is ready, authors receive AI-FAIR machine-readable content that can be formatted to meet multiple journal requirements at the click of a button.

The platform’s adaptability to domain-specific workflows is currently being piloted in biodiversity science. ORPHO integrates seamlessly with leading biodiversity data aggregators, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) and PlutoF, via import and export facilities for structured data, making ORPHO particularly valuable for researchers handling taxonomic, ecological and biodiversity data. 

Taxon names, for example, can be automatically imported and linked through persistent identifiers from sources like the Catalogue of Life (CoL), International Plant Names Index (IPNI), World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) and World Flora Online (WFO).

  • ORPHO: A new intelligent workspace for scientific writing.

Why ORPHO?

The name draws inspiration from multiple sources which reflect the tool’s philosophy and heritage. Named after Orphium: a unique plant genus endemic to South Africa whose sole species (Orphium frutescens) is known as the sea rose, ORPHO reflects the platform’s distinctive nature, heritage, and core philosophy.

It also evokes Orpheus, the legendary musician of ancient Thrace whose home region, the Rhodopi Mountains, lies in present-day Bulgaria, where ORPHO’s developer, Pensoft, is headquartered. The name thus honours the tool’s origins whilst embodying the exceptional creative performance it enables. 

***

Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, founder and CEO of Pensoft, comments:

“We are well aware that researchers today face an overwhelming list of formatting requirements and technical demands in an AI-driven landscape. It is true that rapid technological advancement presents both immense opportunities and mounting complexities for researchers.

We built ORPHO to remove that friction by offering an intuitive, collaborative workspace that lets scientists focus on their research. As a scientific publisher, our mission is to make scholarly publishing a seamless, rewarding experience fit for the modern age.”

The beta release invites researchers, institutions and publishing platforms to trial ORPHO and provide feedback. Access is available at orpho.net.

New species of egg-eating snake described from Harenna Forest in Ethiopia

A new species of snake that feeds exclusively on birds’ eggs has been described from the Harenna Forest in Ethiopia, one of the last substantial tracts of natural forest left in the Horn of Africa.

A new species of snake that feeds exclusively on birds’ eggs has been described from the Harenna Forest in Ethiopia, one of the last substantial tracts of natural forest left in the Horn of Africa.

Named Dasypeltis albigularis, or the ‘White-throated Egg-eater’, the species belongs to a remarkable group of harmless African snakes that survive entirely on a diet of eggs, using specially adapted vertebrae in the throat to crack the shell before swallowing.

Male Dasypeltis albigularis sp. nov. from Manyate village, Harenna Forest, Ethiopia. Image credit: Arthur Tiutenko et al., 2026.

It joins around 20 other known species in the genus Dasypeltis, most of which are notoriously difficult to tell apart, since many are uniformly black, brown or grey with few obvious external differences.

The research, published in the open-access journal Herpetozoa, was led by Arthur Tiutenko of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, together with colleagues at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich and South Africa’s National Museum in Bloemfontein.

The new species is superficially similar to the so-called Montane Egg-eater, Dasypeltis atra, a black-coloured snake found in forests across East Africa, but genetic analysis of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA showed the two are as distinct from one another.

The investigation began when Dr Tiutenko acquired a juvenile female snake from a local collaborator in the Harenna Forest:

“I received a juvenile female of an egg-eater that appeared to me to be an already known species, and I started looking for a male to breed it. As she grew to adult size, I noticed morphological differences.”

To test whether those differences reflected a genuine biological distinction, Dr Tiutenko paired the female with a male of the closely related species she resembled:

“I crossed them nevertheless, to see how the offspring would turn out and how her characteristics would be inherited.”

  • Dasypeltis albigularis sp. nov. Image credit: Arthur Tiutenko et al., 2026.

The resulting hybrid offspring displayed a mix of traits from both parents, providing early evidence that the Harenna Forest snake was something new. Confirming the discovery with a formal description ultimately took seven years, drawing on morphological comparisons, DNA sequencing and captive breeding observations.

Dasypeltis albigularis can be distinguished from its relatives by the pale, sometimes bluish-tinged skin visible between its scales and a distinctive white throat and belly – a feature reflected in its scientific name, which means “white-throated” in Latin.

Unlike some of its relatives, it also appears to lack the ability to produce the rasping, hissing sound that many egg-eating snakes use to fend off predators by rubbing their scales together. Females of the new species reach up to 92 cm in length, somewhat smaller than D. atra and its other closest relatives.

A brown morph of Dasypeltis albigularis sp. nov. photographed in Manyate village, Harenna Forest, Ethiopia. Credit: Abdulkadir M. Hussein.

The snake lives in dense forest between 1,500 and 1,700 metres above sea level, in an area whose undergrowth includes wild coffee plants, and feeds on the eggs of tree-nesting birds.

The description of Dasypeltis albigularis adds to a long list of species Dr Tiutenko has helped bring to scientific attention:

“This is my twentieth taxon that I have named and described. I now have five or six species, and one subgenus, in the queue.”

Original study:

Tiutenko A, Heller TL, Bates MF (2026) A new species of ‘black’ egg-eating snake of the genus Dasypeltis Wagler (Squamata, Colubridae, Colubrinae, Boigini). Herpetozoa 39: 343-366. https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.39.e205043

The Pensoft Biodiversity Cup 2026 comes to a close

Now that the 2026 FIFA World Cup is over, it’s time for us to blow the final whistle on Pensoft’s Biodiversity Cup.

The floodlights have dimmed, the confetti has settled, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup has officially come to an end. A huge congratulations to Spain, who saw off Argentina 1-0 after extra time to lift their second World Cup trophy.

And with the football finished, it’s time for us to blow the final whistle on our own tournament too. Throughout the World Cup, we ran the Pensoft Biodiversity Cup alongside the real competition – a weekly knockout contest on our Instagram page, pitting some of the most remarkable species described in our journals against one another.

Every Thursday we opened the polls, and every Monday we brought you the result. Now that the dust has settled, we thought it was the perfect moment to look back at how the tournament unfolded.

Here’s how each fixture played out, with the winning species (as voted for by you!) shown in blue bold:

DateSpecies #1Species #2
11/06Nadzikambia goodallaeFerreiraella populi
18/06Hellwigia opalinaNeohelicomyces coffeae
25/06Thecacera sesamaDolichopoda balrogi
02/07Pikelinia floydmurariaTrachischium lalremsangai
09/07Theridion himalayanaPyralis papaleonei
19/07Iberoscia zaragozaiEchinodorus nenufar
General recap of Pensoft’s Biodiversity Cup.

Our first week’s competition kicked off with a cloud-forest chameleon named after Jane Goodall, which faced off against a public-named deep-sea chiton from the abyssal Pacific:

Nadzikambia goodallae vs Ferreiraella populi.

The chameleon, Nadzikambia goodallae, came out on top in this opening clash, advancing past the deep-sea chiton Ferreiraella populi.

Round two, meanwhile, pitted a turquoise-flowered jade ginger from Sulawesi against a newly identified fungus found on dead coffee branches in Yunnan:

Hellwigia opalina vs Neohelicomyces coffeae.

…and round two went to the fungi! Neohelicomyces coffeae ended up decisively defeating the jade ginger Hellwigia opalina in this Plant vs Fungi edition.

Round three brought Cave vs. Coast: a Balrog-named cave cricket unearthed on Kastellorizo faced a sesame-speckled nudibranch discovered off northeastern Taiwan:

Thecacera sesama vs Dolichopoda balrogi.

Our third round went to the underdog (or in this case, undercricket): Dolichopoda balrogi, which hopped past Thecacera sesama in a unanimous win.

Round four was our Animal Kingdom edition, with the newly described Pink Floyd spider Pikelinia floydmuraria facing off against the burrowing snake Trachischium lalremsangai for the top spot:

Pikelinia floydmuraria vs Trachischium lalremsangai.

The snake slithered through – Trachischium lalremsangai defeated Pikelinia floydmuraria, its burrowing lifestyle proving harder to top than a rock-star spider name in this round.

Our second-to-last round paired the smiley-faced Himalayan Happy-Face Spider, Theridion himalayana, against Pyralis papaleonei, a papal-named moth endemic to Crete’s White Mountains:

Theridion himalayana vs Pyralis papaleonei.

The moth flew past the competition! Pyralis papaleonei took the win over Theridion himalayana, its rare papal namesake and striking wing bands proving enough to edge out even a face full of smiles.

Our own final on 19 July ended up mirroring the World Cup final to a tee, with a species from Spain going head-to-head with one from Argentina:

Iberoscia zaragozai vs Echinodorus nenufar.

Representing Spain in the final was Iberoscia zaragozai, a newly described genus and species of cave-dwelling isopod, published only this April in our open-access journal Subterranean Biology.

Discovered in caves across Catalonia, Murcia and the Valencian Community, this blind crustacean measures barely 3-4 mm long, yet required a new genus to accommodate it, thanks to its unique features – right down to its antennal sensory structures.

Fittingly, it’s named in posthumous tribute to the Spanish arachnologist Juan Antonio Zaragoza-Miralles, in recognition of his decades of work on the cave-dwelling fauna of the Iberian Peninsula.

Standing in Argentina’s corner was Echinodorus nenufar, a new aquatic plant described in PhytoKeys back in January. Found in the temporary ponds and seasonal wetlands of the dry Chaco region of northern Argentina and western Paraguay, it earns its name – “nenúfar” being Spanish for water lily – thanks to its rounded floating leaves and creamy-white flowers, which give it an uncanny resemblance to a true Nymphaeaceae water lily.

Like the seasonal killifish it shares its ephemeral ponds with, it has evolved to complete its whole life cycle in habitats that can appear and vanish with the rains.

Two species, two countries, both barely a few months old to science. This is a proper final if ever there was one. And… just like their footballing counterparts, it was the Spanish contender that came out on top!

We had an absolute blast running the Biodiversity Cup alongside this year’s World Cup, and we hope it gave you a fun new way to discover some of the incredible species being described in our journals. Thank you to everyone who voted, shared and cheered along from the side lines.

Keep up with our latest news and campaigns by following us on Facebook, Bluesky, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Pensoft at the World Biodiversity Forum 2026

Between 14-19 June, the 4th World Biodiversity Forum (WBF) brought together ~1,100 participants from 70 countries in Davos, Switzerland. This highly regarded event was held under the theme “Leading Transformation Together,” and united science, arts, society, and business across generations and fields to build the leadership and networks essential for effective biodiversity protection and resilience.

The event spanned 10 thematic tracks, covering topics such as biodiversity-ecosystem functioning, legislation and biodiversity, connecting science, society and practice, and many more.

4th World Biodiversity Forum opening ceremony
The opening ceremony at the 4th World Biodiversity Forum in Davos, 2026.

Pensoft had the largest exhibition stand at the forum, and throughout the week it saw a steady flow of attendees interested in the company’s work across EU-funded projects and scholarly publishing, with dissemination materials for both on display.

Pensoft’s stand at the World Biodiversity Forum 2026

  • Pensoft's stand at WBF 2026.
    Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.
  • Pensoft's stand at WBF 2026.
    Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.

At the heart of Pensoft’s presence at the forum were four EU Horizon-funded projects working to turn biodiversity science into action on policy: BioAgora, OBSGESSION, B-Cubed, and OneStop.

As an active consortium partner in each, Pensoft draws on decades of experience in science communication, stakeholder engagement, and data management to help move that work forward. The stand also featured two further policy-oriented projects, CO-OP4CBD and RESPIN,

  • Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.
  • Pensoft’s stand at WBF 2026.

Beyond the projects on display, attendees also had the chance to explore Pensoft’s extensive open-access journal portfolio, including flagship titles such as ZooKeys, PhytoKeys, and MycoKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal .

Attendees also had the chance to learn more about the ARPHA Platform, Pensoft’s self-developed end-to-end publishing solution that streamlines the entire editorial workflow –  from manuscript submission and peer review through to editing, publication, and archiving – ultimately making research easy for both people and machines to access, cite, and reuse.

Brochures for Pensoft's journals - MycoKeys, PhytoKeys and ZooKeys featuring the beautiful illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.
Brochures for Pensoft’s journals featuring the beautiful illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.

While at the booth, visitors also had the opportunity to learn more about Pensoft’s diamond open-access journals, including Individual-based Ecology, the recently relaunched Agricultural and Environmental Modelling, and the newly launched Advances in Pollinator Research, as well as the more ecology and conservation-focused journals such as One Ecosystem, Nature Conservation, Frontiers of Biogeography and more.

Attendees were able to speak directly with members of the Pensoft team, who were on hand to walk them through the journals’ scope, submission processes, and the broader vision behind the diamond open-access model – publishing that is free for both authors and readers.

Brochures for Pensoft's journals featuring the beautiful illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.
Journals and brochures published by Pensoft featuring illustrations by Denitsa Peneva.

Communicating science across different audiences

As leaders and innovators in the move toward open, FAIR and linked biodiversity data, the Pensoft team took an active role in the session CON4: Biodiversity Evidence – Extracting and Liberating Biodiversity Knowledge from Scientific Literature, joining long-time collaborators from Plazi, Wikimedia Foundation, Biodiversity Literature Repository, SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, and Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle.

  • Alexandra Korcheva presenting at the WBF 2026.
    Alexandra Korcheva presenting at the WBF 2026.
  • Alexandra Korcheva presenting at the WBF 2026.
    Alexandra Korcheva presenting at the WBF 2026.
  • BioAgora, Selina, COOP4CBD and Respin among the mentioned projects at WBF 2026.
    BioAgora, Selina, COOP4CBD and Respin among the mentioned projects at WBF 2026.

During this session, Pensoft’s talk, “From FAIR Data to FAIR Policy: Strengthening the Biodiversity Science-Policy Interface through Open Science,“ examined how FAIR data principles and open sicence practices can strengthen the biodiversity science-policy interface, drawing on practical examples from EU-funded projects including BioAgora, SELINA, CO-OP4CBD, and RESPIN.

Pensoft’s team also contributed to the session Telling the Future: The Significance of Environmental Narratives – Communication and Transdisciplinarity, delivering a second presentation titled “Communicating Science to Policy: The Perspective of EU-funded Research Projects for Building a Joint Narrative, Collaboration and Impact Across the Biodiversity Science-Policy Interface”.

  • Aleksandra Korcheva presenting at World Biodiversity Forum 2026
  • Aleksandra Korcheva presenting at World Biodiversity Forum 2026
  • Desislava Raykova presenting at WBF 2026.
    Desislava Raykova presenting at WBF 2026.

The presentation explored how a shared narrative can drive collaboration and increase impact among policy-oriented projects working at the science-policy interface, showing how such efforts can be brought to life through policy briefs, illustrations, and interactive science-policy events. The talk drew on communication successes from B-Cubed, OBSGESSION, OneStop, BioAgora, RESPIN and CO-OP4CBD.

This year’s forum offered an opportunity to forge strong networks across policy, science, arts, and business – catalysing future action and, in doing so, to leading transformation together. The next World Biodiversity Forum will be in 2028, so stay tuned to learn more from us!

Don’t miss out on our latest updates, follow Pensoft on LinkedIn, Facebook, Bluesky, X, Instagram and TikTok.

Understanding Tokay Gecko Development: How Environment and Family Shape Captive Welfare

A recent study published in Herpetozoa offers valuable insights that could transform how we care for these lizards.

Tokay geckos are among the most recognisable and popular reptiles in the pet trade, celebrated for their vibrant colours and vocal nature. Despite their popularity and frequent breeding in captivity, many questions about how their early environment influences their development have remained unanswered. 

A recent study published in the open-access journal Herpetozoa by Dr. Birgit Szabo of the University of Ghent has shed light on these critical factors, offering valuable insights that could transform how we care for these lizards.

When asked about what inspired this investigation, they explained:

“As a very popular pet, Tokay geckos are frequently bred in captivity. It was surprising to me how little we know about very basic environmental factors that can influence development. I am very passionate about improving captive conditions for reptiles and my study provides very important basic data.”

The research focused on both pre-natal factors, such as incubation temperature and humidity, and post-natal factors, specifically whether juveniles are raised in isolation or within a family group. Dr. Szabo monitored sixteen breeding pairs, tracking where females chose to lay their eggs and how the resulting thirty hatchlings grew over their first six months of life.

Captive-bred tokay gecko (Gekko gecko). Image credit: Birgit Szabo.

One of the most remarkable findings involved how temperature influences the sex of the geckos. Traditionally, Tokay geckos are understood to have a genetic sex-determination system with distinct sex chromosomes. However, the study revealed that higher incubation temperatures actually led to a higher proportion of male hatchlings.

Reflecting on this discovery, Dr. Szabo shared:

“I was most surprised about the effect of temperature on sex development. Tokay geckos are reported to possess sex chromosomes. Therefore, I did not expect that temperature would have an effect on sex development.

However, after consulting the literature I found that sex determination is quite labile in lizards, but this is a severely understudied area of research. So, I am quite excited to have found this effect and plan further research on this topic.”

Beyond sex ratios, incubation temperature also significantly affected developmental timing and physical size. Eggs kept at warmer temperatures had a shorter incubation period, yet they produced larger hatchlings with a greater snout-vent length. Interestingly, incubation humidity did not appear to have a noticeable impact on these physical outcomes. 

Female tokay gecko curling around eggs attached to the cork back wall of the enclosure; Male next to one of his offspring; Tank set-up showing shelters on the back wall, branches, life plants and a water bowl. Image credit: Birgit Szabo.

The study also revealed that mother geckos actively chose nesting sites that offered warmer and less humid microclimates compared to other areas in the enclosure, demonstrating a preference for specific nesting conditions.

Managing such a detailed study was no small feat. Dr. Szabo noted,:

“The most challenging aspect was to set up the breeding and treatments after hatching. Tokay geckos are quite large lizards and need lots of space. Coordinating the different treatments under space limitations was quite the challenge.”

After hatching, the geckos were raised either alone or in family groups of varying sizes alongside their parents and siblings. Surprisingly, the post-natal social environment did not affect the young geckos’ growth, size, or body condition. Whether raised in isolation or in a busy family group, the juveniles grew at similar rates, suggesting that captive-bred Tokay geckos are highly adaptable in their early life stages.

Captive-bred tokay gecko (Gekko gecko). Image credit: Birgit Szabo.

These findings have direct implications for reptile husbandry, emphasising the need to provide captive reptiles with choices that replicate natural gradients. Dr Szabo remarked:

“A better understanding of the thermal and humidity requirements and preferences of reptiles is one of the most important aspects of the environment that is often suboptimal in active conditions.

I hope my research will highlight their importance and lead to improved enclosure design in the future.”

Ultimately, this study challenges long-held assumptions about reptile behaviour and social structures, proving that there is much more to these creatures than meets the eye. Dr. Szabo concluded: 

“Reptiles are still viewed as asocial creatures but sociality exists in this animal group. Tokay geckos perform biparental care and protect both eggs and their offspring after hatching. Despite this knowledge, there is still much to learn about their social organisation especially in respect to welfare.”

Captive-bred tokay gecko (Gekko gecko). Videos taken by Dr. Birgit Szabo.

Original source:

Szabo B (2026) The influence of the pre- and post-natal environment on Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko, Squamata, Gekkonidae) development in captivity. Herpetozoa 39: 217-228. https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.39.e165454 

Convergence in the Canopy: Why the Gracixalus weii treefrog sounds like a songbird

A newly-described treefrog has exhibited a repertoire which mirrors the bird sounds of China’s Leigongshan Nature Reserve.

The genus Gracixalus belongs to the family of Old World Tree Frogs, and is geographically dispersed from Myanmar and western Thailand to Laos, Vietnam, and further to southern China. Despite the considerable number of research on the species richness of Gracixalus, little is known about their vocalisations.

To remedy this problem, the recently described Gracixalus weii in southwest China has been investigated from a bioacoustic standpoint by researchers led by Caichun Peng of the Guizhou Leigongshan Forest Ecosystem Observation and Research Station. 

Published in the open-access scholarly journal Herpetozoa, the study reveals an acoustic convergence between frog advertisement calls and avian communication systems – specifically, the call of Gracixalus weii is remarkably similar to a bird-like chirp commonly performed by the Black-Breasted Thrush (Turdus dissimilis) of the same region.

Similarities like these have frequently led researchers to underestimate frog populations during field surveys because their chirps are easily mistaken for local bird songs.

Adult male of Gracixalus weii from Leishan County, Guizhou Province. (Image credit: Peng et al.).

To the human ear, vocalisations in the Leigongshan Nature Reserve often sound like a melodious bird song because both the Gracixalus weii and Black-Breasted Thrush use a similar pattern: a longer introductory note, followed by two shorter notes, and almost identical pitches. This phenomenon provides evidence to suggest that the evolution of acoustic symbols in amphibians could be influenced by broad ecological interactions, including with that of birds. 

The history of observed similarities between frog and bird vocalisations can be traced further back; the acoustic convergence recorded in the Himalayan rapids in 1984 between frogs in the genus Nanorana and the bird Phylloscopius maginostrostris, for instance, underpins these recent findings.

Cases like these demonstrate that bioacoustic data adds value to species identification, particularly because advertisement calls serve as species-specific courtship signals that play an important role in evolutionary diversification.

Advertisement calls of the Gracixalus weii. A. 60 s oscillograms showing five calls of Gracixalus weii; B. 1 s oscillograms and corresponding spectrograms showing one type A call of G. weii; C. 1 s oscillograms and corresponding spectrograms showing one type B call of G. weii. (Image credit: Peng et al.).

For cryptic species that may appear identical, acoustic features also provide a reliable alternative to morphological or molecular diagnosis, offering clear evidence for taxonomic validity. Additionally, since many species are difficult to observe visually in dense habitats, such as frogs hiding within bamboo, relying on vocal signatures ensures that biodiversity is not misidentified during field surveys.

The authors argue that future research should focus on combining morphological, genetic, and bioacoustic evidence to better understand the species richness and cryptic diversity within the genus Gracixalus. A key priority is conducting experimental work, specifically playback or “replay experiments,” to observe how Gracixalus weii and the Black-breasted Thrush (Turdus dissimilis) respond to one another’s calls.

As such, the song of Gracixalus weii is a reminder that a familiar tune can be the perfect disguise for a species we are only just beginning to understand.

Original source:
Peng C, Shen T, Li S, Liu J, Ye R, Li D, Chen J, Tang X, Su H (2026) A bird-like vocalization in a treefrog (Anura, Rhacophoridae): Analysis of advertisement call characteristics in Gracixalus weii. Herpetozoa 39: 7-15. https://doi.org/10.3897/herpetozoa.39.e175324

For more articles on herpetology, visit the Herpetozoa website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.

Pensoft joined the 9th European Conference of Tropical Ecology (ECTE 2026)

Pensoft participated in this year’s 9th European Conference on Tropical Ecology (ECTE 2026) and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö).

From February 23 to 27, the picturesque city of Passau hosted the 9th European Conference on Tropical Ecology (ECTE 2026). Organized by the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) and held at the University of Passau, the event brought together around 250 participants from 31 countries to share the latest breakthroughs in tropical research.

Under the theme ‘Species-Ecosystems-People,’ the conference offered a multidisciplinary perspective through 175 oral presentations and 42 posters across 17 thematic sessions, bridging the gap between fundamental ecological research and the sustainable restoration of vital ecosystems.

A buzzing stand

  • Attendees in front of Pensoft’s booth.
  • Pensoft’s team tending to the visitors at the booth. Credit to: © Ina Voshage
  • Pensoft’s team tending to the visitors at the booth. Credit to: © Ina Voshage

From the very first day and throughout the week, the Pensoft booth was buzzing with people and activities. Attendees had the chance to explore our diverse portfolio of journals, many of which align seamlessly with the ‘Species-Ecosystems-People’ theme, including:

Editors of existing or yet-to-be-launched Diamond and Gold Open Access journals were also invited to visit the Pensoft stand to learn more about the process and benefits of migrating to or launching a journal on the ARPHA Platform.

Developed by Pensoft to power its own well-renowned scientific journals, ARPHA is now a globally recognised end-to-end solution for innovative, technologically advanced scientific publishing that comes with multiple in-house human-provided services.

Beyond browsing journals and discussing publishing opportunities, visitors engaged with our interactive “Pin Your Favourite Species” board and took promotional materials and stickers featuring the stunning artwork of Pensoft’s in-house scientific illustrator Denitsa Peneva, which proved to be a major visual draw.

A milestone partnership

Dr. Katarina Sam, president of the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) at Pensoft's booth.
Dr. Katarina Sam, president of the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) at Pensoft’s booth.

On 24th of February, Dr. Katerina Sam (gtö) signed the partnership. This MoU aims to promote research activities and optimise the dissemination of scientific knowledge within the tropical ecology community to ensure that important research findings reach a global audience through robust publication support.

One major highlight of this year’s conference was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Society for Tropical Ecology (gtö) and Pensoft during the general assembly.

Keynote speakers

Our team on-site was delighted to meet several Pensoft authors who took the stage as keynote speakers to share their expertise.

On February 24th, Prof. Alexandre Antonelli of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew delivered a compelling lecture on “Illuminating Biodiversity Darkspots,” reminding us that over 90% of fungi remain unknown and 45% of plants are at risk of extinction.

Prof. Antonelli frequently contributes to our journals, including IMA Fungus, Frontiers of Biogeography, and Check List.

  • Prof. Antonelli during his keynote talk at ECTE 2026.
  • Prof. Antonelli during his keynote talk at ECTE 2026.

That same day, Dr. Maria Fungomeli of the National Museums of Kenya presented her keynote on “Biodiversity Patterns in the Kenyan Coastal Forests,” highlighting the vital links between coastal ecosystems, culture, and community.

During her talk, she featured her paper, ‘A new Vegetation-Plot Database for the Coastal Forests of Kenya,’ which was published in Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS).

A valued author and reviewer for VCS, Dr. Fungomeli has also contributed to several journals powered by ARPHA Platform, including Pensoft’s Biodiversity Data Journal and ZooKeys, as well as Senckenberg’s Contributions to Entomology.

  • Dr. Fungomeli during her keynote talk.
  • Dr. Fungomeli at Pensoft’s booth.

On February 25th, Prof. Rob Marchant of the University of York, an author in our open-access journal African Invertebrates, delivered his talk, “Embedding the Past for Balanced Future Tropical Mountain Social Ecological Systems.”

He explored how shifts in human-nature interactions over the last 6,000 years can help researchers understand the complex transitions from original forest extents to our modern landscapes. See Prof. Marchant’s paper in African Invertebrates here.

  • Prof. Marchant delivering his keynote talk.
  • Prof. Marchant аt our booth at ECTE 2026.

Recognizing scientific excellence

As one of the sponsors at ECTE 2026, Pensoft was delighted to present the Best Talk Award to Dr. Evangelia Linda Chronopoulou from the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv).

  • The winners of the Best Talk presentation
  • Dr. Evangelia Chronopoulou at Pensoft’s booth.

Her presentation, “Aromatic delight: Revealing diversity and function of fruit microbiome in seed dispersal,” proposed a fascinating shift in ecological understanding.

During her talk, she suggested the potential that microbes co-evolved with animals and plants to support scent-driven seed dispersal effectively transforming a traditional bipartite interaction (plant-animal seed dispersal) into a tripartite one.

Dr. Chronopoulou received a waiver for a free publication in any open-access journal within the Pensoft portfolio.

After a fantastic week in Passau at ECTE 2026, Pensoft is now looking forward to the 10th European Conference on Tropical Ecology, which will take place in Aarhus, Denmark. There, Pensoft plans to establish further partnerships and continue its support for open science in insect research. See you there!

Group photo of attendees at the 9th European Conference of Tropical Ecology (ECTE 2026). Credit to: © Ina Voshage

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Pensoft and the University of Zurich sign strategic OA Agreement to support Swiss research

The agreement encompasses five key research and medical bodies, and allows corresponding authors to publish their findings without individual Article Processing Charges.

Pensoft and the University of Zurich have signed a comprehensive Open Access (OA) agreement, starting a partnership that enables researchers at participating institutions to publish their findings in Pensoft’s peer-reviewed journals without incurring individual Article Processing Charges (APCs).

The agreement encompasses five key research and medical bodies, namely the University of Zurich, the University Hospital of Zurich, Balgrist University Hospital, University Children’s Hospital Zurich, and the Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik.

Researchers from these institutions can now publish without worrying about APCs in 65 peer-reviewed journals published by Pensoft or hosted on its advanced ARPHA platform, including flagship titles such as ZooKeys, PhytoKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal, NeoBiota, and IMA Fungus.

Under this new framework, publishing costs for corresponding authors affiliated with the respective institutions are 100% covered by a centralised institutional deposit secured by the University of Zurich. By removing financial barriers, the agreement encourages scientists to disseminate their work to both the academic community and the wider public, making research immediately and freely available upon publication.

This initiative ensures that research is shared under open licences in strict accordance with the FAIR principles—making data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.

“We are excited to start this partnership with the University of Zurich and sign an agreement that reflects our strong commitment to  inclusive and equitable open science. By supporting researcher-driven publishing, we continue to foster a sustainable environment for high-impact scientific communication.”

Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CEO of Pensoft

“We are pleased to extend our portfolio of gold open access journals, in which our researchers can publish their findings without paying individual APCs. We thereby strengthen our commitment to open research information.”

University Library Zurich

Are you affiliated with a research institution operating with OA agreements? Is your institution interested in helping resident researchers navigate the complex processes underpinning academic publishing and knowledge sharing? Reach out to <publishing@pensoft.net> to discuss a potential collaboration.

Pensoft and Bibsam Consortium announce new OA agreement to advance scholarly publishing in Sweden

The agreement covers almost 100 institutions, including Karolinska Institutet, Lund University, Uppsala University, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Pensoft and the Bibsam Consortium, operated by the National Library of Sweden, are pleased to announce the signing of a comprehensive Open Access (OA) agreement, marking a significant step in the transition towards a more transparent and open scholarly publishing landscape in Sweden.

Thanks to this move, researchers at participating institutions will be able to publish their findings in 65 journals published by Pensoft or using its advanced publishing platform ARPHA, including flagship titles such as ZooKeys, PhytoKeys, Biodiversity Data Journal, NeoBiota and IMA Fungus, without incurring individual article processing charges (APCs). 

The agreement encompasses 97 research bodies, including Karolinska Institutet, Lund University, Uppsala University, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

All authors affiliated with participating institutions can benefit from this agreement, with publishing costs 100% covered by an institutional deposit secured by the National Library of Sweden.

Unlike subscription-based systems, an OA framework ensures that scientific findings are immediately and freely available to the global community, supporting the global shift toward accessible science and adhering to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). 

OA agreements like this one reduce the financial burden on scientists and encourage them to share their work with both academia and the wider public, ultimately lowering barriers to sharing knowledge in a time when scientific input is key to resolving global challenges.

“We are excited to start this partnership with Bisbam and sign an agreement that reflects our strong commitment to open science. By supporting researcher-driven publishing, we continue to foster a sustainable environment for high-impact scientific communication.”

Prof. Lyubomir Penev, CEO of Pensoft

“We are delighted to announce the addition of Pensoft Publishers to our portfolio of nationally funded agreements for 2026. This represents an important step towards achieving full open access to scientific publications in Sweden.”

Niklas Willén, License Manager at Bibsam Consortium and National Library of Sweden

Are you affiliated with a research institution operating with OA agreements? Is your institution interested in helping resident researchers navigate the complex processes underpinning academic publishing and knowledge sharing? Reach out to <publishing@pensoft.net> to discuss a potential collaboration.

Record-breaking success: Study on spider megacolony is the most popular article published by Pensoft

In less than a month, a paper in Subterranean Biology surpassed nearly 27,000 Pensoft studies in popularity.

Pensoft is thrilled to announce a new record in science communication: the research article “An extraordinary colonial spider community in Sulfur Cave (Albania/Greece) sustained by chemoautotrophy,” authored by István Urák et al., has achieved unprecedented publicity.

Published in the journal Subterranean Biology, the paper has become by far the most popular research article ever published across Pensoft’s scientific journal portfolio in terms of both news media coverage and overall online attention.

Issue 53 (2025) of Subterranean Biology, where the spider megacolony paper was published.

Thanks to an integration with our partners at Altmetric, we have quantifiable metrics that measure just how exceptional the attention to this article is. The paper’s Altmetric Attention Score of 2254 places it in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric globally. For less than a month, it became more popular than nearly 27,000 research papers published by Pensoft and tracked by Altmetric.

The study was covered globally by major news outlets, reaching audiences far beyond niche scientific circles. The article garnered over 2,200 online mentions linking directly to the publication, with Altmetric tracking attention from 290 news outlets specifically. The story was featured by numerous top global news organizations, including The New York Times, BBC, The Washington Post, The Independent, Die Welt and NBC News,as well as popular science publications such as Smithsonian Magazine and Science Alert.

Beyond traditional media, the study gained significant traction on various social platforms, including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, alongside mentions on Bluesky and X.

@zekedarwinscience

A massive spider web colony in a bizarre ecosystem underneath the border of Greece and Albania #evolution #spider #animals #biology #learnontiktok

♬ original sound – Zeke Darwin

The paper details fascinating discovery from the Sulfur Cave, which sits on the border between Albania and Greece. There, the research team documented an extraordinary spider community centered around a massive communal web spanning more than 100 square meters. This giant structure, dense enough to resemble a living curtain, is home to an estimated total of over 110,000 spiders, comprised of approximately 69,000 Tegenaria domestica and 42,000 Prinerigone vagans individuals.

A video of the spider colony in Sulfur cave. Courtesy Blerina Vrenozi

Crucially, this study marks the first documented instance of colonial behavior in both of these spider species, and the first recorded case of colonial web-building in a chemoautotrophic cave environment.

This unusual coexistence, where the larger, normally predatory T. domestica does not eat the smaller P. vagans, is believed to be facilitated by the cave’s total darkness and, most importantly, the overwhelming abundance of food resources. The ecosystem is sustained entirely without sunlight through chemoautotrophy, where sulfur-oxidizing bacteria form biofilms that support invertebrates that serve as the spiders’ primary, highly dense food source. This specialized, isolated environment has also driven the evolutionary adaptation of the spiders, which are genetically distinct from their surface relatives, illustrating the remarkable genetic plasticity that emerges under extreme environmental conditions.

A man in a red jumpsuit examines a giant spider web in a dimly lit cave.
The interior of Sulfur Cave. Photo by Marek Audy

In terms of popularity, the article comes right before two studies from our flagship taxonomic journal, ZooKeys. Our second most popular article is a crustacean study titled “A new species of supergiant Bathynomus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Cirolanidae) from Vietnam, with notes on the taxonomy of Bathynomus jamesi Kou, Chen & Li, 2017,” published in ZooKeys in January 2025.

The Dark Side of the ocean: New giant sea bug species named after Darth Vader

Following closely  is “Review of Neopalpa Povolný, 1998 with description of a new species from California and Baja California, Mexico (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae),” published in ZooKeys in January 2017, which describes a new moth species with a curious scientific name.

New species of moth named in honor of Donald Trump ahead of his swearing-in as president

We are proud that our journal Subterranean Biology is the platform for publishing such globally compelling research. This record success only confirms the widespread interest in high-quality, specialized scientific discoveries.

We continue our dedication to effective, high-reach science communication and look forward to sharing other compelling research with both scientists and the wider public.