Pensoft blog - Part 4

TikTok Video Leads to Discovery of Rare Underground Eel in India

Gangaichthys indonepalicus is the first subterranean fish to be recorded from the Gangetic Basin.

Researchers have discovered a new genus and species of underground earthworm eel living beneath the Indo-Gangetic Plain in Bihar, northern India. The small, colourless creature, named Gangaichthys indonepalicus, is the first subterranean fish to be recorded from the Gangetic Basin.

Close-up of *Gangaichthys indonepalicus*. Image credit: Ishan Agarwal.

The research, published in ZooKeys, was carried out by an international team of scientists from the Thackeray Wildlife Foundation in Mumbai, India; Shivaji University in Kolhapur; the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility at the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and the Zoological Survey of India in Gopalpur-on-Sea.

The investigation began after a short video clip posted on TikTok in 2024 showed an unusual tiny fish emerging from a water borewell near the border between India and Nepal.

“The unique morphology of the fish in the video, and the fact that there are no known stygobitic fish known from the region, motivated us to track down the species to ascertain its identity.”
The Research Team

Securing physical samples required an intensive fieldwork effort in Bihar, where the scientists manually pumped thousands of litres of water from local handpumps.

“Procuring samples of this unusual fish was challenging. Identifying potential handpumps (borewells) and wells, and obtaining permission from their owners to extract water for the purpose of searching for the fish proved difficult. This became more intensive when we finally began manually pumping water.”
Akshay Khandekar, Thackeray Wildlife Foundation

Live and habitat photos Gangaichthys indonepalicus — Live and habitat photos *Gangaichthys indonepalicus*: NRC AA 9519, holotype, 40.6 mm SL: Dorso lateral view of: A. Full body; B. Head; C. Bore-well from which holotype and one (damaged) paratype was collected; D. Bore-well from where another damaged specimen was collected. Image credit: Akshay Khandekar et al., 2026.

The first specimen emerged after pumping approximately 2000 litres of water but sustained damage during the process and died immediately. The second and only intact specimen (later designated as the holotype of this species) was found from the same borewell after pumping an additional 500 litres of water.

*Gangaichthys indonepalicus* in a syringe. Image credit: Ishan Agarwal.

The newly described fish measures roughly four centimetres in length and features physical adaptations suited to life in total darkness, including reduced eyes covered by skin, an unpigmented translucent body, and an apparent absence of ribs.

Advanced micro-CT scanning and genetic analysis confirmed that it represents a completely distinct genus within the earthworm eel family Chaudhuriidae.

“Gangaichthys means fish of the Ganga. The Ganga or Ganges is one of the most important rivers in India, both as a source of fresh water, food and livelihood for millions of people; besides having an important role in the Hindu religion.

This is the first stygobitic fish from the Indo-Gangetic plains and from the Gangetic basin.”
Ishan Agarwal, Thackeray Wildlife Foundation

As for the naming of the species itself, Tejas Thackeray commented:

“As the species occurs on the border between India and Nepal we picked indonepalicus as the specific epithet, which reflects the distribution of the species.”

*Gangaichthys indonepalicus*. Image credit: Ishan Agarwal.

Agarwal also reflected on the broader context of the find and the challenges of studying subterranean habitats:

“India is an incredibly diverse country, spanning huge gradients in climate and topography and multiple biogeographic regions. However, there is a huge gap in knowledge, both Linnaean and Wallacean shortfalls, with many more species yet to be discovered.

This exciting discovery is in some ways symptomatic of general biodiversity research in India, though sampling subterranean habitats is especially challenging.”

Original source:

Khandekar A, Thackeray T, He Y, Mohapatra A, Agarwal I (2026) Gangaichthys indonepalicus, a new genus and species of miniature stygobitic earthworm eel (Synbranchiformes, Chaudhuriidae) from alluvial aquifers in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, Bihar, northern India. ZooKeys 1289: 185-202. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1289.188089

For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.

A mystery kept in London led to the discovery of a new Ecuadorian frog

Pristimantis milpe is an abundant and widely distributed species that had been confused with another species for over a century.

Scientists from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador officially described Pristimantis milpe, an abundant and widely distributed species that had been confused with another species for over a century. To solve the mystery, researchers reviewed specimens collected in Ecuador during the 19th century and preserved at the Natural History Museum in London.

Reproductive pair (amplexus) of the Milpe Robber Frog photographed at night on a leaf in the tropical forest of the Ecuadorian Chocó. Photo: Santiago R. Ron.

The finding is exceptional because, unlike many recently described species – which are usually rare or restricted to small geographic areas – Pristimantis milpe is a common frog, widely distributed, and easy to detect by its nocturnal call. The species inhabits the Chocó forests of western Ecuador and southern Colombia, in a range that exceeds 67,000 square kilometers, from sea level up to 1,200 meters in altitude.

Amphibiologist Santiago Ron. The leading author of the study.

The scientific description was published in the international journal ZooKeys, which specialises in research on biodiversity and taxonomy. The identification of Pristimantis milpe was made possible thanks to a review of the historical amphibian collections preserved at the Natural History Museum in London (NHM).

Facade of the Natural History Museum in London, where the key specimens that clarified the taxonomic mess are kept. Photo: Santiago R. Ron.

To resolve a taxonomic confusion that lasted for more than a century, Santiago Ron, a researcher at PUCE and lead author of the study, travelled to England to examine the original specimens – known as “types” – that were collected in Ecuador during the 19th century and preserved ever since.

Santiago Ron reviewing jars with historical specimens preserved in the collections of the Natural History Museum in London. Specimens were collected in the 19th century in Ecuador and preserved in London.

The analysis allowed these historical specimens to be compared with current populations of frogs from the Ecuadorian Chocó. The researchers determined that the specimens had been erroneously associated with another species. This confusion caused a species that had been present and observed for decades to remain without a scientific name of its own.

“That such a common species has gone unnoticed under the wrong name for decades highlights the importance of correctly connecting scientific names with living populations in nature.”
Jhael Ortega, a PhD student at Virginia Tech and one of the study authors

The Milpe Robber Frog (Cutín de Milpe) is a species with nocturnal habits. Males usually call from the leaves of shrubs and bromeliads located several meters high within the forest. Their vocalisation is characterised by a loud and distinct sound, similar to a “click.”

The Milpe Robber Frog lives in a wide variety of habitats, from parks in urban areas to primary forests. The individual in the photo comes from the Río Ayampe Reserve in the Manabí province. Photo: Diego Paucar.

One of its most striking features is the dimorphism between females and males. Females present a distinctive color pattern on the groin and thighs, with orange or light blue tones accompanied by black spots. Males, on the other hand, have more uniform shades.

The species is found in the forests of the Ecuadorian Chocó and southern Colombia, one of the most important regions for biodiversity conservation.

The Ecuadorian Chocó forest is home to more than 250 species of amphibians, including the Milpe Robber Frog, *Pristimantis milpe*. Photo: Santiago R. Ron.

The study demonstrates the scientific value of natural history collections. Specimens preserved for centuries allow current researchers to review classifications, compare characteristics, and answer questions that remained open for generations.

In this case, the analysis of specimens collected in the 19th century, combined with the study of current populations, allowed Pristimantis milpe to be formally recognised as a distinct species.

The work also shows that biodiversity still holds surprises even in abundant and well-known species, and that scientific research requires connecting historical knowledge with the tools and observations available today.

Original source

Ron SR, Paredes-Aguirre P, Paucar DA, López Y, Apunte K, Ortega JA (2026) Long overdue: a new, widespread, species of Pristimantis (Anura, Strabomantidae) from the Chocó region and the synonymy of Pristimantis subsigillatus. ZooKeys 1286: 121-152. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1286.194383

For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.

From Scroll to Science: How an iNaturalist Photo Revealed an Endangered Mussel in a BC Watershed

A photo on iNaturalist sparked a three-year research project that led to the discovery of a new subpopulation of the endangered Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel in Canada.

In 2023, someone photographed a discarded shell near a boat-towing business in Port Coquitlam and uploaded it to iNaturalist, the online citizen-science forum. That single post set off a three-year scientific search and ended up rewriting the known range of one of Canada’s most endangered freshwater species.

The shell belonged to the Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel (Gonidea angulata), a large, distinct bivalve known for its thick-walled, trapezoidal shell and a sharp ridge running from its dorsal margin to its posterior edge.

Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel, Dominion Road, August 8, 2025. Photo Angie Coulter.

In Canada, it’s assessed as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). It’s also recommended for federal listing under the Species at Risk Act. Until now, its known Canadian range was thought to be confined to the south-central Okanagan watershed, with only vague historical records elsewhere in the Kootenays, Vancouver Island, and Cache Creek.

That’s what made the Port Coquitlam shell so strange. The Fraser River watershed, where it turned up, has no present-day aquatic connection to the Okanagan system. So how did it get there?

A photo that sparked two years of research

Because the shell surfaced near a boat-towing business, researchers from the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and the BC Conservation Foundation couldn’t rule out a simpler explanation: that it had hitched a ride from the Okanagan on a recreational boat trailer.

Researchers at Surrey Bend Regional Park, Sept 10, 2024. Photo by Kihan Yoon-Henderson.
Sampling in Harrison River, September 2025. Photo by Jennifer Heron.
Siena Achal and Kihan Yoon-Henderson on field work. Photo by Jennifer Heron, Pitt River, Dominion Ave., Sept 9, 2024

But, to prove that the mussel actually belonged in the Fraser watershed the researchers had to find live, animals in their natural habitat.

Pitt River, Reichenbach Rd., Sept 16, 2024. Photo by Jennifer Heron.
Kihan Yoon-Henderson, Jennifer Heron, Siena Achal, Mike Badry, Lea Gelling and Purnima Govindarajulu at Grant Narrows – Pitt-Addington WMA, Oct 9, 2024. Photo by Kihan Yoon-Henderson.

So began a major field effort. Between 2023 and 2025, the team surveyed 62 sites and logged more than 158 cumulative hours searching the watershed, contending with busy marine traffic, fast-moving and deep water, rising tides, and the seasonal freshet.

They worked the shifting, tidal shoreline using beach walking, wading, and snorkeling surveys. And because the water was frequently clouded by disturbed silt and mud, the researchers had to get creative, constructing a DIY dipping tool by duct-taping a metal mesh deep-fryer basket to a broom handle. This device allowed them to scoop up submerged objects and let the silt wash away, making it easy to confirm the identity of any mussels they retrieved.

The find

The persistence paid off. About 5.4 kilometers upstream from where the original shell was found, the team confirmed a live, subpopulation – 81 specimens in total across the three-year search.

Most were tucked into deep pools that become isolated from the main river channel at low tide, along a stretch of flat mud beach on the west side of the lower Pitt River, near a public trail between Prairie Avenue and Dominion Avenue.

Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel, Pitt River, Prairie Ave., Sept 18, 2024, Photo by Jennifer Heron.

The discovery, now published in the open-access, peer-reviewed Biodiversity Data Journal, marks a significant range extension for the species into the Fraser River watershed – the first confirmed live population outside the Okanagan.

Bert Brink Wildlife Management Area, July 2025. Photo Jennifer Heron.
Domion Road, August 8, 2026. Photo Kihan Yoon-Henderson.
Under Mission Bridge, July 2025. Photo Jennifer Heron

However, the find doesn’t ease the species’ conservation status. Because this subpopulation is hydrologically isolated from both the Okanagan watershed and the nearest known populations in Washington State’s Chehalis River, the overall conservation concern for the species remains extremely high.

Whether the newly found subpopulation is genetically distinct from other populations – a question with real implications for how it’s managed and protected – is still unanswered; that’s the next piece of research the team is pursuing.

Nonetheless, this breakthrough stands as a testament to the value of citizen science. The upload of a single photograph to iNaturalist sparked a big field survey, proving that community-based monitoring and public stewardship can directly help protect B.C.’s most vulnerable freshwater species.

Original source:

Heron J, Jessome R, Yoon-Henderson K, Achal S (2026) Range extension and natural history notes on Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel Gonidea angulata (Lea, 1838) (Mollusca, Unionidae) in Canada. Biodiversity Data Journal 14: e191607. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.14.e191607

Ancient Penguin Fossils Offer New Window into Antarctica’s Changing Climate

A team of palaeontologists studying penguin fossils from Seymour Island have demonstrated how ancient bird bones can act as chemical archives of past climate change.

A team of palaeontologists from China University of Geosciences (Beijing) studying penguin fossils from Seymour Island off the Antarctic Peninsula have demonstrated how ancient bird bones can act as chemical archives of past climate change.

The researchers used non-destructive X-ray mapping to examine the elemental composition of penguin remains spanning millions of years. As such, they uncovered key insights into how Antarctica shifted from a warm and humid environment to a cooler world.

“Penguins are among the most iconic animals of Antarctica and represent one of the most distinctive groups of birds, having completely lost the ability to fly and instead using their flipper-like wings for swimming.

Seymour Island preserves one of the world’s richest and most stratigraphically continuous records of Eocene penguin fossils. These fossils span an important interval of Antarctic climate evolution, from the relatively warm and humid conditions of the early Eocene to the cooler climate of the middle and late Eocene.”
The Research Team

Sampling area – Tertiary Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island. Image credit: Boyang Xia et al.
Sampling area – Submeseta Formation on Seymour Island. Image credit: Boyang Xia et al.

To study the rare fossils without damaging them, the researchers used micro-X-ray fluorescence scanning to map chemical elements across the surface of the bones. The scans revealed clear differences in the chemical composition of bones from different geological periods.

Older fossils dating back roughly 55 million years contained significantly higher levels of titanium, silicon and potassium. The team linked these chemical patterns to intense land-based weathering and heavy runoff during an ancient warm period, whereas younger fossils from cooler periods showed much lower elemental signals.

“The most surprising result was that the early Eocene fossil showed substantially higher titanium, silicon and potassium signals.

Based on the stratigraphic, sedimentological and palaeoclimatic evidence, we interpret this pattern as being consistent with stronger continental weathering and terrestrial material input under the warm and humid conditions of the early Eocene.”

Analysing millions-of-years-old fossils presented distinct practical challenges:

“One of the main challenges was obtaining reliable elemental information without damaging the fossils.

The irregular shapes and curved surfaces of the fossil bones created practical difficulties during scanning. To minimise the influence of variations in surface height, we positioned the bones as horizontally as possible and maintained a relatively constant distance between the scanning head and the bone surface.”

Overview of the fossil specimens and the µ-XRF scanning area. Image credit: Boyang Xia et al.

Beyond tracking weather conditions on land, the scanning method also detected iron, manganese and sulphur patterns trapped within the bones, reflecting local chemical changes in the marine sediment as the fossils were buried over time.

The team additionally highlights that studying bone geochemistry offers a valuable tool for understanding historical Earth systems alongside traditional techniques such as marine sediment drilling and microfossil analysis.

“An important finding for us was that the elemental information preserved in penguin bones may record not only how external materials entered the bones, but also differences in weathering input, depositional conditions and early diagenetic environments.

We believe that fossils can provide an important complementary source of information for studying palaeoenvironmental changes on the Antarctic Peninsula.”

The study, published in the open-access journal Fossil Record, demonstrates how combining non-destructive chemical scanning with established geological context can unlock valuable environmental data from fossil collections, thus broadening the scope of future polar research.

Original source:

Xia B, Wu H, Li Q (2026) Eocene penguin fossils as archives of Antarctic weathering and climate change: insights from micro-X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping. Fossil Record 29(2): 575-587. https://doi.org/10.3897/fr.29.192319

For more articles on palaeontology, visit the Fossil Record website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.

A Coral Among the Stars: New Species Discovered on Costa Rica’s Deep-Sea Seamounts

The coral was found thriving in large numbers on rocky outcrops that were almost entirely blanketed by brittle stars.

Scientists exploring seamounts off the coast of Costa Rica have discovered a new coral so genetically and morphologically distinct that it required the creation of an entirely new family for its classification.

Bright yellow and tree-like, the coral was found growing some 360 to 529 metres beneath the surface of the Pacific. The discovery is described in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Map showing the geographic location of the collected samples within the Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Costa Rica. Made by Beatriz Naranjo (UCR).

The colonies, which can grow to over a metre tall, were collected using the remotely operated vehicle SuBastian aboard the research vessels Falkor and Falkor (too), operated by the Schmidt Ocean Institute, during expeditions to the seamounts off Isla del Coco and the Costa Rican Pacific margin in 2019 and 2023.

Researchers found the coral thriving in large numbers on rocky outcrops that were almost entirely blanketed by brittle stars, creating a shimmering, star-strewn seafloor from which the golden coral branches rose like glowing trees.

That image inspired the coral’s name. The new genus, Laurinque, comes from “Laurinquë”, meaning “golden tree” in Quenya, the Elvish language devised by J.R.R. Tolkien for The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, chosen in reference to the colonies’ bright yellow, tree-like form.

*Laurinque* *elenya* gen. et sp. nov., morphology of the holotype, *in situ*. Photographs by ROV *SuBastian*.

The species name, elenya, is Quenya for “stellar” or “of the stars”, a nod to the fields of brittle stars among which the coral was discovered. Together, the pairing evokes a scene the researchers likened to a mystical elvish landscape on the deep seafloor.

Working out where this coral belonged in the coral family tree proved unusually difficult. The team sequenced three genes commonly used to classify corals, and each one pointed to a different, unrelated family, an unusually high level of disagreement.

Holotype (ethanol preserved fragment) detail of anthocodiae and polyp arrangement of *Laurinque* *elenya*. Photographs by Fiorella Vásquez (UCR).

To settle the question, researchers turned to phylogenomics, analysing hundreds of genes at once. This revealed that the coral does not belong to any known family at all, but represents a unique evolutionary lineage most closely related to the family Eunicellidae, but distinct enough in both its genetics and its anatomy to warrant a new family, Laurinqueidae, and a new genus, Laurinque, built specifically to house it.

“I saw the octocoral garden for the first time in 2019 and I was impressed by the beauty of the landscape, which inspired, later the elvish name of the taxa. I thought the species could belong to a known family and genera, but after the preliminar morphological analysis I realised that it was something very different that I could not match with the known taxa.

In 2023 we collected more samples and thanks to the exhaustive molecular analyses made by my colleagues, Cathy McFadden, Catalina Murillo and Andrea Quattrini, we were able to determine the taxonomic placement of the stunning species, in one of the most enigmatic sites.”
Dr Odalisca Breedy of the Universidad de Costa Rica

*Laurinque* *elenya* gen. et sp. nov., *in situ* colonies in Las Gemelas II. Photographs by ROV *SuBastian*.

The research was led by Dr Breedy, working alongside an international team of collaborators. The expeditions were supported by the Schmidt Ocean Institute and a National Geographic Society research grant.

The discovery adds to a growing list of undocumented species being revealed on Costa Rica’s seamounts, and demonstrates how much of the deep ocean, which covers roughly two-thirds of the planet’s surface, remains unexplored.

Coral gardens such as these are considered vulnerable marine ecosystems, providing structurally complex habitat for a wide range of other deep-sea life.

Cover image

In situ colony of Laurinque elenya gen. et sp. nov. in Las Gemelas II. Credit: ROV SuBastian.

Original source

Breedy O, McFadden CS, Murillo-Cruz C, Yánez-Suárez A-B, Robert K, Quattrini AM (2026) A coral among stars: A new octocoral family (Anthozoa, Octocorallia, Malacalcyonacea) from seamounts in the tropical eastern Pacific. ZooKeys 1283: 253-272. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1283.191899

For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.

New Mountain Dragon Lizard From Thailand Named After Syrax From House Of The Dragon

Meet Acanthosaura syrax, the mountain horned dragon lizard named after Syrax – Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen’s dragon in House of the Dragon.

Scientists have described a new species of lizard from the high mountain forests of western Thailand, and have given it a name straight out of fantasy television: Acanthosaura syrax, named after Syrax, the dragon ridden by Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon.

adult female Acanthosaura syrax — Adult female paratypes of *Acanthosaura* *syrax*. Photo credit to Trivalairat et al., 2026.

The lizard belongs to a group known as mountain horned dragons, agamid lizards recognised by the spiny crests running along their neck and back. It was discovered in the evergreen forests of Mae Wong National Park, in the Tak-Kamphaeng Phet Province, at elevations above 1,300 metres, where it appears to live nowhere else. The find brings the total number of known species in the genus Acanthosaura to 23.

Forest habitat of *Acanthosaura* *syrax* in Mae Wong National Park, Mae Wong District, Kampheang Phet Province, Thailand . Photo credit to Trivalairat et al., 2026.

The research team, led by Poramad Trivalairat and colleagues from Chulabhorn Royal Academy and Kasetsart University, chose the name Syrax deliberately. The dragon of that name in the fantasy world is known for its striking yellow colouring, its comparatively modest size next to other dragons, and for producing an unusually large number of eggs.

The researchers found all three qualities echoed in the real animal: A. syrax has yellowish-green tones in its colouring, is one of the smallest members of its genus, and lays notably large clutches of eggs for its size. The team has proposed “Syrax mountain horned dragon” as its English common name, alongside a Thai name that translates the same way.

Adult male holotype of Acanthosaura syrax. from Mae Wong District, Kampheang Phet Province, Thailand. Photo credit to Trivalairat et al., 2026
Adult female paratypes Acanthosaura syrax. Credit to Trivalairat et al., 2026.

Beyond the name, the lizard stands out for possessing the smallest neck and back crest scales recorded anywhere in the genus, along with an overall small body size. It also lacks a black patch around the eye seen in several related species, and has a distinctive dark collar marking. DNA analysis of two genes backed up what the researchers saw by eye, showing that A. syrax is genetically distinct from its closest relative, A. lepidogaster, and from every other known species in the group.

Paratype specimens of Acanthosaura syrax — Paratype specimens of *Acanthosaura* *syrax*. Credit to Trivalairat et al., 2026.

The species appears to be confined to a narrow band of high-altitude forest, and the researchers say its populations are naturally scattered by the rugged terrain of the mountain range, a state of affairs that leaves it vulnerable should its habitat come under further pressure. They are calling for stronger protection of Mae Wong’s high-elevation forests, suggesting the new lizard could serve as a flagship species for the area alongside other rare wildlife found there, including the Asian forest tortoise, Oldham’s leaf turtle and the Indochinese tiger.

The study is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

Cover photo credit: Acanthosaura syrax, credit to Trivalairat et al., 2026; Syrax dragon credit to Wiki of Westeros.

Original source:

Trivalairat P, Trivalairat K, Moungkhaek N, Caponov S, Lorsunyaluck B (2026) Acanthosaura syrax sp. nov., a new species of mountain horned dragon from high-elevation habitats of western Thailand (Squamata, Agamidae). ZooKeys 1287: 47-76. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1287.186636

Landmark review confirms 227 mammal species in Honduras, the country’s most comprehensive assessment in nearly three decades

The study also forecasts that as many as 28 further species could eventually be confirmed in the country.

An eight-year international research effort has produced the most comprehensive review of Honduras’ mammals since 1998, verifying 227 native species across 146 genera and 42 families, along with three introduced rodent species. The study, published in the open-access journal ZooKeys, also forecasts that as many as 28 further species could eventually be confirmed in the country, bringing the potential total to 258.

Manatee, photographed by Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske.

The research was led by Manfredo A. Turcios-Casco of the Asociación para la Sostenibilidad e Investigación Científica en Honduras (ASICH) and the Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz in Brazil, together with 14 co-authors from institutions across Honduras, the United States, Brazil, Guatemala and Costa Rica, including Panthera Honduras, the Smithsonian Institution and the Wildlife Conservation Society. The resulting work spans nearly 200 pages of species accounts, distribution data and conservation summaries.

The project began when Turcios-Casco was a master’s student researching the conservation status of Honduran xenarthrans:

“At that time, I realised something surprising: despite Honduras being one of the most biodiverse countries in Central America, its mammal fauna had not been comprehensively reviewed since 1998.

What began with a team of four researchers grew into a collaboration spanning museum curators, taxonomists, field biologists and conservation practitioners across multiple countries.”

Compiling the review meant verifying more than 300,000 records drawn from museum collections, scientific publications, technical reports and previously unpublished field observations dating back to the 1960s.

Mormoops megalophylla. Image credit: Manfredo A. Turcios-Casco.

“The greatest challenge was undoubtedly the verification process. Every record (and there were more than 300,000) had to be evaluated critically,” Turcios-Casco said, noting that shifting taxonomy meant the team was still updating species accounts just days before the manuscript’s final submission.

Among the review’s more unexpected findings was how little is known about some of Honduras’ most familiar mammals. “For some mammals, including squirrels, raccoons, and several small rodents, there were no modern distribution maps available,” Turcios-Casco noted. Even regionally widespread species, such as opossums and skunks, remain poorly documented within the country.

Nyctomys sumichrasti. Image credit: Manfredo A. Turcios-Casco.
Spilogale angustifrons. Image credit: Manfredo A. Turcios-Casco.
Caluromys derbianus. Image credit: Manfredo A. Turcios-Casco.

Alongside the species accounts, the review provides conservation summaries intended to guide research priorities and policy decisions:

“Because conservation begins with knowledge. One of the biggest challenges in biodiversity conservation is that we often want to protect species before we fully understand them.”
Turcios-Casco

Camera traps photos by Panthera-Honduras – White lipped peccaries.
Giant anteater.
Tapirs.
Puma.

The work also draws on cultural knowledge, incorporating common names used by Indigenous peoples and local communities alongside the scientific record.

“Rather than simply compiling species records, we tried to tell the story of Honduras’ mammals.”
Turcios-Casco

Looking ahead, the authors hope the review will serve as a foundation for the next generation of Honduran biologists.

“In that sense, the review is both a summary of what we know and a reminder of how much there is left to learn about the natural heritage of Honduras.
Turcios-Casco

Cover image:

Howler monkey, photographed by Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske.

Original source:

Turcios-Casco MA, Castañeda F, Wilson DE, Miller B, Gonzalez-Socoloske D, Ramos EA, King TW, LaVal RK, Ordóñez-Garza N, Ordoñez D, Graciolli G, Thornton D, Martínez M, Estrada-Andino NM, Ávila-Palma HD (2026) Taxonomy, natural history, and conservation of the mammals of Honduras. ZooKeys 1288: 1–193. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1288.129555

Call to contribute to a Special Collection “Vegetation of the Balkan Peninsula” in Vegetation Classification and Survey

A newly launched Special Collection “Vegetation of the Balkan Peninsula” in the open-access, peer-reviewed IAVS journal is now welcoming submissions.

Guest blog post by Jürgen Dengler, Erwin Bergmeier and Urban Šilc

We are pleased to announce the Special Collection on the vegetation of the Balkan Peninsula in IAVS’ gold open access journal Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS).

This Special Collection is launched in conjunction with the annual conferences of two IAVS Working Groups in 2026, namely the 21^st Eurasian Grassland Conference of the EDGG in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the 34th Conference of the European Vegetation Survey (EVS), in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Within Europe, the vegetation of the Balkan Peninsula is particularly diverse yet understudied in terms of composition, variation and range. With this Special Collection, we thus want to advance the knowledge on the Balkan vegetation, take a fresh look both within and beyond national borders and contribute to an improvement of the “EuroVegChecklist” as the common syntaxonomic backbone of the continent. Following VCS’s scope, contributions either need to develop or to apply a vegetation classification framework of any type. For example, this can be based on a phytosociological classification system, habitat types, or synusiae. Studies on any kind of vegetation from the coasts to the highest mountains, from natural through semi-natural to anthropogenic are welcome.

We envisage particularly the following types of contributions:

Revisions of syntaxa (classes, orders, alliances…) at the national or supranational level
Vegetation monographs of a certain region
Synthetic overviews (category Review and Synthesis) of all syntaxa of a country or other larger regions
Nomenclatural proposals related to Balkan syntaxa
Habitat typologies and their application
Long and Short Database Reports
Perspectives on how to harmonize and how to utilize syntaxonomic knowledge

Apart from Research Papers, also Reviews and Syntheses and Forum Papers as well as Long Database Reports and Nomenclatural Proposals are welcome. We hope to see submissions from the Balkan countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey-in-Europe), while syntheses across multiple countries are particularly welcome. Please consult the author guidelines whose formal requirements also apply to the Special Collection.

Editors: Jürgen Dengler (Switzerland), Erwin Bergmeier (Germany) and Urban Šilc (Slovenia); in case of a high number of submissions, one or two additional guest editors might be appointed.

Procedure and deadlines:

Until 31 October 2026: Please submit your (preliminary) abstract online at: https://forms.gle/gxofv8FuZQkqFmeK7. The abstract must follow the VCS Author Guidelines.
Until 30 November 2026: The Guest Editors will evaluate the abstracts and inform the authors which manuscripts are invited for submission.
Until 30 May 2027: Invited manuscripts can be submitted at: https://vcs.pensoft.net/
Spring 2028: The Special Collection will be completed with a synthesizing editorial by the Guest Editor team.

Please note that VCS is a gold open access journal where authors are normally required to pay article processing charges (APCs). First authors who are IAVS members receive 50% or 75% discount on regular APCs. If you are an IAVS member but cannot afford the reduced APCs (e.g. because your university does not provide APC funds), you can – after invitation and prior to submission – apply to IAVS’ Global Sponsorship Committee (GSC) for a complete waiver of the APCs, i.e. publishing free of charge. If interested, please get into contact with the chair of the Guest Editors.

We look forward to receiving your contributions and hope that you will join us in making this Special Collection a valuable resource for the IAVS community.

Follow Vegetation Classification and Survey on Facebook and Bluesky to stay up to date on the journal’s latest developments. Or subscribe to the journal’s newsletter via the homepage.

Pensoft Joins the Global Lichenology Community at IAL10 in Trieste

The 10th Symposium of the International Association for Lichenology took place in Trieste, where Pensoft showcased its plant science and mycology journal portfolio.

Last week, the 10th Symposium of the International Association for Lichenology (IAL10) took place in Trieste, Italy, from 26 to 31 July 2026, organised by the International Association for Lichenology, the University of Trieste’s Department of Life Sciences and the Italian Lichenological Society.

Held once every four years, the symposium is an important event for the global lichenology community, and this edition proved more popular than ever, drawing over 350 participants from around the world – more than double the number originally expected.

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Lichenology is a wonderfully niche field, but IAL10 showed just how far-reaching and collaborative the community is. Delegates travelled from every corner of the globe to discuss taxonomy, lichen-associated microorganisms, biodiversity and conservation, ecophysiology, environmental biomonitoring, and cultural heritage preservation.

Pensoft’s stand at IAL10

Maria Kolesnikova, our Head of Marketing, Sales and Events, at the Pensoft stand at IAL10.

We were pleased to have our own stand at the symposium, where we showcased our journals in plant science and mycology, including:

MycoKeys: publishes papers on the monophyletic kingdom Fungi containing taxonomic or ecological data on any taxon of any geological age from any part of the world with no limit to manuscript size;
IMA Fungus: considers contributions from all areas of mycology expected to be of interest to the wider mycological community, from basic research to applications
PhytoKeys: publishes papers in systematic Botany containing taxonomic/floristic data on any taxon of any geological age from any part of the world
Italian Botanist: publishes original research covering all fields of Botany in its wider sense, including Mycology, ranging from molecular to ecosystem studies
Biodiversity Data Journal: publishes papers in biodiversity science containing taxonomic, floristic/faunistic, morphological, genomic, phylogenetic, ecological or environmental data on any taxon of any geological age from any part of the world
Vegetation Classification and Survey: publishes original papers that develop new vegetation typologies as well as applied studies that use such typologies, for example, in vegetation mapping, ecosystem modelling, nature conservation, land use management or monitoring

Pensoft’s journals in plant science and mycology.

It was a great opportunity to speak directly with researchers and students about publishing their work, and to reconnect with authors and editors already part of our community.

Garima Singh – Subject Editor and Author in MycoKeys.
Muhammad Usman, Author in MycoKeys.
Edyta Mazur – Author in Mycokeys.
Pier Luigi Nimis – Subject Editor and Reviewer in MycoKeys.

Talks that caught our attention

Among the many excellent presentations at IAL10, two in particular stood out to us:

Juri Nascimbene presenting his talk at IAL10 – Historical lichen collections as a time capsule.
Juri Nascimbene at Pensoft’s stand.

Juri Nascimbene, a subject editor and author at MycoKeys and an author for Italian Botanist, Vegetation Classification and Survey, and Biodiversity Data Journal, presented on the historical lichen collections held at the University of Bologna’s herbarium (BOLO). His talk explored how these collections, some dating back to the work of Ulisse Aldrovandi in the sixteenth century, allow researchers to track species distributions across centuries.

Using material such as Antonio Bertoloni’s Hortus Siccus Florae Italicae, which contains 850 georeferenced lichen specimens, Nascimbene’s team has been able to trace the long-term presence of species such as Lobaria pulmonaria in the chestnut groves of the Northern Apennines, and the disappearance of cold-adapted species such as Alectoria ochroleuca from high-altitude sites.

It was a fascinating look at how historical herbaria can inform our understanding of global change today!

Martin Grube presenting his talk at IAL10 – Lichens in motion.

We also attended a talk by Martin Grube, a reviewer and author at MycoKeys, who challenged the common perception of lichens as slow-growing organisms. His presentation examined the hygroscopic movements lichens undergo as they take up and lose water, and the mechanical stresses this creates within their thalli.

Grube introduced tools for measuring these mechanical properties and discussed what they might reveal about the evolution and function of lichen structures, thus offering a compelling primer on comparative thallus mechanics.

A new special issue in MycoKeys

While at IAL10, we were pleased to announce a new special issue in MycoKeys: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of the International Association for Lichenology (IAL10), edited by Mauro Tretiach, Fabio Candotto Carniel, and Lucia Muggia. The special issue will bring together original research articles and short communications covering the full breadth of lichen symbiosis research. We look forward to seeing the community’s latest work published there.

Announcement of a special issue in MycoKeys at IAL10.

Celebrating the award winners

Congratulations to all of this year’s IAL10 award winners:

Group photograph of the award winners at IAL10.

Best Posters

Honorata Wacławek, “Phylogenetic insights into freshwater Gyalidea (Gomphillaceae, Graphidales) from the high Andes of Bolivia”
Ariel Sebastián Udaeta Sanchez, “First axenic cultures of saxicolous lichens from Tucumán (NW Argentina): growth timelines and representation of under-studied neotropical lineages”

Best Flash Talks

Ciaran Kelly, “Comparative genomic analyses of antimicrobial proteins encoded by lichen-forming fungi”
Anna Pasinato, “The metabolic divide: fungal genomes reveal an unequal distribution of biosynthetic gene clusters”

Best Oral Presentations

Victoria K., “Hidden cohabitants: metagenomic insights into global occurrence patterns of black fungi associated with lichens”
Diego Garfias Gallegos, “Central metabolism and development are rewired in lichenized cyanobacteria”

Until next time

IAL10 was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with the lichenology community, and we were delighted to meet so many authors from our journals in person. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our stand, attended a talk with us, or simply shared a conversation about lichens.

We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Italian Lichenological Society and seeing you all again at the next symposium.

Follow us on Bluesky, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn for future conference updates.

A Cretaceous Cold Case: The mysterious affair at Mullurina Mayu (Bolivia)

This study reports a large bowl-shaped depression from Late Cretaceous fluvial deposits in Bolivia, associated with sauropod trackways.

Guest Blog Post by Lara Sciscio and Christian A. Meyer

This study, published in Fossil Record, reports a large bowl-shaped depression from Late Cretaceous fluvial deposits in Bolivia, associated with sauropod trackways. Its morphology and scratch-like traces suggest a biogenic origin, possibly representing titanosaurid digging behaviour or an abandoned nest.

A good mystery always starts with a clue of something that was or shouldn’t have been…

Drone overview of the outcrop in the western part of the Maragua Syncline, Bolivia. Can you spot the palaeosurface with titanosaurid trackways?

The sun beats down on the Bolivian Altiplano as we walk across the rocky grey expanse of a now ancient riverbed, following a trail of fossil sauropod dinosaur tracks. We are in the Maragua region, near Sucre, in the heart of Bolivia.

Studying the trackways, we know they were made by titanosaurs, one of the largest long-necked dinosaurs to have walked the Earth. Then we stop. Within these trackways there lies a large bowl-shaped depression, seemingly carved into the rock. It is ~4 metres wide and over half a metre deep with a frayed, ragged margin.

It is unlike anything our ichnologist eyes have seen before.

Drone view of the Mullurina Mayu surface with the circular structure. Parallel sauropod (titanosaurid) trackways diagonally cut across the surface. Two people are the base of the outcrop are for scale.

Stepping closer, we realise that this is a rare oddity cut into the palaeosurface, and a slew of questions arises: Is this hollow formed by weathering, carved by modern waters? Or is it something older, potentially dug by the largest animals to ever walk the Earth? And then frozen in time?

Excavating loose sand from the structure before taking close-up photos for 3D modelling. In the foreground are titanosaurid tracks.

These questions led us on a scientific detective hunt that stretched back 67 million years, to when titanosaurs walked this part of the Earth. And just short of the asteroid impact that would bring the “Age of Dinosaurs” to an end.

Weathering… or Dinosaurs?

Usually, when we encounter oddly shaped depressions in the rock record, ~99% of the time, the explanation for their formation is weathering and erosion. Nevertheless, you gather evidence and then use it to determine how and what happened. These were our first priorities on encountering the Mullurina Mayu bowl-shaped depression.

As we examined the site in detail, those potential abiotic explanations soon began to fall apart. Hydraulic scours usually have smooth walls and are aligned with the flow of water; weathering pits leave characteristic weathering textures and are grouped in smaller concentrations. This bowl structure had neither, and instead, we noticed many parallel grooves grouped in bundles and oriented around its walls and near its base.

It became evident that abiotic mechanisms were unlikely, and these potential abiotic tool marks (a type of sedimentary structure) were biotic in nature. The presence of these scratch-like marks, their shape, orientations, and distribution indicated that something had been digging.

Close-up of scratch-like marks within an imprint inside the depression (scale bar: 20 cm).

Fingerprints

Our evidence was not in the shape of the depression itself, but the multitude of scratch traces around its perimeter. The walls carried bundles of parallel grooves, ~1 cm wide, several cm’s long, and other isolated claw traces preserved in what would have been mud. These traces were not random but oriented in two directions and indicate movement of an animal’s autopod.

Scratch-like traces associated with sauropod tracks are features known to ichnologists, although a rarity, and have been encountered at several sites, from Colorado (USA), Spain, to Mongolia. Recent discoveries in Mongolia have shown that sauropod feet could leave detailed impressions of their keratinised scales (“fingerprints”). These produce distinct striations, and their patterning and the elongate incisions are evidence that their feet moved through or across the sediment.

The grooves in Bolivia closely resemble those skin-drag traces made by a scaled foot as it repeatedly scraped its feet through and across the muddy riverbank sediment. We infer this as behavioural evidence of an animal, and the most likely is the titanosaur which left its footprints nearby. We had found fingerprints of a titanosaur, excavating, but excavating what?

Building a nest?

This is a question that many may ask: could the titanosaurs be trying to construct a nest? The answer – maybe.

There is a limited body of evidence of nesting scrapes in the fossil record. They are described as depressions which cut into the original sediment (tick), have a distinct rim (tick), and would later be infilled with different sediment (tick!). The strongest evidence for a nest structure, however, would be the presence of eggs, eggshell, or embryos, and this is still missing at the Mullurina Mayu depression. This makes our assumption of nesting less confident.

Instead, we can use the evidence we have to say it was most likely a sauropod dinosaur, using its scaley feet, that excavated the ground, and one possible explanation is that this is an abandoned nesting attempt. Ichnologists advance only because we make careful probabilities rather than claiming certainties where evidence is absent. Nonetheless, this is an exciting discovery for what it shows and for where it leads our imaginations!

What were they doing?

Body fossils (bones) tell us what animals look like, tracks tell us how they moved, how big they may be, and traces like the Mullurina Mayu depression give us a small glimpse of what they were doing. The ichnological (trace) fossil record often captures moments of an animal’s life. Here, we can see a giant titanosaur scraping, digging, and interacting with the environment rather than just looking at its bones.

Whether it was nest scraping, digging for fresh water or mineral salts (like modern elephants) or carrying out some other behaviour we have yet to recognise, what we do know is that the most interesting fossils are not of the animals themselves but the traces of their behaviours, short time shots of their lives, frozen and fossilised in the rock record.

Cover image:

Artistic reconstruction of the Mullurina Mayu bowl-shaped depression during the Late Cretaceous, depicting the probable tracemakers responsible for the Calorckosauripus trackways and possibly the bowl-shaped depression. Illustration by Joshua Knüppe (commissioned 2025).

Original source:

Meyer CA, Heymann JH, Ibarra EC, Flores EL, Sciscio L (2026) Digging Sauropods: excavation behaviour or evidence for nest building? An example from the Late Cretaceous El Molino Formation (Maragua, Bolivia). Fossil Record 29(2): 519-532. https://doi.org/10.3897/fr.29.198794

For more articles on palaeontology, visit the Fossil Record website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.