A researcher from the University of North Carolina Asheville has drawn on 20 years of collaborative fieldwork to create a single illustrated reference for scientists, conservationists and nature enthusiasts.
A researcher from the University of North Carolina Asheville has published the first comprehensive checklist of the native terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), drawing on 20 years of collaborative fieldwork to create a single illustrated reference for scientists, conservationists and nature enthusiasts.
The study, led by Professor R. Graham Reynolds of UNC Asheville’s Department of Biology, is published in the open-access journal ZooKeys. It documents the 11 native reptile species across the archipelago’s Turks and Caicos Banks, eight of which are found nowhere else on Earth.
Two further species are represented in the islands by their own endemic subspecies. The checklist combines published research through 2026 with original field data collected by Dr Reynolds between 2006 and 2025, and includes original photographs, distribution information and conservation assessments for every species.
An adult male Turks and Caicos Anole (Anolis scriptus scriptus) watching his territory from the trunk of a tree. Big Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. Photograph by R. Graham Reynolds, UNC Asheville.
Dr Reynolds began studying the islands’ reptiles in 2006, in his first year of graduate school, working alongside Dr Glenn Gerber of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance:
“This quickly turned into a passion, and I have made studying these animals the focus of my career.
I conduct fieldwork several times a year on the islands, and this year is the 20th year of this work. In that time, I have published dozens of papers on the reptiles of the region and collected a huge amount of data, and I felt that, after two decades, it was time to produce something to showcase everything we’ve learned about these animals.”
Although information on the islands’ reptiles has existed scattered across books, online databases and journal articles, no single resource has previously combined photographs, distribution maps, natural history and conservation status for every species.
“Somewhat surprisingly, there has never been a comprehensive checklist for the terrestrial reptiles of the region.
“Portions of this are available elsewhere, such as distribution maps and some photographs on the online database CaribHerp, or island checklists and natural history information in a book chapter. But this is the first time that all of this information has been brought together to fully describe and illustrate the amazing terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos.”
Dr Reynolds
Seven of the 11 native species are of conservation concern. The Turks Island Skink is Critically Endangered and may now survive as a single protected population, while the Turks and Caicos Iguana, classified as Endangered, has been lost from around 90% of its historical range. Introduced predators, particularly feral cats and rats, are identified as the main cause of these declines, alongside habitat loss and road mortality.
An adult male Turks and Caicos Curlytail (Leiocephalus psammodromus apocrinus) perches on top of a Turks cap Cactus (Melocactus intortus). Big Ambergris Cay, Turks and Caicos Islands. Photograph by R. Graham Reynolds, UNC Asheville.
The study also revises the taxonomy of the Curly-tailed Lizard, recommending that six previously recognised subspecies be reduced to two, reflecting recent genetic evidence.
Original source
Reynolds RG (2026) An annotated checklist and species accounts of the native terrestrial reptiles of the Turks and Caicos Islands. ZooKeys 1290: 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1290.198843
For more articles on zoology, visit the ZooKeys website and follow the journal on BlueSky and Facebook.
Invisible to the naked eye, phytoplankton play a critically important role at the base of marine food webs, yet their diversity continues to be underestimated. Recently, the UN Global Compact released “The Plankton Manifesto,” highlighting how these microscopic organisms are crucial for addressing the “triple planetary crisis” of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Diatoms, a major group of photosynthetic microalgae, are particularly powerful in driving roughly 20% of global photosynthesis and forming the very base of marine food webs.
Yet despite their monumental importance, microalgal ecosystems remain largely unexplored and poorly mapped. That is why a recent major scientific undertaking in the Northeast Pacific is so significant.
A First-of-its-Kind Baseline in the Salish Sea
Map of sampling locations. A Distribution of sampling sites throughout the Salish Sea (green markers).Red frame: area of enlargement around Galiano Island (1B); B Sampling sites around Galiano Island (green markers). Map credit to Webber et al., 2026.
Diatom records of the Salish Sea bioregion have historically been fragmentary, dating back to early inventories in the 1800s, and with only scattered surveys filling the gap across the 20th and 21st centuries. As Andrew Simon, PhD student at the University of Alberta, president of IMERSS, and one of the study’s researchers, puts it:
The Salish Sea has long been studied for its rich marine biodiversity. Yet, until now, the history of research on its primary producers has been fragmented, and we have lacked a consolidated baseline record.
Now, for the first time, researchers have taken a significant step toward closing that gap. A team of Canadian researchers — Mark Webber (University of Victoria; IMERSS), Elaine Humphrey (UVic; IMERSS), Arjan van Asselt (IMERSS), Alice Chang (UBC), Evan Morian (Hakai Institute; UBC), and Andrew Simon (IMERSS; University of Alberta) — has published anew checklist of 924 diatom taxa alongside a curated dataset of 11,469 records in the open-access journal Biodiversity Data Journal, providing a long-needed foundation for environmental monitoring across this region of the northeast Pacific Ocean.
Trigonium quinquelobatum, external valve view. SEM. Scale bar: 20 µm, Credit to Webber et al., 2026.
Cocconeis kerguelensis, SV. LM. Scale bar: 5 µm. Photo credit to Webber et al., 2026
Neocalyptrella robusta, live, girdle view. LM. Scale bar: 50 µm, Credit to Webber et al., 2026
The findings include some curious discoveries. Several taxa are reported for the first time on the Pacific coast of North America, including Trigonium quinquelobatum, while others, such as Cocconeis kerguelensis (previously known only from the Indian Ocean) and Neocalyptrella robusta (previously confined to California), suggest a range expansion into cooler waters.
Ecologically, the genus Tabularia stands out as a dominant presence on eelgrass and macroalgae, despite having few species. In contrast, genera like Auliscus, Biddulphia, and Mastogloia are surprisingly scarce in the Salish Sea compared to other regions, leaving open questions about what limits their occurrence there.
This dataset also directly answers a key recommendation from the UN Plankton Manifesto, which urges the scientific community to strengthen plankton research and develop comprehensive plankton atlases to biomonitor the health of marine ecosystems.
Bacteriastrumhyalinium, valve view. LM. Scale bar 20 µm. Credit to Webber et al., 2026.
The Salish Sea — the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples — is home to roughly nine million people and is experiencing rapid growth in urbanization, industrial activity, and marine shipping.
Because diatom populations respond quickly to changes in water quality and environmental conditions, they serve as highly effective early-warning bioindicators for shifts in ecosystem health and pollution levels.
Without a clear picture of what the base of the food web looks like today, it is impossible to understand the impact of tomorrow’s environmental changes.
Attheyalongicornis, girdle view. SEM. Scale bar: 10 µm. Credit to Webber et al., 2026.
“We are fortunate to have had a dedicated group of academic researchers and community scientists contribute to this work over many years,” says Mark Webber, IMERSS’ resident diatomist. “Drawing from the literature, microscope analysis, and molecular sequencing, we now have a better picture of the diatoms present in the Salish Sea. Diatoms are vital to the health of countless organisms — from shorebirds and shellfish to fish and mammals. This baseline provides a reference point for understanding changes that could ripple across the entire web of life.“
Local Research for Global Solutions
Actinoptychusadriaticus var. pumila, exterior valve view. SEM. Scale bar: 5 µm. Credit to Webber et al., 2026.
The UN Plankton Manifesto stresses that understanding and managing plankton communities can unlock “Plankton-Based Solutions” to support fisheries, clean waters, and climate change mitigation.
Our work demonstrates how sustained collaboration between community scientists and research institutes can bridge these gaps, through partnering community expertise and observation with access to microscopy and molecular technologies,
the team concludes.
The new checklist and dataset will support researchers and policymakers in environmental assessments of the Salish Sea, as the team continues to refine and analyze the data to support ongoing regional research.
Original source
Webber M, Humphrey E, van Asselt A, Chang A, Morien E, Simon ADF (2026) Diatoms (Bacillariophyta) of the Salish Sea, Northeast Pacific: annotated checklist and new species reports. Biodiversity Data Journal 14: e189060. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.14.e189060
IMERSS, or the Institute for Multidisciplinary Ecological Research in the Salish Sea, is a non-profit society based in Galiano Island, British Columbia, Canada. IMERSS joins scientific researchers, citizen scientists, and Indigenous communities to conduct multidisciplinary ecological research, monitor biodiversity and the environment, and communicate results to better understand and respond to change in the Salish Sea bioregion.
Once you know where to look for them, lichens are everywhere! These composite organisms – fungal and photosynthetic partners joined into a greater whole, can survive on a vast array of surfaces, from rocks and trees to bare ground and buildings. They are known from every continent, and almost certainly every land mass on planet Earth; some species have even survived exposure to the exterior of the International Space Station. This hardy nature has long interested researchers studying what life could survive on Mars, and the astrobiologists studying life on Earth as an analog of our planetary neighbour. In the deserts surrounding two Mars analog stations in North America, lichens comprise such an important part of the local ecosystems that they inspired a biodiversity assessment with a unique twist: this collections-based inventory took place during a simulated mission to Mars!
Crew Biologist Anushree Srivastava collecting lichens near the Mars Desert Research Station while wearing a simulated spacesuit, an important part of analog space missions at this research site. Photo credit: Mars 160 Crew/The Mars Society
The Mars Desert Research Station in Utah, USA (on Ute and Paiute Territory), and the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station in Nunavut, Canada (in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit Homeland) are simulated Martian habitats operated by The Mars Society, where crews participate in dress rehearsals for crewed Martian exploration. While learning what it would take to live and work on our planetary neighbour, these “Martians” frequently study the deserts at both sites, often exploring techniques for documenting microbial life and their biosignatures as a prelude to deploying these tools and methods off world. These studies are enhanced by a comprehensive understanding of the ecosystems being studied, even if they are full of Earthbound life. During the Mars 160 – a set of twin missions to both Utah and Nunavut in 2016 and 2017 – our team undertook a floristic survey of the lichen biodiversity present at each site.
The Mars Desert Research Station is nestled in amongst the red sandstone hills of southeast Utah, USA, in a geological analog to Mars. Photo credit: Paul Sokoloff/Canadian Museum of Nature
During simulated extra-vehicular activities, Mars 160 mission specialists wearing simulated spacesuits scouted out various habitats at both stations, seeking out lichen species growing in various microhabitats. Collecting over 150 specimens, these samples were “returned to Earth”, and identified at the National Herbarium of Canada at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Through morphological examination, investigations of internal anatomy and chemistry, and DNA barcoding, “Mission Support” identified 35 lichen species from the Mars Desert Research Station, and 13 species from the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station.
Rich lichen communities are abundant in the deserts surrounding the Mars Desert Research Station, with visible crusts being one part of a vibrant ecosystem. Photo credit: Paul Sokoloff/Canadian Museum of Nature
These species, along with photographs and a synopsis of their identifying characteristics, are summarized in a new paper out now in the open-access journal Check List. This new annotated checklist should prove useful to future crews working at both analog research stations, while also helping Earthly lichenologists better understand the distribution of these fascinating organisms, including new records of rarely reported or newly described species from some of Earth’s most interesting, and otherworldly habitats.
Research article:
Sokoloff PC, Srivastava A, McMullin RT, Clarke J, Knightly P, Stepanova A, Mangeot A, Laroche C-M, Beattie A, Rupert S (2024) An annotated checklist of the lichen biodiversity at two Mars analog sites: The Mars Desert Research Station (Utah, USA) and The Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (Nunavut, Canada) recorded during the Mars 160 Mission. Check List 20(5): 1096-1126. https://doi.org/10.15560/20.5.1096
Adult individual of Erythrolamprus aesculapii captured in roadside habitats of BR-262. Photo by Michel Passos
Scientists provide crucial data to prompt further conservation and safety measures at the notorious BR-262 highway
Having systematically monitored wild animals killed on the Brazilian federal highway BR-262, which passes through the Pantanal region, a research team from the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, published their data concerning birds and reptiles in the open access journal Check List.
Apart from information crucial for future conservation activities, the paper provides new and unexpected roadkill records, including the Black-and-white hawk-eagle.
Authored by Wagner Fischer and his colleagues Raquel Faria de Godoi and Antonio Conceição Paranhos Filho, the article is part of the first dataset of vertebrate mortality in the region. A separate paper of theirs is planned to present the data concerning mammals gathered during the same survey, which took place between 1996 and 2000.
An adult individual of Xenodon matogrossensis captured in roadside habitats of BR-262. Photo by Cyntia Santos.
Having mapped bird and reptile roadkill on the highway between the cities of Campo Grande and Corumbá in the Brazilian savannah, the team reports a total of 930 animals representing 29 reptile and 47 bird species. In addition, the data provide the first regional geographic record of the colubrid snake Hydrodynastes bicinctus.
The researchers conclude that the species richness observed in the road-killed animals clearly confirms earlier concerns about wildlife-vehicle collisions in the Pantanal region. Such accidents lead to long-term and chronic impact on both wildlife and road safety.
“Mitigation of wildlife-vehicle collisions on this road continues to claim urgency for biodiversity conservation and for human and animal safety and care,” say the authors.
“For managers, the main goal should be to determine target species of greatest concern, focusing on those vulnerable to local extinction or those which represent major risks of serious accidents.”
In the past, the team’s dataset had already been used as a guide to road fauna management. In particular, it was used by government road managers when planning animal overpassess and underpassess equipped with roadside fences as part of the long-term project Programa Estrada Viva: BR-262. So far, however, only some of the less efficient safety methods, such as road signs and lowered speed limits, have been applied at the most critical points.
Over the past several years, a few independent studies have been conducted to monitor roadkill in a similar manner. Two of them (2010 and 2017) looked into mammal-vehicle collisions, while the third recorded reptiles and birds as well. All of them serve to demonstrate that BR-262 continues to be a major cause for the regional wildlife mortality, which in turn increases the risks of serious accidents.
“BR-262 keeps its inglorious fame as a highway to hell for human and wild lives,” points out lead author Wagner Fischer.
Roadkill on the BR-262 highway, Pantanal region, Brazil. Photos by Ricardo Fraga and Wagner Fischer.
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Original source:
Fischer W, Godoi RF, Filho ACP (2018) Roadkill records of reptiles and birds in Cerrado and Pantanal landscapes. Check List 14(5): 845-876. https://doi.org/10.15560/14.5.845
Historically, the Alps have always played an emblematic role, being one of the largest continuous natural areas in Europe. With its numerous habitats, the mountain system is easily one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in Europe.
Lichens are curious organisms comprising a stable symbiosis between a fungus and one or more photosynthetic organisms, for example green algae and/or cyanobacteria. Once the symbiosis is established, the new composite organism starts to function as a whole new one, which can now convert sunlight into essential nutrients and resist ultraviolet light at the same time.
A common fruticose lichen in the Alps (Flavocetraria nivalis). Photo: Dr Peter O. Bilovitz
Being able to grow on a wide range of surfaces – from tree bark to soil and rock, lichens are extremely useful as biomonitors of air quality, forest health and climate change.
Nevertheless, while the Alps are one of the best studied parts of the world in terms of their biogeography, no overview of the Alpine lichens had been provided up until recently, when an international team of lichenologists, led by Prof. Pier Luigi Nimis, University of Trieste, Italy, concluded their 15-year study with a publication in the open access journal MycoKeys.
Sunrise in the Julian Alps. Photo: Dr Pier Luigi Nimis
The scientists’ joint efforts produced the first ever checklist to provide a complete critical catalogue of all lichens hitherto reported from the Alps. It comprises a total of 3,138 entries, based on data collected from eight countries – Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia and Switzerland. In their research paper, the authors have also included notes on the lichens’ ecology and taxonomy.
A common lichen in the Alps (Xanthoria elegans). Photo: Dr Tomi Trilar
They point out that such catalogue has been missing for far too long, hampering research all over the world. The scientists point out that this has been “particularly annoying”, since the data from the Alps could have been extremely useful for comparisons between mountainous lichen populations from around the globe. It turns out that many lichens originally described from the Alps have been later identified in other parts of the world.
“It was a long and painstaking work, which lasted almost 15 years, revealing a surprisingly high number of yet to be resolved taxonomic problems that will hopefully trigger further research in the coming years,” say the authors.
“We think that the best criterion to judge whether a checklist has accomplished its task for the scientific community is the speed of it becoming outdated,” they conclude paradoxically.
The new checklist is expected to serve as a valuable tool for retrieving and accessing the enormous amount of information on the lichens of the Alps
A widespread alpine lichen (Thamnolia vermicularis). Photo: Dr Peter O. Bilovitz
that has accumulated over centuries of research. It offers a basis for specimen revisions, critical re-appraisal of poorly-known species and further exploration of under-explored areas. Thus, it could become a catalyst for new, more intensive investigations and turn into a benchmark for comparisons between mountains systems worldwide.
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Original source:
Nimis PL, Hafellner J, Roux C, Clerc P, Mayrhofer H, Martellos S, Bilovitz PO (2018) The lichens of the Alps – an annotated checklist. MycoKeys 31: 1-634. https://doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.31.23568
Lichenologists at work in the Carnic Alps. Photo: Dr Pier Luigi Nimis
While not every taxonomic study is conducted with a nature conservation idea in mind, most ecological initiatives need to be backed by exhaustive taxonomic research. There simply isn’t a way to assess a species’ distributional range, migratory patterns or ecological trends without knowing what this species actually is and where it is coming from.
In order to facilitate taxonomic and other studies, and lay the foundations for effective biodiversity conservation in a time where habitat loss and species extinction are already part of our everyday life, the global organisation Catalogue of Life (CoL) works together with major programmes, including GBIF, Encyclopedia of Life and the IUCN Red List, to collate the names of all species on the planet set in the context of a taxonomic hierarchy and their distribution.
Recently, the scholarly publisher and technological provider Pensoft has implemented a new integration with CoL, so that it joins in the effort to encourage authors publishing global taxonomic review in any of the publisher’s journals to upload their taxonomic contributions to the database.
Whenever authors submit a manuscript containing a world revision or checklist of a taxon to a Pensoft journal, they are offered the possibility to upload their datasets in CoL-compliant format, so that they can contribute to CoL, gain more visibility and credit for their work, and support future research and conservation initiatives.
Once the authors upload the dataset, Pensoft will automatically notify CoL about the new contribution, so that the organisation can further process the knowledge and contact the authors, if necessary.
In addition, CoL will also consider for indexing global taxonomic checklists, which have already been published by Pensoft.
It is noteworthy to mention that unlike an automated search engine, CoL does not simply gather the uploaded data and store them. All databases in CoL are thoroughly reviewed by experts in the relevant field and comply with a set of explicit instructions.
“Needless to say that the Species 2000 / Catalogue of Life community is very happy with this collaboration,” says Dr. Peter Schalk, Executive Secretary.
“It is essential that all kinds of data and information sharing initiatives in the realm of taxonomy and biodiversity science get connected, in order to provide integrated quality services to the users in and outside of our community. The players in this field carry responsibility to forge partnerships and collaborations that create added value for science and society and are mutually reinforcing for the participants. Our collaboration is a fine example how this can be achieved,” he adds.
“With our extensive experience in biodiversity research, at Pensoft we have already taken various steps to encourage and support data sharing practices,” says Prof. Lyubomir Penev, Pensoft’s founder and CEO. To better serve this purpose, last year, we even published a set of guidelines and strategies for scholarly publishing of biodiversity data as recommended by our own experience. Furthermore, at our Biodiversity Data Journal, we have not only made the publication of open data mandatory, but we were also the first to implement integrated narrative and data publication within a single paper.”
“It only makes sense to collaborate with organisations, such as Catalogue of Life, to make sure that all these global indexers are up-to-date and serve the world’s good in preserving our wonderful biodiversity,” he concludes.
