Giant isopods of the genus Bathynomus, which can reach more than 30 cm in length, are known as bọ biển or “sea bugs” in Vietnam. For the first time, one such species was described from Vietnamese waters and named Bathynomus vaderi. The name “vaderi” is inspired by the appearance of its head, which closely resembles the distinctive and iconic helmet of Darth Vader, the most famous Sith Lord of Star Wars.
The head of Bathynomus vaderi. Image by Nguyen Thanh Son
Bathynomus vaderi belongs to a group known as “supergiants,” reaching lengths of 32.5 cm and weighing over a kilogram. So far, this new species has only been found near the Spratly Islands in Vietnam, but further research will probably confirm its presence in other parts of the South China Sea.
Dr. Nguyen Thanh Son holding a giant specimen of another species of giant isopod found in Vietnam (B. jamesi) that weighed 2.62 kg from a seafood market in Hanoi, October 2024. Photo by Peter Ng
Giant isopods like Bathynomus vaderi have become an expensive delicacy in Vietnam. Until 2017, local fishermen only sold them as a bycatch product for low prices, but in recent years the media has drawn public attention to this unusual seafood. Some go as far as claiming it’s more delicious than lobster, the “king of seafood”.
Prof. Peter Ng examining giant isopods from a seafood market in Hanoi, October 2024. Photo by Nguyen Thanh Son
These animals have been commercially fished by trawlers operating in various deep-water parts of Biển Đông ( East Sea, Vietnamese part of the South China Sea) and offshore of provinces in south-central coastal of Vietnam. Over the last five years, it has become common to see themsold alive in some seafood markets in Hanoi, Hồ Chí Minh City, and Đà Nẵng City. Some outlets and restaurants even advertise the saleof these “sea bugs” online on various social media platforms, including how best to cook them!
Dr. Conni Sidabalok examining individuals of Bathynomus vaderi at Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Singapore. Photo by Rene Ong
In March 2022, staff from Hanoi University purchased four giant isopod individuals from Quy Nhơn City and sent two of them to Peter Ng from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in the National University of Singapore for identification. Peter Ng has a very active crustacean laboratory in Singapore and has worked on the deep-sea fauna from many parts of Asia. He subsequently co-opted Conni M. Sidabalok from the National Research and Innovation Agency Indonesia, who had described Bathynomus from southern Java with him. Together with Nguyen Thanh Son from the Vietnam National University, who is the resident crustacean researcher there, they studied the specimens. In early 2023, they realised they had specimens of a so far undescribed species. Now, they have published their findings in the open-access journal ZooKeys.
The discovery of a species as strange as Bathynomus vaderi in Vietnam highlights just how poorly we understand the deep-sea environment. That a species as large as this could have stayed hidden for so long reminds us just how much work we still need to do to find out what lives in Southeast Asian waters.
There is an urgent need to better understand our deep-sea biodiversity as humans increasingly endeavour to exploit this habitat for fisheries, oil and gas, and even minerals. The sustainable fishery of giant isopods just adds to the many challenges we face. And the first step is to know what lives there.
Research article:
Ng PKL, Sidabalok CM, Nguyen TS (2025) 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. ZooKeys 1223: 289–310. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1223.139335
Yet another hectic year has passed for our team at Pensoft, so it feels right to look back at the highlights from the last 12 months, as we buckle up for the leaps and strides in 2025.
In the past, we have used the occasion to take you back to the best moments of our most popular journals (see this list of 2023 highlights from ZooKeys, MycoKeys, PhytoKeys and more!); share milestones related to our ARPHA publishing platform (see the new journals, integrations and features from 2023); or let you reminisce about the coolest research published across our journals during the year(check out our Top 10 new species from 2021).
In 2022, when we celebrated our 30th anniversary on the academic scene, we extended our festive spirit throughout the year as we dived deep into those fantastic three decades. We put up Pensoft’s timeline and finished the year with a New Species Showdown tournament, where our followers on (what was back then) Twitter voted twice a week for their favourite species EVER described on the pages of our taxonomic journals.
Spoiler alert: we will be releasing our 2024 Top 10 New Species on Monday, 23 December, so you’d better go to the right of this screen and subscribe to our blog!
As we realised we might’ve been a bit biased towards our publishing activities over the years, this time, hereby, we chose to present you a retrospection that captures our best 2024 moments from across the departments, and shed light on how the publishing, technology and project communication endeavours fit together to make Pensoft what it is.
In truth, we take pride in being an exponentially growing family of multiple departments that currently comprises over 60 full-time employees and about a dozen freelancers working from all corners of the world, including Australia, Canada, Belgium and the United Kingdom. Together, we are all determined to make sure we continuously improve our service to all who have trusted us: authors, reviewers, editors, client journals, learned societies, research institutions, project consortia and other external collaborators.
After all, great deeds are only possible when you team up with great like-minded people!
In 2024, at Pensoft, we were hugely pleased to see a significant growth in the published output at almost all our journals, including record-breaking numbers in both submissions and publications at flagship titles of ours, including the Biodiversity Data Journal, PhytoKeys and MycoKeys.
Later in 2024, our colleagues, who work together with our clients to ensure their journals comply with the requirements of the top scholarly databases before they apply for indexation, informed us that another two journals in our portfolio have had their applications to Clarivate’s Web of Science successfully accepted. These are the newest journal of the International Association of Vegetation Science: Vegetation and Classification, and Metabarcoding and Metagenomics: a journal we launched in 2017 in collaboration with a team of brilliant scientists working together at the time within the DNAquaNet COST Action.
In 2024, we also joined the celebrations of our long-time partners at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, whose three journals: Zoosystematics and Evolution, Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift and Fossil Record are all part of our journal portfolio. This year marked the 10th Open Access anniversary of the three journals.
In the meantime, we also registered a record in new titles either joining the Pensoft portfolio or opting for ARPHA Platform’s white-label publishing solution, where journal owners retain exclusivity for the publication of their titles, yet use ARPHA’s end-to-end technology and as many human-provided services as necessary.
Pensoft’s CEO and founder Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev with Prof. Dr. Marc Stadler, Editor-in-Chief of IMA Fungus and President of the International Mycological Association at the Pensoft booth at the 12th International Mycological Congress (August, the Netherlands).
Amongst our new partners are the International Mycological Association who moved their official journal IMA Fungus to ARPHA Platform. As part of Pensoft’s scholarly portfolio, the renowned journal joins another well-known academic title in the field of mycology: MycoKeys, which was launched by Pensoft in 2011. The big announcement was aptly made public at this year’s 12th International Mycological Congress where visitors of the Pensoft stand could often spot newly elected IMA President and IMA Fungus Chief editor: Marc Stadler chatting with our founder and CEO Lyubomir Penev by the Pensoft/MycoKeys booth.
On our end, we did not stop supporting enthusiastic and proactive scientists in their attempt to bridge gaps in scientific knowledge. In January, we launched the Estuarine Management and Technologies journal together with Dr. Soufiane Haddout of the Ibn Tofail University, Morocco.
Later on, Dr. Franco Andreone (Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Italy) sought us with the idea to launch a journal addressing the role of natural history museums and herbaria collections in scientific progress. This collaboration resulted in the Natural History Collections and Museomics journal, officially announced at the joint TDWG-SPNHC conference in Okinawa, Japan in August.
Around this time, we finalised our similarly exciting journal project in partnership with Prof. Dr. Volker Grimm (UFZ, Germany), Prof. Dr. Karin Frank (UFZ, Germany), Prof. Dr. Mark E. Hauber (City University of New York) and Prof. Dr. Florian Jeltsch (University of Potsdam, Germany). The outcome of this collaboration is called Individual-based Ecology: a journal that aims to promote an individual-based perspective in ecology, as it closes the knowledge gap between individual-level responses and broader ecological patterns.
The three newly-launched journals are all published under the Diamond Open Access model, where neither access, nor publication is subject to charges.
As you can see, we have a lot to be proud of in terms of our journals. This is also why in 2024 our team took a record number of trips to attend major scientific events, where we got the chance to meet face-to-face with long-time editors, authors, reviewers and readers of our journals. Even more exciting was meeting the new faces of scientific research and learning about their own take on scholarship and academic journals.
Pensoft’s CEO and founder Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev welcomed editors at PhytoKeys to the Pensoft-PhytoKeys-branded booth at the XX International Botanical Congress in July 2024 (Spain).
We cannot possibly comment on Pensoft’s tech progress in 2024 without mentioning the EU-funded project BiCIKL (acronym for Biodiversity Community Integrated Knowledge Library) that we coordinated for three years ending up last April.
This 36-month endeavour saw 14 member institutions and 15 research infrastructures representing diverse actors from the biodiversity data realm come together to improve bi-directional links between different platforms, standards, formats and scientific fields.
Following these three years of collaborative work, we reported a great many notable research outputs from our consortium (find about them in the open-science project collection in the Research Ideas and Outcomes journal, titled “Towards interlinked FAIR biodiversity knowledge: The BiCIKL perspective”) that culminated in the Biodiversity Knowledge Hub: a one-stop portal that allows users to access FAIR and interlinked biodiversity data and services in a few clicks; and also a set of policy recommendations addressing key policy makers, research institutions and funders who deal with various types of data about the world’s biodiversity, and are thereby responsible to ensuring there findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability (FAIR-ness).
Apart from coordinating BiCIKL, we also worked side-by-side with our partners to develop, refine and test each other’s tools and services, in order to make sure that they communicate efficiently with each other, thereby aligning with the principles of FAIR data and the needs of the scientific community in the long run.
During those three years we made a lot of refinements to our OpenBiodiv: a biodiversity database containing knowledge extracted from scientific literature, built as an Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management System, and our ARPHA Writing Tool. The latter is an XML-based online authoring environment using a large set of pre-formatted templates, where manuscripts are collaboratively written, edited and submitted to participating journals published on ARPHA Platform. What makes the tool particularly special is its multiple features that streamline and FAIRify data publishing as part of a scientific publication, especially in the field of biodiversity knowledge. In fact, we made enough improvements to the ARPHA Writing Tool that we will be soon officially releasing its 2.0 version!
OpenBiodiv – The Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management System
ARPHA Writing Tool 2.0
Amongst our collaborative projects are the Nanopublications for Biodiversity workflow that we co-developed with KnowledgePixels to allow researchers to ‘fragment’ their most important scientific findings into machine-actionable and machine-interpretable statements. Being the smallest units of publishable information, these ‘pixels of knowledge’ present an assertion about anything that can be uniquely identified and attributed to its author and serve to communicate a single statement, its original source (provenance) and citation record (publication info).
Nanopublications for Biodiversity
In partnership with the Swiss-based Text Mining group of Patrick Ruch at SIB and the text- and data-mining association Plazi, we brought the SIB Literature Services (SIBiLS) database one step closer to solidifying its “Biodiversity PMC” portal and working title.
Understandably, we spent a lot of effort, time and enthusiasm in raising awareness about our most recent innovations, in addition to our long-standing workflows, formats and tools developed with the aim to facilitate open and efficient access to scientific data; and their integration into published scholarly work, as well as receiving well-deserved recognition for their collection.
We just can’t stress it enough how important and beneficial it is for everyone to have high-quality FAIR data, ideally made available within a formal scientific publication!
🗨️Imagine if ALL these links were provided as hyperlinks within a #scholarly publication!
Pensoft’s CTO Teodor Georgiev talks about innovative methods and good practices in the publication of biodiversity data in scholarly papers at the First national meeting of the Bulgarian Barcode of Life (BgBOL) consortium (December, Bulgaria).
🤔What is a Data Paper?
👍 A means to describe a #dataset – like the ones on @GBIF – in a standardised, widely accepted #scientific article format.
👇🧵Highlights from @LyuboPenev's talk at the int'l symposium "#BiodiversityData in montane & arid Eurasia" in Kazakhstan 🇰🇿
Pensoft’s CEO and founder Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev presenting his “Data papers on biodiversity” talk at the “Biodiversity data in montane and arid Eurasia” symposium jointly organized by GBIF and by the Institute of Zoology of Republic of Kazakhstan (November, Kazakhstan).
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📸Today, at the @EASEeditors symposium, our @teodorpensoft gave a sneak peek into the AI-assisted tools at @ARPHAplatform we have been working on (e.g. Word -> JATS XML conversion) and the #ARPHA Writing Tool 2.0 (coming up in early 2025)!🎉
Pensoft’s CTO Teodor Georgiev presents new features and workflows currently in testing at the ARPHA Writing Tool 2.0 at the EASE Autumn Symposium 2024 (online event).Pensoft’s Head of Journal development, Marketing and PR Iva Boyadzhieva talks about Pensoft’s data publishing approach and innovations at the German Ecological Society 53rd Annual Conference (September, Germany).
Pensoft as a science communicator
At our Project team, which is undoubtedly the fastest developing department at Pensoft, science communicators are working closely with technology and publishing teams to help consortia bring their scientific results closer to policy actors, decision-makers and the society at large.
Ultimately, bridging the notorious chasm between researchers and global politics boils down to mutual understanding and dialogue.
Pensoft’s communication team attended COP16 (November 2024, Colombia) along with partners at the consortia of CO-OP4CBD, BioAgora and RESPIN: three Horizon Europe projects, whose communication and dissemination is led by Pensoft.
Throughout 2024, the team, comprising 20 science communicators and project managers, has been working as part of 27 EU-funded project consortia, including nine that have only started this year (check out all partnering projects on the Pensoft website, ordered from most recently started to oldest). Apart from communicating key outcomes and activities during the duration of the projects, at many of the projects, our team has also been actively involved in their grant proposal drafting, coordination, administration, platform development, graphic and web design and others (see all project services offered by Pensoft to consortia).
📸As leaders of the “Stakeholder engagement, comms & dissemination” WP at @BCubedProject, we joined the annual meeting to report on project branding, #scicomm & #DataManagement.
Naturally, we had a seat on the front row during many milestones achieved by our partners at all those 27 ongoing projects, and communicated to the public by our communicators.
Amongst those are the release of the InsectsCount web application developed within the Horizon 2020 project SHOWCASE. Through innovative gamification elements, the app encourages users to share valuable data about flower-visiting insects, which in turn help researchers gain new knowledge about the relationship between observed species and the region’s land use and management practices (learn more about InsectsCount on the SHOWCASE prroject website).
Another fantastic project output was the long-awaited dataset of maps of annual forest disturbances across 38 European countries derived from the Landsat satellite data archive published by the Horizon Europe project ForestPaths in April (find more about the European Forest Disturbance Atlas on the ForestPaths project website).
In a major company highlight, last month, our project team participated in COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan with a side event dedicated to the role of open science and science communication in climate- and biodiversity-friendly policy.
Pensoft’s participation at COP29 – as well as our perspective on FAIR data and open science – were recently covered in an interview by Exposed by CMD (a US-based news media accredited to cover the event) with our science communicator Alexandra Korcheva and project manager Boris Barov.
You see, A LOT of great things worth celebrating happened during the year for us at Pensoft: all thanks to ceaselessly flourishing collaboration based on transparency, trust and integrity. Huge ‘THANK YOU!’ goes to everyone who has joined us in our endeavours!
Here’s to many more shared achievements coming up in 2025!
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The first national symposium on DNA barcoding took place on 5 December 2025 at the Headquarters of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, where it was attended by renowned Bulgarian scientists in the field, in addition to early-career researchers and PhD students representing different institutions.
The event saw a day-long series of lectures and a poster session, during which the participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of their colleagues in various fields of biology.
Amongst the topics were the development of the Bulgarian molecular laboratory in Antarctica; the study of the invertebrate fauna currently underrepresented in DNA reference libraries; the return of the beaver to Bulgaria; and research on phytopathogenic fungi on agricultural crops.
During the coffee breaks sponsored by the National Museum of Natural History, the delegates had the chance to network and exchange experience between institutions and fields of expertise.
Teodor Georgiev, CTO at Pensoft held a presentation about the 2.0 version of the ARPHA Writing Tool. In its greatly improved version, it will feature many new, refined and elaborated workflows that help and simplify data publishing, discoverability, reusability and overall FAIRness.
🗨️Imagine if ALL these links were provided as hyperlinks within a #scholarly publication!
The event was opened and closed by Prof. Dr. Lyubomir Penev, who was elected as the Chair of the Governing Board at the Bulgarian Barcode of Life last year. He is also the founder and CEO of Pensoft.
In his closing speech, Penev expressed his hopes for the development of BgBOL and confirmed the plans of the consortium to turn the symposium into an annual tradition. Congratulations were extended to BgBOL’s newest member: the Institute of Oceanology “Fridtjof Nansen” at BAS.
He also announced the launch of a new special collection in the Biodiversity Data Journal, which will welcome scientific papers related to the Bulgarian and Balkan biota and using DNA barcoding methods. The authors of the first five papers to be submitted and accepted at the collection will take advantage of free publication.
Finally, he thanked the hosts of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Headquarters: Stefania Kamenova and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Georgi Bonchev, who are also Vice-Chair and Chair of the Executive Board at BgBOL, respectively. A special thanks went also to Prof. Pavel Stoev, Director of the National Museum of Natural History.
One third of Vietnam’s 329 mammal species are threatened with extinction, according to a recent study published in our open-access journal Nature Conservation.
Conducted by German scientist Hanna Höffner of the University of Cologne and Cologne Zoo, alongside an international team, the research underscores Vietnam’s vital but fragile position as a biodiversity hub within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot.
The study reveals that 112 mammal species in Vietnam face extinction, despite most being found in at least one protected area. Some micro-endemic species, such as the Da Lat tube-nosed bat (Murina harpioloides), are particularly vulnerable as they are not present in any protected sites.
Murina harpioloides. Credit: Son Truong Nguyen.Hipposideros alongensis. Credit: Son Truong Nguyen.
Around 40% of the threatened species lack ex situ conservation (zoo conservation breeding) programs, which increases their risk of extinction. Iconic species like the saola (Pseudoryx vuquangensis), the silver-backed chevrotain (Tragulus versicolor), and the large-antlered muntjac (Muntiacus vuquangensis) are among the Critically Endangered taxa at risk.
The study advocates for the IUCN‘s “One Plan Approach” to species conservation, which calls for combining different expertise and integrated in situ and ex situ management strategies. Establishing assurance colonies in zoos and increasing connectivity between isolated protected areas are critical recommendations for safeguarding Vietnam’s unique mammal diversity.
A gaur (Bos gaurus) in Vietnam.
By building up ex situ populations for threatened taxa, zoos can help to literally “buy time” and act as modern arks that can contribute with later releases according to the IUCN’s “Reverse the Red” conservation campaign. Ex situ species holding data by Species360 are now also integrated in the IUCN Red List species’ chapters (a “One Plan” approach to species data).
Ex situ preservation of threatened Vietnamese mammals worldwide.
Vietnam is home to a rich array of mammals, including 36 endemic species and nine micro-endemic taxa. Its primate fauna is particularly noteworthy, with 28 species, the highest number in mainland Southeast Asia. This includes the endemic tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus) and Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri).
Northern Vietnam and the Annamite Mountain Range are biodiversity hotspots, hosting species such as the Critically Endangered Cao-vit gibbon (Nomascus nasutus), the southern white-cheeked gibbon (Nomascus siki) and the red-shanked douc (Pygathrix nemaeus).
A red-shanked douc (Pygathrix nemaeus).
The study calls for prioritising the “One Plan Approach” to conservation of highly threatened species, reassessing Data Deficient species, and enhancing habitat connectivity.
VIETNAMAZING logo.
The conservation campaign VIETNAMAZING by EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) currently highlights Vietnam’s biodiversity treasure and advocates for improved conservation of threatened mammal species.
Original study
Höffner H, Nguyen ST, Dang PH, Motokawa M, Oshida T, Rödder D, Nguyen TQ, Le MD, Bui HT, Ziegler T (2024) Conservation priorities for threatened mammals of Vietnam: Implementation of the IUCN´s One Plan Approach. Nature Conservation 56: 161-180. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.56.128129
A new-to-science carnation species from Hawaii is likely the first plant to be identified and collected using drone technology.
Check out the video below to see how it happened!
Video by Ben Nyberg.
Published in the open-access journal PhytoKeys, the discovery was facilitated by the National Tropical Botanical Garden‘s (NTBG) botanical drone program, which deploys unmanned aircraft to explore remote cliff environments.
Via drone photography, researchers spotted Schiedea waiahuluensis growing on steep, inaccessible cliffs in the Waiahulu region of the island of Kauai. To gather samples, they suspended ‘the Mamba’ – a remote plant collection device – from a drone and used it to grab, cut, and collect the plant for study.
Collecting arm hanging from drone. Photo by Ben Nyberg.
The new species belongs to a well-studied Hawaiian lineage in the carnation family. Its genus, Schiedea, consists of 36 species spread across the Hawaiian Islands, with 12 species found only on Kauai.
Schiedea waiahuluensis grows only on the dry cliffs of Waiahulu, with an estimated population of around 345 individuals, primarily growing on bare rock surfaces in small pockets of soil.
Flower of drone collected specimen. Photo by KR Wood.
Their fragile habitat is under threat from invasive plant species and feral goats, making conservation efforts crucial. Researchers are planning further studies to assess the full distribution and conservation needs of the species.
“S. waiahuluensis has a combination of traits that would have been very difficult to predict, and upended our notions about diversity in Schiedea, even after decades of research on this genus.”
Following more than 40 years of research on Schiedea on Kauai, this finding demonstrates the potential for future discoveries of native plants across the Hawaiian Islands through drone technology, and highlights the burgeoning role of drones in advancing conservation efforts and preventing plant extinctions.
Schiedea waiahuluensis habitat. A) Waiahulu branch of Waimea Canyon, drone photo. B) non-collected individual, drone photo. Photos by Ben Nyberg.
“The new development of the NTBG drone program provides a major new tool in biodiversity research that has allowed for better assessment of species distribution and status as shown by drone missions on the inaccessible cliffs of the major canyons on Kauai.
It has revealed populations of species presumed extinct such as the recent rediscovery of Hibiscadelphus woodii, a relative of Hibiscus, mapped populations of Schiedea waiahuluensis, and collected seeds via drone for establishment of a conservation collection of this species.”
While drone-technology innovators were not likely thinking about botany, Schiedea waiahuluensis serves as a reminder that science can benefit from technologic advancements from seemingly unrelated fields.
For another ‘miraculous’ discovery, read our blog on Amalophyllon miraculum, an incredible little plant from Ecuador!
Wagner WL, Weller SG, Sakai AK, Nyberg B, Wood KR (2024) Schiedea waiahuluensis (Caryophyllaceae), an enigmatic new species from Kaua’i, Hawaiian Islands and the first species discovered by a drone collection system. PhytoKeys 247: 111-121. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.247.130241
As a growing number of species face extinction, both researchers and the general public tend to focus on attractive, well-known and charismatic fauna and flora. But what about the species that have disappeared from scientific recognition altogether?
Research published in our open-access journal Nature Conservation sheds light on how historic taxonomic errors and misinterpretations have led to the disappearance of many species from science’s radar, highlighting the crucial role that taxonomy and natural history collections (NHCs) can play in rediscovering and conserving biodiversity.
Many species that were described long ago have been overlooked due to erroneous synonymisation, a process whereby one species is mistakenly classified under another’s name, generally because of the scarce number of specimens available. These species, the authors now refer to as ‘long-lost synonymised species,’ can fall out of awareness for decades, even centuries.
The 20th century saw a general trend of ‘lumping’ species together, reducing the number of recognised taxa, especially within well-known vertebrate groups. Taxonomic inertia – the persistence of outdated classifications – has caused many species to remain under-recognised, with their conservation statuses too often overlooked. This problem is described among better-known vertebrates, but is also likely present in some of the best studied invertebrates.
The importance of natural history collections
More than simply relics of the past, natural history collections provide a contemporary and essential resource for taxonomists working to untangle these historical errors. Museum specimens allow scientists to re-examine old classifications, using modern tools and methods to correct mistakes and uncover new taxa. Recent advances in ‘museomics’ – the study of genetic material from museum specimens – have opened new possibilities for species identification and conservation.
Leopardus geoffroyi. Credit: diegocarau via iNaturalist.
Such breakthroughs have led to the revalidation of the Neotropical genus Leopardus and the African wolf, Canis anthus, which had been synonymised for decades. Without natural history collections and the associated holotypes, the nomenclature of these species might have remained obscured, and their conservation needs unmet or delayed.
Natural History Collections and Museomics
Pensoft recently launched a new journal titled Natural History Collections and Museomics(NHCM).The publication comes at a pivotal moment in which taxonomists face the challenges of dwindling resources and fewer scientists entering the field. Through the publication of important open-access research, the journal aims to play a crucial role in bridging the gap between traditional taxonomy and modern conservation efforts.
Furthermore, by highlighting the essential role of taxonomy and natural history collections, NHCM will support the rediscovery of species long lost to science and help to conserve the world’s forgotten biodiversity. As the field of museomics grows, so too does the hope of rediscovering species that have been hidden in plain sight. The new journal already benefits from a competent and varied editorial board, including two of the authors of the Nature Conservation paper, Franco Andreone and Spartaco Gippoliti.
If the scientific community rally behind taxonomy and natural history collections, ensuring these vital tools are integrated into future biodiversity assessments, we can hope to preserve not just the species we know, but those we have forgotten.
Original source:
Gippoliti S, Farina S, Andreone F (2024) Lost species, neglected taxonomy, and the role of natural history collections and synonymization in the identification of the World’s forgotten biodiversity. Nature Conservation 56: 119-126. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.56.132036
Eight years since the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Mariana, Brazil, researchers have highlighted ongoing environmental and social devastation caused by the disaster.
A paper published in our open-access journal Nature Conservation underscores the persistent and growing impacts of the collapse, which ranks as one of the world’s most significant environmental tragedies.
Dead fish in Marliéria, Minas Gerais, Brazil, about 200 km downstream from the Fundão tailings dam. Photo credit: Elvira Nascimento.
Caused by the Samarco mining company, the 2015 collapse released approximately 50 million cubic meters of toxic mud, burying the village of Bento Rodrigues and severely contaminating over 600 kilometres of river channels and coastal habitats. More than 1 million people across 35 cities were affected, leading to 19 deaths, widespread health issues, and the displacement of hundreds of residents.
The village of Bento Rodrigues after the disaster. Photo credit: Rogério Alves/TV Senado.
According to researchers, the environmental damage has only intensified over the years. High levels of heavy metals continue to threaten human and wildlife health, with significant bioaccumulation observed in endangered species like the Franciscana dolphin. Additionally, the disaster caused the introduction of numerous invasive species, further destabilising the ecosystem.
The paper, led by Dr Cássio Cardoso Pereira and Fernando Goulart of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, criticises the slow and controversial response by the Renova Foundation, an entity created by the responsible companies to address the disaster’s aftermath. While some compensation and restoration efforts have been made, the researchers argue that these actions are insufficient and often inadequate.
A Brief History of: The Mariana Disaster by Plainly Difficult.
One of the most concerning findings, they say, is the ongoing risk posed by similar structures across Brazil, where hundreds of dams remain in poor condition. The study advocates for the replacement of these dangerous dams with safer alternatives like dry mining, which significantly reduces the risk of future collapses.
“Urgent, science-based public policies are needed that prioritise the restoration of the Rio Doce basin, in addition to comprehensive compensation for affected communities. To achieve this, we need collaborations involving local and government oversight and independent scientific expertise to prevent further ecological and human disasters.”
Read a guest blog post by Dr Cássio Cardoso Pereira exploring whether biodiversity loss is being overlooked because of climate change.
As the region continues to face the compounded effects of climate change, with increasing cyclones and heavy rains worsening the spread of pollutants, the paper reminds us that the legacy of the Fundão disaster is far from over.
Original source
Pereira CC, Fernandes S, Fernandes GW, Goulart FF (2024) Eight years after the Fundão tailings dam collapse: chaos on the muddy banks. Nature Conservation 56: 77-82. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.56.133441
A new species of tarantula spider, Aphonopelma jacobii, has been discovered from the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona. This small, black and grey tarantula species has fiery red hairs on its abdomen and can be found in the high-elevation habitats of the Chiricahua Mountains, where it survives through bitterly cold winters.
A male and a female Aphonopelma jacobii. Their small size can be seen when compared to the acorn cap, pine needles, and oak leaf. Photo by Brent E. Hendrixson
The discovery was rather unexpected. “We often hear about new species being discovered from remote corners of Earth, but it is remarkable that these spiders are found in our own backyard, albeit in somewhat difficult-to-access areas of our backyard,” said Dr. Chris Hamilton, assistant professor at the University of Idaho and co-lead author of a study in ZooKeys that reports on the spider. “With Earth in the midst of a human-mediated extinction crisis, it is astonishing how little we know about our planet’s biodiversity, even for conspicuous and charismatic groups such as tarantulas.”
A mature female Aphonopelma jacobii. Photo by Brent E. Hendrixson
The Chiricahuas, renowned for their exceptional biodiversity and high levels of endemism, compose part of the Madrean Archipelago (colloquially referred to as the Madrean Sky Islands), a complex of forested mountain ranges that span the cordilleran gap between the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains in the southwestern United States and the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico. These montane forest “islands”—separated from each other by low-elevation deserts and arid grasslands—have evolved in isolation, leading to the origin of numerous short-range endemic species, and resulting in a mosaic of biodiversity unlike that of any other region in the United States.
A mature male Aphonpelma jacobii. Photo by Brent E. Hendrixson
The forests where these tarantulas live are threatened by several factors, perhaps most notably from climate change. Recent studies in the sky island region suggest that these forests will be “pushed off” the mountains over the next several decades as temperatures and precipitation continue to increase and decrease, respectively. Organisms adapted to these cooler and more humid mountain tops—such as these spiders—will likely become extinct as suitable habitat disappears.
Dr. Brent Hendrixson, professor at Millsaps College and co-lead author of the study adds, “These fragile habitats are also threatened by increased exurban development in the San Simon Valley and Portal areas, destructive recreational activities, and wildfires. In addition, there is some concern that these tarantulas will be exploited for the exotic pet trade due to their rarity, striking coloration, and docile disposition. We must consider the impact that unethical collectors might have on these spiders when determining the threats to this species and the implications for its conservation.”
A photograph of Aphonopelma jacobii‘s habitat high up in the Chiricahua Mountains. Photo by Michael A. Jacobi
Aphonopelma jacobii is named after Michael A. Jacobi, who helped find several of the first specimens which led to the description of this new species.
“This discovery represents the 30th species of tarantula documented from the United States. Aphonopelma is the most species diverse tarantula genus on the planet (at least for documented species). Our research adds to this number and continues to advance our understanding of the true species diversity in this incredibly interesting and important biodiversity hotspot,”Dr. Hamilton says in conclusion.
Research article:
Hamilton CA, Hendrixson BE, Silvestre Bringas K (2024) Discovery of a new tarantula species from the Madrean Sky Islands and the first documented instance of syntopy between two montane endemics (Araneae, Theraphosidae, Aphonopelma): a case of prior mistaken identity. ZooKeys 1210: 61-98.https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1210.125318
South Africa’s lion farming industry is rife with cruelty and is fuelling the illegal international trade of big cat bones, according to a new research paper published in the scientific journal Nature Conservation.
The study by World Animal Protection is based on direct interviews with whistleblowing workers at two closed-access lion facilities in South Africa’s North West Province.
According to the report, legal activities such as commercial captive lion breeding and canned hunting – the hunting of captive-bred wild animals in small, fenced enclosures with no chance of escape – are being used to mask involvement in the illegal international trade of lion and tiger bones.
Lions at a commercial breeding facility in South Africa (not from the study).
Several animal welfare violations were also reported, including malnutrition, lack of clean water, filthy enclosures and animals being deliberately starved throughout the low-hunting season.
Illegal hunting practices abound, including animals being drugged and hunted within an hour of release in enclosures that violate legal minimum size requirements.
Finally, the whistleblowers reported hazardous conditions for workers at the facilities, and suggested there may be shifts towards commercial exploitation of other felid species like tigers which could be used as substitutes in the bone trade.
It is estimated that between 8,000-12,000 lions and other big cats, including tigers, are bred and kept in captivity in more than 350 facilities across the country. To evade detection during professional inspections, farm owners use various strategies, such as security cameras, patrols, and messaging apps.
“Our study highlights the troubling reality of South Africa’s captive lion industry. Legal activities are being exploited to facilitate illegal trade, and this is compounded by serious animal welfare violations and unsafe conditions for workers. Urgent action is needed to protect lions and people.”
Lead researcher Dr Angie Elwin, Research Manager at World Animal Protection.
Although the commercial captive breeding and canned hunting of lions remains legal, though poorly regulated in South Africa, the export of lion skeletons – including claws and teeth – was declared unconstitutional by the South African High Court in 2019.
In 2021, the South African Government announced its intention to immediately halt the “domestication and exploitation of lions, and to ultimately close all captive lion facilities in South Africa”.
However, a lack of enforcement of regulations and clarity on the future of the industry, has left a legal grey area, enabling some farms to operate what on the surface appear to be legitimate captive breeding and ‘canned’ trophy hunting businesses – but which in reality supply the illegal international big cat bone trade facilitated by organised crime gangs.
In light of these revelations, the study calls for the South African Government to implement a comprehensive and well-managed plan to transition away from current practices in the captive lion industry. Key recommendations include:
Full Audit of the Industry: To ensure all commercial captive lion farms are officially registered and compliant with regulations until the industry is phased out.
Breeding Moratorium: Establishment of an immediate moratorium on breeding to prevent further growth of the commercial captive lion population.
Prevention of Bone Stockpiling: Development and enforcement of plans to prevent the accumulation of lion bones, which risks fuelling the illegal international lion bone trade.
Phase out Plan: Enactment of a time-bound strategic plan to phase out the captive lion farming industry, ensuring ethical treatment of animals and safety for workers.
“The South African Government must take immediate action to fulfil its public pledge to end the controversial captive lion industry. Without a comprehensive time-bound plan and stringent enforcement, this commercial industry will continue to pose significant legal, animal cruelty, and conservation concerns.”
Senior researcher Dr Neil D’Cruze, Head of Wildlife Research at World Animal Protection.
This study serves as a crucial call to action for both the South African Government and the international community to address and resolve the complex issues surrounding the captive lion industry.
The publication comes at a time when South African NGO Blood Lions encourages the public to raise their voice by sharing the 2024 World Lion Day “You’re killing them softly” campaign message, aimed at informing tourists and visitors to lion farms about the hidden suffering and cruelty involved, and to sign this petition urging the South African government among others to extend the ban on captive lion breeding and trading to other predators.
Original source:
Elwin A, Asfaw E, D’Cruze N (2024) Under the lion’s paw: lion farming in South Africa and the illegal international bone trade. Nature Conservation 56: 1–17. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.56.124555
Guest post by Monika Lipińska, academic editor and contributing author of Biodiversity Research in Central America.
Central America, a region brimming with ecological richness and diversity, presents a unique and complex tapestry of life. From its dense tropical forests and majestic mountain ranges to its vibrant coastal ecosystems and intricate freshwater networks, Central America is a biological treasure trove. The region’s varied habitats support an incredible array of species, many of which are endemic and face critical conservation challenges.
Biodiversity Research in Central America is a special issue in the open-access journal Neotropical Biology and Conservation, consisting of articles that highlight the breadth and depth of contemporary research across this biodiverse region. Each article sheds light on different aspects of the flora and fauna, offering insights into the ecology, behavior, and conservation of various species and ecosystems. The research presented here not only enhances our understanding of Central America’s natural wealth but also underscores the urgent need for effective conservation strategies to preserve it.
The articles
Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) Breeding Effort and Productivity for Seasonal Tropical Forests on the Central Mexican Pacific
The opening article examines the reproductive ecology of ocelots in a specific tropical forest, providing valuable data on their breeding success and the environmental factors that influence it.
New Records of Neogale frenata and Potos flavus from Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, Mexico
New occurrences of these elusive species are documented, expanding our knowledge of their distribution and highlighting the importance of ongoing field surveys.
New Records of Two Marsupials (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) and Conservation Notes from Southern Mexico
Researchers present new findings on marsupial species, offering critical insights into their habitats and the conservation challenges they face in this region.
The Amphibians and Reptiles of Cusuco National Park: Updates from a Long-Term Conservation Programme
Years-long conservation efforts in Cusuco National Park, Northwest Honduras, are detailed in this article, showcasing the dynamic changes and conservation successes in this biodiverse area.
Trophic Ecology and Trophic Niche Overlap of Two Sympatric Species of Rhamdia (Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) from Northeast Oaxaca, Mexico
Exploring the dietary habits and ecological relationships between these catfish species, this article contributes to our understanding of aquatic ecosystems.
Ants in the Clouds: A Preliminary Checklist of the Ant (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) Fauna of a Honduran Cloud Forest Ecosystem, Featuring a Key to Country Genera
In this article, the diverse ant fauna of a cloud forest is cataloged, providing a foundation for future ecological and taxonomic studies.
Pollination of Guatemalan Orchids – State of Knowledge
A review of current understanding and gaps in the study of orchid pollination, emphasizing the intricate relationships between plants and their pollinators.
Dispersal Capacity as Assessed by Distance-Decay Relationships is Lower for Aquatic Shredder Insects than Aquatic Non-Shredder Insects in a Neotropical River Network
The dispersal abilities of aquatic insects are compared in this paper, highlighting the factors influencing their distribution patterns.
Finally, this paper reviews the current knowledge of these important but often overlooked organisms, emphasizing their ecological significance and the need for further research.
Together, these articles represent a significant contribution to the field of biodiversity research in Central America. They underscore the importance of continued scientific exploration and conservation efforts to protect the rich natural heritage of this remarkable region. We hope that this special issue will inspire further research and action to preserve Central America’s biodiversity for future generations.
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