Introducing Haploniscus hades, isopod of the underworld.
The deep sea is the largest yet least explored biome in the world, with estimates suggesting that up to 91% of marine species are yet to be discovered.
Indeed, when it comes to finding new species in the deep sea, things are more than a little tricky. Besides the obvious difficulties associated with scouring such vast, inaccessible depths, researchers also face the obstacle of so-called ‘cryptic’ species: groups of closely related taxa that are almost impossible to tell apart from looks alone.
The recently discovered Haploniscusbelyaevi isopod species complex is one such group, collected from the the abysso-hadal Kuril-Kamchatka Trench (KKT) region in the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
Distribution of haploniscid species of the belyaevi-complex in the greater Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and Sea of Okhotsk area of the Northwest Pacific. Stars indicate each species type locality.
Isopods collected from the region were initially believed to represent a single species, but are now known to represent at least six distinct species, five of which are new to science. Published in the journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, a new study combines classical morphology with DNA barcoding, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and the first-ever genomic sequencing of Haploniscidae isopods to distinguish these cryptic species.
In the research paper, lead author Dr Henry Knauber and his colleagues from the Senckenberg Research Institute and Goethe University Frankfurt provide detailed descriptions of each species and reveal the names of the new species, inspired by Greek mythology.
Meet the new isopods
Left to right: H.hades, H.belyaevi, and H.erebus.
Haploniscus hades
Who else could rule the hadal zone but Hades himself? This isopod’s pleotelson (tail segment) hides its uropods (tail appendages), which, to the endlessly creative research team, evoked the cap of invisibility used by Hades.
Haploniscus apaticus
Named after Apate, the goddess of deceit, this ‘deceptive’ isopod hides in plain sight thanks to its unassuming looks, which kept it hidden amongst its sibling species until recently.
Haploniscus erebus
Bearing the name of Erebus, the primordial god of darkness, this species lurks in the shadowy depths.
Haploniscus kerberos
Named after Kerberos (Cerberus), the multi-headed guardian of the underworld’s gates, this species is currently only known from the abyssal plains, watching over the borderlands between deep and deeper.
Haploniscus nyx
Nyx, the goddess of night, lends her name to this elusive species.
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The isopod specimens were collected during deep-sea research expeditions between 2012 and 2016, covering depths of up to 8,000 meters.
While the names of these species represent little more than creative fun, the study’s findings help illuminate evolutionary processes across natural barriers such as the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench and underscore the potential for new discoveries in Earth’s least explored environments.
Who knows, perhaps Haploniscus hades has two brothers, H. zeus and H. Poseidon, hiding above, still waiting to be found.
Original source
Knauber H, Schell T, Brandt A, Riehl T (2025) Across trench and ridge: description of five new species of the Haploniscus belyaevi Birstein, 1963 species complex (Isopoda, Haploniscidae) from the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench region. Zoosystematics and Evolution 101(2): 813-853. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.137663
Cover image credit: Isopods: Knauber et al.; Illustration: macrovector/Freepik.
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China’s Guizhou Province has long been known for its remarkable biodiversity, but a recent study in Zoosystematics and Evolutionhas shed light on some of its creepier, lesser-known inhabitants: pirate spiders.
What is a pirate spider?
The name ‘pirate spiders’ refers to species belonging to the family Mimetidae. Also known (misleadingly) as cannibal spiders, they earned their name because of their araneophagic (spider-eating) nature.
Araneophagic behaviours.
Araneophagic behaviours.
Araneophagic behaviours.
These eight-legged predators don’t spin webs to catch prey; instead, they infiltrate the webs of other spiders and mimic the vibrations of prey or potential mates, then ambush the unsuspecting hosts when they come to investigate.
A recent research paper by Zhang et al. offers the most comprehensive survey to date of the pirate spider genus Mimetus in Central Guizhou, including two new species, bringing the provincial total to eight and giving Guizhou the highest Mimetus diversity in China.
Mimetussinicus.
China’s new species
Mimetus guiyang
Mimetusguiyang.
Discovered in Guiyang City, this species is known only from females collected via pitfall traps. Its most distinctive feature is the presence of large bubble-shaped ossified hair bases on the abdomen, a rarity among known Mimetus species. Its genital morphology and body patterns make it easily distinguishable from close relatives.
Mimetus lanmeiae
Mimetuslanmeiae.
Also found in Guiyang, this species was observed perched on a spider web, likely in the act of mimicry. Its unique palpal structures and small body size (~2.14 mm) distinguish it from other known Mimetus species. The name of the species honours the mother of the specimen collector. Hopefully this was meant as a compliment.
Other findings
New records: The researchers recorded two previously known species (M. caudatus and M. sinicus) for the first time in Guizhou, expanding their known range.
Rediscovery and redescription:M. caudatus, previously known only from male specimens, now has its female described in detail.
Molecular insights: DNA barcoding (COI gene sequencing) was used to support species identification and match males and females – a critical step for accurate taxonomy, especially given the subtle differences between males and females in Mimetus.
Original source
Zhang J, Zhang H, Liu J, Yu H, Xu X (2025) A survey of mimetid spiders (Araneae, Mimetidae) from Central Guizhou Province, China. Zoosystematics and Evolution 101(2): 711-734. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.146895
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Over forty years ago, Menno Schilthuizen, while still a high school student, conducted a study on carrion beetles at the Lichtenbeek estate near Arnhem. Using small traps baited with meat and other attractants, he recorded over a thousand beetles in the spring of 1982, meticulously documenting the species and their numbers.
Field notes from 1982.
Four decades on, Schilthuizen (now a professor of evolution and biodiversity at Leiden University) and his team collaborated with high school students from the Thomas a Kempis College in Arnhem to replicate the study with precision: at the same location, using the same methods, on the same dates. The goal was to examine how the carrion beetle population has changed over the years. Their findings have been published in the Biodiversity Data Journal; the article can be viewed online here.
Fieldwork.
Key findings: shifts in biodiversity
The high school students analysed the beetles that they collected. Their research revealed that some carrion beetle species have disappeared, while other, new species have appeared. However, the overall number of species and population densities have remained largely the same.
Sorting and mounting specimens.
One striking discovery was that common species have become even more abundant, while rare species have become even rarer. This widening gap in species commonness suggests a decline in biodiversity, which could signal the potential local extinction of the rarer species.
A citizen science initiative
The research was initiated by the Taxon Foundation, a nonprofit set up and headed by Schilthuizen, in collaboration with biology teacher Leonie Wezendonk of the Thomas a Kempis College. Taxon foundation specializes in biodiversity research conducted by school children, local residents, and other community scientists. The project was made possible through funding from the Netherlands Cultuurfonds and the Suzanne Hovinga Foundation.
Research article:
Schilthuizen M, van der Sterren T, Kersten I, Groenhof M, van der Meulen H, Wezendonk L (2025) Resampling a carrion beetle fauna after 40 years (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Silphinae, and Leiodidae, Cholevinae). Biodiversity Data Journal 13: e151206. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.13.e151206
A team from the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) has discovered groundbreaking ways for rapidly digitizing collection data. Data of insect specimen labels can now be easily read with just a smartphone – and all wirelessly and using only free, already available apps!
Screenshots from a mobile phone showing the steps of scanning of real-time data collection, and examples of labels: A step 1: marking of the text to be captured via touch screen of the mobile phone (example – printed labels scanned on pin) B step 2: select from menu bar (at the right side under three dots) “Copy to computer” (example – printed labels scanned separately). C Capture of multidirectional printed labels scanned separately from the specimen in “Google Lens” D Capture of multiple distorted, printed labels scanned on the pinned specimen in “Google Lens” E Initial capture of a printed label scanned separately from the specimen in “Google Keep” F Extracted data resulting from E.
Why is this important?
Around 1.1 billion objects in the largest natural history museums worldwide remain undigitized and manual extraction of specimen label information for taxonomic revisions, another source for biodiversity data mobilization, is very time consuming. By digitizing these data, we can preserve valuable knowledge about our biodiversity, especially in times of climate change and human biodiversity crisis when many species are going extinct before they are even discovered.
This innovation will accelerate and advance global research and the preservation of our biological knowledge. And the best part? It’s not expensive and accessible to everyone – from professionals to amateur scientists!
Research article:
Ahrens D, Haas A, Pacheco TL, Grobe P (2025) Extracting specimen label data rapidly with a smartphone—a great help for simple digitization in taxonomy and collection management. ZooKeys 1233: 15-30. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1233.140726
“We have not only revived Francis Walker’s species Topiris candidella, from 1863, but also expanded our understanding of an entire group of small white moths.”
A moth neglected by experts for a century is found to have been collected by Alfred Russel Wallace 169 years ago
Cutting-edge techniques allowed scientists to show the moth as belonging to a genus comprising 14 species, 11 of which are new to science
One of the new species has been named after Greta Thunberg
Alfred Russel Wallace
Scientists at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London, have discovered that a long-overlooked moth specimen in the Museum’s collection was in fact collected by explorer and naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, in 1855. This was at the same time as he was formulating his own revolutionary ideas on the origins of species which he would go on to share with Charles Darwin.
The small white moth, Topiris candidella, was described in 1863 by Francis Walker but was dismissed in 1927 by leading entomologist Edward Meyrick as “better neglected” having suffered substantial damage due to historic storing practices. The moth has remained overlooked for nearly a century, until now.
Using a cutting-edge DNA sequencing method, NHM scientists extracted genetic material from a single fragment of one of the specimen’s remaining legs and connected it to a group of moths found throughout South East Asia.
The scientists were able to prove that rather than being a single neglected species, Topiris is in fact a genus of 14 species, including 11 species which are new to science and described today in the paper published in ZooKeys.
One of these species is named Topiris thunbergella, in honour of Greta Thunberg and her work in raising awareness of the environmental pressures on the native forests of South East Asia.
A new to science species of land snail was discovered by a group of citizen scientists working together with scientists…
Dr David Lees, Senior Curator for Microlepidoptera at the Natural History Museum, adds, “This discovery highlights the incredible potential of modern DNA analysis to reveal the evolutionary history of species, even from fragmented and long-forgotten specimens.
“By applying this innovative sequencing technique, we have not only revived Francis Walker’s species Topiris candidella, from 1863, but also expanded our understanding of an entire group of small white moths.”
During their research, David and fellow moth expert, Mark Sterling, found that a hidden label under the pin of the broken moth bore the handwritten letters “SAR”, a clue that this moth had been collected by Alfred Russel Wallace as part of over a thousand moths he collected at Rajah Brooke’s Forest retreat.
Topiris albidella
Paralecta rosiflora
Topiris thunbergella
Topiris salva
This was in December 1855, just months before he published his ‘Sarawak Law’ paper, which eventually led to a joint reading (at Darwin’s request) of their theories of evolution through natural selection.
Beyond the scientific breakthrough, the study has wider conservation implications. Of the 24 species reviewed in their paper, only three have been recorded since 2000, highlighting the urgent need for biodiversity monitoring in this region.
Mark Sterling added, “The 80 million specimens currently held in the Natural History Museum’s collections continue to be a critical resource for understanding biodiversity and assessing the effects of environmental change.”
Research article:
Sterling MJ, Price BW, Lees DC (2025) A revision of the hitherto neglected genus Topiris Walker, 1863 (Lepidoptera, Xyloryctidae) with taxonomic notes on the genus Athrypsiastis Meyrick, 1910. ZooKeys 1229: 297-368. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1229.119155
This press release was originally published by the National History Museum, London. It is republished here with permission.
When Rebecca Tarvin was a graduate student studying toxins in the skins of poisonous frogs, she and her colleague Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar collected a frog in Colombia that they suspected was a new species. It differed in coloration from a similar Colombian frog in the genus Epipedobates and had a different mating call.
Rebecca Tarvin and Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar attempt to catch a frog. Photo credit: Juan Camilo Ríos Orjuela
In 2022, eight years later and a newly appointed assistant professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, Tarvin met up with Colombian biologists to collect more of these frogs and confirm a new species. Such “holotype specimens” are necessary to document a new species for posterity. Collecting specimens and identifying new species also helps scientists track the impact of environmental changes and understand the evolutionary origin of traits such as skin toxins, which may one day have medical uses.
Some of the specimens including the holotype (bottom left) prepared for the Museo de Historia Natural C. J. Marinkelle at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and UC Berkeley’s Museum of Verterbrate Zoology. Photo credit: Rebecca D. Tarvin, UC Berkeley
Collecting the frogs was easy; they seem to thrive along roadsides and in semiurban areas. But what to name the species? A Colombian colleague played for the team a tape of local marimba-based music called bambuco, and one style, called bambuco viejo, or currulao, stood out. The name Epipedobates currulao seemed appropriate, and with this month’s publication of a paper describing the new species in the journal ZooKeys, it’s now official.
Epipedobates currulao. Photo credit: Juan Camilo Ríos Orjuela
“We ended up going with currulao because we liked how it brought in the human perspective,” Tarvin said. “The frog is part of the sound landscape; when they call, it’s part of the background noise in the region. Similarly, currulao is more than just a genre of music. It’s also the cultural practices around the music, the gathering, dancing and the relationship-forming aspects of the experience.”
A performance by Cantadoras del Pacifico at the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Currulao, which combines marimbas and drums, is popular in black communities along Colombia’s Pacific coast.
Tarvin is still investigating the toxins produced by frogs in the genus Epipedobates, which is small, containing about eight species, but is the most recently evolved group of poisonous frogs in South America. By comparing the genetics of these frogs with other poison frog groups, she hopes to understand how their chemical defense technique evolved. Most poisonous animals are brightly colored to advertise their unpalatability, such as the Monarch butterfly’s bright orange color and the gaudy orange, black and blue of poison dart frogs. But Epipedobates frogs are more subtly colored, if not downright drab. Perhaps, she said, bright coloration evolves after the frogs develop their toxic defenses.
An adult individual of Epipedobates currulao in Vadrilleros, Valle de Cauca, Colombia. Photo credit: Mileidy Betancourth-Cundar
Epipedobates acquired its chemical defenses more recently than any other group in the poison frog family and shows the largest range in color and defense, Tavin said, but they’re also interesting because of how they acquire their toxicity.
“What’s unique about poison frogs, specifically, is that they sequester toxins from their food, so it’s an entirely different kind of defense that requires an entirely different physiology, compared to venom-producing animals, like snakes and bees,” she said. “Poison frogs eat arthropods that have small amounts of chemicals that can be either toxic or distasteful. And then they accumulate those to levels that become relevant for their own predators.”
Tarvin offers one piece of advice: Because they’re covered in poisons, don’t lick your fingers after picking one up.
Research article:
Betancourth-Cundar M, Ríos-Orjuela JC, Crawford AJ, Cannatella DC, Tarvin RD (2025) Honoring the Afro-Colombian musical culture with the naming of Epipedobates currulao sp. nov. (Anura, Dendrobatidae), a frog from the Pacific rainforests. ZooKeys 1226: 139-170. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1226.123803
This story was originally published by UC Berkeley. It is republished here with permission.
Picture in your mind the discovery of a new species.
What do you see? Researchers cutting through dense, untouched rainforests? Perhaps a submarine plunging into a deep-sea trench, illuminating a new world?
Well, it’s not always quite so dramatic. In fact, researchers in China discovered Branchiostegus sanae when they were scrolling through online seafood markets and noticed some deepwater tilefish with unique cheek patterns.
Branchiostegus sanae. Credit: Huang et al.
These red-and-white facial markings reminded the research team of the Studio Ghibli character San from Princess Mononoke, whom they chose to honour in their naming of the species.
Published in the open-access journal ZooKeys, Branchiostegus sanae is a deepwater tilefish belonging to the family Branchiostegidae. Researchers confirmed its new-species status using genetic analysis, and chose “sanae” as the specific epithet (that’s the part that differentiates species within a genus), in a nod to Hayao Miyazaki’s animated creation.
Branchiostegus sanae at a seafood market. Credit: Jiangyuan Chen.
“Finding a new species in this group is a rare and fortunate event, especially one as distinctive as Branchiostegus sanae.
“In Princess Mononoke, San is a young woman raised by wolves after being abandoned by her human parents. She sees herself as a part of the forest and fights to protect it. The film delves into the complex relationship between humans and nature, promoting a message of harmonious coexistence between the two: something we hope to echo through this naming.”
Lead author, Haochen Huang.
The Chinese fishermen who sell the new-to-science species call it the“鬼马头鱼” (ghost horsehead fish), and this also contributed to the species name because, fittingly, “Mononoke” (もののけ) refers to supernatural spirits in Japanese folklore.
As their name suggests, deepwater tilefish are found at great depths, with some species found 600 m below the surface. They are important food fish, commonly found in seafood markets in East and Southeast Asia.
Branchiostegus sanae is far from the only new species discovered at a seafood market. Indeed, a new giant isopod was recently dicovered in the same way – and also recieved a pop-culture inspired name. Check it out below!
So far only 31 species are described in the family Branchiostegidae, and 19 species in the genus Branchiostegus. From 1990 to 2024, only three new species of Branchiostegus have been described.
Other species of the genus Branchiostegus found in Chinese waters. Credit: Huang et al.
The study, led by researchers from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science, Zhejiang University and Ocean University of China, involved a combination of morphological analysis and genetic sequencing. Specimens were deposited in prestigious marine biological collections in China to facilitate future research.
Original study
Huang H, Chen J, Ke Z, Zhang C (2025) Branchiostegus sanae, a new species of deepwater tilefish (Eupercaria, Branchiostegidae) from the South China Sea. ZooKeys 1227: 129–142. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1227.130512
Happy Lunar New Year! For more than a billion people worldwide, today is a day of gifts, dancing, celebration and – of course – plenty of delicious food.
Coinciding with the first new moon of the lunar calendar, the 29th of January marks the beginning of a vibrant 15-day festival, which includes 7 days of holiday in China.
As 2025 is the Year of the Snake, we have gathered some of favourite studies celebrating the the scaly world of serpents to celebrate the occasion!
The tug-of-war coral snakes
A different kind of food fight.
A study published in Herpetozoa includes incredible footage of two red-tailed coral snakes (Micrurus mipartitus) engaging in a tug-of-war over a caecilian, a legless amphibian.
Check out the video below.
Two Micrurusmipartitussnakes tugging prey in opposite directions. Credit: Henrik Bringsøe and Niels Poul Dreyer.
The event marked the first documented wild case of kleptoparasitism, or food theft, within the family Elapidae.
Rhynchocalamus hejazicus is a recently discovered and secretive snake species from the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia.
Upon the species’ discovery, researchers dubbed the stylish serpent “the missing piece of the puzzle” as it fills a large distribution gap for its genus.
Published in Zoosystematics and Evolution, the research also includes a completely black variation of of the species known as a ‘melanistic morphotype.’
An expedition into the jungles and cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador revealed five dazzling new species of eyelash vipers, previously misidentified as one species.
Published in Evolutionary Systematics, the study received global attention from publications such as National Geographic thanks to the taxonomic importance and visual appeal of the research.
Red-wine morph of the Central American Eyelash-Pitviper (Bothriechis nigroadspersus), photographed in the Caribbean Island Escudo de Veraguas, off the coast of Panamá.Credit:Alejandro Arteaga.
Two species of African shovel-snout snakes, Prosymna confusa and Prosymnalisima, were published as new species in ZooKeysback in 2022.
Endemic to Angola, the snakes have unique beak-like snouts that allow them to dig into sandy soils. They also have backward pointed lancet-shaped teeth that they use for cutting open lizard eggs.
Kalahari shovel-snout snake (Prosymna lisima) from southeastern Angola. Credit: Chad Keates.
As they spend the majority of their time underground, these species were not the easiest to study, but they are certainly a treat for the eyes when they surface their wedge-shaped heads!
The Pensoft journal collection contains innumerable snake studies, so we could go on forever sharing our favourites. Instead, we will wish you a happy and prosperous 2025 filled with plenty of safe snake encounters.
If you follow any of Pensoft’s social media accounts, you will know that we have been counting down our top 10 favourite species described as new-to-science in our journals this year.
The list is—of course—entirely arbitrary, but it is also a fun way to look back on a year in which several weird and wonderful animals, plants and fungi were discovered.
In this blog post, we will tell you more about each species, share some honourable mentions, and reveal our number 1 spot!
Honourable mentions
The league of legends crab
Gothus teemo and Teemo.
When it was time to name a tiny, ‘furry’ new species of gorilla crab from China, researchers drew unlikely inspiration from the video game League of Legends.
Gothus teemo was named after the character Teemo thanks to its distinctive appearance and has drawn a lot of attention from fans of the franchise.
The new species is thought to have resembled a modern sandtiger shark (pictured).
Calling anything on this list a ‘new species’ is not accurate—rather, they are just new to published science. Nothing exemplifies this more than Palaeohypotodus bizzocoi, a long-extinct shark species that lived 65 million years ago, shortly after the fall of the dinosaurs.
What makes this discovery remarkable is that it was partially accidental. Find out how a 100-year-old box of teeth in Alabama led to the discovery of this ancient shark below.
Sometimes, it is the way in which a new species is discovered that makes it so special.
Such is the case for Schiedea waiahuluensis, a carnation species from Hawaii that is likely the first plant to be identified and collected using drone technology. Learn all about it below!
With its all-black colouration, Tylototriton gaowangjienensis, a crocodile newt from China, has drawn comparisons to Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon.
However, this alluring amphibian hides flashes of orange beneath its tail and toes! Find more pictures and information below.
Besides its adorable appearance, Hoplitis onosmaevae is remarkable due to its distribution. It is currently only known from a small region of the French Alps, and areas >2,000 km away in the mountains of Turkey and Iraq.
Another interesting aspect of Hoplitis onosmaevae is its specialised ecological niche: it is thought to only collect pollen from Onosma species. This narrow ecological niche makes it vulnerable to factors like climate change and changes in agricultural practices.
John L. Clark with Amalophyllon miraculum. Credit @phinaea on Instagram.
The discovery of Amalophyllon miraculum—in an area assumed to be a barren agricultural landscape of plant extinctions—represents an inspiration for biodiversity conservation. This “miracle” plant, as its name suggests, was found surviving in one of the small, isolated forest fragments that remain in the Centinela region of western Ecuador.
This spiky amphibian was discovered on Cerro Candelaria, a mountain in the Tungurahua province. The discovery of this new species in the upper Rio Pastaza watershed suggests this area might be a centre of rapid evolution for these fascinating frogs.
Entomologists and citizen scientists teamed up to discover this new species of flea beetle in the lush rainforests of Borneo. The discovery was made during a Taxon Expeditions trip, where non-scientist people got the chance to work alongside scientists to identify and describe new species.
What makes this discovery particularly exciting is the beetle’s size—it’s actually one of the largest among its relatives! Flea beetles that live in the leaf litter of tropical forests are typically much smaller, and as a result, we know very little about their ecology and diversity.
Discovered in the Red Sea, the ‘grumpy dwarf goby’ (Sueviota aethon) was published as a new species in ZooKeys. You can probably guess how it earned its name! This tiny fish, measuring less than 2 centimetres long, sports a permanent frown thanks to its large canines and fierce expression. Despite its small size, the grumpy dwarfgoby is thought to be a fearsome predator in its coral reef habitat.
Thismia malayanais a mycoheterotrophic plant, meaning it doesn’t photosynthesise. Instead, it acts as a parasite, stealing carbon resources from the fungi on its roots!
By stealing nutrients from fungi, it can thrive in the low-light conditions of dense forest understories where its highly specialised flowers are pollinated by fungus gnats and other small insects.
While the Tiputini velvet worm—Oroperipatus tiputini—may look friendly, it is an accomplished hunter that shoots a sticky substance from a pair of glands to trap its prey. This “living fossil” is a rare and unique invertebrate that evolved over 500 million years ago. The new species was discovered in the Ecuadorian Amazon at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station, which is part of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve.
They say that life imitates art, and this new gecko species proves that to be true! Researchers in India have discovered a gecko with such a unique and beautiful colouration that they named it after painter Vincent van Gogh. The “Starry Night” gecko, or Cnemaspis vangoghi, was discovered in the Southern Western Ghats and stands out due to the male’s yellow head and forebody with light blue spots on the back, a striking combination reminiscent of the famous painting.
Volunteers and members of the “Collections Club” of the Field Museum provide a blueprint for how community scientists can help researchers around the world.
Matt von Konrat teaching student volunteers how to digitize museum specimens. Photo by Michelle Kuo (c).
There are over three billion specimens and cultural objects housed in natural history collections around the world—things like fossils, dried plants, and pinned insects. Close to forty million of them are at the Field Museum in Chicago, mostly behind the scenes in a vast library documenting life on Earth.
These collections are used by scientists at the museum and around the world to explore what lived where and when and how living things have changed over time.
However, much of the information about these collections is hard to access, because there are no digital records of it.
Specimens from the “behind-the-scenes collections“ at the Field Museum. Photo by John Weinstein.
Community scientists volunteering at the Field Museum who have formed a Collections Club are helping to solve this problem.
So far, they’ve digitized more than a quarter-million collections items and records.
The Field Museum recently published a scientific paper in the journal NaturalHistory Collections and Museumomics about the work of these community scientists as a record of what they’ve accomplished and as a blueprint for other natural history collections to work with volunteers in their communities.
By the way, the Field Museum prefers to use the term “community scientists” rather than the synonymous “citizen scientists”, in order to emphasize that the work is a community effort. They also wish to be inclusive of all volunteers regardless of their citizenship status. Several community scientists are in fact listed as co-authors of the new.
“What’s remarkable is how the enthusiasm has sustained and grown,” says Matt von Konrat, Head of Botanical Collections at the Field Museum and the lead author of the paper.
“Our surveys show that participants are increasingly motivated by altruistic reasons—they want to contribute to science and support the museum’s mission.
The fact that many of our volunteers are now co-authors on this scientific paper shows how far we’ve come in breaking down traditional barriers between professional scientists and community researchers.”
Since 2015, over 3,800 volunteers have contributed more than 13,500 hours helping to digitize, catalog, and preserve specimens—equivalent to nearly eight years of full-time work. Their efforts have processed over 300,000 scientific specimens, records and objects, making valuable data accessible to researchers worldwide.
“At its core, the Field Museum strives to connect people to the natural world and the human story. The Collections Club reflects this mission by transforming over 300,000 specimens into a digital and physical legacy, providing scientists across the globe with the data they need to understand and protect our biodiversity,”
says von Konrat.
The program’s success has been driven by both in-person and virtual engagement opportunities, particularly through initiatives like WeDigBio (Worldwide Engagement for Digitizing Biocollections) and the Field Museum’s Collections Club. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program successfully pivoted to virtual participation, maintaining strong community connections when they were needed most.
Community scientists at the Field Museum’s 2019 WeDigBio event curating lichen specimens – a critical process unlocking scientific information from natural history collections. Photo by Robert Salm.
“There were so many dynamics working against us during COVID: sporadic closures and re-openings in Chicago of restaurants, parks, museums, and businesses. The ability for me to continue cataloging and repackaging specimens for the Field Museum was the only constant and sane reference for me; days of the week and working hours had no boundaries. I don’t think any other museum in Chicago had volunteers as dedicated as the Field Museum, and I was happy to be part of the experience.”
says Robert Salm, a volunteer in the Field Museum’s botanical collections.
A Mobile Museum display made by Field Museum Collections Club members Winne and Gwen Blake. Photo by Erryn Blake.
The impact extends beyond adults to inspire the next generation of scientists. In one touching example highlighted in the paper, two fifth-grade students were so inspired by their participation that they created their own “Mobile Museum” to share natural history with other young people. These young scientists are among the paper’s co-authors, demonstrating the program’s commitment to elevating youth voices in science.
According to the Blake family, whose children Winnie and Gwen created the Mobile Museum, “Collections Club makes science tangible, accessible, and real. It shows students that away from a conventional classroom setting, where science can feel like a chore, this program helps in contributing to a global community benefiting countless research efforts. The Mobile Museum was created as an extension of Collections Club to bring the passion for science to kids of all ages.”
Collections Club members Winne (blue shirt) and Gwen (pink shirt). Photo by Erryn Blake.
The Field Museum’s model demonstrates how institutions of any size can engage their communities in meaningful scientific work. The paper provides detailed recommendations and checklists for other organizations looking to develop similar programs.
“This success story wouldn’t have been possible without Chicago’s vibrant media landscape helping us reach new audiences,” said von Konrat.
“From local blogs to major television networks, each platform played a vital role in building this community of scientists.
We hope this model inspires other museums and research institutions to build similar programs.
Together, we are fostering a shared legacy that underscores the value of biodiversity and scientific heritage for future generations.”
The full research paper, published in the journal Natural History Collections and Museomics, provides a comprehensive overview of the program’s development and impact over nearly a decade of community engagement, while setting a new standard for inclusive scientific authorship.
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Research article:
von Konrat M, Rodriguez Y, Bailey C, Gwilliam III GF, Christian C, Aguero B, Ahn J, Albion Z, Allen JR, Bailey C, Blake E, Blake W, Blake G, Briscoe L, Budke JM, Campbell T, Chansler M, Clark D, Delapena R, Denslow M, Dodinval D, Dux E, Ellis S, Ellwood E, Enkhbayer M, Ens B, Evans NM, Fabian A, Ferguson A, Gaswick W, Golembiewski K, Grant S, Hancock L, Hansen K, Janney B, Jones J, Kachian Z, Kawasaki ML, Kellum K, Leek O, Lichamer A, Maier C, Mast A, Martinec JL, Mayer P, Mladek M, Nadhifah A, Neefus C, Nodulman M, Oliver M, Overberg K, Townsend Peterson A, Qazi-Lampert A, Rothfels C, Ryan ZA, Salm R, Schreiner D, Schreiner M, Tepe EJ, Turcatel M, Vega A, Wade H, Webbink K, Weinand D, Widhelm T, Zwingelberg M (2024) From spectators to stewards: Transforming public involvement in natural history collections. Natural History Collections and Museomics 1: 1-33. https://doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.1.138247
