It all began with an opening ceremony complete with live music and stunning visuals, which set the stage for five days of research exchange and collaboration.
Pensoft welcomed faces new and old at a decorated stand featuring numerous illustrated materials designed by scientific illustrator Denitsa Peneva. Manning the stand were Prof Dr Lyubomir Penev (MycoKeys Founding Editor & Pensoft Founder and CEO) and Slavena Peneva (Pensoft Head of Graphic Design).
MycoKeys materials esigned by Denitsa Peneva.Urmas Kõljalg and Lyubomir Penev.Lyubomir Penev, Dmitry Schigel and Slavena Peneva.
The booth hosted a special gathering for MycoKeys editors, including Editor-in-Chief Prof Dr Thorsten Lumbsch, who were shown a video looking back on the history of the journal. Many long-time collaborators of Pensoft, such as Prof Dr Urmas Kõljalg of Pluto F and Dr Dmitry Schigel of Pluto F, also dropped by to say hello.
📢Shoutout to everyone at @IMC12NL who visited our #IMC12 stand AND anyone who has submitted a manuscript to #MycoKeys, reviewed / edited; or simply remembers reading a good paper at our #journal!🍄
The congress provided the perfect opportunity to announce Pensoft’s new, exciting partnership with the International Mycological Association. This collaboration will see the IMAFungus journal move to the ARPHA platform, where it will benefit from cutting-edge publishing technology and workflows.
🔥LIVE from @IMC12NL: one of our most prolific editors & authors: Henrik R. Nilsson, @goteborgsuni with a talk on 'dark' #fungi and the proposal to name #fungi from #DNA#sequences as types.
The next International Mycology Congress will be held in Incheon, South Korea, in 2027. IMC13 already has an active website and the Pensoft team look forward to another exciting installment!
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
Accelerating global change continues to threaten Earth’s vast biodiversity, including in the oceans, which remain largely unexplored. To date, only a small fraction of an estimated two million total living marine species have been named and described. A major challenge is the time it takes to scientifically describe and publish a new species, which is a crucial step in studying and protecting these species. The current scientific and publishing landscape often results in decade-long delays (20-40 years) from the discovery of a new species to its official description. As an alternative to this, the Ocean Species Discoveries initiative was launched, offering a new platform for rapid but thorough taxonomic description of marine invertebrate species.
One of the newly described species, Lepechinella naces.
The project coordinated 25 different researchers and produced data on thirteen marine invertebrate taxa, including one new genus, eleven new species, and one redescription and reinstatement. The species, which originate from all over the globe and at depths from 5.2 to 7081 meters, are brought together in an open-access publication in the Biodiversity Data Journal.
Only by leveraging the collective strengths of global progress, expertise, and technological advancements, will we be able to describe the estimated 1.8 million unknown species living in our oceans.
Prof. Dr. Julia Sigwart
This is the first of a series of publications related to SOSA’s initiative, in collaboration with Biodiversity Data Journal, presenting a revolutionary approach in new species descriptions, thanks to which the publication of new species takes years, sometimes even decades, less. The ARPHA publishing platform, which powers the Biodiversity Data Journal, further expedites species descriptions and their use in studies and conservation programs by employing a streamlined data publishing workflow. ARPHA automatically exports all species data, complete with images and descriptions, to GBIF—the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and the Biodiversity Literature Repository at Zenodo, from where other researchers can easily find and use them.
One of the new OSD species – a hydrothermal vent limpet, Lepetodrilus marianae. Photo credit: Chong Chen, Hiromi Kayama Watanabe, and Miwako Tsuda
One of the new species described in the Ocean Species Discoveries is Cunicolomaera grata, a curious amphipod whose burrows along the seafloor perplexed scientists. Another is a wrinkly-shelled limpet called Lepetodrilus marianae that lives on hydrothermal vents, underwater volcanoes in the deep-sea where temperatures can reach 400 degrees C. Normally, the descriptions for these two very different species wouldn’t be in the same publication, but this new publication format allows for species descriptions from different marine invertebrate taxa to be published together in one ‘mega-publication,’ offering a huge incentive for researchers to make their discoveries public.
One of the new OSD species – a hole-making amphipod, Cunicolomaera grata. Photo credit: Anne Helene S. Tandberg and Anna M. Jażdżewska
“Currently, there’s a notable delay in naming and describing new animals, often because journals expect additional ecological or phylogenetic insights. This means many marine species go undescribed due to lack of data. OSD addresses this by offering concise, complete taxonomic descriptions without requiring a specific theme, refocusing attention on taxonomy’s importance,” says Dr. Torben Riehl, who is one of the researchers featured in Ocean Species Discoveries.
The reinstated OSD species – a purple long-tailed sea cucumber, Psychropotes buglossa. Photo credit: Amanda Serpell-Stevens, Tammy Horton, and Julia Sigwart
Reducing the time it takes to get from discovering a new animal to a public species description is crucial in our era of increasing biodiversity loss. The wrinkly-shelled limpet and two other species described in the Ocean Species Discoveries live in hydrothermal vent zones – an environment threatened by deep-sea mining. Another OSD species, Psychropotes buglossa, a purple sea cucumber (sometimes also called a gummy squirrel), lives in the North Atlantic, but similar species live in areas of high economic interest, where polymetallic-nodule extraction could soon endanger sea life. Threats like these risk driving species to extinction before we even get the chance to know and study them. Through efforts like SOSA’s Ocean Species Discoveries, we can get closer to understanding the biodiversity of our oceans and protecting it before it’s too late.
One of the new OSD species – a deep-sea chiton, Placiphorella methanophila. Photo credit: Katarzyna Vončina
“Only by leveraging the collective strengths of global progress, expertise, and technological advancements, will we be able to describe the estimated 1.8 million unknown species living in our oceans. Every taxonomist specialized on some group of marine invertebrates is invited to contribute to the Ocean Species Discoveries,” says Prof. Dr. Julia Sigwart in conclusion.
Research article:
(SOSA) SOSA, Brandt A, Chen C, Engel L, Esquete P, Horton T, Jażdżewska AM, Johannsen N, Kaiser 5, Kihara TC, Knauber H, Kniesz K, LandschoffJ, Lörz A-N, Machado FM, Martínez-Muñoz CA, Riehl T, Serpell-Stevens A, Sigwart JD, Tandberg AHS, Tato R, Tsuda M, Vončina K, Watanabe HK, Went C, Williams JD (2024) Ocean Species Discoveries 1-12 — A primer for accelerating marine invertebrate taxonomy. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e128431. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e128431
Guest blog post by Willians Portoand Abel Pérez González
The third-largest group of arachnids, in terms of number of known species, is the harvestmen, with nearly 7,000 described species, ranking just behind spiders and mites. Despite this number, a considerable portion of their diversity is unknown, and many species still remain undescribed.
Fresiax spinulosa. Photo by Abel Pérez-González
The harvestmen of the family Triaenonychidae comprise 404 known species and have a peculiar distribution. They are found in temperate regions of the southern hemisphere, with representatives in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Madagascar, and southern South America— a typical temperate Gondwana distribution. In the America continent, the diversity is concentrated in the Southern Cone of South America, mainly in the Chilean Valdivian Forest, where 26 species were previously recorded.
Distribution maps for 27 harvestman species in Chile.
In our latest work published in ZooKeys, we present the result of a taxonomic and systematic revision of the South American triaenonychids previously included in the mainly New Zealand genus Nuncia. After examining hundreds of specimens, we redescribed all the four previously known species and described 22 new ones. All these species were included in six genera─one resurrected and five new to science─regarding the genus Nuncia as exclusively to New Zealand. The new systematic arrangement was supported by a comprehensive new phylogenetic analysis based on molecular (UCE + Sanger) data.
Laftrachia robin, one of the new species described in the study. Photo by Abel Pérez-González
The proposed phylogenetic hypothesis reveals the relationships between South American Triaenonychidae and their counterparts from the rest of the world, indicating that the diversity of triaenonychids in the Southern Cone is polyphyletic, reflecting an ancient diversification predating the Gondwana breakup.
A species of the newly described Nerudiella genus. Photo by Abel Pérez-González
Our work represents the most comprehensive contribution to the taxonomy and systematic of South American triaenonychids, almost doubling the number of previously known species. For naming the new taxa, we select names derived from geography, historical figures, and recognized intellectuals. Since most of the newly discovered fauna is distributed across various regions of Chile, the authors decided to honor two prominent figures of Chilean literature. The poet Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957), Nobel laureate in literature in 1945, was honored with the new genus Mistralia, and Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), Nobel laureate in literature in 1971, was honored with the new genus Nerudiella. In addition to tributes to globally renowned Chilean poets, the new species also include dedications to members of the arachnological scientific community and researchers who collaborated on this work.
The taxonomic revision includes hundreds of images that are extremely important for species identification. These images consist of various optical microscopy, stereomicroscopy, and numerous scanning electron microscopy micrographs.
Scanning electron microscope image showing various detailed views of the male genitalia of Mistralia verrucosa.
This work is one of the products of years of collaboration between the Arachnology Division of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Bernardino Rivadavia (MACN) and the Giribet Lab in Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ). It also represents a continuation of the collaboration initiated in the 20th century by the late Argentinean arachnologist Emilio Maury (MACN) with the Chilean zoologist Tomás Nicolás Cekalovic (Museo de Zoología de la Universidad de Concepción) and the American Museum of Natural History.
Research article:
Porto W, Derkarabetian S, Giribet G, Pérez-González A (2024) Systematic revision of the South American “Nuncia” (Opiliones, Laniatores, Triaenonychidae). ZooKeys 1207: 1-149. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1207.120068
All too often, researchers discover new species only to learn they are already at risk of extinction.
So when researchers from Shanghai Ocean University and Yunnan Agricultural University identified two new species from the upper Pearl River system in southwest China, they were likely unsurprised to find the fish facing major threats from pollution and overharvesting.
Beaufortiagranulopinna holotype from Lizhou River, a stream tributary of Bo′ai River of the Pearl River basin, at Tianlin County, Guangxi Province, China.
The new species, Beaufortia granulopinna and Beaufortia viridis, are members of the family Gastromyzontidae, also known as hillstream suck-loaches. They are highly specialised, with compressed bodies, flattened bottoms, and greatly expanded paired fins forming suction cup-like structures. These adaptations enable them to adhere to rocky substrates, resisting currents while feeding on algae and invertebrates.
Researchers discovered the new species during surveys studying aquatic life in various waterways in Yunnan and Guangxi between 2022 and 2024. The study, led by Jing-Chen Chen, offers new insights into the taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of the Beaufortia pingi species group, of which the two discoveries are likely members.
Beaufortiaviridis holotype from Wuming River, a stream tributary to the You River of the Pearl River basin, at Wuming District, Nanning City, Guangxi Province, China.
Although research on the Beaufortia pingi group is mostly in its initial stages, the situation is far from optimistic. These species have become popular ornamental fish in China, and aquarium trade operators reap substantial profits through their capture and sale. Among them are those who act with disregard for sustainability, using destructive harvesting practices.
Given the loaches’ preference for fast-flowing water, projects that obstruct rivers can easily lead to regional extinction. Their low pollution tolerance and sensitivity to changes in water quality also contribute to the significant reductions in population that many species are suffering.
Collection site of Beaufortiaviridis from Wuming River, a stream tributary to the You River of the Pearl River basin, Wuming District, Nanning City, Guangxi Province, China. Photographed by Jing-Chen Chen.
In the habitat of B.viridis, Wuming District, Nanning City, most small tributaries have been modified into step-like reservoirs for water storage, and those near agricultural irrigation areas are polluted, rendering these areas unsuitable for their survival. Interestingly, however, a stable population was discovered inside a commercial eco-camping site left untouched to satisfy consumers’ pursuit of “pristine nature.”
The researchers suggest that future efforts should focus on increasing attention to these species, conducting fundamental research, and further exploring their scientific and economic potential. Simultaneously, it is crucial to enhance habitat conservation awareness, scientifically plan, and develop sustainably, ensuring harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
Original source
Chen J-C, Li J-J, Tang W-Q, Pu X-R, Lei H-T (2024) Taxonomic resolution of the hillstream suck-loach Beaufortia pingi species group (Cypriniformes, Gastromyzontidae) and two new species from Southwest China– Beaufortia granulopinna and Beaufortia viridis. Zoosystematics and Evolution 100(3): 941-963. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.124370
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Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will go down in history as two of the greatest tennis players of our time, but their names have also been immortalized in science, as two new insect species were just named in honor of the athletes.
A team of insect scientists from the Integrative Insect Ecology Research Unit in Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University described two new wasp species named Troporhogas rogerfedereri and Troporhogas rafaelnadali in a tribute to the two tennis legends.
Troporhogas rafaelnadali. Photo by Marisa Loncle
“T. rogerfedereri and T.rafaelnadali are parasitoid wasps, whose larvae devour their hosts from the inside,” says Buntika Areekul Butcher, who led the study to describe the new insects. “As their names proclaim, they honour the tennis greats Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal, who although competitors on the court have been on the same doubles team too. Also, two of the authors are huge fans of both Roger and Rafa.”
Troporhogas rogerfedereri. Photo by Marisa Loncle
Both of the new wasps are 6 mm long, with black, white and orange colour patterns. They were found in two major Thai national parks, Khao Yai and Khao Sok, both of which are popular attractions for natural history tourists.
The scientists published their discoveries in a research article in the open-access zoology journal ZooKeys.
Research article:
Quicke DLJ, Ranjith AP, Loncle MK, Van Achterberg C, Long KD, Butcher BA (2024) Revision of Troporhogas Cameron (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Rogadinae) with six new species from India and Thailand. ZooKeys 1206: 99-136. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1206.120824
Species of the crab family Xanthidae go by many names: gorilla crabs, mud crabs, pebble crabs, rubble crabs – the list goes on. But when it was time to name a tiny, ‘furry’ new species from China, researchers drew unlikely inspiration from the video game League of Legends.
Gothus teemo was named after the character Teemo from the immensely popular MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) thanks to its distinctive appearance.
Gothus teemo male holotype (left), Teemo (right).
Loosely resembling a raccoon, Teemo is small and fluffy with a brown and white intermingled fur coat. The new species’ small size, densely covered short setae (bristles), and brown-striped colouration quickly drew comparisons.
Published in the open-access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, the discovery was made during an expedition to the coral reefs of the South China Sea. There researchers discovered the new species in the Xisha Islands (Paracel Islands) and Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands).
Illustration of Gothus teemo by by Fei Gao.
The team collected specimens while scuba diving, photographing them and conserving them for further study. The specimens are now housed at the Marine Biological Museum, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Qingdao, China.
This new-to-science crab represents not only a new species, but also an entirely new genus. Sticking to a theme, researchers named the genus after a game – albeit one created 2,500 years before League of Legends!
The ancient Chinese board game, Go.
They chose the name Gothus for the genus, drawing inspiration from the ancient Chinese strategy board game, Go. The name alludes to the intermingled black and white patterns on the carapace of Gothus species, beneath which lie circular granules resembling the pieces of the game.
As part of their study, the researchers suggested the reclassification of the species Actaea consobrina into the genus Gothus. This reclassification was based on both morphological and molecular evidence.
Actaea consobrina, proposed as Gothus consobrina.
Gothus teemo is by no means the only new species named after a video game character. Just last week, we shared a story from our Biodiversity Data Journal about a blind spider named after the Monster Hunter character Khezu – check out the story below!
Gothus teemo is yet another reminder that countless unknown creatures are just waiting to be discovered. The coral reefs of the South China Sea continue to be a rich source of new and fascinating species. And, who knows, perhaps there’s a Gothus tristana out there, too.
Original source
Yuan Z-M, Jiang W, Sha Z-L (2024) Morphological and molecular evidence for Gothus teemo gen. et sp. nov., a new xanthid crab (Crustacea, Brachyura, Xanthoidea) from coral reefs in the South China Sea, with a review of the taxonomy of Actaeodes consobrinus (A. Milne-Edwards, 1867). Zoosystematics and Evolution 100(3): 965-987. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.117859
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At the Pensoft’s stand, delegates learned about the scientific publisher’s versatile open-access journal portfolio, as well as related publishing services and the Horizon project where Pensoft is a partner.
Here’s a fun fact: the University of Bologna is the oldest one still in operation in the world. It is also etched in history for being the first institution to award degrees of higher learning.
This year, the annual event themed “Biodiversity positive by 2030” took place in the stunning Italian city of Bologna famous for its historical and cultural heritage, in a way building a bridge between the past of European civilisation and the future, which is now in our hands.
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At the Pensoft’s stand, delegates learned about the scientific publisher’s versatile open-access journal portfolio of over 30 journals covering the fields of ecology and biodiversity, as well as other related services and products offered by Pensoft, including the end-to-end full-featured scholarly publishing platform ARPHA, which hosts and powers all Pensoft journals, in addition to dozens other academic outlets owned by learned societies, natural history museums and other academic institutions.
In addition to its convenient collaborative online environment, user interface and automated export/import workflows, what ARPHA’s clients enjoy perhaps the most, are the various human-provided services that come with the platform, including graphic and web design, assistance in journal indexing, typesetting, copyediting and science communication.
Visitors at the stand could also be heard chatting with Pensoft’s Head of Journal development, Marketing and PR: Iva Boyadzhieva about the publisher’s innovative solutions for permanent preservation and far-reaching dissemination and communication of academic outputs that do not match the traditional research article format.
For example, the Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO) journal was launched in 2015 by Pensoft as an open-science journal that would publish ‘unconventional’ research outputs, such as Grant proposals, Policy briefs, Project reports, Data management plans, Research ideas etc. Its project-branded open-science collections are in fact one of the Pensoft’s products that enjoys particular attention to participants in scientific projects funded by the likes of the European Commission’s Horizon programme.
Another innovation by Pensoft that easily becomes a talking point at forums like ECCB, is the ARPHA Conference Abstract (ACA) platform, which is basically a journal for conference abstracts, where abstracts are treated and published much like regular journal articles (a.k.a. ‘mini papers’) to enable permanent preservation, but also accessibility, discoverability and citability. Furthermore, ACA has been designed to act as an abstracts submission portal, where the abstracts undergo review and receive feedback before being published and indexed at dozens of relevant scientific databases.
On Wednesday, delegates also got a chance to hear the talk by renowned vegetation ecologist at the ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences and Editor-in-Chief at the Vegetation Classification and Survey journal: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Dengler. He presented findings and conclusions concerning neophytes in Switzerland, while drawing comparisons with other European countries and regions.
🌱 Presence of #neophytes is not necesarily problematic, and can actually have positive effect, concludes recent research on 🇨🇭Swiss #grasslands diversity.
At this year’s ECCB, Pensoft took a stand as an active Horizon project participant too. At the publisher’s booth, the delegates could explore various project outputs produced within REST-COAST, SpongeBoost and BioAgora. Each of these initiatives has been selected by the European Commission to work on the mitigation of biodiversity decline, while aiming for sustainable ecosystems throughout the Old continent.
In all three projects, Pensoft is a consortium member, who contributes with expertise in science communication, dissemination, stakeholder engagement and technological development.
Having started earlier this year, SpongeBoost is to build upon existing solutions and their large-scale implementation by implementing innovative approaches to improve the functional capacity of sponge landscapes. The project is coordinated by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and will be developed with the active participation of 10 partnering institutions from seven countries across Europe.
In the meantime, since 2022, the five-year BioAgora project has been working towards setting up the Science Service for Biodiversity platform, which will turn into an efficient forum for dialogue between scientists, policy actors and other knowledge holders. BioAgora is a joint initiative, which brings together 22 partners from 13 European countries led by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE).
4/🧵 The @HorizonEU project @BioAgoraEU is to create an efficient platform for dialogue between #scientists, policy actors & other knowledge holders.
Still, REST-COAST, SpongeBoost and BioAgora were not the only Horizon projects involving Pensoft that made an appearance at ECCB this year thanks to the Pensoft team.
On behalf of OBSGESSION – another Horizon-funded project, Nikola Ganchev, Communications officer at Pensoft, presented a poster about the recently started project. Until the end of 2027, the OBSGESSION project, also led by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and involving a total of 12 partnering organisations, will be tasked with the integration of different biodiversity data sources, including Earth Observation, in-situ research, and ecological models. Eventually, these will all be made into a comprehensive product for biodiversity management in both terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.
On Tuesday evening, the CO-OP4CBD (abbreviation for Co-operation for the Convention on Biological Diversity) team: another Horizon Europe project, where Pensoft contributes with expertise in science communication and dissemination, held a workshop dedicated to what needs to be done to promote CBD activities in Central and Eastern Europe.
On the next day, scientists from the EuropaBON consortium: another project involving Pensoft that had concluded only about a month ago, held a session to report on the final conclusions from the project concerning the state and progress in biodiversity monitoring.
📌Eastern Europe and countries outside Europe underrepresented in the @EuropaBon_H2020 network, reports Christian Langer at #eccb2024bologna.
Researchers have described a remarkable new species of velvet worm from the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Take a look below:
Oroperipatus tiputini. Credit: Roberto J. León, Archive Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ.
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.
However, lead author Jorge Montalvo from the USFQ Museum of Zoology, notes that the species also has a softer side, with the mother taking care of her considerably lighter-coloured young after they are born.
Adult female with her offspring.
Velvet worms, also known as onychophorans or peripatus, are rare and unique invertebrates often referred to as “living fossils” because they evolved over 500 million years ago, long before the appearance of dinosaurs.
Currently, only about 240 velvet worm species are known, inhabiting tropical regions in the Americas, southern Chile, Africa, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and New Zealand.
Oroperipatus tiputini. Pedro Peñaherrera-R., Archive Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ
Published in the open-access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution, the discovery was more than 20 years in the making. It also represented the first study of Ecuadorian velvet worms for over 100 years.
“The research on this new species took several decades. I discovered the first individual of this new species in 2001, and we finally managed to describe it as part of Jorge Montalvo’s graduation thesis, who is now my colleague at the Museum of Zoology at USFQ. To complete the description, we used not only macromorphological descriptions but also high-magnification images obtained with a scanning electron microscope.”
Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia, one of the authors and director of the USFQ Museum of Zoology, Ecuador.
The researchers named the species after the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (TBS), part of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve. The name recognises the hard work of the station’s management, research, and field team in protecting biodiversity.
Map of Ecuador showing the location of the Tiputini Biodiversity Station (white square), type locality of Oroperipatustiputini sp. nov., in the Amazonian lowlands.
The description of the Tiputini velvet worm raises the total number of described velvet worm species in Ecuador to seven. This species is the first from the Ecuadorian Amazon lowlands and the third in the western Amazon.
Original source
Montalvo-Salazar JL, Bejarano ML, Valarezo A, Cisneros-Heredia DF (2024) A new species of velvet worm of the genus Oroperipatus (Onychophora, Peripatidae) from western Amazonia. Zoosystematics and Evolution 100(3): 779-789. https://doi.org/10.3897/zse.100.117952
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The beetle species Grebennikovius basilewskyi. Numbers next to arrows indicate patterns of phenotype statements explained in the section “Phenoscript: main patterns of phenotype statements”. Arrow numbers from T1 to T5 illustrate individual body parts. See more in the research study.
One of the most beautiful aspects of Nature is the endless variety of shapes, colours and behaviours exhibited by organisms. These traits help organisms survive and find mates, like how a male peacock’s colourful tail attracts females or his wings allow him to fly away from danger. Understanding traits is crucial for biologists, who study them to learn how organisms evolve and adapt to different environments.
To do this, scientists first need to describe these traits in words, like saying a peacock’s tail is “vibrant, iridescent, and ornate”. This approach works for small studies, but when looking at hundreds or even millions of different animals or plants, it’s impossible for the human brain to keep track of everything.
Computers could help, but not even the latest AI technology is able to grasp human language to the extent needed by biologists. This hampers research significantly because, although scientists can handle large volumes of DNA data, linking this information to physical traits is still very difficult.
To solve this problem, researchers from the Finnish Museum of Natural History, Giulio Montanaro and Sergei Tarasov, along with collaborators, have created a special language called Phenoscript. This language is designed to describe traits in a way that both humans and computers can understand. Describing traits with Phenoscript is like programming a computer code for how an organism looks.
Phenoscript uses something called semantic technology, which helps computers understand the meaning behind words, much like how modern search engines know the difference between the fruit “apple” and the tech company “Apple” based on the context of your search.
“This language is still being tested, but it shows a lot of promise. As more scientists start using Phenoscript, it will revolutionise biology by making vast amounts of trait data available for large-scale studies, boosting the emerging field of phenomics,”
explains Montanaro.
In their research article, newly published in the open-access, peer-reviewed Biodiversity Data Journal, the researchers make use of the new language for the first time, as they create semantic phenotypes for four species of dung beetles from the genus Grebennikovius. Then, to demonstrate the power of the semantic approach, they apply simple semantic queries to the generated phenotypic descriptions.
Finally, the team takes a look yet further ahead into modernising the way scientists work with species information. Their next aim is to integrate semantic species descriptions with the concept of nanopublications, “which encapsulates discrete pieces of information into a comprehensive knowledge graph”. As a result, data that has become part of this graph can be queried directly, thereby ensuring that it remains Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable (FAIR) through a variety of semantic resources.
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Research paper:
Montanaro G, Balhoff JP, Girón JC, Söderholm M, Tarasov S (2024) Computable species descriptions and nanopublications: applying ontology-based technologies to dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae). Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e121562. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e121562
What expert recommendations did the BiCIKL consortium give to policy makers and research funders to ensure that biodiversity data is FAIR, linked, open and, indeed, future-proof? Find out in the blog post summarising key lessons learnt from the Horizon 2020 project.
