Invertebrate

While no longer as prevalent as they once were, the billions of face masks and gloves that were produced during the pandemic are making plastic pollution an ever-greater issue.

The tropical forests of the Western Ghats, a vast mountain range in Western India, are home to many diverse species, especially endemic ones. In a recent study, published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, researchers at the LIB have for the first time analyzed the distribution of pseudoscorpions (an arachnid group) in this region in the light of geo-climatic fluctuations and continental drift, providing evidence of ancient species lineages.

In a win for biodiversity, CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, has revealed 139 new species were named and described by its researchers and partners in the past year. With only about 25 percent of Australia's species known to science, scientific names are vital for researchers, governments and the community to better understand the nation's vast ecosystems.

They are hunters, farmers, harvesters, gliders, herders, weavers, and carpenters. They are ants, and they are a big part of our world, comprising over 14,000 species and a large fraction of animal biomass in most terrestrial ecosystems. Like other invertebrates, ants are important for the functioning of ecosystems. They play vital roles from aerating soil and dispersing seeds and nutrients, to scavenging and preying on other species. Yet a global view of their diversity is lacking. Now, […]

Deep evolution casts a longer shadow than previously thought, scientists report in a new paper published the week of Aug. 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Smithsonian scientists and colleagues looked at eelgrass communities—the foundation of many coastal marine food webs along the north Atlantic and Pacific coasts—and discovered their ancient genetic history can play a stronger role than the present-day environment in determining their size, structure and who lives […]