Is there a future for artificial reefs?
Manmade structures such as seawalls, breakwaters, and jetties are increasing in frequency in marine coastal environments. Overtime, these structures are unintentionally recruiting marine life such as corals, resulting in the formation of artificial reefs…
Naturalis and Picturae will digitize thousands of insects
This summer visitors to Naturalis can see something unique in the museum: a giant installation that will photograph tiny insects in detail. The system has been developed by the Dutch company Picturae, which provides solutions to solutions to digitize…
Biodiversity devastation: human-driven decline requires millions of years of recovery
A new study shows that the current rate of biodiversity decline in freshwater ecosystems outcompetes that at the end-Cretaceous extinction that killed the dinosaurs: damage now being done in decades to centuries may take millions of years to undo.
Naturalis proud winner of the European Museum of the Year Award 2021
Naturalis Biodiversity Center has been named European Museum of the Year! The European Museum of the Year Award is the oldest and most prestigious museum award in Europe. On Thursday afternoon, during the online 'Award Ceremony', the joyful news was…
Walk the dinosaur! New biomechanical model shows T. rex in a swinging gait
Researchers from the Netherlands have created a new approach to envision how dinosaurs walked. By modeling a T. rex tail as a suspension bridge, the scientists formed a new idea of the animal’s walking speed. Trix, the tyrannosaur from Naturalis museum in…
Naturalis sends a 3D printed Tyrannosaurus to Japan
Leiden, 12 april 2021. The 3D printed Tyrannosaurus rex that was in the central hall of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands, is being shipped to Japan. The life-sized replica of Naturalis iconic dinosaur Trix will leave for the Dinosaur Museum…
Corona waste kills animals throughout the entire world Dutch scientists want to know how bad the problem is, exactly
Face masks and gloves designed to protect us are, in fact, dangerous for the animals around us. Scientists from Leiden warn that throughout the world, on land and in the water, animals are ingesting corona waste, or getting entangled in it. The two…
Sea butterflies already struggle in acidifying Southern Ocean
Due to increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the Southern Ocean will acidify in the upcoming few decades. This will affect shell growth in sea butterflies, useful biological indicators of ocean acidification, and important and abundant…
Bumblebees are moving up and that’s not a good thing
As the climate warms, plants that thrive at cooler temperatures are increasingly moving uphill. Their pollinators move up as well - if they succeed, at least. Researchers at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands compared their findings from the…
Ocean's canaries have survived previous perturbations in the Earth's carbon cycle
Pteropods, abundant aragonitic calcifying plankton, are the equivalent of "canaries in the coal mine" for our acidifying oceans. Their sensitivity to high CO 2 levels and limited fossil record has led to the widely held view that pteropods only became…
Nationwide approach to boosting knowledge of biodiversity in the Netherlands introducing the Centre of Excellence for Netherlands Biodiversity Research
To boost knowledge about biodiversity in the Netherlands, a nationwide approach to scientific research is required. To make such an approach possible, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), the Royal Netherlands…
Finally: a beetle named after The Beatles
Scientists in the Netherlands today announce the discovery of a new beetle species named after The Beatles. The insect was found on a citizen science "expedition" to the Vondelpark in the heart of Amsterdam -- close to the Hilton where 50 years ago John…