Marine gastropod named for discoverer after 47 years
47 years after plankton expert Siebrecht van der Spoel caught a number of sea snail in his net in the South Pacific, the snail he discovered has at long last been declared a new species. Using modern techniques, Naturalis Biodiversit Center biologists were…
Climate change threatens biocultural diversity on New Guinea
Many plants on the island of New Guinea are being threatened with extinction. The indigenous languages and customs associated with the plants run the same risk of disappearing. An international team of biologists, including from Naturalis Biodiversity…
Invasive coral is old acquaintance
A presumed invasive coral species that was discovered in the reefs around Curaçao is not invasive after all. The coral is in fact a native species that normally resides in deeper water, but has migrated to more shallow waters. That is the conclusion of of…
New study concludes: third of African tropical plants endangered
A third of the tropical plant species in Africa is possibly endangered and another third is at risk of becoming endangered. That is the conclusion an international team of scientists, including from Naturalis Biodiversity Center, published in Science…
New Naturalis future-proof
The place where all aspects of biodiversity come together On Saturday, August 31, Naturalis will reopen to the public. The renovated institute for biodiversity in Leiden is the place for everyone, where both scientists and museum visitors can discover more…
Hot cities shape snail evolution
Citizen science project in Communications Biology The living conditions in cities influence the evolution of urban-dwelling plant and animal species. So-called urban heat islands – pockets of higher temperatures in the city center resulting from a…
Coral expert Bert Hoeksema becomes tenth Naturalis professor
Further strengthening ties with academic institutions Marine biologist Dr. Bert W. Hoeksema of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden has been appointed professor of Tropical Marine Biodiversity at the University of Groningen as of June 1, 2019. This…
Diepenveen-meteorite shows similarities with asteroid Ryugu
Japanese space probe brings comparison material back to earth at the end of 2020 The Diepenveen meteorite hit earth on October 27, 1873, but was only rediscovered for science in 2012 in a private collection. Now a team of 26 researchers from different…
Symbiosis as the basis of the forest
Nature publication predicts 10% decrease of biomass in forests if CO2 emissions continue unabated In and around the tangled roots of the forest floor, fungi and bacteria grow with trees, exchanging nutrients for carbon in a vast, global marketplace…