The yardstick for nature-inclusive building
Grass tiles, a nature dam and fauna sensors; on the basis of a number of guidelines, small structures can be transformed into a green oasis. But how? Knowledge Naturally! Has developed a table for nature-inclusive construction on behalf of telecom provider…
Hans ter Steege made professor at Utrecht University
Naturalis ecologist Prof. Dr. Hans ter Steege has been appointed professor (by special appointment) of community ecology of tropical trees at Utrecht University. He has been studying rainforest diversity for over 35 years.
Every European species a barcode Project Biodiversity Genomics Europe has started
Yesterday, the international project Biodiversity Genomics Europe started. This is an ambitious initiative to bring European DNA-research to new heights. The cutting-edge project is led by Naturalis Biodiversity Center and carried by partners from over 20…
Why plants worldwide became woody Unravelling the evolutionary puzzle
Why do some plants grow into large woody shrubs or colossal trees, while others remain small and never produce wood in their stems? It’s an evolutionary puzzle that already baffled Charles Darwin more than 160 year ago. Now, scientists from the Netherlands…
True bugs in the picture
This is it: Pseudaufidus trifasciatus , a cicada species described in 1957 by entomologist and curator H. C. Blöte from Leiden. The cicada depicted above is not just any specimen of that species, but it is the so-called holotype: The specimen used when the…
The day of the PhD defense: Michiel Hooykaas
On 30 June 2022 at 10.00 AM Michiel Hooykaas will defend his PhD thesis at Leiden University in true style. Under his suit, he will be wearing a shirt with a bird print that alludes to his field of research and the term that he coined himself: species…
Citizen scientists from three continents help discover a new, giant slug from Europe
You might think that Europe is so well studied that no large animals remain undiscovered. Yet today, a new species of giant keelback slug from Montenegro was announced in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal . The animal, as big as a medium-sized…
Adaptive urban jungles Inaugural lecture Barbara Gravendeel
She was already a professor by special appointment since 2019, but after some pandemic-related delay, Prof. dr. Barbara Gravendeel will finally deliver her inaugural address today at the Radboud University in Nijmegen.
Many animals, but little biodiversity in children’s picture books
Dutch children’s picture books are full of animals, but most of them are mammals. Especially pets and exotic animals are popular. A large part of the Dutch fauna is less visible, but biologist Michiel Hooykaas of Leiden University and Naturalis sees plenty…