Butterflies come to life with new interactive artwork at Naturalis
Starting November 27, you can engage with the interactive artwork Origins of Imagination at Naturalis. Visitors who scan a butterfly drawing they've colored themselves can watch as the installation transforms it into a realistic, moving butterfly. All the…
Frank Wesselingh Appointed Professor of Paleobiology
Paleontologist Frank Wesselingh has been appointed Special Professor of Conservation Paleobiology at Maastricht University. His work bridges the gap between the past and the future of biodiversity.
The thin-beak curlew is now officially extinct
Leiden, 18 November 2024 – Birdwatchers had long suspected it, but now it's official: the slender-billed curlew is extinct. This waterbird, once found in Europe, West Asia, and North Africa, can now only be seen in museums.
A birdsong AI joins the world's biggest bird sound forum
A birdsong recognition AI algorithm is now running live online, in Xeno-canto, the world's largest open access collection of animal sounds. When "mystery" bird recordings are uploaded from anywhere in Europe, the algorithm - developed at Naturalis - gives…
What if big fruit eaters disappear? Naturalis researcher will find out
What happens to plants when the animals that disperse their seeds go extinct? Naturalis researcher Renske Onstein has received a VIDI grant to investigate this question.
Rice DNA tells the unwritten history of Suriname
For centuries, descendants of Africans who escaped from slavery, known as Maroons, have been growing rice in the interior of Suriname and French Guiana. New genetic research combined with ethnobotany by Wageningen University & Research and Naturalis…
Venomous Finds Dutch Biologist Finds New Ways To Study Snake Venom
Dutch biologist Mátyás Bittenbinder developed new, non-animal methods to investigate tissue-damaging snake venom. In this way, he hopes to contribute to solutions for victims. Millions of people are bitten by venomous snakes every year. Of these, 400,000…
Unique dinosaur exhibition at Naturalis, the Netherlands
Naturalis Biodiversity Center is the first and only museum in the world to present a herd of five triceratopses. Experts from Naturalis worked on the unique discovery for over a decace. Eppo Bruins, minister of Education, Culture and Science, opened the…
Bird paradox solved Why emus run differently from us
At first glance birds may not seem good runners. Try it yourself: bend your knees and run around on your toes while keeping at least one foot on the ground at all times. This feels unnatural to a human, but birds do this regularly. An international team…