As part of the joint project ZOWIAC (Zoonotic and Wildlife Ecological Impacts of Invasive Carnivores), a research team from Frankfurt has analyzed hunting data from two decades in 398 German districts. The study aimed to identify the different stages of the invasion of raccoons, originally native to North America, in Germany. The study shows that […]
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A research team from the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung has investigated ancient climate during the Eocene epoch some 56 to 34 million years ago, using a new method based on the evolutionary relationships of fossils. The results of their study, now published in the journal “Communications Earth and Environment,” indicate that the climate in North […]
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An international research team led by Senckenberg scientist Dr. Spyros Theodoridis has investigated the effects of the increasing greening of many European mountain regions on the genetic diversity of plants. Their study, now published in the journal “Current Biology,” uses the example of the Greek mountain tea Sideritis to show that the increase in vegetation […]
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For the first time, a fossilized true cicada has been described from the Messel Pit deposits. Eoplatypleura messelensis is one of the oldest known representatives of the modern-day true cicadas in Eurasia, and it is the earliest record of the subfamily Cicadinae worldwide. The discovery from the UNESCO World Heritage Site near Darmstadt expands our understanding of […]
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Today, the Bruno H. Schubert Foundation is presenting the international Frankfurt Conservation Award 2025 (Bruno H. Schubert Prize). This year’s award winners Joji Cariño, Dr. Rosie Trevelyan, and Dr. Hà Thăng Long will be honored in the ballroom of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Nature Museum Frankfurt. The three partner institutions of the Bruno H. […]
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The deep-sea octopus Muusoctopus has won the title of “International Mollusk of the Year 2025.” Muusoctopus received the majority of votes in the public online poll, beating three sea snails and a clam that were also finalists in the competition. The joint campaign by the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and Unitas Malacologica, the global society […]
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Agriculture in the Colombian Andes is an important economic sector that is strongly influenced by geographical diversity and the local climatic conditions. Senckenberg researcher PD Dr. Raffael Ernst and a Colombian-German research team investigated how different land use systems influence amphibian diversity in this region. In their study, published in the journal “Agriculture, Ecosystems & […]
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Oases are ecosystems that offer unique biological and cultural diversity and are therefore crucial for humans and nature alike. A study led by Senckenberg researchers, recently published in the journal “PeerJ,” has undertaken the first comprehensive global analysis of these areas. Based on 1,657 research papers, 1,344 oases in 30 countries were identified, which provide […]
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Which mollusc will win the race? Starting today, all fans of snails, octopuses, and their ilk can cast their vote at https://moty.senckenberg.science and decide which of the five species in the final deserves the title of “International Mollusc of the Year 2025.” This is the fifth time that the Senckenberg Society and Unitas Malacologica, the […]
continue readingAn international team of scientists has cracked a longstanding evolutionary mystery surrounding molluscs, one of the most diverse groups of animals on Earth. The groundbreaking research, published today in Science, resolves the family tree for molluscs, bringing long-awaited clarity on their evolutionary history and resolving debates that have persisted for decades. Molluscs, which include animals like […]
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