Nature reports

There's black gold to be found on Dutch beaches: ancient fossils. But determining what you have found is no easy task. Researchers from Naturalis and other institutions have trained artificial intelligence to recognize fossils...

The DNA of Asian elephants tells a concerning story. Although all four subspecies are under pressure, there are considerable differences in their genetic health. The Sri Lankan elephant appears to have a relatively large amount of..

Mixed teams of scientists and citizens, including Leiden evolution biologist Menno Schilthuizen, have discovered two new snail species in northwestern Montenegro. The discovery underscores the region's importance for hidden..

People with hay fever may be exposed to much more allergenic pollen in one street than just a few streets away. Research in Leiden shows that pollen levels in urban air vary considerably at a local scale. Plants in public spaces..

For shorebirds such as sanderlings, food availability is determined not only by the abundance of prey, but also by the precise locations and periods during which prey are available. Research by Emma Penning and others shows that..

Most sidewalks are paved with square grey concrete slabs. If you look closely at older paving stones, you will often spot pale grey circular patches, about the size of the base of a soft drink can. These are lichens, living..

In marine environments, sponges tend to eat other organisms to get their nutrients, but they can also use photosynthesis, in collaboration with microbes. This phenomenon can help with the productivity – the amount of energy and..

A landmark alliance of DNA experts across Europe signals the start of an unprecedented effort to build a continent-wide system that applies genomics for protecting European biodiversity. DNA barcoding and genome sequencing offer –..

Scientists have discovered a new widow spider species in the Andes in South America. Latrodectus lucacha is a variant of the infamous black widow. The researchers described the habitat of the 'medically relevant' species by..

A new analysis of hundreds of thousands of surveyed plots of land reveals that plant diversity is declining in many areas, particularly forests. Grasslands, on the other hand, are recovering. The study also shows that protecting..