iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

#FunFact Hoverflies aren’t all flower visitors throughout their lives. Ferdinandea larvae are saproxylic, developing in sap runs on old or damaged trees, making their lives closely connected to woodland microhabitats.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Taxonomic revisions bring scattered knowledge together, clarify species identities & reveal overlooked diversity. Reliable identification is essential for mapping distributions, studying ecology and monitoring biodiversity. → doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.10.210478

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

A new hoverfly from Japan! Researchers revised the genus Ferdinandea across the Palaearctic and discovered a species new to science: Ferdinandea harusawai, adding another piece to our knowledge of hoverfly diversity. #LIBresearch © Mengual & Ichige, CC BY

Black-and-white scientific line drawings of male genitalia of Ferdinandea ruficornis from various views with arrows indicating details.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

#FunFact Losing the ability to fly wasn’t a one-time event: reduced wings & reduced eyes evolved repeatedly in different Lathrobium lineages, linked to life in montane & subterranean habitats.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Museum collections can provide genetic data for species difficult to sample today. Here, they helped reveal an evolutionary history shaped by dispersal, isolation & repeated adaptation. → doi.org/10.1016/j.ym... @dagmarazyla.bsky.social @aslakkh.bsky.social

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

What can museum beetles reveal about millions of years of evolution? Using DNA from historical specimens, researchers reconstructed the evolutionary history of Lathrobium, a diverse rove beetle genus with nearly 800 described species. #LIBresearch © Tokareva et al., CC BY

Five Lathrobium beetles side by side in front of a timeline with colored circles and the epochs Neogene, Oligocene, Eocene, and Paleocene labeled on the right

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

#FunFact Lypeticus was more widespread than we knew: the revision documents the genus for the first time in Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico & Paraguay; substantially expanding its known range across the Neotropics.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Taxonomic revisions do more than name new species. By re-examining museum specimens, species boundaries & classifications, they provide the foundation for understanding where species occur and how diverse a group really is. → doi.org/10.3897/evol... @dagmarazyla.bsky.social

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Three new species and a new look at an entire beetle genus. Researchers revised the Neotropical rove beetle genus Lypeticus, describing three species new to science & considerably expanding its known distribution. #LIBresearch © Guzman Sarmiento & Żyła, CC BY

Map of South and Central America showing occurrences of Lypeticus spp. with red circles for new locality records and black circles for previously published records, including a legend for number of records and an inset zoom of Central America.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#FunFact The meeting brought together biodiversity, environmental & biomedical biobanking communities from 38 countries. Fields that preserve very different samples but face surprisingly similar challenges.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

From biodiversity loss to pandemics & food security, biobanks preserve samples that research depends on. Shared standards, equitable governance, connected data & resilient infrastructure can make these resources more useful across disciplines and borders. → doi.org/10.1177/1947...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

What do biodiversity, environmental & human biobanks have in common? More than you might think. A new perspective from the joint GGBN–ISBER conference explores how these communities can learn from each other to tackle global challenges. #LIBresearch ©Astrin et al., CC BY @ggbnoutreach.bsky.social

World map highlighting countries with participants in the 2025 Joint Biobanks Conference, emphasising South Africa as the host country and showing logos of participating biobank organisations.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

What lives more than 5 km beneath the ocean surface?Nephasoma constricticervix is a peanut worm adapted to life in the deep sea. New records like these help fill the many gaps in our knowledge of biodiversity at some of Earth’s least explored habitats. #LIBresearch

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ahead of #COP17 in Armenia, research museums are calling on policymakers: international biodiversity targets must lead to measurable progress. This requires strong science, reliable funding and effective protection. → leibniz-lib.de/en/news/rese...

Large partially wilted leaf on damp forest floor surrounded by green foliage and yellow rubber boots

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

#FunFact How different can the two copies of an oyster’s genome be? In some individuals, up to 14% of the genome was affected by heterozygous insertions & deletions - meaning the two chromosome sets differed structurally across a remarkable share of their DNA.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Structural changes can create genetic variation for evolution to act on. Some variants differed among oyster populations living under different temperature & salinity conditions - suggesting they may contribute to local adaptation. → doi.org/10.1186/s131...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Oyster genomes are anything but static. Researchers found that transposable elements (pieces of DNA able to move within the genome) help generate remarkable genetic variation both within individual oysters & between populations. #LIBresearch © Martelossi et al., CC BY 4.0

Phylogenetic tree of five species with HiFi and CLR sequencing technologies, stars indicate analyses of within- and between-individual structural variants, alongside a map showing collection localities in China color-coded.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Every museum specimen can hold more information than we first imagined.: New methods are making even challenging, decades-old material accessible to genetic research, adding another layer of value to natural history collections. #LIBresearch

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#FunFact Harwood’s Francolin has many roles in Ethiopian culture: beyond its value as food, it carries symbolic, medicinal, ritual & folkloric significance and even features in romantic music.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Effective conservation also depends on understanding relationships between people & wildlife. Local knowledge can reveal threats, values and opportunities for protection and help develop conservation strategies rooted in their social & cultural context. → doi.org/10.1186/s130...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

What makes a species worth protecting? For Harwood’s Francolin, an endemic Ethiopian bird, the answer goes far beyond biology. A study reveals how local knowledge, cultural significance & everyday interactions shape attitudes toward its conservation. #LIBresearch © Mathieu Bally, CC BY 4.0

Map of the study area in Ethiopia showing elevation, rivers, roads, and district boundaries alongside a close-up of a Harwood's Francolin with gray plumage and red beak perched on a branch.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Tiny organisms, big ecological clues: Larger benthic foraminifera are single-celled organisms that help build carbonate sediments in tropical seas. Understanding what controls their distribution can reveal how these important reef inhabitants may respond to changing ocean conditions. #LIBresearch

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

#FunFact Among >2,500 bone fragments from Belgium’s Scladina Cave, the method identified a straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus): The first evidence of this extinct species at the site.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Ancient bone fragments often lack features that allow species identification. Reading their preserved collagen can turn otherwise anonymous remains into biodiversity records, helping reconstruct past ecosystems on a much larger scale. → doi.org/10.1002/advs...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

What can thousands of unidentifiable bone fragments tell us about the past? Researchers developed a new palaeoproteomic approach that identifies species from collagen - even in complex mixtures or when genetic reference data are incomplete. #LIBresearch © Engels et al., CC BY

Circular phylogenetic tree of collagen sequences from various animal species and a chart showing mutation profiles across multiple taxonomic groups.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Connecting biodiversity collections worldwide. 🌍🧬 With more than 7 million biological material records shared through its portal, GGBN is building bridges between biobanks and the global research community. LIB is proud to host the network’s Secretariat Office in Bonn. #LIBresearch

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

#FunFact One supposed toad species may not be a separate species after all. Genomic data suggest that the Caucasian “Bufo verrucosissimus” is actually a lineage of the common toad B. bufo that extensively intergrades with Balkan toads in Anatolia.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Evolution isn't always a branching tree. Repeated gene flow between diverging lineages can blur species boundaries, reshape their evolutionary trajectories & even prevent them from becoming separate species. → doi.org/10.1016/j.ym...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Ice ages separated them, warmer periods brought them back together Genetic data reveal that common toad lineages repeatedly diverged in glacial refuges, then met & hybridized again as they expanded across Europe & Western Asia. #LIBresearch © Dufresnes et al., CC BY

On the left, a phylogenetic tree with four colour-coded groups and two individual species, on the right a map of Europe with colour-coded dots and a toad image in the foreground.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

#FunFact New to science doesn't mean new to evolution: Heremites afghanicus is estimated to have split from its closest relatives around 10 million years ago, in the Late Miocene.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Correctly identifying species is the foundation for understanding & protecting biodiversity. Integrating genetic and morphological evidence can uncover distinct evolutionary lineages that have long been hidden by uncertain taxonomy. → doi.org/10.3897/zook...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

A new skink species hiding in plain sight. Populations from the Hindu Kush foothills in Afghanistan & Pakistan had puzzled taxonomists for decades. Now, DNA & morphology reveal they represent a distinct species: Heremites afghanicus. #LIBresearch © Jablonski et al., CC BY 4.0

Phylogenetic tree of the genus Heremites with time calibration and geographic distribution map of species, including colour-coded distribution areas and a photo of a Heremites afghanicus lizard.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

#FunFact Museums face a communication dilemma: visitors come to learn, but also to enjoy themselves. Communicating biodiversity loss therefore means addressing serious problems without leaving visitors overwhelmed or discouraged.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Simply providing facts isn't enough. Combining information, dialogue & participation can help museums reflect different perspectives, involve visitors and create space for discussing societal change, without prescribing simple answers. → doi.org/10.3389/fcom...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

How can museums communicate problems that have no simple solutions? A study explores how natural history museums address “wicked” sustainability problems such as biodiversity loss - balancing complexity, uncertainty, controversy & urgency. #LIBresearch © Theiler & Rödder, CC BY

Table with two columns: communication model and communication goals related to WSPs, with three rows for dissemination, dialogue, and participation, each containing explanatory text about complexity, controversy, and uncertainty.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

#FunFact In many songbirds, an entire chromosome is kept in the germline but eliminated from other cells during development. This germline-restricted chromosome is a striking example of how one individual can harbour different genomes.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Programmed DNA elimination challenges the idea of a genome as something fixed within an individual. Comparing it across species can reveal how genome architecture evolves and why evolution has repeatedly produced ways to selectively discard DNA. → doi.org/10.1038/s415...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Do all cells in an organism carry the same DNA? Not always. Some organisms deliberately eliminate parts of their genome or even entire chromosomes from specific cells during development. A new review explores this remarkable phenomenon across the Tree of Life. #LIBresearch

nature.com

The mechanistic and evolutionary diversity of programmed DNA elimination - Nature Reviews Genetics

Programmed DNA elimination is a developmentally regulated process in which specific DNA sequences are reproducibly removed from particular cell lineages. Here, the authors review the mechanistic diver...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

#FunFact Cichlids are champions of sex chromosome diversity: 20 of their 22 ancestral chromosomes have been found to play a role in sex determination somewhere in the family.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Sex chromosomes can evolve surprisingly fast. Understanding why evolution repeatedly recruits the same chromosomes helps reveal what shapes sex determination, and why closely related species can end up with different genetic systems. → doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Same chromosome, different evolutionary story. In Lake Tanganyika cichlids, researchers found that the same chromosomes repeatedly became sex chromosomes, but evolved independently rather than being inherited from a common ancestor. #LIBresearch © Smith et al., CC BY

Phylogenetic tree of Haplochromini showing sex-linked regions on LG5 and LG7 highlighted in blue and black with additional chromosome information on the right

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

#FunFact DSI doesn't stop at political borders: the same sequence can occur in multiple organisms & regions and be relevant under different international agreements. That's one reason why interoperable governance matters.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

DSI is shared, reused & combined across organisms, countries and research fields. Fragmented rules could create legal uncertainty and barriers to research. A common framework could enable benefit sharing without restricting access to data.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Biodiversity can tell us something about landscapes that disappeared millions of years ago. By tracing the evolutionary history of Gloydius pitvipers, researchers uncover how ancient climate & geography shaped life across High Asia. #LIBresearch

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

#FunFact Sometimes discovering biodiversity means looking backwards. By re-examining historic type specimens, the researchers showed that several hoverfly names actually referred to species that already had names.

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Taxonomy isn't just about naming new species. Revisiting museum specimens, combining morphology & DNA & resolving old names creates a more reliable picture of biodiversity, building the foundation for studying & protecting it. → doi.org/10.1016/j.jc...

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

A new genus hiding among Europe’s hoverflies! Researchers discovered Unigaster, a previously unknown genus of hoverflies, & described its 1st species, U. mixta, from Türkiye & Greece, using both morphology & DNA to place it on the tree of life. #LIBresearch © Bruno Bartscher, CC BY (symbolic pic)

Close-up of a hoverfly with yellow and black markings on white flowers

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LIB @leibnizlib.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

#FunFact Some flies belong to “dark taxa”: extremely species-rich groups in which less than 10% of the estimated species have been described. Thousands of such unknown species may exist even in well-studied Europe. 3/3

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