Lukas VFN 🇪🇺

Last night I learned that sulphur tuft (Hypholoma fasciculare) has a strong UV #fluorescence. This is one of the most common #mushrooms in European broadleaf woodlands.

#Fungi #MushroomMonday

Night Gardeners and Sticky Bottoms: The Unlikely #Mistletoe Dispersers of #Madagascar https://www.botany.one/night-gardeners-and-sticky-bottoms-the-unlikely-mistletoe-dispersers-of-madagascar/ @botanyone@botany.social

"Two species of nocturnal #lemurs are not only the most voracious consumers of Bakerella #fruits, but Crossley's Dwarf #Lemur has a rather peculiar planting method: after digesting the fruit, the sticky seeds adhere to its anal fur, prompting the small primate to rub its bottom against tree branches to clean itself, leaving the #plants perfectly installed in its new home."

Glowworms shine again in North Yorkshire after larvae reared in garden shed https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/07/glowworms-shine-again-north-yorkshire-larvae-reintroduction

"The bioluminescent beams of 'fairy folk' are shining again from a nature reserve in North #Yorkshire for the first time in a century after the successful #reintroduction of endangered glowworms. Female #glowworms were spotted over multiple weeks at Nosterfield nature reserve this summer following a no-frills, almost zero-budget reintroduction of the much-loved #insects"

#Amphibians and #fungi weather is the best weather.

UL: Salamandra salamandra terrestris
LL: Boletus reticulatus
UR: Bufo spinosus
LR: Favolaschia claudopus

#FungiFriday

Spanish #Amber Deposit Offers Rare Window into #Cretaceous Life https://www.sci.news/paleontology/el-soplao-amber-15065.html

"Among the discoveries are the oldest #tick known to science, a #lacewing larva that camouflaged itself with plant debris, and a fly preserved mid-meal with #pollen from an extinct gymnosperm group clumped on its body — direct evidence of #pollination before flowering #plants took over that ecological role. Theropod #dinosaur feathers have also turned up"

Long-term oyster #ReefRestoration shows clear success in murky waters https://umbc.edu/stories/oyster-reef-restoration-success-in-murky-waters/ Paper by Allison Tracy et al.: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.70750

"Large-scale #OysterReef restoration in the #ChesapeakeBay is successfully creating three-dimensional habitats that support larger, more diverse #fish communities... #restoration efforts are shifting underwater ecosystems from communities dominated by small, transient schooling fish to those supporting larger, resident species."

#Lichen-like life 600 million years ago may push back origins of fungal-algal partnerships https://phys.org/news/2026-07-lichen-life-million-years-fungal.html

Fungal–algal associations from the early #Ediacaran herald increasing symbiotic complexity before modern #lichens https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2075/20260673/482576/Fungal-algal-associations-from-the-early-Ediacaran

"fungal filaments in the #fossils were found to interact with photosynthetic cells, surrounding or touching them along their sides... a new glimpse into how #fungi and #algae dating back more than 600 million years may have interacted"

This Ancient #Insect Had 24 Legs—and Could Help Explain How the Ancestors of Modern-Day Bugs Took Over the Land https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-insect-had-24-legs-and-could-help-explain-how-the-ancestors-of-modern-day-bugs-took-over-the-land-180989420/

The first #insects had way more than six legs https://www.science.org/content/article/first-insects-had-way-more-six-legs

Amphibious stem-insect sheds light on colonization of land https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10961-2

"Chosha praecursor was somewhere between a crustacean and an insect—a possible missing link in the 80-million-year evolutionary gap."

How an unlikely all-female clonal #fish species copied and pasted itself free from extinction https://phys.org/news/2026-03-female-clonal-fish-species-free.html

"The molly gives live birth to its young, which are its clones, because the species is made up entirely of females... It picks up mutations faster than its sexual relatives, yet avoids the expected genetic decay... gene conversion purges harmful mutations by copying a healthy version of the same gene from another part of the fish's own DNA, and pasting it over the faulty region"

#BloomScrolling #Cactus #Succulents #CactusBlossom #CactusFlower

Nocturnal Gardeners: The Case of Tent-Roosting Bats https://www.botany.one/the-jungles-heaviest-courier-service-the-case-of-tent-roosting-bats/ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/btp.70179

"Unlike #birds, many #bats do not consume fruit where they find it; they capture it in flight and transport it to a safe refuge to eat in peace. In the case of tent-roosting bats, these shelters are plant leaves that the bats themselves modify to form a kind of tent or canopy... Tent-roosting bats of #Mexico's #Lacandon #Rainforest disperse up to 79.8 million large seeds annually"

#SilentSunday #Brest #BZH

Baby #bugs must play game of roulette to find survival partners before time runs out https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2026/05/14/leaffooted-bugs-symbiosis

"Leaffooted bugs nymphs hatch in the tree canopy, where their soil-living bacterial #symbionts are scarce. After hatching, a race against the clock begins. The journey from canopy to ground is a dangerous undertaking for nymphs measuring just a few mm. Risk of predation and the energetic demand are high. However, failing to acquire the #symbiont is also lethal"

#Insects #Bacteria

A new island erupted from the sea – can it show us how nature works without interference? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/13/nature-volcanic-island-surtsey-iceland-ecosystems-aoe

"The last time something similar took place was the birth of Anak Krakatau in 1927, but it was quickly contaminated by humans. Icelandic researchers were adamant that this time would be different. In 1965, #Surtsey was placed under protection by #Iceland government. The same year, the first plant was spotted: a clump of sea rocket brought over the waves from the Icelandic mainland."

Nocturnal migratory #birds follow rhythm of the moon https://phys.org/news/2026-05-nocturnal-migratory-birds-rhythm-moon.html

Moonlight drives the energy balance and annual cycle of a nocturnal forager https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aed8204

"Moonlight determines when the red-necked #nightjar feeds, migrates and raises its young... the bird's entire annual cycle follows the moon's rhythm... when the moon is full, the bird can hunt insects for much of the night. When it is dark, it is instead forced to rely on brief hunting opportunities at dusk and dawn."

#Mutualism in disguise: #CarnivorousPlants and wasps blur the line between friend and food https://phys.org/news/2026-05-carnivorous-wasps-blur-line-friend.html paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70395

"the #PitcherPlants get a boost in nitrogen by consuming a wasp every now and again, and the #wasps get a stable food source in the form of nutrient-rich nectar. By forgoing the immediate reward of capturing many #insects, these #plants may be ensuring a stable population of prey for the future."

Photographing the hidden world of slime mould https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d9409p76qo

"These images, captured by photographer Barry Webb, provide a close-up view of single-celled #SlimeMoulds. A view that would not be possible with the naked eye... It's not fungi, it's not a plant, it's not animal... one picture would not do them justice, you can get virtually nothing in focus... he uses focus bracketing, where dozens of photos are taken."

#Protists #Microbes #SlimeMolds #Photography

How poison #frogs built a chemical weapons system one step at a time https://phys.org/news/2026-04-poison-frogs-built-chemical-weapons.html

Experimental evidence supports gradual #evolution of alkaloid sequestration in poison frogs: Adriana Jeckel et al. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2067/20253144/480951/Experimental-evidence-supports-gradual-evolution

"toxins released by #PoisonFrogs, #alkaloids, are derived from their diet in the wild, consisting of specific #ants, #mites, #millipedes, & #beetles... the process developed gradually over time, with poison frogs slowly adapting to increasingly toxic diets"

Hairy new #fish species discovered in the Great Barrier Reef https://phys.org/news/2026-05-hairy-fish-species-great-barrier.html

Solenostomus snuffleupagus sp. nov., a hairy ghost #pipefish from the Southwest Pacific, with an integrative comparison to S. paegnius https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfb.70497

"These close relatives of seahorses and sea dragons often closely match the color of their surroundings and develop skin filaments that look like algae or coral."

#NewSpecies #GreatBarrierReef #CoralReefs

Kraken-like giant #octopuses 100m years ago crunched bones of prey: Study of fossilised beaks shows patterns of wear and suggests some ancient species were up to 19 metres long https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/23/kraken-like-giant-octopuses-crunched-cretaceous-bones paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea6285

"One species, Nanaimoteuthis haggarti, was found to have a beak larger than that of the modern giant #squid, a creature that reaches about 12 metres in length... N. haggarti was between 7 and 19 m in length, which could make it the largest #invertebrate on record."

Secrets of the #karst: #NewSpecies found in #Cambodia’s limestone #caves – in pictures https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2026/mar/23/cambodia-karst-new-species-limestone-caves-aoe

"A survey has revealed the vast array of wildlife – some never seen before – living within the south-east Asian country’s karst ecosystems. The survey team explored more than 60 caves across 10 hills in #Battambang province"

cw: #snakes inside

Dinosaur dental #fossils reveal bird-like parental care bonds https://phys.org/news/2026-05-dinosaur-dental-fossils-reveal-bird.html

"Baby #dinosaurs were likely fed more nutritious food than their adult counterparts... Paleontologists uncovered this by studying wear on the fossilized teeth of #Maiasaura peeblesorum, a duck-billed dinosaur that lived during the Late #Cretaceous... The urge for a bird to feed a youngster is a very old behavior... it probably goes much further than the origin of #birds, perhaps to the origin of dinosaurs."

African #frogs haven’t forgotten the ice ages. Scientists can tell by where they live https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/african-frogs-havent-forgotten-the-ice-ages-scientists-can-tell-by-where-they-live/ paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.73207

"the #CongoRainforest remained stable throughout the #Pleistocene ice ages. But as Earth’s #climate cooled and dried, the #Congo’s forest borders receded in some places, creating pockets of more or less stable forested areas called #refugia... they aligned with the modern diversity of frogs... & with the small distributions of #endemic species."

New miniature marsupial #frog found in #Peru carries eggs in a back pouch https://phys.org/news/2026-04-miniature-marsupial-frog-peru-eggs.html Lab's website: https://www.catenazzilab.org/news/new-marsupial-frog4385768 Paper: https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5777.3.2

"The new #amphibian species measures 2.7 to 3.3 cm and was discovered in a mountainous ecosystem in the #Amazonas region bordering Ecuador. The frog is bright green and has small protuberances on its back. The number of specimens in the wild is not known. Its pouch enables the marsupial frog to nurture its young"

How symbiotic bacteria with minimal genetic information support #insect hosts https://phys.org/news/2025-08-symbiotic-bacteria-minimal-genetic-insect.html paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1038/s44319-025-00525-2

"#Symbiotic #bacteria support larvae by producing amino acids... They also support the adult #beetles by producing an enzyme that breaks down plant cell walls... There are two types of symbiotic association within #ReedBeetles. There are beetle species in which #symbionts benefit both life stages. In others only the larvae benefit directly from the symbiont"

Scientists uncover #beetle transport system for newly identified towering nematodes https://phys.org/news/2026-05-scientists-uncover-beetle-newly-towering.html paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.73510

"In 2025, #Konstanz scientists looked very closely at rotting fruit in local orchards, and observed what no one had before–hundreds of #worms twisting skyward into self-assembled living towers... #nematodes may be trying to hitchhike on #animals to reach new habitats... Now, they identified the carriers of the original worm towers: two sap-feeding #beetles"

North Atlantic right #whales see most births since 2009 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/north-atlantic-right-whales-highest-births-2009-9.7183155

"The recently ended calving season, which runs between mid-November and mid-April, saw 23 new calves born. This is the fourth highest number of new calves born on record and the highest it’s been since 2009. The species now have an estimated population of 380, better than the 359 in 2020, but far below the 483 in 2011... an increase in protected areas and closing off some areas to shipping have helped"

How #oak trees outwit their predators https://www.myscience.de/en/news/2026/how_oak_trees_outwit_their_predators-2026-uni-wuerzburg

Satellite data show #trees delay budburst across landscapes to escape #herbivores https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-026-03071-9

"If #OakTrees are heavily infested by #caterpillars, they react to this the following spring: they delay their leaf emergence by three days... This strategy is highly effective: the three-day delay is sufficient to drastically reduce the #insects’ survival rate. It reduces the damage caused by feeding on the #tree by 55%."

Prague metro construction leads to discovery of new prehistoric species https://english.radio.cz/prague-metro-construction-leads-discovery-new-prehistoric-species-8885616

A new species of Soomaspis (Naraoiidae) from the Upper #Ordovician of Bohemia http://www.geology.cz/bulletin/contents/art1955

"the most surprising aspect of the find is that its closest known relative was previously identified only in southern Africa... Much of #Prague stands on rock formations dating back to the #Paleozoic era, between 541 and 252 million years ago."

These #fish can tell when you’re staring https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/these-fish-know-when-youre-watching-them/

Emperor #cichlids can perceive attention towards their offspring by divers https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/3/251919/480967/Watching-the-watchers-emperor-cichlids-can

"#Animals are so sensitive to eyelike stimuli that we would expect them to find the gaze threatening or scary if it was directed at them. The study goes a step further by showing that the fish might be able to track where the diver is looking at. It’s not just a reflexive response to eyes being straight at them"

Why are mountain #forests in Mexico and Central America hotspots for oak #trees? https://phys.org/news/2026-05-mountain-forests-mexico-central-america.html paper: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2537040123

"Red and white #oaks independently migrated into the #mountains of Mexico about 25 million years ago. The two groups diversified along a parallel path, rapidly evolving into a remarkable array of species. Now, #Mexico and #CentralAmerica are home to at least 160 different oaks: 40% of global diversity... Each #oak species hosts a unique community of life"

Secret night operations between #hawkmoths and Japan's black-nectar flowers https://phys.org/news/2026-04-exposing-secret-night-hawkmoths-japan.html

Black juice in the dark: #Pollination of dark-nectared Jasminanthes mucronata (Apocynaceae) by nocturnal hawkmoths https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.70370

"nocturnal #moths are the main #pollinators of Jasminanthes mucronata, a plant species native to Japan that produces black nectar. This is the first time that a colored nectar flower has been confirmed to be mainly pollinated by nocturnal #insects."

Shell-cracking #turtles defied mass extinction at the end of the #Cretaceous period https://phys.org/news/2026-03-shell-turtles-defied-mass-extinction.html #Paleoart by @JoschuaKnuppe@sauropods.win

Ecological selectivity of diet on turtle K/Pg survivorship https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article/22/3/20250790/481023/Ecological-selectivity-of-diet-on-turtle-K-Pg

"turtles that fed on hard-shelled organisms such as gastropods and bivalves survived the mass #extinction largely unscathed. And they were more than five times more likely to survive than turtles that hunted fish or that were purely herbivorous."

Spectacular fossil treasure trove pushes back origins of complex animals https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-04-03-spectacular-fossil-treasure-trove-pushes-back-origins-complex-animals

The dawn of the #Phanerozoic: A transitional fauna from the late #Ediacaran of Southwest China https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu2291

"A newly discovered fossil site in southwest China has transformed our understanding of how complex animal life emerged on Earth, revealing that many key animal groups had already evolved before the start of the #Cambrian Period."

Metamorphosis in #newts proves costly https://phys.org/news/2026-05-metamorphosis-newts-sex-paying-heavier.html

"In the palmate newt, metamorphosis is optional: depending on conditions, an individual may remain in a paedomorphic state or undergo metamorphosis... The transformation involves both a costly bodily reorganization and a reduction in energy intake... Females begin to lose weight earlier, lose more weight, complete metamorphosis later... males are more frequently observed undergoing metamorphosis... it costs them proportionally less."

Highly and casually active #CitizenScientists contribute equally valuable data
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-highly-casually-citizen-scientists-contribute.html Paper by Erin Grady et al.: https://dx.doi.org/10.5334/cstp.868

"highly active users are seeking out regions that are #biodiversity rich... the bias toward natural areas perpetuated by super-users is partly balanced by those of casual users... you can push back on those biases a little when you're walking your dog or even in your backyard, because we have fewer observations for neighborhoods."

Millipede and centipede ancestors evolved their legs while still underwater https://phys.org/news/2026-05-ancient-sea-fossils-millipede-centipede.html

A marine stem-myriapod from the #Silurian Waukesha Lagerstätte, Wisconsin: terrestrial traits pre-date the transition to land https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/293/2070/20260131/481605/A-marine-stem-myriapod-from-the-Silurian-Waukesha

"a long-lost ancestor of #myriapods already had many unbranched legs while still living underwater. The finding contradicts the idea that this particular type of limb was an adaptation for land."

#Masripithecus: A new #Miocene ape from #Egypt sheds light on the origins of modern apes
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102

"Masripithecus provides a crucial intermediate link between the previously disjunct African and Eurasian fossil records, revealing that #apes were already diversifying in the area and therefore positioned to expand into Europe and Asia as soon as land connections were established."

#ClimateCrisis: Heat Blankets #Australia, Fuels Bushfires
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/152232/heat-blankets-australia-fuels-bushfires

"The #heatwave was especially intense in #WesternAustralia, where temperatures reached above 40°C (104°F), which is up to 10°C (18°F) above normal for the time of year"

#ClimateChange #ExtremeWeather #wildfires #climate

@YannC@piaille.fr Yes! They always look like they are smiling 🖤 💛 🖤

I used to encounter them by chance. This year, I tried for the first time deliberately... and it's not that hard. You can check on iNaturalist where they are often observed: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?subview=map&taxon_id=27726

Best time to see them is at night after rain, when it's below 18 degrees.