New Naturalis future-proof
The place where all aspects of biodiversity come together On Saturday, August 31, Naturalis will reopen to the public. The renovated institute for biodiversity in Leiden is the place for everyone, where both scientists and museum visitors can discover more…
Hot cities shape snail evolution
Citizen science project in Communications Biology The living conditions in cities influence the evolution of urban-dwelling plant and animal species. So-called urban heat islands – pockets of higher temperatures in the city center resulting from a…
Coral expert Bert Hoeksema becomes tenth Naturalis professor
Further strengthening ties with academic institutions Marine biologist Dr. Bert W. Hoeksema of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden has been appointed professor of Tropical Marine Biodiversity at the University of Groningen as of June 1, 2019. This…
Diepenveen-meteorite shows similarities with asteroid Ryugu
Japanese space probe brings comparison material back to earth at the end of 2020 The Diepenveen meteorite hit earth on October 27, 1873, but was only rediscovered for science in 2012 in a private collection. Now a team of 26 researchers from different…
Becky's Blog: Flint, Stock and Barrel
A few months ago, the geology collection manager discovered a gun in her collection. Happily, it was no cause for emergency. This was not a modern gun by any means, but an old flintlock pistol broken into four large pieces. What was it doing in a natural…
Symbiosis as the basis of the forest
Nature publication predicts 10% decrease of biomass in forests if CO2 emissions continue unabated In and around the tangled roots of the forest floor, fungi and bacteria grow with trees, exchanging nutrients for carbon in a vast, global marketplace…
Triceratops timeline
Triceratops, or literally: three-horned face, an iconic dinosaur. Once upon a time, in 2013, researchers from Naturalis made a special discovery. In Wyoming (America) they found the remains of several Triceratopses. Three more expeditions followed and over…
Buried treasure
Becky is museum preparator. Many different tasks fall under this umbrella: cleaning whale bones, preparing study skins of birds and animals, and repairing broken geological samples, for example. However, of all the tasks I do, the most relaxing is washing…
Becky's Blog: A quail tale
Every now and then I am invited to do a special after hours event. Usually this is some kind of live preparation demonstration, the type I used to do regularly in LiveScience in our old museum (and will do again after our new building opens!). I really…