What has a mouth but cannot speak, a bed but doesn't sleep & cuts a species in two before you can think? Okay yes, our Monday riddle game is bad...but nevertheless check out how two rivers in Argentine Patagonia have acted as physical barriers to rodents of the genus Ctenomys!🌍🧪👇
buff.ly/aSZAyKu
Allopatry is often assumed as a necessity in population divergence & speciation in birds & mammals, but that may not always be the case! Here, the divergence-with-gene-flow of the Stripe-crowned Spinetail was assessed, providing evidence of divergence in shaping evolution! 🌍🧪
doi.org/10.1093/biol...
Here, the impact of fire & frost on ecological networks in the Cerrado was monitored, finding that fire initially promoted more widespread networks as resources increased, but tree fauna sensitive to disturbance led to a decline in ant species on certain branches! (2/2) 🧪🌍
doi.org/10.1093/biol...
Two black ants (species unknown) are seen on a branch feeding from an extrafloral nectary. They look like little green puddles. In the bottom right hand corner, a second image is obvious in a green bordered box, of a small orange ant having a drink from a water droplet on a leaf. If you have seen the movie Ants, it is reminiscent of this. Its got nothing to do with extrafloral nectaries, but it's cute none the less (and the ant is much more ant-shaped than the black ants).
Wild, fire, ant-action! 📸
Many plants have evolved extrafloral nectaries to build mutualistic relationships with ants, creating complex networks between species. Understanding how they react to environmental disturbance is key to predicting ecosystem dynamics, especially in today's climate...(1/2)
Written by guest blogger Scarlet Forrester, it was inspired by a paper in our Biological Journal which not only expands our understanding of beetle communication, but also the many uses of bioacoustics in research. You can read it here: doi.org/10.1093/biol... 🧪🌍 (2/2)
A beautifully drawn scarab beetle holds a tiny trumpet with its front legs, with the word toot written at the end to show it is in fact playing the instrument, we just can't hear it. Drawn by Scarlet Forrester.
We're finally listening to women!
Our latest #ThePaperTrail blog delves into the hidden world of beetle bioacoustics, attempting to understand why a special species of scarab beetle screams at predators (say that 10x fast)! You can read it here 🌍🧪👇🪲 (1/2)
www.linnean.org/news/2026/03...
Hatsonomy is a field we'd love to publish papers on
Your palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy,
come write a blog, our journals are ready
You better lose yourself in the writing
the journals, you know it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to show
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime, yo
Processes of evolution can change over time, resulting in compositional & exchange rate tree heterogeneity...curious to know what the means for phylogenetics? Check out this paper 👇🌍🧪
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
📣 Call for Volunteers!
Are you an early career researcher? University student? Science communicator? Know someone who is? We're always looking for new Guest Bloggers to contribute to our journal blog The Paper Trail! Find out more about it & apply below 👇🌍🧪
Sea slugs, see slugs, on the sea floor. Sea slugs, see slugs, cryptic no more!
By integrating host use & dispersal ability with species delimitation, the radiation of an unusual group of photosynthetic (you read that right) sea slugs is revealed! 🌍🧪🌊
Very excited to have my latest paper published in @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social We explored the colonisation history and genetic differentiation of Arctic charr in Scotland identifying cross-catchment patterns facilitated by ice-dammed lakes at the end of the last ice age
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
We couldn't do it without our authors, and we look forward to another year of ground breaking research published with us. (4/4)
If you want to be part of our history, why not consider one of our journals as the home for your research this year? Find out how below 👇
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/p...
We reinvest back into our journals through our expert Editorial Office, ensuring a high-quality peer review process. Additionally, we promote authors’ work & showcase the research we publish through blogs, online lectures & in-person events, making science accessible to all (3/4). 🌍🧪
As a not-for-profit organisation, the research published with us goes directly towards funding our community outreach & engagement. Most notably, this includes our historical collections, extensive education and events programmes, and our prestigious medals, prizes and awards. (2/4) 🌍🧪
Why not publish your research with a Society Journal? 🧪🌍
The Linnean Society is committed to publishing high-quality and ground-breaking scientific research across the four themes of botany, zoology, biology and evolution, striving to make these accessible & engaging to a global audience. 🧵(1/4)
We build up the voices of those publishing with us, offering opportunities to share their expertise, expand their audiences & receive recognition for their hard work through our journal blog, events programme & PhD student prizes. We're proud to do this, as we are proud of our community. (3/3)
The value of our journal community is immense; it supports our work to fund education programmes, care for our collections & offer medals & awards for ground breaking individuals across the spectrum of natural history. In return, we have our own role to play: supporting those who support us. (2/3)
As a Society Journal, it's not just the work that we publish that's important, but what that work goes on to support. This blog post sums up our role as a place for research perfectly: we help to shape the very systems through which people access knowledge...a 🧵(1/3) 🧪🌍
buff.ly/OymWe9o
Inspired by a paper in our #SpecialIssue "Mobilizing Natural History Collections in the Global South", this blog inspects the barriers many have faced in this field, shining a light on the work that still needs to be done. An important discussion this #IWD2026.
Read it here:
doi.org/10.1093/biol...
If history is written by the victors, who are the victors in science?
Our latest #ThePaperTrail blog delves into who was holding the pen in taxonomy - a historically male-dominated field - using spiders as a case study. The answer probably won't shock you...🧪🌍
www.linnean.org/news/2026/03...
What can spider names tell us about the tangled web of author inequalities?
A recent paper in @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social by Montana et al. looked at every spider described from the Americas in 1946-2021, analysing over 9,000 species and nearly 600 researchers.
Read more:
The Jacobin cuckoo sits atop a bright green branch, probably plotting which unsuspecting Bulbul it will leave its eggs with next. It looks rather dapper with its bright white throat and long black tail feathers.
Bulbuls consistently rejected large eggs, and did not feed nestlings with mismatching skin colour. However, in some cases they rejected their own brood if the foreign egg hatched first, suggesting a role of hatching-order! Want to learn more? Read the full paper 🧪🌍 (2/2)
doi.org/10.1093/biol...
Twelve pictures of Bulbul nest are ordered A-L, showing differing clutches of eggs (A-F) and nestlings (G-L).
The original cuckold, cuckoos are known for their brood parasitism, but do their unwilling hosts ever catch on? Using red-vented bulbuls as a case study (the host of the Jacobin cuckoo), the role off egg size & nestling discrimination were investigated, but what did it show? A (tiny) 🧵🧪(1/2)
Two birds - a crested tit to the left and a coal tit to the right - sit atop a snowy branch against a grey background.
Call for Papers! 📣
Following on from our fantastic symposium last year, we're running a #SpecialIssue on "Organismal Resilience in a Rapidly Changing World"! Does your work look at #ClimateChange impacts on species? Submit with us! Deadline 20 May 2026 👇🌍🧪
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/p...
Tested at 100, 90 & 80% dehydration, it was found these frogs were NOT jumping for joy, with reduced endurance & jumping activity recorded. However, their metabolic traits remained unaffected. Together, this may aid dispersal & persistence in new urban environments! (2/2) 🧪🌍
doi.org/10.1093/biol...
A red eyed tree frog sits on a bright green leaf looking to its left. What is it thinking, we don't know, but we do know it is green with orange feet.
Water pickle, tolerance to dehydration potentially enables invasive anuran species to survive in new environments! Here, the impact of dehydration on locomotor performance & aerobic capacity in the whistling frog, an established species in SE Brazil, was investigated...a 🧵 (1/2)
Admit what you've done! Stop trying to pull the wool over their eyes @themerl.bsky.social 🧪🐏
Two storks sit atop a large nest of sticks backlit by a bright blue sky.
Click click click...is that your manager angrily typing on a keyboard? No! It's the clattering of stork bills, giving a voice to these voiceless birds!
Important for courtship, did you know longer bills produce faster clicks? Turns out size does matter...🧪🌍
doi.org/10.1093/biol...
#Conservation
Dani and Connor presenting at the Linnean Society, they are both smiling. In the backround is a historic chair and portrait of Carl Linnaeus.
Close up of someone cutting out a picture of a bird for a zine page. In the background are a colourful array of pens and materials to make a collage
A group of people, all smiling, on the stage together at the Linnean Society
We had a wonderful time yesterday at Exploring Queerness in Natural History.
We're writing up it up to share in a future blog post, but for now here are some pictures of our fantastic curators @aquadan1.bsky.social and Connor Butler, the lunchtime zine-making, and our afternoon panellists.