Biodiful

Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature For many Westerners, the very first intimate, emotional bond with nature may not come from a walk in the woods but from early exposure to representations o

Thrilled to see our work published in BioScience! 🐻

“Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature”

Thanks to the thousands of volunteers who joined our campaign and made this possible! 💚

👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...

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Very proud of this paper in BioScience :

« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »

🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !

👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...

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Meet Grimpoteuthis discoveryi, a Dumbo octopus! 🐙💫

Found up to 4,870 m in the NE Atlantic, it glides on ear‑like fins.

It feeds on worms & crustaceans & helps transfer energy through deep‑sea food webs.

Its fragile world face future threats from deep-sea mining ⚠️🌊⛏️

#Biodiful 🌍
photo (c) MBARI

The science of cuteness: where teddy bears’ beauty, comfort and care converge! 🧸✨

Check out our latest paper in The Journal of Positive Psychology, where we explore how beauty & emotional comfort shape our care motivations 🫶🌈❤️

👉 doi.org/10.1080/1743...

#TeddyBears #PositivePsychology 🧪

Check out our new study by Gita Alisa et al., showing that large-scale restoration of coral reefs not only brings back ecological health but recovers aesthetic value to levels of healthy reefs in three years only !

👉 Beauty, biodiversity, and people, all connected 💙

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

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Meet Strigops habroptilus, the kākāpō! 🦜🌿

This flightless parrot from New Zealand is critically endangered, with only 242 left!

It aids forest health by dispersing seeds and pruning vegetation. Thanks to dedicated conservation, its numbers are slowly rising.  

#Biodiful
photo (c) S. Mcinnes
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Conserving the beauty of the world’s reef fish assemblages 💙

Check out our last paper @pnas.org

We mapped what makes reef fish assemblages beautiful worldwide! 🌍

MPAs boost aesthetic, and developing countries have a chance to align conservation with local benefits

doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

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Meet Dracaena cinnabari, the dragon’s blood tree! 🌳🐲🩸

This iconic Socotran species, with its umbrella-like canopy, provides shade, prevents erosion, and supports endemic wildlife.

Classified as Vulnerable, it’s threatened by overgrazing and climate change.

#Biodiful

photo (c) Alex38

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Meet Chrysomallon squamiferum, the volcano snail! 🐚🔥

This deep-sea wonder lives on hydrothermal vents, armored with iron scales. It hosts symbiotic bacteria and supports unique vent life.

⚠️ Already endangered, it faces greater risk if deep-sea mining expands!

#Biodiful
photo (c) Dr Chong Chen
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A fish featuring blue eyes is positioned on the sand, highlighting its unique appearance in a beach setting.

Meet Brachionichthys hirsutus, the spotted handfish! 🐟🖐️

This rare Tasmanian fish walks the seafloor on hand-like fins. As a predator, it helps control invertebrate populations, supporting ecosystem balance.

Critically endangered, it survives in just a few sites 🆘

#Biodiful
photo (c) N. Remy
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Remember the Costa Concordia? Its 2012 shipwreck devastated coralligenous reefs

👉 Our new study shows how active restoration helped revive the biodiversity & aesthetic value of these fragile ecosystems

doi.org/10.1111/rec....

Full recovery takes time, but there’s hope 💙 beneath the surface!

🧪🌍🦑🦤

A baby badger navigating through a layer of leaves, highlighting its small size and distinctive snout.

Meet Mydaus javanensis, the Javan stink badger! 🦡💨

Despite the name, it’s more closely related to skunks than badgers. Found in Java & Sumatra, it defends itself with a powerful odor and helps ecosystems by digging for insects and spreading seeds! 🌱

#Biodiful
photo (c) Chien C. Lee

Meet Eupholus geoffroyi, a beetle 🪲 from New Guinea that glows blue through structural coloration 👉 microscopic scales bend light to create its shimmer! 🌈

Feeding on yam leaves, it shapes plant-herbivore dynamics in tropical forests.

#Biodiful 🌍
photo (c) Chien C. Lee

Close-up of several yellow and purple flowers with curved petals and prominent dark veins, set against a blurred background. The flower looks like a humingbird.

Meet Crotalaria cunninghamii, the green birdflower! 💚

Native to Australian deserts, its blooms mimic birds in flight—a stunning case of floral mimicry. It thrives in sandy soils & supports pollinators in arid zones. Beauty with a purpose!

#Biodiful 🌍

A large green pitcher plant with a striped lip and mottled inner surface sits among dense green foliage.

Meet Nepenthes attenboroughii, a giant pitcher plant from the Philippines!

It traps rainwater in its leaves, creating tiny aquatic worlds. These mini-ponds host unique invertebrates—some found nowhere else!

A whole ecosystem inside a single leaf. 🌱🪰

#Biodiful 🌍
photo (c) Alastair Robinson

Meet Pseudocreobotra wahlbergi, the spiny flower mantis! 🪷

A floral mimic & fierce predator from eastern Africa. It controls insect populations while hiding in plain sight—tiny but mighty for ecosystem health, biodiversity, and balance!

#Biodiful 🌍
photo (c) Jimmy Hoffman

A happy gecko grinning broadly, emphasizing its colorful skin and friendly appearance.

Meet Stenodactylus petrii, the dune gecko! 🦎

It darts ninja-like on sands 🏜️ using its fringed toes & burrow to escape the heat. This little gecko plays a key role in the desert food web by feeding on insects 🪲 & being prey for larger reptiles 🐍 and birds 🦅.

#biodiful
photo (c) M. Bordoli

A large fish navigates its way through water.

Meet Atractosteus spatula the Alligator Gar! This fish is a living fossil & has not changed since 100 M years! It can grow over 3 m and weigh 150 kg!

It has a unique lung-like swim bladder, and eats invasive species like Asian carp, helping maintain ecosystem balance.

#Biodiful 🌍
photo (c) G. Hume

A frog calmly sitting on a branch, showcasing its vivid colors against a backdrop of greenery

Meet Theloderma corticale, the mossy frog! 🐸

Its green-black, bumpy skin makes it a master of camouflage, blending into mossy habitats. 🥷

Endemic to SE Asia, it faces threats from habitat loss & overcollection for the pet trade. Protecting its wetlands is key!

#Biodiful

photo (c) sheilapic76
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Insights from a century of data reveal global trends in ex situ living plant collections - Nature Ecology & Evolution The authors collate a meta-collection of ex situ living plant diversity held in 50 botanical collections worldwide, spanning a century of data and currently containing ~500,000 accessions. Their analy...

🌿 Botanic gardens are full!

👉 A. Cano et al. Jan. 2025
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🔑 This study analyzes a century of data, revealing how living plant collections reached peak capacity due to resource limits. With 40% of plant species at risk, it calls for upscaling botanic gardens!

🌐🧪🌍🦤🦑🪴🍁

A two-story building covered in dense green ivy, with a small balcony and potted plants near the entrance.

I live downtown Montpellier (Fr) and had to get creative with vertical gardening !

Now birds 🐦 & insects 🐞 thrive in this urban ecosystem; it even started creating its own soil & all this keeps my house cool in summer 🥰

Our cities CAN become safe habitats for biodiversity ! 💚🌍

#biodiful
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A large Tacca chantrieri plant featuring long, striking black flowers against a natural backdrop.

Meet Tacca chantrieri, the bat flower 🦇

Its black bract attracts specific pollinators, like flies or beetles drawn to dark or decayed-like colors.

Native to Asia rainforests, habitat loss threatens this orchids. Protecting its ecosystem will ensure its survival!

#Biodiful

photo (c) Ronincmc
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Meet Pipa pipa, the Surinam toad—a fascinating #frog 🐸from South America!

Unlike most frogs, its eggs hatch as froglets on the female’s back!

Master of camouflage & a voracious #predator! 🥷

Like many #amphibians, it’s threatened by #habitatloss & #pollution

#Biodiful
photo (c) F. Deschandol
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Meet Allactaga bullata, the Gobi jerboa ! 💚

This tiny desert hopper plays a vital role in its ecosystem, dispersing seeds and aerating soil as it forages in the Gobi Desert 🏜️

A keystone species in a harsh landscape, it’s nature’s little engineer! ✨

#Biodiful #addMam

photo (c) Klein & Hubert

Meet Spirobranchus giganteus, the colorful Christmas tree worm! 🎄

These marine worms are famous for their spiral christmas tree-like gills.

They create underwater “forests” of beauty, enhancing coral reef health by filtering plankton and improving water quality!

Merry Christmas! 🌈 💙

#biodiful 🦑

Meet Dicyrtomina ornata, a tiny #arthropod from the #collembola family, aka springtails !

They are vital for ecosystems, they decompose organic matter, improve soil, and feed other creatures.

Alongside #mites, #collembola make up 95% of the total soil #arthropod biomass worldwide!

#Soil #Biodiful

Energy flowing across ecosystems from macro to micro scales !

A masterpiece of art and science by Glynn Gorick !

Glynn Gorick stunning artwork work bridges art & science of Earth’s complex systems 🌍💚💙

👉 fishlarvae.org/galleries/a-...

#Gaia #Biodiful

Meet Mycena cyanocephala, a small blue-capped #mushroom in the Mycena genus

Over 1000 species exist in this genus & 58 glow with #bioluminescence #foxfire ✨

#Saprotrophic, they recycle nutrients and are vital for maintening a healthy balance in ecosystems 🌍

#Fungi #Biodiful

(c) photo : R. Harper

Haematopota pluvialis, aka the "Rain Fly" is a widespread biting horsefly in the Northern Hemisphere; they can be a nuisance to humans but they also play an important role in the health and vitality of wet lands ecosystems. The females of this species require a blood meal to reproduce and are attracted to their hosts by their body heat and the carbon dioxide. Adults feed on nectar and plant exudates; only the females bite animals to obtain enough protein from blood to produce eggs. They are a food source for birds and bats. They also contributes to the pollination of flowers. Their larvae feed on organic matter, which contributes to the nutrient cycling. The bird nuthatch, only feed on Haematopota pluvialis during their breeding season.

Today let's meet Haematopota pluvialis, aka the "Rain Fly", a widespread biting horsefly in the Northern Hemisphere.

They can be a nuisance to humans but they also play an important role in the health and vitality of #wetlands ecosystems ! 💚💙

(c) photo, AfroBrazilian

🌿 Do you want tho contribute to research on plant Aesthetics ?

Take this quick, anonymous 5-minute survey :

👉 www.biodiful.org#/plantiful_en

That will help us explore how people perceive plant beauty in urban spaces !

Please SHARE to reach more participants ! 🌼🌸🏵️

Thanks 💚