Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society

Hybrid Day Meeting | Organismal resilience in a rapidly changing world Join us at the Linnean Society for a one-day symposium focused on the mechanisms and consequences of variation in organismal resilience

Speaker spotlight!
@trishschulte.bsky.social studies how fishes' physiology, biochemistry & genetics adapt to challenging environmental conditions, like high temperature.

Hear from her at our symposium on 20 November. Online & in person tickets available.

Minias et al ultimately propose whiskers serve multiple non-exclusive functions, with their cuteness just an added bonus! Want to know more? Read the full paper in our journal below (6/6) 👇🌍🧪
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

@linneansociety.bsky.social

Four images showing the diversity of passerine birds. . Moving clockwise from left to right, Purple starling (Lamprotornis purpureus) which has a dark purple plumage and bright yellow eyes, Javan White-Eye (Zosterops flavus) a small yellow bird with flecks of blue feathers, Common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) which is mostly brown aside from its grey chest feathers, European Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) a blue bird with a brown underbelly and a distinctive black stripe running from its beak to the back of its head.

As for their function? Strong evidence was found for longer & more numerous whiskers on invertivorous species & those foraging in the air, suggesting they assist prey capture. What's more, species living in dense habitats had longer whiskers, pointing to a role in sensory navigation! (5/6)

Two whisker plots showing the difference in number & length of bird whiskers across granivore, omnivore and invertivore species.

Interestingly, whilst there was significance in the number of whiskers at both genus & family level, this was only true at genus level for the length of whiskers, suggesting they have evolved only recently & independently among families! (4/6)

Testing for evolutionary links between length & number of whiskers with passerine ecology, life history, biogeography & morphology, Minias et al ringed over 1300 birds between 2020-2023. Their aim? To reveal the evolutionary predictors of whisker traits at a genus & family level! (3/6)

A nightingale sits upon a small branch with its mouth open, likely singing.

Using phylogenetics, Prof Piotr Minias and co took it upon themselves to investigate their functional evolution in Old World passerines, the largest order of birds with high phylogenetic diversity. But what were they looking for? (2/6)

Why Do Birds Have Whiskers? Discover the latest news from The Linnean Society of London.

📣New Blog Day! 🚨

Ever wondered why birds have whiskers? Many theories have been proposed, from eye protection to prey capture, but all lacked conclusive scientific evidence...until now! Guest blogger Michael Sellgren breaks this down in our latest blog, a 🧵(1/6)🌍🧪

www.linnean.org/news/2025/08...

Submit your research with us or simply join us for our symposium on Organismal Resilience in a Rapidly Changing world! Register via the link below 👇🌍🧪https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/pages/organismal-resilience

An anole lizard with a protruding orange dewlap sits on a shaded log.

We know we know, you're dying to know what's new in the world of Adaptive Radiation...well wonder no more! Here, Julia Day, @jameststroud.bsky.social, @fishspeciation.bsky.social & María del Rosario Castañeda discuss it in their Editorial below 👇🌍🧪
doi.org/10.1093/evol...

On the left, bats are seen flying out of a gap in the forest canopy, and on the right, 3 large flying foxes are hanging upside on a branch.

How, when & where animals move during mating periods can direct gene flow in species. Here, the impact of migratory behaviour on population structure in 17 species of bat was studied, revealing no link to genetic structure or diversity in general! 🌍🧪🦇
Bat to the research...
doi.org/10.1093/biol...

How many hippos did Sicily home? Using a jaw from Amoroso Cave, morphological comparisons revealed the presence of at least 2 taxa! Further research can help uncover the palaeobiology & environment of Pleistocene Sicily...🌍🧪🦛
doi.org/10.1093/zool...

What's more, another specimen found in the stomach of a sperm whale from the Antarctic was not found to fit into any Oegopsid family, described here as a new species: Mobydickia poseidonii! I wonder if you can guess the inspiration...(2/2) 🐋🦑🧪
@linneansociety.bsky.social
@cefafalopodo.bsky.social

Cryptic biodiversity challenges assessments of global biodiversity & ecosystem health, including in the ocean. Here, morphology & DNA of Ancistrocheirus lesueurii was studied, revealing ~6 cryptic species! You've gotta be squidding me...🌍🧪🦑 (1/2)
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

A rainforest river in Colombia, showing the type location for the new species. Green forest surrounds the brown-looking water, running over rocks.

A new genus of heptaperid catfish from Colombia, forgotten like your typical middle child, is described here using samples from the Magdalena basin & ichthyological collections. Using molecular analysis, 4 new endemic species are identified! Another catfish-tery solved...🌍🧪👇
doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Noodle Bodies, Gyroscope Ears, and Phantom Girdles | Limb Reduced Lizards Noodle bodies, gyroscope ears, and phantom girdles. Peeking inside the strange, hidden world of limb-reduced lizards

Join us online as Dr Marco Camaiti reveals the hidden world of limb-reduced lizards! Discover how skinks have evolved "noodle-like" bodies, phantom bones & strange internal anatomy...all revealed with cutting-edge imaging. Join us at 12:30pm Wednesday 13th August! 👇🌍🧪

Four images of different species of leafhopper, top left being orange and blue, top right being bright green and veined like a leaf, bottom left brown and bottom right pale yellow.

Leafhoppers, those tiny jumpy insects inhabiting the Old World tropics, are good models for understanding biogeographic forces shaping this region. Here, phylogenetics helped identify the origin of the Roxasella lineage as mainland SE Asia & describe 12 new species! 🧪🌍👇
doi.org/10.1093/zool...

The phylogeny & diversification of bromeliads is shown with a colour image of a bromeliad in situ at the centre, surrounded by a time-calibrated tree and sketches of different seed types on the right hand side.

Bromeliads are one of the most diverse Neotropical flora, but why are they so diverse? Here, molecular phylogeny is used to understand this in 1268 taxa...revealing how geological & climatic events shaped their evolution! 🧪🌍👇
academic.oup.com/botlinnean/a...

My bromeli-bad for the lack of puns...

Map of the sampling sites for the frog, showing a globe highlighting Brazil in green, the sampling sites within the forest in orange, yellow, purple and blue, and a small image of the frog itself in the lower right hand corner.

Froget it's Monday by learning about subtropical Proceratophrys frogs! Found in the Araucaria Forest, DNA evidence suggests their diversity is the result of marine transgression, highlighting the role of climate in diversification!

A ribbiting read 👇🐸🌍🧪
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

Sauropod tracks from the Central Sayr A site, showing in situ tracks overturned to reveal their plantar surface. Sketches of each footprint help identify its shape from the surrounding orange rock.

Life reconstruction images of the feet of the trackmaker, showing the right manus and left pes. Roman numerals indicate digit positions. Illustrated by Khoi Nguyen.

Titanosaur-sum discovery! Well-preserved tracks of Nemegt sauropods from S Mongolia have revealed novel insights into soft tissue anatomy & function, including scales that may have helped with scratch digging on sandy surfaces! 🧪🌍🦕

academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
@linneansociety.bsky.social

New paper day! Phil Bell led a great study on some *INSANELY COOL* titanosaur tracks our expedition found in Mongolia. The scales in particular are extra awesome - they're like little pyramids, and they *may* have helped with scratch digging and/or walking on sandy surfaces!

Five images of the angiosperm Crinum campanulatumin in situ, showing pink flowers pollinated by different species of bee and moth.

Did you know bees like smelly flowers? Research on an aquatic angiosperm Crinum campanulatum revealed a shift from nocturnal pollination by hawkmoths to diurnal pollination by bees, associated with smaller flowers and increased diurnal scent! Find out why below 🧪🌍👇
academic.oup.com/botlinnean/a...

Gren cacti overlook the ocean and a cliff face on La Palma island, Gran Canaria

Our understanding of species colonisation of oceanic islands has exploded, revealing unknown multiple colonisation events! Using a species complex of endemic weevils on the Canary Islands, the consequences of multiple colonisation dynamics were explored🌍 🧪 👇
academic.oup.com/evolinnean/a...

Photograph and illustration of the skull of the new neotype of Aspidosaurus chiton in dorsal view. The skull is an orange-brown color, longer than wide, and largely undistorted.

New paper out today in @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social for #FossilFriday AKA here's-Bryan's-one-paleo-paper-this-year-to-remind-people-I-still-do-paleo-sometimes: a revision of the #Permian #dissorophid #temnospondyl Aspidosaurus chiton based on a new specimen: doi.org/10.1093/zool... (1/n)

Bee attack leaves dozens of people injured in French town Three were in critical condition but have since improved after incident in Aurillac, south-central France

The impact of #asianhornets - a super stimuli causing rwdirected aggression by bees towards humans. #bees #invasivespecies #ecology @cieem.bsky.social @britishecologicalsociety.org @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Chromatic confessions of salt stressed plants: AI to read between the… Discover the latest news from The Linnean Society of London.

New Blog Day!

Guest blogger @benraby.bsky.social breaks down a recent paper in our #Botanical journal, investigating the use of modern technology to detect salt stress in plants. What did the research show? A 🧵 (1/6) 🧪🌍🌿

www.linnean.org/news/2025/07...

The promise of composite likelihood for species-level phylogenomic inference Abstract. Species-level phylogenetic inference under the multispecies coalescent model remains challenging in the typical infe- rence frameworks (e.g., the

Ever wondered how the tree of life is pieced together? Species-level phylogenetic inference remains challenging, but here @sungsik.bsky.social & co have developed a composite likelihood framework that handles SNP & multilocus data, improving species tree estimation!
academic.oup.com/evolinnean/a...

Photograph of the statue of Charles Darwin in Shrewsbury viewed through progress pride flag-coloured filter.

WOW! My 2021 article 'Darwin's Closet: The Queer Sides of The Descent of Man (1871)' @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social has been viewed over 50K times!

I'm working hard on the book. For more about that, watch this space! 🌈🐒📚

academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a... @oxfordacademic.bsky.social #histsci #Pride 🗃️

Revised phylogeography of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) reveals new insights into genetic structure across Australia Abstract. Understanding genetic relationships within species is essential for identifying distinct genetic lineages and informing conservation strategies,

We're not playing (dead), you'll enjoy this! New research by Shelby Middleton reveals a revised taxonomy & new sub-species of Australia's brush-tailed possum! Could you possumbly get more cute? Impossumable! 🌍🧪👇

academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

@linneansociety.bsky.social @pezoporus.bsky.social

Possum puzzle solved: Study reveals unexpected genetic diversity in WA Edith Cowan University (ECU) research has found new insights into the genetic structure of the common brushtail possum, including an additional subspecies in Western Australia.

Hullo possums! New research published in our @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social journal reveals genetic diversity of possums. phys.org/news/2025-06...

Check out these lizards! And these lizards! ANDES lizards! 🦎🌍🧪