New study alert! Female Daubenton’s bats foraging at the cold edge of their range take turns using the same feeding spots at different times of night, thus reducing competition and helping them cope with the cold.
Read the full story here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Close-up of a large, layered coral specimen with wavy, plate-like formations displayed on a transparent acrylic shelf inside a dark exhibition case at the Humboldt Lab.
A large museum display case arranged like a grid of transparent shelves shows numerous coral specimens of different shapes and sizes, from branching to dome-shaped, against a dark background at the Humboldt Lab.
The collection soon slipped into obscurity. Now it’s re-emerging: around two thirds of our Cuban corals are on public display nationwide – with a new diorama in the making. ✨
See them:
• Bundeskunsthalle Bonn ⬆️
• Humboldt Lab, Humboldt Forum #Berlin ⬇️
• upcoming in #Stralsund
2/2
📸 Philipp Plum
A museum display case at the Bundeskunsthalle with a bright blue interior shows various coral specimens arranged on stepped shelves. At the center sits a large wooden crate labeled “Zoologisches Institut Berlin – Habana,” suggesting the collection’s origin. Surrounding it are different coral forms—branching, rounded, and textured—presented as scientific specimens. The lighting highlights the contrast between the pale corals and the vivid blue background.
A long-hidden coral collection – now visible across Germany! 🪸
In 1967, a team from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin travelled to the coast of #Cuba to extract an entire reef. The plan failed – but they returned with ~50 crates of coral (8–10 tonnes!). 🧵 1/2
📸 Mick Vincenz
Das @mfnberlin.bsky.social sammelt eure Stimmen zur Wasserzukunft in Berlin und Brandenburg. Wir unterstützen das Projekt rund um den #Masterplan Wasser Berlin. Euer Beitrag zählt: Kommt vorbei, bringt euch ein. Auch online: Auf naturderdinge.de könnt ihr euer Wasserobjekt hochladen.
17.02.2026 12:40 — 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
When #science meets polarised #public issues, communication matters. In #encore, we dedicate a full chapter to shifting conditions of #scicomm, public trust & #democracy. Featuring @jeah.bsky.social + impact from #KAPAZ strengthening resilience to #hostility.
✨ Explore chapter: www.hiig.de/encore/
Chancengleichheit bei Leibniz - Heute wie an jedem Tag! Unsere Institute beschäftigen sich in in unterschiedlichen Formaten das ganze Jahr über mit dem Thema Chancengleichheit. Schaut auf ihren Kanälen vorbei - einen kleinen Auszug der Aktivitäten findet ihr in den Slides. Happy #WomenInScienceDay ❤️
11.02.2026 13:40 — 👍 17 🔁 8 💬 1 📌 0
Book cover of “Urbane Mikrometeorite – erkennen und unterscheiden” by Thilo Hasse, featuring micrometeorite with a textured, partly translucent surface in purple and golden tones against a light background.
Micrometeorite showing a porous, bubble-like surface structure with a lighter interior cavity, shaped by melting and rapid cooling.
Magnified micrometeorite with an irregular, dark, partially melted surface and sculpted flow textures formed during atmospheric entry.
Cosmic particles on the rooftops of #Berlin! ✨
Since 2018, Thilo Hasse researches #micrometeorites, now as a guest scientist at the museum. He also contributed to our #CitizenScience project "Cosmic dust on Berlin's rooftops". His new book shares the methods behind it! 🔬
🔗 bit.ly/urbane-mikro...
#SuperbOwl @mfnberlin.bsky.social
08.02.2026 19:19 — 👍 6 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Figure plate designed as a collage of digitised material showing a specimen of Anthracoceros malayanus (black hornbill) alongside its original collection labels.
Figure plate designed as a collage of digitised material showing a specimen of Macrobrachium idae (freshwater prawn) and its original collection labels.
Figure plate designed as a collage of digitised material showing a specimen of Prionailurus bengalensis (leopard cat) together with its associated collection labels.
Collaboration across continents! 🌏
Together with the #SIGNIFY team (Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum), we digitised 397 specimens from #Singapore, incl. 40 types. 🇸🇬
Highlights:
🐦 black hornbill
🐱 leopard cat (CR nationally)
🦐 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘶𝘮 𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘦 (nationally extinct)
Full data online soon! 🌐
Artenschutz zum Hinhören: 14 Lauttypen, individuelle „akustische Fingerabdrücke“ & saisonale Muster bei der Fledermausart Große Mausohren.🦇 Lisa Printz zeigt im #DBUstipendium @mfnberlin.bsky.social, wie Bioakustik hilft, Paarungsquartiere zu erkennen www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/de/museum/me...
27.01.2026 12:11 — 👍 8 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Cats’ purrs reveal who’s who better than their meows! 🐈
A new study shows: purrs carry more stable individual signatures than meows. Meows are more flexible, especially in human-cat communication. 👥
▶️ How meows cluster by species in acoustic space
🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#science #cats
💧Das #Wasser und Wir👉Wie sichern wir Berlins Wasserzukunft? Bevölkerungswachstum, #Klimakrise und #Kohleausstieg stellen die Versorgung vor neue Herausforderungen. Zwei kostenlose Veranstaltungen im #Naturkundemuseum.
ℹ️ sohub.io/6rbc
#VHSBerlin @mfnberlin.bsky.social @bwassertisch.bsky.social
Three-dimensional longitudinal section model of the fossil flower Canarium leenhoutsii from Miocene Zhangpu amber.
3D models of fossil flowers help reconstruct past ecosystems. Such findings provide analogues to better understand how tropical biomes may respond to ongoing #climatechange. 🌏
Simon’s doctoral research was awarded the museum’s von Pawel-Rammingen Doctoral Thesis Award! 🏆 (3/3)
📸 2023 Beurel et al.
Fossil flower of Canarium leenhoutsii preserved in Miocene Zhangpu amber.
For his PhD, Simon Beurel (see above) studied fossil flower inclusions in 15-million-year-old amber from #China. Using X-ray imaging, he identified two previously unknown species of the tree genus 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮. 🌳 (2/3)
📸 2023 Beurel et al.
Researcher Simon Beurel in his office, holding one of the amber inclusions he studied.
When #amber becomes a time machine! ⏳
Fossilised resin can preserve insects and #plants for millions of years. These inclusions act as time capsules of Earth’s history – and as valuable sources of knowledge for #research. 🧵 (1/3)
#science #sciencenews
Digitale Mittagspause Fr. 27. Februar 2026, 12-13 Uhr. IQ Wasser: Artenvielfalt gemeinsam erforschen. Jetzt anmelden!
Wie steht es um die biologische Vielfalt in und um unsere Trinkwasser-Reservoire – und wie können Bürger*innen zur Forschung beitragen?
In der digitalen Mittagspause von mit:forschen! gibt Julia Flister vom @mfnberlin.bsky.social Einblicke in „IQ Wasser”.
ℹ️ www.mitforschen.org/veranstaltun...
Book cover showing a historical mineral specimen from Martin Heinrich Klaproth’s collection, associated with the discovery of uranium.
Did you know uranium was discovered in #Berlin? 🤔
In 1789, chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth identified a new element in pitchblende – #uranium. The samples are part of our collection. A new museum book tells this and many more stories! 📘
📅 Book event on 28 January, 18:00
🔗 bit.ly/uranentdeckung
Pinned butterfly specimen of Olynthus hypsea with spread wings, photographed for scientific documentation.
Close-up of a velvet ant (Dasymutilla gloriosa), a wingless wasp, from the entomological collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
High-resolution close-up of a metallic green flower chafer beetle (Potosia aeruginosa), a member of the subfamily Cetoniinae, from the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
Happy birthday, #Wikipedia! 🎉
To mark its 25th anniversary, we share 25 openly licensed images on #Wikimedia Commons. The specimens shown here highlight only a small part of this diversity.
🔗 View more: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
📸 Eran Wolff (1, 3), Bernhard Schurian (2)
Several visitors stand in the museum around moving boxes filled with bird specimens and take part in a participatory workshop for the development of the special exhibition "ZUGvögel – Collection in motion".
How does 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 shape public engagement? 📍
The collaborative encyclopedia "Place in Engagement" explores how spaces and encounters influence collaboration and knowledge exchange. 🤝
🔗 zenodo.org/records/1796...
📸 Thomas Rosenthal
#publicengagement #openscience
#science #sciencenews
Delegation of @leibnizlib.bsky.social #Bonn visiting @mfnberlin.bsky.social the lab of @rudolf-meier.bsky.social sneaking in rapid #biodiversity methods... 😎
14.01.2026 10:26 — 👍 7 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 1
Mapping myriapods of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin: @mfnberlin.bsky.social - over 15,000 myriapod records reveal historical areas of collecting activity from Germany, the Balkans and the Alps to Africa, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.
See the full study here: doi.org/10.3897/zse....
Mounted barn owl displayed in the exhibition "ZUGvögel – A Collection in Motion", shown inside a transport box as part of the temporary relocation of the historic bird collection.
We wish you a peaceful Christmas season! ✨
The barn owl’s flight is almost silent. In winter, snow absorbs sound – we hardly hear them. Yet they listen with great precision. A reminder for this time of year: less noise, more attention, better listening! 🦉🌱
Oben ist eine Larve von P. lividus mit UMAP-Analyse vor schwarzem Hintergrund zu sehen. Darauf sind Neuronen grün, Muskeln pink, Epidermis blau, Skelett gelb, Verdauuungstrakt oliv, Coelomocyeten lila, Wassergefäßsystem altrosa. Unten: Titel des im Post verlinkten Artikels „Mehr Hirn als Muskel“ sowie dessen Vorspann „Stachelhäuter wie Seesterne oder Seeigel galten lange als „kopflos“ mit simplem Nervensystem. Neue Studien legen nun jedoch das komplette Gegenteil nahe.” Links daneben befindet sich ein Icon mit Smartphone und Magazinseite sowie dem Schriftzug „online lesen!“. In der rechten unteren Ecke befindet sich das Laborjournal Logo.
Der erste Absatz des verlinkten Artikels.
Von wegen „kopflos“!
Neue Transkriptomdaten bringen neue Erkentnisse zum reichlich komplexen Nervensystem der #Stachelhäuter! Mehr dazu im Editorial von Larissa Tetsch:
www.laborjournal.de/editorials/3...
#laborjournal #lifesciences #echinodermata #seeigel #evolutionsbiologie
Trolley with skulls of large cats in front of glass cabinet with other skulls
Leopard skull with label and scale on black cloth in a photo station at the museum, glass cabinets with skulls and skeletons in the background
Tiger skull from the front showing a marked underbite
For my current project, I’ve been rummaging (gently) around the collections of large cats at the @mfnberlin.bsky.social. There’s some really exciting stuff there, from ancient labels to named zoo cats and interesting pathologies. Big thanks to the people here for the opportunity & their support! 🐯🦁🐆
16.12.2025 07:15 — 👍 11 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0
Roter Banner: TABLE FORUM BIODIVERSITÄT mit dem Zitat "Wir müssen die biologische Vielfalt des Lebens schützen -dringender denn je"
Biodiversität ist kein Luxus! Sie ist die Grundlage für Klimastabilität, Ernährung und Gesundheit.
Leibniz Biodiversität @pik-potsdam.bsky.social & seine Mitglieder @mfnberlin.bsky.social & @sgn.one berichten bei @table.media über wissenschaftliche Erkenntniswege in die Praxis.🔗 tinyurl.com/2bjpst6c
A close-up of the colourful tree snail Amphidromus roseolabiatus
A close-up of the land snail Ganesella procera
A detailed view of the land snail Dioryx messageri
Thriving #biodiversity! 🐌
An international team led by #mfnberlin documented 116 snail species in Vietnam's Cuc Phuong National Park – 47 likely new to #science! Up to 184 species may live there, making it a global hotspot for terrestrial snails. 🌏
🔗 bdj.pensoft.net/article/1632...
📸 K. v. Oheimb
Image with a photo element and text announcing the training "Mapping Evaluation in Public Engagement: From Idea to Structure". It takes place online on 11 December from 10:00 to 13:00 CET.
Evaluation isn't just spreadsheets – it shows what our research really changes! 🌍
This training helps you build practical, creative approaches to measuring impact. Expert Anastasia Voloshina shares insights from five years with the BROMACKER Project. 🦎🔨
🔗 Register here: winoda.de/en/event/pub...
Modell eines Mistkäfers
Ein Mistkäfer zum Anfassen: Im @mfnberlin.bsky.social können blinde ebenso wie sehende Besucher:innen mit einem responsiven Käfermodell interagieren, das bei Berührung Audioinhalte abspielt. Mehr dazu auf #MAKURA: makura.de/diskurse-ana...
19.11.2025 11:07 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & Johannes Vogel im Gespräch in der Reihe "Wissenschaft, natürlich!", 19.11.25, 18:00.
Was können Wissenschaften und Forschungsmuseen zur Stärkung der Gesellschaft beitragen?
👉 Heute am WZB in der Reihe "Wissenschaft, natürlich!": Präsidentin Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln & Johannes Vogel, Generaldirektor @mfnberlin.bsky.social, im Gespräch.
Kommt gerne vorbei:
www.wzb.eu/de/veranstal...
Unpacking legal narratives in natural history ⚖️
Heritage & Justice is a digital colloquium exploring how legal and ethical frameworks shape natural history collections and their colonial legacies. 🌍
📅 Next session: 12 Nov, 13:00–14:00 CET
💻 Open to all via Zoom
🔗 bit.ly/3Ly2k1G
📸 P. Castagnola
