Nomen
Heat lover
Many holidaymakers seek out the warmth each year, but this deep-sea snail lives at truly extreme temperatures. The scaly-foot snail, also known as the volcano snail or sea pangolin, lives at around three kilometres depth near hydrothermal vents, which can reach temperatures well above 300 degrees Celsius. These hydrothermal vents are outlets around volcanoes where magma heats the seawater and expels it – along with toxic chemicals – to the outside.
The walking palm
When we think of migrating organisms, trees setting off on their own travels may not be the first thing that springs to mind. Yet there is a palm in...
A lodger in the limelight
With no fewer than 38 per cent of the votes, the large reed cigar gall fly (Lipara lucens) won this year's Insect of the...
The Resurrection Plant of Jericho
Easter breakfast may be just over, but anyone looking for a fun Easter decoration next year might find their answer in the rose of...
The knot: a scientist’s fingerprint
The knot (Calidris canutus) occupies an uncontested first place in the research output of migratory bird ecologist Theunis Piersma, as revealed by his 'fingerprint'...
The coffee tree of contradictions
The name Kentucky coffee tree does not promise much, yet 312 Dutch tree nurserymen and traders Gymnocladus dioica voted Tree of the Year 2026....
Pioneer plant
When the first plants ventured onto land some 450 million years ago, the result probably looked something like common liverwort. From a distance it...
Star out of place
The Star of Bethlehem is a popular houseplant and hanging plant, abundantly covered in star-shaped flowers, yet it does not bloom around Christmas and does not occur naturally in Palestine.
The resilient beer worm
An endangered beer worm that spent its life in 'damp beer mats in Silesia' is now turning up all over the world as a free-living microworm.
Declining gull
The common gull is not to blame, but does appear to have ended up in the PVV logo. An opportunistic bird that now depends above all on migration.