Do calcareous sponges count as #FossilFriday? Representing a relic group with unresolved taxonomy, here researchers investigated their systematics using morphology & molecular tools! Finding 5 distinct types of skeleton, convergent evolution & cryptic species may abound...🧪🌍 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Despite their enormous size, the early fossil record of titanosauriforms is very small, keeping their early evolution a mystery. Alleged titanosaurs have been found in early Cretaceous layers, making them the stratigraphically oldest reps of this clade, but are they really? 🧪 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Island hopping is not restricted to holidaying in Greece, but also an evolutionary strategy by Caribbean Pitcairnia - a group of terrestrial plants in the Bromeliad family! Here, it was found they likely radiated from Venezuela to the islands 200,000 years ago... academic.oup.com/botlinnean/a...

Scientific nomenclature is ostensibly a neutral system for identifying biodiversity, yet it remains deeply linked to the cultural & intellectual history of its practitioners. Here, Taro Yoshimura introduces the concept of taxonomic Graecism & its prevalence within Mollusca..but what does this mean?

With the closure of the Itshmus of Panama & acceleration of Andean uplift, many American lineages diversified. The leaf-toed gecko is one example, where a time calibrated phylogeny revealed North & Central American lineages to be older, suggesting dispersal across land & sea! 🌍🧪👇 buff.ly/3bybFuD

It's #SaveTheFrogsDay today, and we're hopping you'll enjoy this ribbiting new blog by Caroline Sgorbati! Looking at the incredibly diverse family of Ceratobatrachidae frogs, it delves into how these freshwater amphibians conquered islands in the Pacific...🌍🧪🐸

You've gotta be squidding me! A study on 680 species of cephalopod found larger, more streamlined species were adapted to hunting in open waters, whilst compact, non-streamlined species thrived in specialised habitats! Someone let the sperm whales know...🌍👇🧪

Biased sampling of Lauraceae, a family with over 3000 species, means its diversification history remains poorly understood despite its prevalence in the tropics. Here, plastome sequencing of 16 genera significantly improves our understanding, revealing divergent spatial patterns! 🌍🧪

This #FossilFriday we're looking at the axial skeleton of the Sauropodomorph Macrocollum itaquii, an early 'prosauropod' that shows features of derived & plesiomorphic traits! 🌍🧪👇 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Our new paper published in @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social on the osteology and neuroanatomy of the crocodyliform Koumiodontosuchus. Great study led by @christijanibarker.bsky.social with @tetzoo.bsky.social et al academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a... @linneansociety.bsky.social @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social

As the sole living genera of an ancient order of reptiles, tuataras are key for fossil comparisons of extinct species & modern lepidosaurs (lizards & snakes). Here, their axial skeleton is described in detail, offering new insights to this unique creature...Tuatar-ya interested? 🌍🧪👇

It's #FossilFriday and you know what that means! We might have been slow today, but we're not sleeping on this neotropical giant ground sloth, where a near complete skull & 2 partial skeletons from Brazil shine a light on a previously misunderstood species! 🌍🧪👇 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Who loves bats? We love bats! We're batty for bats! Who else? John Hooper, whose bat scales are the star of our latest treasure of the month blog, written by our bat-obsessed journal officer (who is also writing this post). Read it below 👇🌍🧪🦇 www.linnean.org/news/2026/04...

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...

Grab the mirror, this eyelash worm has gotten a makeover! Oh uhhh, looks like I meant taxonomically...using phylogenetics & morphology on Myxicola, two divergent clades were supported! Not only that, 2 new species were described! 🧪🌍👇 doi.org/10.1093/zool... @linnean.bsky.social

📣 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 👇🌍🧪

What do you get when you study deep sea annelids & sea sponges on the Getsuyo Seamount? A symbiotic relationship resulting in two newly-described species of Hesionid from two sister-clades! Inhabiting the same sponge host, they share a niche...suggesting convergent specialisation! 🧪

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 all know lemurs like to move it move it, but how did they evolve to do this? Using fossil limbs of Malagasy sloth-lemurs & koala-lemurs, this paper uncovers the potential use of internal bone structure for reconstructing locomotor evolution! 🌍🧪👇

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

Though many steps toward equality have been taken in the world of Natural History, it's important to acknowledge the barriers faced by women that came before us, and those still faced by those around the world. Using spiders, this blog does just that. 🧪🌍 #IWD2026

How do you leap from a wobbly tree branch without falling? New research published in the @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social explores how primates evolved different strategies to master life in the canopy. Read the journal blog here: buff.ly/kMJZ6XZ 📷 Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Happy #PangolinDay! As one of the most trafficked animals on the planet, hunted for meat & traditional medicine, it's important to raise awareness about this little creature to ensure its survival into the future. Read out their curious sense of smell below 👇🌍🧪 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Though iconic, the species diversity of rock monitor lizards remains incomplete. Here, 3 new species of Varanus in NE Australia are described, adding to a growing list of endemic reptile from the Eastern Savannas & underscoring the importance of rocky habitats! 🌍🧪 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

It's #MolluscMonday and you know what that means, I mollusc tell you about the freshwater mussels of Java! They're Java unique, with an island-wide assessment revealing a #NewSpecies (Pseudolon cokelatus) & urgent #Conservation needs! 🌍🧪👇 doi.org/10.1093/zool... @linneansociety.bsky.social

This #FossilFriday take a look at the first turiasaurian sauropod from East Asia, found in the Middle Jurassic Zhanghe Formation, Yunnan Province China! Consisting of 6 vertebrae, Yantaloong lini shows unique characters typically seen in titanosaurs & dicraeosaurinaes! 🧪🌍 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

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.

The pangolin is famous for being the world's most trafficked animal, hunted for its unique scales, but did you know it also has a pretty unique nose? Differing between species, they could have evolved in two different ways! Who nose what we'll discover next? 🌍🧪

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)

New Blog Alert! Seven lords...uhhh no lemurs leaping? If you've ever wondered how primates learned to leap between trees, you'll be jumping for joy at the latest #ThePaperTrail blog, written by guest bloggers Grégoire Boulinguez-Ambroise & Jesse W. Young! Check it out below 🧪🌍 buff.ly/CzqCAuR

As the penguin yearned for the mountains, so too did cetaceans yearn for the sea... A return to aquatic life came with *ahem* big changes, but did you ever wonder about their sense of smell? Here, comparing cribriform plate size in whales revealed the gradual loss of olfaction...👇🌍🧪 buff.ly/lDhmQKX

Accelerating #BiodiversityLoss, environmental degradation & social instability affect tropical & subtropical regions in South America. Museum collections are critical for documenting & preserving biodiversity, yet often get overlooked. Introducing: INALI snake collection (1/2) 🧪🌍 buff.ly/DbvmLsf

Bamboo, bioacoustics, brand new species...what a ribbiting read! Using morphology & bioacoustics, 3 new species of frog are described in the Ecuadorian Andes! What's even cooler? Their patterns mimic bamboo leaves, providing evidence for parallel evolution! 🧪🌍 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

New Blog Alert! 🚨 🐘 Elephants are known to be Ecosystem Engineers, but did you know they are also the largest gardeners on Earth? Our latest blog, written by guest blogger Jin-Gyu Chang, reveals their pollinator role...but it's less green thumb and more elephant dung...(1/6) 🧪🌍 buff.ly/GSCUM4R

Lift your spirits his January by taking a peek at the Plagiosaurs...you won't be disappointed! Flattened Triassic temnospondyls (early amphibians) were adapted for ambush predation in oxygen-rich littoral environments. Read about their evolution here 👇🧪

With the diversity of flowers comes the diversity of ways to analyse them, but which is best & how are they linked? Here, combining flower morphology characters of 951 species revealed that the most common characters are rarely found together in 1 flower! 🌍🧪 doi.org/10.1093/botl... #Conservation

WHERE ON EARTH IS WALLACE?! #WhereasWallace #WheresWally

What do you call a reptile that looks like a lizard but isn't? I'm Nothosaurus... Helping to understand ecosystem recovery after the PT-extinction, a large new nothosaurian is described, adding to the evidence of large predators in the Tethys shallow seas! 🧪👇 doi.org/10.1093/zool... #FossilFriday

This year, why not publish your research with a Society Journal? The Linnean Society is committed to publishing high-quality and groundbreaking scientific research across the four themes of botany, zoology, biology and evolution, striving to make these accessible & engaging to a global audience.

Call these Martians the way they Rove(r)... The rove beetle genus Xenogaster has 12 described species, yet their biology & interspecific relationships remain poorly understood. Here, a taxonomic revision & phylogenetic analysis uncovers a new genus & a new species! 🧪👇 doi.org/10.1093/zool...

Fossils offer a glimpse into the #Biodiversity & ecosystems of the past. In fossil amphibians, allometric variation (i.e., how shape changes with size) is a rarely explored aspect of research...until now! Kicking off 2026 with Aussie amphibian snout measurements! 👇🌍🧪

Slaying at the Linnean, this blog gets 10s across the board from us! Kicking off our journal blog 'The Paper Trail', this paper turned some heads not just because of its looks, but because this 'tropical' butterfly was found hiding in the snow! 🌍🧪👇🦋 buff.ly/S7wr5Td

On the fifth day of Christmas, Linnaeus gave to me...FIVE ANOLES! Well, more like anoles adapting to temperature change in the Andes, as taught to us in this lunchtime lecture! Kicking off the journal series, it contributed to the 1000+ lecture attendees this year! 🌍🧪👇 buff.ly/Tgjn9Pk

We all know ornithologists loved naming birds, but less so trying to understand their evolutionary history... Using the (perfectly named) Buzzing Flowerpecker as a case study, phylogenetic studies revealed rapid evolution & shared genes, making it difficult to draw boundaries...

Like a fish out of water, literally! Amphibious fish can emerge from water, enabling them to occupy niches unavailable to fully aquatic species! Here, the amphibious capabilities of killifish were studied, finding them able to breathe air for several days! doi.org/10.1093/zool...

AHHHH, WHO OPENED THE UPSIDE DOWN?!

I spy with my little eye, a brand new...butterfly? Found hiding from Panama to Colombia, whole-genome sequencing uncovered this new species as part of the tribe Phocidini! doi.org/10.1093/zool... @linneansociety.bsky.social

Effective conservation relies on accurate research, monitoring & understanding of species. Here, the first comprehensive IUCN Red List assessment of the High Atlas vascular flora has been done, helping to uncover extinction threats to endemic flora! 🧪 🌍 👇 doi.org/10.1093/botl...

What's that? You didn't know boxfish made sound? Me neither... It turns out all species (Atlantic & Pacific) do, yet little is known about how this evolved. A novel structure found only in the Atlantic species offered the answer, but it isn't quite what you think...🌍 🧪 doi.org/10.1093/biol...