🐸 A comprehensive database of over 6,000 amphibian and reptile records from São Tomé & Príncipe has been successfully compiled from historical collections and citizen science data. ➡️ Read the full study: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.184711 #citizenscience

🪸 DNA mini barcoding has been successfully utilised to acquire molecular data from historical octocoral specimens in a zoological collection, overcoming the challenges of severe DNA degradation associated with older samples. ➡️ Read the full study: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.188052 #zoology

🏛️ Happy International Museum Day and a very special 80th anniversary to the International Council of Museums! ✨ Visit our latest blog to explore our "Best of the Archive" collection and find out more about the articles we have selected for this year's celebration: #InternationalMuseumDay #IMD2026

🎉 We are delighted to welcome Dr. Srinivasan Pandiarajan as a new Subject Editor for our journal! ➡️ Read more about his expertise here: nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1228

⏰ Deadline approaching! 📆The #TDWG2026 Call for Abstracts closes on 20 May 2026, 23:59 UTC-12. Submit your presentation or poster for the upcoming conference (21-25 Sep) on the topic: #Research & Robot-ready #Biodiversity #Data Standards. Learn more here: nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1181

🦋 Abstract submission for ZoologyCon 2026 is now open! ➡️ Check out our latest news announcement to learn more: nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1213 ➡️ Official website of ZoologyCon: zoologycon.ro/home/

The call for abstracts for the annual conference of #Biodiversity Information Standards @tdwg.org is now OPEN. Submit oral presentations, lightning talks, or posters on #biodiversity #data standards and #informatics. ⏳Deadline: 20 May 2026 👉 See all the details here: nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1181

Check out our new paper focusing on unaccessioned herbarium specimens. nhcm.pensoft.net/article/1829... We found that bryophytes and fungi/lichens were over-represented in the specimen backlog, compared to vascular plants. This highlights the need for more bryophyte and fungi/lichen identification!

🫨 104 million specimens are estimated to sit in #herbarium backlogs worldwide. A new study surveyed staff at 65 #herbaria about unaccessioned #specimens and #curation challenges. See the reasons and practical strategies for tackling backlogs👇

New archival research reveals a power struggle behind the scenes of Bonn's famous Museum Koenig, where Nazi officials attempted to boycott the museum’s foundation. Read the full paper, which also provides a brief recap of the museum's entomologist Erich Schmidt: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.180615

For decades, a few museum specimens suggested that Ethiopia’s iconic gelada monkeys once lived west of the Blue Nile Gorge... However, new research reveals these monkeys were actually mislabeled and collected elsewhere! Read more: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.185998

🆕 Latest research in @dissco.bsky.social's #openscience collection illustrates a Machine Learning as a Service approach for quantitative analysis of #herbarium #specimens. 🌿 Subsequently, DiSSCO's models are used to calculate surface area of identified #plant organs. 🔓 See: doi.org/10.3897/rio....

🦋 ZoologyCon 2026 is coming to Bucharest! Join us 4-7 Nov 2026 for an international congress hosted by Grigore Antipa National Museum of Natural History. 📅 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬: 𝟏 𝐀𝐩𝐫: Reg/Abstracts open 𝟑𝟎 𝐉𝐮𝐧: Abstract deadline 𝟏𝟓 𝐎𝐜𝐭: Reg deadline 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬: travaux.pensoft.net/journal_news...

🧬📚 In conjunction with the 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐒𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 at @nhmwien.bsky.social, we’re launching a special topical collection. We invite submissions on: ✨ Technical innovations 📜 Historical DNA 🌍 Conservation & policy 📅 Deadline: 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝟑𝟎, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 Read more here: nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1126 #Museomics

A 170-year-old flat wasp specimen was recently restored using an inexpensive ammonia-based protocol. 🐝 This study provides the first modern redescription of this rare species. Read all about it: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.184068

Introducing the Cricut Maker® 3 – a new tool used to automatically cut precision entomological labels. This can be used to automate the tedious task of cutting tiny specimen labels, since it’s five times faster than doing it by hand! Read the full paper here: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.179306

Through examining decades of herbarium specimens, researchers have investigated how bryophyte communities in the southern Appalachians respond to ecological disturbances, like the balsam wooly adelgid invasion. Learn more: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.175897

👩‍🔬Happy International Day of Women and Girls in #Science! Explore the reflections and visions for the future from our Women Editors-in-Chief. 💫With these insights, we hope to foster a more equitable #scientific community and inspire the next generation of girls to pursue their passions in #STEM.⤵

By screening 4,000 historical insect specimens at the Phyletisches Museum Jena, researchers have discovered rare parasites - including two species never before documented in Germany - hidden within 100-year-old cicadas. Read more: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.173071 @uni-jena.de @mpi-ce.bsky.social

The digitisation and labelling of specimens is a time-consuming and error-prone process as labels are often hand-cut. This paper proposes a low-cost solution - the Cricut Maker® 3 - which automatically and precisely cuts entomological labels: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.179306

Did you know that the Natural History Museum in London holds a collection of true flies, comprising 2,596 jars of alcohol-preserved material? 🫙 @nhm-london.bsky.social

Glass is an important aspect of specimen storage in most major natural history collections 🫙 By observing specimens housed in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, this study outlines the impact of glass deterioration on their preservation: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm.3.173156

Natural History Collections and Museomics is delighted to welcome Dr. Duc-Anh Nguyen as a new subject editor. Learn more about his expertise here: nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1089

🫀Are you curious to learn how the Museo Anatomico in Naples contributed to the development of #scientific thought and #medical education? 🔗Find out more here: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

As 2025 draws to a close, we at Pensoft want to extend our warmest wishes to our editors, reviewers, researchers, partners, and followers. Thank you for being part of our journey this year. Wishing you all a joyful holiday season and a bright start to the new year! 🎄✨

𝑁𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑠 editor Alina Freire-Fierro attended the XLIX National Biology Conference in in Latacunga, Ecuador, and promoted our journal. nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1042

Researchers in Malaysia have discovered an incredible new endemic ‘fairy lantern’ species with fewer than 20 individuals known to exist in the wild. 🔗 Learn all about it on the @pensoft.net blog: blog.pensoft.net/2025/12/02/n...

A newly discovered Colombian orchid faces 'foretold' extinction, despite being assessed as “Least Concern” according to the IUCN Red List. Learn about the remarkable species and its Márquez-inspired name on the @pensoft.net blog: blog.pensoft.net/2025/11/19/n... @wcs.org @rdpalacio.bsky.social

Three newly discovered toad species skip the tadpole phase entirely and give birth to live toadlets! 🐸 Learn more about these rare amphibians on our blog: blog.pensoft.net/2025/11/17/t...

The OSCA consortium in Austria unites 14 institutions to digitise and harmonise millions of natural history specimens, building a nation-wide infrastructure for accessible, interoperable scientific collection. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

The tangled history of Liverpool’s White-eye bird collection illustrates the impacts of war, imperialism, and scientific legacy on museum archives and taxonomy. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

Today, our editor-in-chief Deborah L Paul is at #ECN2025 to represent our journal - make sure to ask her about us if you're there!

We're at #ECN2025 in Portland, Oregon! We're passionate about entomological collections, which is why we published some of last year's ECN in a special topical collection: nhcm.pensoft.net/topical_coll... Check out the @pensoft.net stand for our latest news!

We invite you to the II. Hungarian Zootaxonomy Conference set to convene at the University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, where our publisher @pensoft.net is exhibiting our materials and sponsoring an Early Career Researcher! nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1017

We are excited to be heading to the Entomological Collections Network Annual Meeting (8-9 Nov) and Entomology 2025 (9-12 Nov) in Portland, Oregon! Learn all about @pensoft.net's involvement here: nhcm.pensoft.net/news/1006 @entcollnet.bsky.social @entsocamerica.bsky.social

This paper reexamines the century-old holotype of the singleton Madagascan woodlouse 𝐴𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑎, revealing distinctive morphology that justifies its transfer to a new genus, 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑎. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

This retrospective honours John Fordyce Peake's pioneering contributions to science and museum policy, highlighting his innovations in biodiversity data management and natural history collections worldwide. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

The latest study in our journal assesses the threat status and implementation of the IUCN's One Plan Approach to conservation for the birds of Vietnam. Read all about it on the @pensoft.net blog: blog.pensoft.net/2025/10/31/a...

Comparing spider rehydration methods in museum curation, the study finds gradual ethanol vapor rehydration better preserves morphology than rapid heating, though DNA remains heavily degraded. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

An intense week for our team as our publisher @pensoft.net is representing us at #LivingData2025! A great way to showcase our new open access journal to a huge scientific audience interested in protecting and cataloguing #biodiversity

The bias and incompleteness of Portuguese birds in natural history collections present serious consequences for researchers. Steps towards stable investment, bridging gaps between museums and the scientific community, and the digitisation of metadata are encouraged. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

After artificial aging, 𝐿𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑠 specimens in a mixture of ethanol denatured with isopropyl alcohol shrunk slightly less than those in other mixtures: doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...

Rapid public reporting is key to controlling the spread of invasive yellow-legged hornets in Great Britain. 🇬🇧 Learn more in the latest @pensoft.net blog: blog.pensoft.net/2025/09/23/h... @bbka.org.uk

Invasive fish are entering the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, but what is causing them to spread? 🌍🐟 blog.pensoft.net/2025/09/18/h... @pensoft.net

Our publisher @pensoft.net presented two awards at #SCCS25, including a Best Talk award which entitles the winner to a free publication in Nature Conservation! natureconservation.pensoft.net/news/970

We are thrilled to present our first completed topical collection, "Entomological Outreach Collections and Community Engagement." Read all about it here! blog.pensoft.net/2025/09/12/b...

The latest guest post on the @pensoft.net blog outlines a new, non-lethal method of studying pollinator networks. 🐝🧬 blog.pensoft.net/2025/09/11/t...

It's day two of #Ento25 in Glasgow! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Head up to our stand on 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 to learn all about our entomology journals and EU projects. 🐜🐝 @royentsoc.bsky.social

Jasmine Cates and Anthony Abbate describe Auburn University Native Bee Lab’s outreach collection and its important role in the lab’s broader outreach program. 🔗 doi.org/10.3897/nhcm...