In the News: Around the World and Back in Time

Fig.1. Charles Darwin in 1868 (Credit: Julia Margaret Cameron, 1868)

Instead of sailing to the other side of the world like Darwin, modern evolutionary biologists can scope collections for insight into ancient changes. Online digitized records, hands-on staining, and teeth hidden in collections are being used to rewrite the evolutionary history of animals:

In the News: What's the Buzz?

Fig.1. This Paranthidium jugatorium is bee from the eastern United States, whose species is experiencing a population decline. Plant some woodlands sunflowers to attract this beautiful bee! (Credit: USGS via Flickr, 2015)

Happy National Pollinator Week! To accompany our Wednesday post on bats, we found other articles which celebrated pollinators with interesting facts and calls for conservation. Read to learn about these special animals, big and small, that contribute to ecosystems, agriculture, and more:

Surviving White-nose: A New Hope

Fig.1. A Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) feeding at a flower. (Credit: USFWS, 2012)

Nearly 80 percent of all flowering plants and three fourths of food crops are reliant on animal pollinators. Well-known pollinators like bees, butterflies, and moths - as well as more unusual ones like lemurs and geckos - are being celebrated right now for National Pollinator Week, an effort promoted by United States agencies and the nonprofit group Pollinator Partnership. This event is an opportunity for researchers and activists to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators to ecosystems and agriculture, as well as to address precipitous declines in some of these animal species. While many people already know about the disappearance of Monarch butterflies and honeybees, the loss of bats is lesser known and yet has been called North America’s “largest wildlife crisis.”