A new study published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society documents evidence of an orchid fossil trapped in Baltic amber that dates back 45-55 million years ago (Eocene epoch), beating the previous record for an orchid fossil found in Dominican amber some 20-30 million years old. A fungus …

A new species of sauropod dinosaur that lived about 152 million years ago (Jurassic period) has been identified from fossils found in Wyoming. Galeamopus pabsti in its environment in the Late Jurassic of North America. An Allosaurus and two Ceratosaurus are feeding on a carcass of Galeamopus pabsti. Image credit: …

A new species of the butterfly genus Melitaea has been discovered in northern Israel, according to a paper published in the journal Comparative Cytogenetics. The Acentria’s fritillary (Melitaea acentria), female, Mt. Hermon (1,800 m), Israel, May 7, 2016. Image credit: V. Lukhtanov, doi: 10.3897/CompCytogen.v11i2.12370. Butterflies of the genus Melitaea are …

There are three different subspecies of the snow leopard (Panthera uncia), the world’s most elusive large big cat, according to a new study published in the Journal of Heredity. According to Janecka et al, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia) is actually three different subspecies. Image credit: Dingopup / The Cat …

Male great tits (Parus major) choose neighbors with similar personalities to their own, according to new research from the University of Oxford, UK. Johnson et al assessed whether a great tit breeding population is structured by personality. Image credit: Shirley Clarke / Fordingbridge Camera Club / CC BY-SA 3.0. Lead …

Two new tarsier species have been discovered in the forests of the northern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Gursky’s spectral tarsier (Tarsius spectrumgurskyae) from Tangkoko Nature Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Image credit: Alfrets Masala / Shekelle et al / Primate Conservation. Tarsiers are small, nocturnal, predaceous primates of the 45-million-year-old family …

An international team of scientists has identified a long-sought protein that causes liver fibrosis (scarring), paving the way for new treatments. The research was published in the journal Nature Genetics. Stages of liver disease. Image credit: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The team, led by Professor …

A team of researchers from the Department of Applied Physics at Aalto University in Finland has invented a quantum-circuit refrigerator, which can reduce errors in quantum computing. Photo of the centimeter-sized silicon chip, which has two parallel superconducting oscillators and the quantum-circuit refrigerators connected to them. Image credit: Kuan Yen …

NASA’s Cassini orbiter watched bright, feathery clouds of methane moving across the northern regions of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, on May 7, 2017. This image was taken on May 7, 2017, at a distance of 316,000 miles (508,000 km). The view is an orthographic projection centered on 57 …

A new movie sequence of images from Cassini shows the view as the orbiter swooped over Saturn during the first of its ‘Grand Finale’ dives between the gas giant and its rings on April 26, 2017. As Cassini made its first-ever dive through the gap between Saturn and its rings …