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Not slippery when wet

The Fascination of Insect Adhesion For hundreds of millions of years, insects have been inhabiting almost every part of the world, and different species have developed adaptations to very successfully …

The mystery of flight in bats

Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained flight. That is, they flap their wings and maintain flight rather than gliding. So why are bats the only mammal to have …

Where Have All the Giants Gone?

The survival of both the hunter and the hunted often comes down to speed. Yet how fast an animal can run is intricately linked to its size, such that the …

Community Forest Management and REDD+

Community forest management (CFM) is identified by many actors as a core strategy for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+). However, others disagree and …

Drones for environmental mapping

Mapping with drones In this short video, Dr Javier Leon describes the origin of drones and how they are currently being used for mapping our environment.

Conservation genetics

This article starts with the introduction of conservation genetics and provides a concise summary of this field of biology. The relationship between genetic diversity and population size is explained in …

The composition and function of spider venoms

Spiders have gained a negative public image, which is largely based on fear of their venomous bites. However, in fact only half a percent of all spiders are potentially dangerous …

Animal Venoms—Curse or Cure?

Most animal lineages feature venomous representatives and more than 15% of all animals use venoms to gain an evolutionary advantage. With the incredible diversity of venomous animals comes a vast …