A major survey of Angola’s remote Lisima plateau has uncovered species unknown to science, including new dragonflies, grasshoppers, moths and butterflies, confirming the highlands as one of Africa’s most exciting biodiversity frontiers. High on Angola’s eastern plateau, in Moxico Province, lies one of Africa’s great almost-unknown treasures: the Angolan Highlands Water Tower. It’s a vast…
“Magic mushrooms” are consumed recreationally and for medicinal purposes around the world. These fungi gained their fame as “magic” because they produce chemical compounds (called psilocybin and psilocin) which have psychedelic effects. The most famous species of these mushrooms, due to their global distribution and ease of cultivation, is Psilocybe cubensis, known primarily from its…
My fixation on a small, desolate locale in the heart of the Sahara Desert started with a single line buried in a 630-page tome in French about the rocks of the central Sahara: “Dent de Carcharodontosaurus saharicus Depéret,” which translates to “tooth of Carcharodontosaurus saharicus Depéret” – “Depéret” refers to the scientist who originally named…
Addis Ababa — A new fossil discovered at Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia, has revealed that Lucy’s species co-existed with another relative species, Arizona State University researcher Yohannes Haile-Selassie reveled today. The Australopithecus deyiremeda, a little-known early human ancestor that lived 3.4 million years, was discovered in 2009. Ethiopian Heritage Authority Director-General, Abebaw Ayalew, and Arizona State University…
Biologists often form deep bonds with the species they study. For some, that relationship begins early in their careers and shapes decades of research. The connection can be personal, even affectionate, but it can also create tensions when others set their sights on the same species. In biology, certain plants and animals are considered “charismatic…
Almost 2 million years ago, a young ancient human died beside a spring near a lake in what is now Tanzania, in eastern Africa. After archaeologists uncovered his fossilized bones in 1960, they used them to define Homo habilis – the earliest known member of our own genus. Paleoanthropologists define the first examples of the…
Witness History looks back at the 2003 discovery of the Homo floresiensis on the Indonesian island of Flores.
Georgina Rannard Climate and science correspondent Michael Brown Giraffes in Uganda’s Kidepo Valley Giraffes are one of the world’s most distinct and well-loved creatures, always thought to be one species. But now scientists at the International Union for Conservation of Nature say we can welcome three more species of the world’s tallest mammal. It’s not…
In Togo and much of west Africa, wild meat remains an important part of daily life, valued for its taste, cultural traditions, and as a source of income for those who sell it. It is often seen as a luxury food in urban centres, commanding higher prices than domesticated meat. This risks driving higher demand….
The African Plant Database lists 65,000 species of flowering plants, ferns and conifers found on the African continent and Madagascar. Since 2006, every plant species ever documented in Africa and Madagascar has been included in the massive online database, with about 200 new species added every year. Cyrille Chatelain is a curator at the Geneva…
