Blogs of the FEZ research group

Black coffee but also cookies, nuts, chocolate and fruits – certainly highly appreciated ingredients to support lively scientific discussions. This is also true for the recent SNAC discussions of scientific staff at the Natural History Museum Oslo (NHM). Lively discussions – isn’t that the normal default for scientists? […]

Written by Line Willersrud and Rita M. Austin The phylum Chordata contains the three subphylums, Tunicata, Cephalochordata and Vertebrata. Vertebrata, which includes humans and all other mammals, birds, fishes, amphibians and reptiles, are differentiated from other chordates by having an enclosed vertebral column, the backbone. But inclusion in […]

A 130,000 to 115,000 years old polar bear jawbone fossil from Svalbard. Photo: Karsten Sund, Natural History Museum Oslo.

Spooky scary skeleton shrimp, send shivers down your spine, their appearance will shock your soul, but certainly don’t seal your doom tonight! Family Caprellidea, otherwise known as skeleton shrimp, are small marine arthropods that are found world-wide. Using their specialized ‘feet’, called pereopods, these slender, segmented invertebrates cling […]

There is increasing societal discussions on and measures against climate change and biodiversity loss, topics that touch the self-conception and tasks of natural history museums. In 2015, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for the 2030 Agenda. To what extent do the SDG affect scientific […]

The phylum Kinorhyncha – often referred to as mud dragons – includes exclusively marine meiofaunal species. Meiofauna or meiobenthos comprises animals that are characterized by size (> 45 μm and < 1mm) in order to discriminate them from micro- and macrofauna. Accordingly, Kinorhyncha are usually < 1 mm in […]

The bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) in the East Greenland Sea, the Svalbard region and the Barents Sea (referred to as the East Greenland-Svalbard-Barents Sea (EGSB) stock) has been intensively studied for many years by members of the FEZ group. The stock is classified as Endangered in the International Union of […]

By Liepa Adomaityte Many of us would agree that planet Earth is filled with incredible beauty, and the flora and fauna we observe are breathtaking. However, in many ways, mother nature can also be macabre, horrid, and contain beings that we may only imagine in our nightmares. One […]

We were fortunate to obtain finding from ArtsDatabanken for new project. Yesterday the contracts were signed and hence our project can start soon. We are an international team of researchers: Torsten Struck and Rita Austin from Norway, Arne Nygren from Sweden, and Maria Capa from Spain. Maybe not […]

Insects are not particularly diverse in the marine and coastal habitats. This contrasts strikingly with their dominance in most terrestrial ecosystems. Yet, certain insect groups have been quite successful in coastal environment, and one good example is the beetle family Staphylinidae. Diversity of the littoral and intertidal staphylinids […]