Staphylinid beetles, 24 new genetic markers and new insights into their taxonomy – Jørgen’s defence

Yesterday, Jørgen Hansen Starholm defended his Master thesis “Solving phylogenetic relationships within the Rove beetle genus Aleochara (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) by utilizing a novel approach based on High Throughput Sequencing” successfully. The purpose of the thesis was to infer a phylogeny of Aleochara based on more nuclear markers and […]

Systematics and ecosystem function – can they go together?

In the summer of last year, Zoologica Scripta organized an international symposium around the topic of ‘The role of systematics for understanding ecosystem functions’ in the premises of Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters in Oslo. The symposium aimed at offering a forum for exploring and discussing trends […]

Tardigrades, Public Databases and Science From Your Settee

Last week, as part of a special issue of Zoologica Scripta, I started the year with my first paper – and my first solo effort! “The Wealth of Shared Resources: Improving molecular taxonomy using eDNA and public databases” is a rather portentous title for a pretty simple experiment. […]

Group of the month: Nemertea

This month’s group of animals on the spotlight are nemerteans, also known as ribbon worms, vermiform creatures belonging to the phylum Nemertea. They include more than 1300 species, typically long and slender with soft contractile bodies. Most nemerteans are marine, predominantly benthic or bottom dwellers, but some species […]

Group of the Month: Diphyllobothrium

Author: Rita Austin (former group member) Known as broad or fish tapeworms, these spaghetti impersonators are some of the largest parasites that can infect humans. Transmitted to humans via undercooked or raw fish meat, Diphyllobothrium are found in fresh and marine waterways around the world. Characterized as flatworms, […]

The FEZ seminar series 2022 – a review

Keeping up with the literature and scientific discussions with colleagues in order to develop new ideas and projects and to reflect on old ones are important parts in the academic daily routines. The FEZ group runs together with colleagues from the SERG and EPA research groups at the […]

Group of the month: Parergodrilidae (Annelida)

This month’s ”Group of the month” is a bit of shameless self-promotion. I will present an animal group today, where we conduct quite a lot of research on. However, it is nonetheless really interesting and worth to learn more about it. The family Parergodrilidae belongs to the annelids […]

Door 24: Merry Christmas everyone from the FEZ research group

The previous 23 doors of the FEZ advent calendar 2022 opened every day for a paper published this year that group members found particularly interesting. The list is by no means exhaustive, but we hope you found the presentations inspiring. Maybe you will download and read one of […]

Door 23: Bugs in a teacup!

Door 23! Advent is almost over and a new year is on the horizon – and with a new year comes new ideas and opportunities in life and research alike. For my article, I’ve chosen to present “The bug in a teacup—monitoring arthropod–plant associations with environmental DNA from […]

Door 22: Tapping into Personal Genetics from Keepsakes – Breakthroughs and Concerns

Direct to consumer genetic testing of family heirlooms and keepsakes (e.g., used stamps, baby teeth) provide insight into genealogy and ancestry. Published earlier this month, one of the direct consequences of the sequencing revolution and increasing affordability of genetic testing has been direct to consumer (DTC) services and […]