Press Releases

Munich, 29.09.2026 In the run-up to the COP17 World Nature Conference in Armenia, biodiversity researchers are jointly appealing to policymakers. They are calling for decisive action and a strong scientific basis to ensure that international targets for the protection of biodiversity are effectively implemented. The appeal is endorsed by the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis […]

Palaeontology Munich, 24.09.2026: Fossils are our only source of information for reconstructing the history of life on Earth. However, the fossil record is incomplete: We know a lot about some geological eras, but very little about others. Palaeontologists have now drawn a global map to serve as a guideline for fossil hunters: They have identified […]

Botany, 16.09.2026 Lichens are symbiotic communities of fungi and algae. Researchers led by SNSB botanist PD Dr. Andreas Beck have now, for the first time, visualized in 3D the areas within the lichen thallus where the cells of the two symbiotic partners come into contact and exchange substances. The cell walls at the fungus-algae contact […]

Munich, 2026-07-01 European brown bears are masters of survival: These animals have weathered Pleistocene climate fluctuations and survived the cycles of ice ages and interglacial periods to the present day. Zoologists have now investigated the origins of this evolutionary flexibility: 3D analyses of bear jaws show that certain chewing structures in the lower jaw of […]

Munich, 03.06.2026News on the woolly mammoth from Taimering (Bavaria, Germany): The mammoth, discovered in 2020, was buried in a former Ice Age pond after its death. Pollen findings and radiocarbon dating confirm that the mammoth lived and died during the harsh conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum. Cut marks on several ribs suggest that Palaeolithic […]

Munich/Bayreuth, 28.05.2026The presumed “proto-turtle” Eunotosaurus africanus is not a direct ancestor of modern turtles. This is confirmed by a new analysis of the evolutionary relationships among primitive turtles conducted by an international team of paleontologists. The findings have now been published in the journal Current Biology. The evolutionary relationships of most vertebrate groups are well […]

Munich, 26.05.2026As part of a project led by Chinese scientists to study life in the deep-sea trenches of the world’s oceans, researchers have now discovered a hidden fauna on rock surfaces at a depth of about 10,000 meters. The researchers found a new, diverse fauna consisting primarily of filamentous and sessile protists and foraminifera. The […]

Munich, 29.04.2026 An international study based on Bavarian findings shows that southern Germany‘s population after the collapse of the Roman Empire developed through the gradual intermingling of different groups and regional mobility—not through single large-scale migrations. The study has now been published in the prestigious journal Nature. Between antiquity and the early Middle Ages, many […]

Urwelt-Museum Oberfranken, Bayreuth: A fossil discovery in Mistelgau, Northern Bavaria, Germany, reveals that the last representatives of the giant ichthyosaurs of the genus Temnodontosaurus survived longer in the Southwest German Basin than previously thought. The Early Jurassic marine reptile is exceptionally well-preserved. In addition to injuries in the skeleton of this marine predator, SNSB researchers […]

Palaeontology, Munich, 16.04.2026: A German-Argentine team of paleontologists led by SNSB dinosaur expert Oliver Rauhut has discovered a new long-necked dinosaur, Bicharracosaurus dionidei, from the Upper Jurassic period in Argentina, dating back approximately 155 million years. Long-necked dinosaur fossils from the Jurassic period in the Southern Hemisphere are rare, so the new fossil contributes to […]