An international study led by a researcher from Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) revisits the island rule in vertebrates and confirms the tendency of small-sized and large-sized species towards gigantism and dwarfism, respectively, in insular ecosystems
? The research team found that insular size shifts were more evident in remote, isolated islands

Habitat destruction and overexploitation are the main threats to biodiversity and where they co?occur, their combined impact is often larger than their individual one. Yet, detailed knowledge of the spatial footprints of these threats is lacking, including where they overlap and how they change over time. These knowledge gaps are real barriers for effective conservation planning. Here, a novel approach was developed to reconstruct the individual and combined footprints of both threats over time.

The colors of primates are among the most diverse phenotypes in mammals. These colors are mostly produced by the deposition of melanin pigments in hairs. Many species show considerable variability in pigmentation, but this is always temporarily fixed. Here the first rapid change in the pigmentation phenotype of a primate is reported. In the last five years, the pelage of mantled howler monkeys Alouatta palliata inhabiting Costa Rica has started to change from fully black to yellowish,...

The Canary Islands are an important tourist destination due to their unique climate and rich scenery and biodiversity. During the last few decades, there has been significant development of urban areas and busy road networks. However, there have been no studies describing the effects of road mortality on wildlife in this archipelago. Here, the temporal and spatial patterns of wildlife roadkill in Lanzarote (UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) is described using counts from cars for an entire annual cycle.