Analysis of a little-studied museum fossil has given new insights into a mysterious gap in the fossil record at the end of the Cambrian Period – a time when complex marine life started to evolve and diversify.

Scientists have shown conclusively for the first time that tiny marine organisms in polar oceans survived the mass extinction event that wiped out prehistoric dinosaurs because they needed less energy and were more tolerant to darkness.

Scuba-diving tourism, which is widely promoted as a sustainable way to experience coral reefs, is causing frequent and often hidden damage to fragile marine ecosystems.

Lakes play a vital filtering role in the ecosystem: they remove excess nitrogen from the water. An international research team led by the University of Basel and Eawag has now shown that climate change could weaken this natural purification process. This would have consequences extending all the way to coastal marine ecosystems.

Researchers have discovered a new species of tiny sea slug named Thecacera sesama in Keelung, Taiwan, which measures less than three millimeters long and lives on aquatic invertebrates called bryozoans. Published in the journal ZooKeys, the discovery highlights the vast number of minute marine species that likely remain hidden due to the region's harsh and highly restricted diving conditions.