LUOMUS

Finnish Museum of Natural History

Latest news

Latest news from The Finnish museum of natural history

SYNTHESYS funding available to visit LUOMUS collections

11.1.2019

Do you need to visit our collections? LUOMUS is part of European-wide SYNTHESYS+ access programme and we could provide funding for your visit to Helsinki. Next call for applications for Transnational Access is open between 1 February - 12 April 2019.

Moun­tain birds de­clin­ing in Europe

13.12.2018

Population data for European mountain birds have been for the first time combined in a recent study, with worrying results: the abundances of mountain-specialist birds has declined by as much as 10% in the 2000s.

Cuckoo wasps are be­com­ing en­dangered faster than their host spe­cies

13.12.2018

A recent doctoral dissertation indicates that populations of cuckoo wasps have markedly declined in Finland since the 1960s. A species previously unknown to science, named Chrysis borealis, was also discovered in the study.

Responses of waterbirds to climate change is linked to their preferred wintering habitats in Europe

19.11.2018

A new scientific article shows that 25 European waterbird species can change their wintering areas depending on winter weather. Warm winters allow them to shift their wintering areas northeastwards, whereas cold spells push birds southwestwards.

Fiercest solar storm in his­tory dated through trees grow­ing in Lap­land

10.9.2018

Should a storm of similar magnitude occur now, it would have dramatic consequences, including damage to modern navigation and communication satellites and fatalities among the astronauts in space.

How Egg­plants be­came Asian – gen­omes and ele­phants tell the story

29.8.2018

The evolutionary context of the eggplant was until recently very poorly known. Historical documents and genetic data have shown that the eggplant was first domesticated in Asia, but most of its wild relatives are from Africa.

Javan tiger number 89

24.8.2018

This rare skeleton has been a part of the collections of the Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus since 1857. However, it took a donation to make its true value apparent.

Finnish forest man­age­ment guidelines fail to pro­tect the fly­ing squir­rel

25.6.2018

A new study determined the habitat requirements for flying squirrels and compared them to those included in the recently amended Forest Act. The main finding was that the Finnish Nature Conservation Act does not adequately protect the old growth forests where flying squirrels live.

A simple soft­ware er­ror cor­rec­ted: bit­ter­sweet chloro­plast gen­ome will be­come the model for an­nota­tions and night­shade com­par­at­ive ge­n­om­ics

21.5.2018

Information about the organization and evolution of plastomes is crucial to improve crop plants and to resolve the phylogeny of photosynthetic organisms.

An endangered Vantaa resident: What on earth is the Hylochares cruentatus? foyer exhibition at the Natural History Museum

4.5.2018

Do you know this endangered Vantaa resident? This year, the IHME Contemporary Art Festival is putting the spotlight on Vantaa’s most famous beetle: the Hylochares cruentatus. You can get to know the star of the Festival in the foyer of the Natural History Museum 15 May–10 June.

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