Currently, an expedition of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, with the information support of the Institute of Geography RAS is underway in the Tsey gorge. It includes entomologists, an acarologist (tick specialist) and a hydrobiologist. The main goal of the expedition is to study the process of the formation of forest communities as the Tsey glacier retreats. On the surface freed from ice, fireweed seeds sprout almost immediately, beetles and spiders flock on their cobwebs, and long-legged opiliones are drawn to it as well. The expedition is equipped with maps on which the employees of the Institute of Geography have marked lines dividing zones of different ages - from one year to 170 years and more. These dates were obtained by analyzing aerial and satellite images, as well as by drilling cores from the trunks of the Koch pine, which settled a decade after the glacier left. During the work of the ecological expedition, material is collected on soil amoebas, nematode worms, springtails, soil mites, microscopic fungi and algae. Various methods (traps, floating, sifting the bedding) are used to catch beetles, spiders and millipedes. Hundreds of soil samples have been delivered and will still be brought to laboratories in Moscow for analysis of the population of microarthropods after their extraction in special eclectrics. It can already be confirmed that earthworms, woodlice and shrews settle only 7 years after the ice melt, and millipedes and forest cockroaches only 100 years after the accumulation of forest litter. At the same time, dead woods appear in the forest, where a whole complex of new newcomers is formed in the rotten wood. The processing of the collected materials will continue for at least a year. In addition, analyzing the taxonomic diversity of a number of groups of invertebrates will certainly bring the study of many new species, as it has happened more than once with materials from the Tsey Gorge. We have already discovered the habitation of three new for science species of aquatic crustaceans and insects in the studied area. The work of the expedition continues ceaselessly with the full support of the reserve staff. Every day we gather new information about the inhabitants of this unique place. Inventory of biodiversity and analysis of the structure of natural communities of different ages in the Tsei gorge in a rapidly changing climate is of undoubted interest in the long term.  

The superfamily of carnivorous gastropods Buccinoidea, the trumpeter, has a worldwide distribution in the World Ocean in the entire depth range, from the littoral to the ultra-abyssal, and is one of the most diverse taxa of marine mollusks. According to the latter classification, the superfamily included 8 families with several subordinate tribes and subfamilies. For the first time, the monophilia of the superfamily and the relationship between its constituent taxa were tested on the basis of molecular data (sequences of five genetic markers), supplemented by data on morphology and anatomy. The analysis confirmed the monophilia of the superfamily. Relationships between subordinate taxa have been critically reassessed and a new classification of Buccinoidea has been proposed, which includes 20 families and 23 subfamilies. Five new families and one subfamily have been described. The radiation of the superfamily in high latitudes - the Arctic and Antarctic - is considered in more detail. The study was carried out by scientists from the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution RAS, National Museum of Natural History of France (MNHN), University of Tokyo (AORE) and Museum of Natural History of Santa Barbara (SBMNH) and published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Molecular phylogenetic methods, which have become widely used in zoological research in the last decade, have revolutionized the research of gastropods. The subject of this study is one of the most diverse and abundant taxa of marine gastropods, the superfamily Buccinoidea, also known as trumpeters. Trumpeters are widespread throughout the World Ocean from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from the littoral to the ultra-abyssal, and are characterized by an exceptionally high morphological diversity, including species with shells less than 5 mm and very large forms exceeding 25 cm. Large species of the superfamily are actively hunted for food, especially in Europe, Japan, USA and Russia. There are currently 3,351 extant species, classified in 337 genera. Within the superfamily, we distinguish 8 families. Based on the study of the molecular sequences of five mitochondrial and nuclear genes of unprecedented geographical and taxonomic coverage of the material accumulated over the past decades in various domestic and foreign museums and universities, the phylogeny of the superfamily as a whole was reconstructed. Data were obtained for 225 species of 117 genera, which belonged to 28 out of 31 previously identified taxa of the family group (families, subfamilies and tribes). The obtained reliable phylogenetic hypothesis made it possible to radically reestimate the relationship between taxa of the subfamily. Based on molecular, morphological, and anatomical data (primarily radula), a new classification of Buccinoidea was proposed, which radically differs from the previously accepted one and confirms a much more complex structure of the superfamily. It is proposed to classify trumpeters in 20 families (instead of 8), including 23 subfamilies. Five families (Chauvetiidae, Dolicholatiridae, Eosiphonidae, Prodotiidae and Retimohniidae) and one subfamily Nassariidae (Tomliniinae) were new to science. For some of the confirmed valid families, it was possible to find old names brought together in synonymy, for example, Tudiclidae and Austrosiphonidae, but the size and composition of most families changed significantly. All existing genera (except 40 for which there is insufficient data) were reclassified under the new system. Studies of morphology and anatomy have shown that in most cases morphological data are insufficient for a reliable classification of trumpeters; however, for at least one family, the structure of the radula turned out to be a reliable diagnostic feature. The reconstructed phylogeny of trumpeters allowed for a new look at the evolutionary history of the group, in particular, at the evolution in high latitudes. Thus, the North Atlantic and the Polar Basin have their own speciation center and the endemic Colidae family. Previously, the genera included in the family belonged to a completely different widespread family Buccinidae. The understanding of the evolution of the Antarctic fauna of trumpeters has changed even more radically. Previously, they were assigned to three subfamilies of a completely different family, widespread in the southern hemisphere, including Australia and New Zealand. It turned out that most genera of trumpeters from the Southern Ocean, despite the extremely diverse morphology of the radula and shell, form their own endemic family. One family new to science, the Eosiphonidae, includes exclusively trumpeters that live on "biogenic substrates" - hydrothermal vents, methane seeps and submerged wood. The figure shows representatives of the new families described in the article. Kantor Yu.I., Fedosov A.E., Kosyan A. R., Puillandre N., Sorokin P. A., Kano Y., Clark R., Bouchet P. 2021. Molecular phylogeny and revised classification of the Buccinoidea (Neogastropoda). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2021, XX, 1–69. https://doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab031

Conducted at the Glubokoye Ozero N.Yu. Zograf hydrobiological station of IEE RAS, the school-conference was a continuation of a series of seminars-schools on the taxonomy and faunistics of cladocerans (the first school-seminar was held in 2008, the second - in 2013, the third - in 2018). On the other hand, it was a continuation of a series of conferences on cladocerans and other crustaceans of continental waters, held on the basis of the I. D. Papanin Institute for Biology of Inland Waters of RAS. In 2021, it was decided to transform the school-seminar into a school-conference, because of the restrictions due to the COVID19 epidemic, no other large events specifically dedicated to cladocerans are planned in the near future, and the presentation of the latest results on them for fellow carcinologists looks quite appropriate. Unlike previous schools, the 2021 school conference was attended almost exclusively by specialists for whom cladocerans are the primary object of their professional activity. The school-seminar was attended by 12 people - employees of IEE RAS (M.A. Aksenova, O.S. Boykova, P.G. Garibyan, A.G. Ibragimova, N.M. A. Neplyukhin), the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University (A.Yu.Sinev, E.S. The participants were somewhat contingently divided into “teachers” and “students”, since in many cases the “students” were able to explain important aspects of the cladocera identification process to their colleagues themselves. The main purpose of the event was to acquaint the participants with the latest achievements, problems and methods of work in the field of taxonomy and faunistics of this group of micro-crustaceans. As part of the school-conference program, lectures were given on the history of the Glubokoye Ozero Hydrobiological Station, the external and internal structure of cladocerans, the taxonomic diversity of cladocerans of Northern Eurasia, their biology, embryology, phylogeny, biogeography and phylogeography. A series of lectures was devoted to the practical issues of identifying taxa of the orders Ctenopoda, Haplopoda, and Onychopoda of different levels, and three lectures dealt with different families of the order Anomopoda. One of the days of the school-conference was completely devoted to the report of the "students" of the participants and the discussion of the results obtained, as well as promising research, including the joint work of the participants of the school-conference. Based on the results of her work, a collection of brief abstracts has been prepared. Undoubtedly, in the coming years, new schools-seminars are planned at the Biological Station "Glubokoye Ozero" IEE RAS, and we will be happy to invite colleagues from various universities and institutes of Russia there. Program and theses of the conference    

Fyodor Vitalievich Lishchenko, a researcher at the Laboratory of Morphology and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates at IEE RAS, has become a co-chairman of the strategic initiative to integrate young scientists into the work of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Fyodor's candidacy was approved by the ICES Secretariat for the period from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2024. The main activities of the strategic initiative are to popularize the participation of young scientists in the work of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, unite and coordinate young scientists from various scientific communities engaged in ocean research, support young experts-members of the working groups of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, and form interdisciplinary research groups. As part of the work in these areas, annual meetings (during the meetings of the scientific and advisory councils of ICES), as well as conferences, courses and trainings on topical issues will be held for young scientists. Congratulations from the institute to Fyodor Vitalievich on his position!

This year, the Hydrobiological Station at Lake Glubokoye celebrates its 130th anniversary. The hydrobiological station on Lake Glubokoe, the first in Russia and one of the first scientific freshwater stations in the world, was established in 1891 under the auspices of the Imperial Russian Society for the Acclimatization of Animals and Plants, a public organization that existed and operated almost exclusively on private donations. Professor N.Yu. Zograf, the founder of the station, was at that time chairman of the Ichthyology Department of the Society. Lake Glubokoye was assigned the role of a model reservoir, “where the invertebrate fauna and other components of the biota will be studied in all details and in relation to the fish population, for this knowledge to be transferred to other reservoirs”. Moreover, the biological station was assigned the role of an experimental and acclimatization base. The presentation on the history of the biostation is available through this LINK.

Specialists of the project to restore the population of the Central Asian leopard in North Ossetia began to apply new methods of animal monitoring. The new technique was applied in connection with the need to search for the female Agura. In March, the GPS information from her collar stopped working, and before that the collar of the male Baksan stopped sending signals. Satellite transmitters could be damaged while hunting wild ungulates, or they could have had technical problems. But on both collars, radio beacons continue to work, the signals from which scientists have recorded from time to time during ground monitoring. Therefore, it was decided to search for animals using a radio signal from the air. For this, special equipment was selected to amplify the signal, and with the help of a light aircraft, flights were carried out over the territory of North Ossetia. On the plane, on both sides of the board, special antennas were fixed, which makes it possible to pick up the signal both to the left of the flight route, and to the right, as well as in front. This arrangement of equipment increases the likelihood of detecting animals. The efficiency of the technique was specially calibrated during training flights and flights of a stationary signal source known to researchers, similar to that emanating from leopard collars. To date, flights have been carried out over wooded ridges. No signals have yet been found in the surveyed area. It is likely that, to protect themselves from hot weather, leopards climbed to higher mountainous areas, where now, among other things, there may be a high concentration of wild ungulates. The scientific group plans to continue searching for animals using all possible monitoring methods. Leopards Baksan and Agura were released in North Ossetia in August 2020. While the signals from the satellite transmitter were regularly received, monitoring of animals testified to their successful adaptation to life in the wild. The testing of the new methodology was carried out by specialists from the IEE RAS, IEGT RAS and the North Ossetian Nature Reserve with the help of RusHydro, DOSAAF-RSO and World Fund for Nature. The program for the restoration of the Central Asian leopard in the Caucasus is being implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia with the participation of the Sochi National Park, the Caucasian Nature Reserve, the North Ossetian Nature Reserve, the Alania National Park, the World Fund for Nature, the A.N. Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS), A.K. Tembotov Institute of Ecology of Mountain Territories RAS, Moscow Zoo, with the assistance of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA). VTB Bank provides financial support for the monitoring of the Central Asian leopard in the Caucasus. In North Ossetia, RusHydro provides financial support for the population recovery program.  

On May 26, the editorial office of Komsomolskaya Pravda hosted a press conference "Marine mammals and fishing - how to maintain a balance of interests." The speakers at the conference were Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Vasily Sokolov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vyacheslav Rozhnov, Deputy Director for Research of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution VNIRO Vyacheslav Bizikov, as well as Tatyana Shulezhko, an expert of the Association of Longline Fishing, who joined the discussion via video link from Kamchatka.

Chunkov Magomed Magomedrasulovich and his scientific advisor Kamil Zubairovich Omarov, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor, Chief Researcher of the Laboratory of Animal Ecology of the Caspian Institute of Biological Resources - a separate subdivision of the Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution of the DPhIC RAS On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, in the conference hall of the A.N.Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Leninsky Prospekt, 33) Chunkov Magomed Magomedrasulovich defended a thesis for the degree of candidate of biological sciences on the topic of "Features of the ecology of the Radde hamster (Mesocricetus raddei avaricus) in the changing nature of land use in Gorny Dagestan." The defense of the thesis was successful. Congratulations to Magomed Magomedrasulovich! The dissertation abstract is available here.

Olga Shpak, specialist in marine mammals, researcher at the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) took part in the online meeting "Whales. Disappearing Giants". The Sea of Okhotsk, at the latitude of Moscow, is home to an unusual population of bowhead whales, or polar whales, and is endangered. Would you like to know more about the peculiarities of these whales and the means of their preservation? Video recording of the webinar is available.

Why do we sleep? What is the brain doing during sleep? What happens to our consciousness when we sleep? Mankind has been asking these questions for thousands of years and is still looking for answers. But today somnology is developing at an incredible pace. But dreams remain a mystery to us, and the more we study it, the more confusing and interesting this mystery becomes. Sleep is the most ancient and, apparently, a vital state that originated at the dawn of evolution. An analogue of slow human sleep - a "dreamlike" state of rest - appears already at the level of annelids and insects. Recently there was an article by British authors describing a study on fruit flies. Among almost a thousand female fruit flies, sleeping on average 5 hours a day, scientists have found not only a handful of flies in a “sleeplike” state, but even three individuals sleeping 15, 14 and even 4 minutes a day! By all accounts, they should have died very soon. But they live day after day, week after week without problem. And the life of the fruit fly is about 40 days. Therefore, this sensation is being discussed by the entire scientific world. This study again posed a question that seemed to have been answered long ago - can a person live without sleep? For now, the answer seems to be no. A mammal, especially a human, is not a fly. Physiologically, we need sleep, moreover, we vitally need both of its phases - slow and fast sleep, without them a person cannot think, his consciousness unable to function. Our laboratory has recently obtained data on naked mole rats. These are amazing, strange animals that, according to all suppositions, should live for 3-4 years. But they live for 40 years! Many scientists believe they "know" the secret to longevity. We managed to implant electrodes into their brains and it turned out that they have an unusually large amount of REM sleep, sleep with dreams (a person normally has no more than 2 hours per night). There appears to be a correlation between lifespan and high REM sleep rates. Thus, more and more new questions arise all the time, all impossible to find answers to. We seem to be moving around the problem in a spiral, we get to know it deeper and deeper, but we will never be able to fully cognize it. The book can be bought on  Labirint.ru