The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake at a depth of 10.0 km, about 15 km to the northwest of the city of Punākha, in Punākha District, Bhutan, slightly after 11.35 pm local time (slightly after 5.35 pm GMT) on Sunday 7 June 2026. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this quake, but people have reported feeling it as far away as Tibet, India, and Bangladesh.
The approximate location of the 7 June 2026 Bhutan Earthquake. USGS.
Earthquake activity in the area is caused by the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau, due to the impact of India into Eurasia to the south. he Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.
Much of northern India and neighbouring areas of Central Asia and the Himalayas, are prone to Earthquakes caused by the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia from the south. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes).
The movement of India into Eurasia over the last 71 million years. USGS.
Molecular clock studies have suggested that the Phylum Bryozoa, or Moss Animals, first appeared in the Early Cambrian, which is consistent with the appearance of nearly all other Animal phyla at this time. However, for a long time the earliest known fossil Bryozoans came from the Early Ordovician, at which point six of the eight known orders of Bryozoans appear abruptly. Several putative Cambrian Bryozoan fossils, such as Pywackia, Archaeotrypa, and Marcusodictyon, were described, but none of these was universally accepted as a Bryozoan. In 2021 a more plausible Brozoan, Protomelission gatehousei, was described from the Early Cambrian of Australia and South China. In this it was possible to identify several Brozoan traits, including monomorphic zooid capsules, modular construction, organic composition, and a simple linear budding growth geometry, leading to the conclusion that this was probably a stem-group Bryozoan.
Protomelission gatehousei from the Cambrian Wirrealpa Limestone, South Australia. (a)–(g) Holotype, SADME 10470. (a) Front side of the colony showing the seven series of zooids. Top box corners indicate the area shown in (f); bottom box corners show the broken-off part in (c). (b) The top broken part of (a). (c) The lower broken part of (a). (d) Oblique lateral view of the bilaminate colony. (e) Enlarged view of (d) showing the staggered budding pattern and the curved basal walls of the two back-to-back layers (arrows and tailed arrows) in the bifoliate colony. (f) Quincuncial arrangement of sub-hexagonal zooids with broken frontal walls. (g) Lateral view of uncovered zooids; note the minute spoon-shaped structure (arrow) at the proximal end of basal wall extending backwards underneath the distal part of the parent zooid. (h), (i) SADME 10470-2. (h) Lateral view of a broken colony, showing the largely broken frontal walls (tailed arrows) and basal walls of opposite layer (arrows). (i) Enlarged view of three adjacent zooids. Note the dome shape of the distal part of frontal wall (tailed arrows), and almost circular orifice of zooid. Abbreviations: B, basal wall; F, frontal wall. Zhang et al. (2021).
However, while Protomelission gatehousei shows enough Bryozoan-like features that most palaeontologists have accepted it to be at least a stem group Bryozoan, the specimens used to describe the species lacked the definitive Bryozoan soft-tissue anatomy and diagnostic skeletal microstructure which would be necessary for complete conformation, leaving the identity of these fossils open to challenge.
Notably, these fossils preserve soft-tissue features in exceptional fidelity, including internal moulds of membranous sacs in the zooid chambers, which allow the unequivocal placement of these taxa within the Phylum Bryozoa. The presence of two separate Bryozoan taxa within these Early Cambrian deposits pushes the origin of the group still earlier, confirming that this group appeared during the Cambrian explosion.
Specimen of Protomelission gatehousei from the Xiannüdong Formation in which the membranous sacs are preserved (ELI DYCX 8-001). (a) Front side of the colony. The outlined area is magnified in (h). (b) Back side of the colony. The outlined area is magnified in (j). (c) Lateral view of the bifoliate colony. (d) Oblique lateral view of the bifoliate colony showing the hollow arched mesotheca (arrow). (e) Partial enlargement of (c) showing the staggered budding pattern. (f), (g) X-ray tomographic microscopy images showing the longitudinal section of the colony and the orifice of autozooids (arrowheads) (f, oblique lateral view; (g) lateral view). (h) Quincuncial arrangement of sub-hexagonal membranous sacs with elliptical orifice. Note the 10-μm gap present between adjacent membranous sacs, indicating the loss of skeletal walls during the taphonomic processes. The outlined area is the membranous sac magnified in (i). (i) Enlarged view of a membranous sac showing the orifice (asterisk), circular fibres (arrow) and longitudinal fibres (arrowhead). These features suggest muscle preservation in the membranous sac. (j) Enlarged view of a zooid. Note that the aperture is coated with secondary phosphate. (k) Enlarged view of a zooid. Note that the secondary phosphate coating of the aperture is partially stripped away. (l), (m) Enlarged view of the membranous sac showing the longitudinal fibres in (l) arrowhead, and circular fibres in (m), arrow. These features suggest muscle preservation in the membranous sac. Scale bars, 500 μm (a)–(d), 50 μm (e), (i)–(k), 200 μm (f), 150 μm (g), 100 μm (h) and 30 μm (l), (m). Song et al. (2026).
These new specimens show Protomelission gatehousei as forming upright colonies with two curved lamellar sheets of zooids back-to-back, with the largest colonies being 1-2 mm in width and about 3 mm high, tapering towards their tip. Each of these lamellae has six-to-eight rows of zooids, with budding originating from a planar mesotheca.
Soft-tissue preservation of Protomelission gatehousei. (a)–(e) ELI DYCX 8-005. (a) Front side of the colony, box corners indicate the area shown in (d). (b) The back side of the colony. (c) Lateral view of the bifoliate colony. (d), (e) Enlarged view of elongated hexagonal zooids. Note the longitudinally neatly arranged cylindrical structures on the both sides of the ridge-like orifice, which are possible secondary coatings of protective shields. (f) Protective shields developed in an extant Cheilostome Bryozoan, Valdemunitella sp. photographed by Dennis Gordon (Wellington). Song et al. (2026).
The new species described is named Dayingomelission hexaclitia, where 'Dayingomelission' means 'honeycomb from Daying' and 'hexaclitia' means 'six slopes' in reference to the sloped, hexagonal apertures of its autozooids. Colonies of Dayingomelission hexaclitia form a sheet-like grown covering the substrate. This sheet is interpreted as having spread by linear branching, with a single row of zooids diverging to form two new rows. Each autozooid is hexagonal and box-like, between 200 µm to 400 µm in diameter, and separated from its neighbours by a double-walled structure. All vertical walls show this double-walled structure, while the basal wall is planar, sometimes showing a slight curvature.
Specimens of Dayingomelission hexaclitia from the Xiannüdong Formation showing the colony and cystids. (a), (b) ELI ZJBX 10-001 (holotype). (a) Oblique view of the front side of a unilaminate colony form clearly showing the regular hexagonal, compactly arranged, honeycomb-shaped cystids. The outlined area is shown in (b). (b) Hexagonal cystid with vertical wall and ring septa clearly evident (arrow). (c)–(e) ELI ZJBX 10-002. (c) Front side of a unilaminate colony form. The bottom outlined area shows the cystids magnified in (d); whereas the top outline shows the cystids magnified in (e). (d) Enlarged view of adjacent cystids. Note the hexagonal vertical wall (arrow) and the basal exterior wall of cystids (arrowheads). (e) Row bifurcation showing change in zooid width along rows. (f)–(i) ELI ZJBX 3-001. (f) Front side of a unilaminate colony form with styles indenting the zooidal chambers. (g) Oblique view showing hexagonal cystids with styles. (h) Oblique view of colony surface. Note that the styles arise in the endozone and extend through most of exozone. (i) Enlarged view of the vertical wall with planar spherulitic fabric. Scale bars, 500 μm (a), (c), 80 μm (b), 100 μm (d), 200 μm (e), 300 μm (f), (g), 100 μm (h) and 25 μm (i). Song et al. (2026).
Both species have hexagonal zooids with a box-shaped profile and a non-porous phosphatized or silicified skeleton. These are more-or-less uniform in size, and angled at 30-75° to the median lamina or basal exterior wall. They have preserved phosphatized internal structures interpreted as membranous sacks, the outer end of which comprises an elliptical orifice surrounded by an undulating fold. These are made up of densely packed circular and longitudinal fibres interpreted as annular and longitudinal muscles. Longitudinally aligned cylindrical structures, possibly representing protective shields or a broad operculum are present in some specimens. In others sac is attached to the cystid wall in the inner part of the zooid cell.
Membranous sacs preserved in situ in the autozooid cystids of Protomelission gatehousei and Dayingomelission hexaclitia and colonial growth reconstruction of Protomelission gatehousei. (a), (b) Protomelission gatehousei ELI DYCX 8-016. (a) Front side of a bifoliate colony showing the eight series of zooids. The outlined area is magnified in (b). (b) Enlarged view of a zooid. Note that the membranous sac (arrow) is preserved in the cystid (arrowhead). (c)–(g) Dayingomelission hexaclitia ELI DYCX 8-004. (c) Front side of a unilaminate colony, with ten series of zooids, all with membranous sacs and cystids. The outlined area is magnified in (g). (d) Back side of the colony showing the membranous sacs of the zooids and the gap between the sacs. The outlined area is magnified in (e). (e) Enlarged view showing capsulelike membranes and gaps. (f) X-ray tomographic microscopy image showing the longitudinal section of zooids with membranous sacs and cystids. (g) Enlarged view highlighting that the membranous sacs (arrow) are captured in the cystids (arrowhead), and the membranous sacs are in contact with the cystids 20 μm from the apertures (ligamentous attachment, asterisks). (h) Three-dimensional reconstruction of a Bryozoan zooid with protruding lophophore. (i) Longitudinal section of reconstructed Bryozoan zooid. Greyish white, cystid; translucent white, membranous sac and tentacles; pink, polypide excluding tentacles. (j) Reconstruction of Protomelission gatehousei, front surface view. Scale bars, 500 μm (a), (c), (d), 40 μm (b), 200 μm (e), (f) and 100 μm (g). Song et al. (2026).
Both Protomelission gatehousei and Dayingomelission hexaclitia show most of the key features associated with Palaeozoic Bryozoans, including aspects of their colony morphology, their skeletal architecture, the presence of soft-tissue structures such as membranous sacs, as well as annular and longitudinal musculature. Notably they contain a number of features associated with the Class Stenolaemata, including styles and a free-walled colony organisation, which would make both species crown-group Brozoans. This makes it more likely that they were biomineralized in life, although it is impossible to determine the initial composition of their skeletons. Brozoans are known to have undergone a number of independent biomineralization events, with a molecular clock analysis indicating that the first of these was likely to have happened in the Early Cambrian. These results also imply that the common ancestor of the organicwalled Gymnolaemata and the mineralized Stenolaemata probably originated in the early Cambrian (Terreneuvian) or even perhaps in the Ediacaran Period.
Phylogenetic relationships of Bryozoans. A 50% majority-rule consensus phylogenetic tree inferred using morphological characters and Bayesian analysis based on a matrix of 22 taxa and 50 characters. Node values are Bayesian posterior probability support values. Coloured areas indicate the three taxonomic classes that comprise the Bryozoa along with outgroups, with Protomelission and Dayingomelission belonging to Stenolaemata. Song et al. (2026).
The presence of two species of Bryozoan in the Early Cambrian Xiannüdong Formation of Shaanxi Province, as well as one of these species being present in the lower Wirrealpa Limestone of South Australia makes it likely that Bryazoans had already diversified and become widespread in the Early Cambrian. This lends support to the idea that the tentative mineralised Bryomorphs from the Lower Cambrian of Nevada recently described by Pruss et al. (2022) are also Bryozoans, and that Moss Animals were therefore widespread in shallow Cambrian seas, particularly Archaeocyath reef-associated carbonate platform settings.
Zoonotic infections, diseases which spread from an Animal host into a Human population, are a serious threat to public health, in some cases being the source of pandemics which kill millions of people around the globe, such as the Influenza and Covid Viruses and the medieval Plague outbreaks. Filoviruses, such as the Bundibugyo, Ebola, Marburg, and Sudan Viruses, can cause outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever which kill hundreds or even thousands of people in tropical Africa, after jumping from a natural host, usually a Fruit Bat. The Bats themselves seem to suffer little harm from infection with these Viruses, but Humans and other Animals often succumb very rapidly.
Since the nature of the wild host of these Viruses became apparent, public health campaigns in many countries have tried to minimise the extent to which people interact with Fruit Bats, but the often remote nature of the communities most at risk, combined with the ability of the Virus to jump from Bats into a variety of other hosts before infecting Humans, has limited the effectiveness of these, underlining the need to better understand the nature of interactions between Fruit Bats, Humans, and other Animals.
The camera traps were deployed as part of a carnivore-monitoring program in Queen Elizabeth National Park between 16 February and 23 June 2025, with a total of 8832 hours of filming producing evidence of at least 14 species of Animal visiting the size, including Carnivores, Primates, Raptors, and Reptiles. The most common visitors to the cave were Nile monitors, Varanus niloticus, (72 visits), Large Spotted Genets, Genetta tigrina, (69 visits), and Palm-nut Vultures, Gypohierax angolensis, (35 visits). The cave was visited twice by Olive Baboons, Papio anubis, and ten times by Blue Monkeys, Cercopithecus mitis, which were seen actively preying on Bats. African Fish Eagles, Icthyophaga vocifer, made 33 visits to the cave, Black Sparrowhawks, Astur melanoleucus, made 19 visits, Crowned Eagles, Stephanoaetus coronatus, made 17 visits, and Verreaux’s Eagle-owls, Bubo lacteus, made six visits. Seventeen Leopard visits were directly recorded, but parts of a cycle in which the same Leopard repeatedly entered the cave, captured Bats, and exited with them were recorded, leading the team to conclude at least 43 such hunts took place during the study time. A total of 63 incidents of hunting or scavenging Bats by different species were recorded, with a further 258 incidents of Animals entering the caves for less clear reasons.
Multi-species predation and scavenging at a Marburg Virus Bat reservoir. The distribution of detections per species across 368 trap nights at Python Cave recorded using 6 remote, solar-powered camera traps. Blue indicates predation and scavenging events, whereas orange represents detections where cave exploration, entry, exit, or resting was observed. Atukwatse et al. (2026).
More alarmingly, over the course of the study Atukwatse et al. also observed 214 individual Humans approaching the cave. These came in 22 different groups, including school groups, researchers, and tourists, many of whom came within meters of the cave entrance (a direct contradiction of park regulations), bypassing a designated observation platform 30 m from the entrance. Only one person, a tourist, was observed to wear a mask when approaching the cave.
Atukwatse et al. do not suggest that these observations represent evidence of Virus transmission, but rather a direct record of ecological interactions at a potential spillover site. This included direct predation of potentially-infected Bats during repeated visits to the cave, and provide direct evidence of the predator-guild targeting Bats in this setting.
A collage of hunting and foraging by a variety of species. Insets show confirmed prey contact and feeding events. (i) An African Leopard, Panthera pardus, with its Bat prey emerging from the cave interior. (ii) A Crowned Eagle, Stephanoaetus coronatus, with its Bat prey. (iii) A Blue Monkey, Cercopithecus mitis, holding a Bat in its left hand. (iv) A Melanistic Genet, Genetta victoriae, with Bat prey. (v) A Nile Monitor, Varanus niloticus, approaching and then consuming a fallen Bat. (vi) An interspecific interaction (likely a fight) between a Crowned Eagle and a Nile Monitor over two Bats captured by the Eagle. (vii) An African Civet, Civettictis civetta, scavenging on Bat remains. (viii) A Palm-nut Vulture, Gypohierax angolensis, scavenging a Bat carcass. (ix) A group of Olive Baboons, Papio anubis, at the cave mouth, possibly foraging on Bat guano. Atukwatse et al. (2026).
Unlike other famous tropical Bat roosts within caves, such as Kitaka Mine in Uganda, Kitum Cave in Kenya, Goroumbwa Mine in Democratic Republic of Congo, or Macaregua Cave in Colombia, Python Cave lacks a vertical space separating the Bats from ground-based predators. Parts of the cave roof have collapsed, and the cave is partly filled with large volumes of guano, providing predators a way of directly reaching the Bats where they roost. This it turn provides an easy opportunity for any Virus present in the Bat community to spread to other wildlife within the cave. Atukwatse et al. observed instances of bats falling from the overcrowded roof of the cave, then having to crawl over the floor, presenting another tempting target for both terrestrial and airborne predators.
First ever large scale predation by at least 14 species on Egyptian Fruit Bats (a known Marburg Filovirus reservoir) in Python Cave Uganda. The trail cameras were placed at the cave as part of the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust Kyambura Lion Project's long term Leopard and Hyena monitoring work in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Alex Braczkowski/YouTube.
The presence of piles of Bat bones and frequent and repeated visits to the caves by a variety of predators indicates that the site has become a prime feeding site for both predators and scavenges, and that to some extent the richness of the resource has led to a relaxation of normal inter-species hostilities, with, for example, Fish Eagles feeding alongside Vultures, Nile Monitors feeding alongside Pythons, and even a Genet and Python seen together. This implies a loss of territoriality and aggression only seen at the most abundant food sites, although on one occasion Atukwatse et al. did observe a Crowned Eagle and a Nile Monitor squabbling over a Bat.
These interactions are all the more remarkable in that they are occurring at a site with a frequent Human presence, something which many Animals avoid where possible. The Uganda Wildlife Authority has placed an observation platform about 30 m from the entrance to Python Cave, with the specific intention of limiting Human exposure to Marburg Virus-infected Bats, but despite this Atukwatse et al.'s camera traps recorded Tourists, students from a nearby wildlife training institute, and even school trips approaching the cave mouth without any form of protection. It is particularly concerning that this was happening during the Bat's birthing season, when they are known to shed the Virus at a higher rate. Atukwatse et al. recognise that Bat-viewing is a valuable contribution to the nation's ecotourism income, but nevertheless recommend that the Uganda Wildlife Authority imposes stricter regulation on the site, with mandates for protective gear, enforced distancing, and locally trained guides to serve as sentinels for biosurveillance and education.
It has generally been assumed that the spillover events which lead to outbreaks of Marburg Virus Disease, and other zoonotic infections, occur in locations effectively beyond the observation of science. Atukwatse et al.'s results refute this, providing an example of a site where Marburg-infected Bats are interacting with a variety of other Animals, which is also integrated into the local tourist industry. Some of the species observed, such as Blue Monkeys, have previously been associated with Marburg Virus, and are commonly hunted and consumed by Humans as bushmeat. The consumption of Bats by these Monkeys presents a new route by which Marburg Virus could make its way from the wild Bat reserve into Human populations. Atukwatse et al. recommend that serological surveys are carried out of both the predators seen frequenting Python Cave, and of park rangers who regularly enter the site, in order to assess potential exposure to Marburg or other Filoviruses. This, combined with enhanced surveillance of Python Cave and other similar sites, could enable the development of a new dataset to complement the genomic tools already being developed.
Seven Asiatic Lion cubs have died in the Gir Forest National Park in the last week of May 2026, with a number of extra deaths thought to have occurred in areas of the forest outside the park. Seventeen adult Lions from the same population have been taken into quarantine by park officials.
A female Asiatic Lion with a cub in the Gir Forest National Park. Priyank Dhami/Wikimedia Commons.
The initial cause of the deaths was thought likely to be Canine Distemper Virus, a single-stranded RNA Virus of the Family Paramyxoviridae (the family of Viruses that includes the agents which cause Measles and Mumps in Humans), which can spread from domestic Dogs to wild Mammals, with Big Cats being particularly vulnerable. An outbreak of Canine Distemper in the Gir Forest killed 11 Lions in less than a month in 2018, and an outbreak in the Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh has killed four Tigers in April and May 2026.
However, it is now thought more likely that the Lions have been infected with Babesiosis, which is caused by Babesia spp., a type of Apicomplexan (single-celled parasitic Eukaryote) related to the Malaria parasite, Plasmodium. The Babesia is common in Deer, which make up a significant part of the diet of Asiatic Lions, although it can be spread to other species via biting Ticks. Like the Plasmodium parasite which causes Malaria, Babesia attacks the red blood cells, causing a similar illness to Malaria, with symptoms including anaemia and failure of the liver and kidneys. This can occasionally infect Humans, but is more commonly a problem for Cattle who can become infected if grazing in areas where Deer graze. In Lions, Babesiosis is particularly dangerous to cubs, with healthy adults usually able to shake off the infection.
Asiatic Lions are a sub-population of the Northern Lion, Panthera leo leo, which was once found across West, Central, and North Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and the North Indian Plain. The Lions of Southern and East Africa are a separate subspecies, Panthera leo melanochaita. All surviving Asiatic Lions are found within a single population, the Gir Forest of southern Gujarat State, India. This population has been growing in recent years, with 350 Lions recorded in 2008 and 891 in 2025. However, like all Lions, Asiatic Lions are territorial, and with each pride needing a fairly large home range. Thus the recovery of the species means that they have spread beyond the Gir Forest National Park into the neighbouring Amreli and Bhavnagar districts, areas where they come into conflict with Human herders and farmers, presenting additional challenges for their conservation. Asiatic Lions are considered to be Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
