Avalanche kills two in the Italian Alps.

Two people have been killed and another five injured, three severely, following an avalanche on Mount Hohe Ferse (or Tallone Grande), a 2669 m peak in the Eastern Rhaetan Alps of Italy's Alto Adige (or South Tyrol) Province, on Saturday 21 March 2025. The avalanche, which is described as having been about 150 m wide, occurred at an altitude of about 2400 m, and caught 25 skiers in total.

Rescue workers searching for people trapped beneath the snow following an avalanche on Mount Hohe Ferse in the Eastern Rhaetan Alps on Saturday 21 March 2026. Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico.

Avalanches are caused by the mechanical failure of snowpacks; essentially when the weight of the snow above a certain point exceeds the carrying capacity of the snow at that point to support its weight. This can happen for two reasons, because more snow falls upslope, causing the weight to rise, or because snow begins to melt downslope, causing the carrying capacity to fall. Avalanches may also be triggered by other events, such as Earthquakes or rockfalls. Contrary to what is often seen in films and on television, avalanches are not usually triggered by loud noises. Because snow forms layers, with each layer typically occurring due to a different snowfall, and having different physical properties, multiple avalanches can occur at the same spot, with the failure of a weaker layer losing to the loss of the snow above it, but other layers below left in place - to potentially fail later.

Diagrammatic representation of an avalanche, showing how layering of snow contributes to these events. Expedition Earth.

The incident brings the number of people killed in avalanches in Europe this winter to 127, including 33 in Italy, 31 in France, 29 in Austria, 15 in Switzerland, eight in Spain, six in Slovakia, and one each in Poland and Andorra. This means that this snow season in Europe (which is not yet over) has already produced the second highest recorded number of deaths, exceeded only by the winter of 2017/18, when 147 people died. 

This high number of fatalities appears to be linked to the warming climate, which has several knock-on effects that can lead to avalanches. Firstly, warmer conditions over the Atlantic lead to higher evaporation levels and therefore more moist air flowing over Europe, which tends to precipitate out as snow when it encounters cold updraughts above the continent's mountain ranges. Secondly, the snow itself is warmer, in many places failing to form the deeply frozen lower layers that tend to keep the snowpack in place. Finally, the higher temperature of the atmosphere tends to lead to windier conditions, which also prevents snow settling in a single place, often leading to moving drifts, which are much more prone to avalanching than solid snowpack.

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Did an unknown volcanic eruption create the conditions for the Black Death to enter medieval Europe?

Between 1347 and 1353, the Black Death spread across Europe, killing up to 60% of the population, leading to long-lasting demographic, economic, political, cultural, and religious changes which changed the continent, and eventually the world, beyond recognition. Recent palaeogenetic studies have now confirmed the long held belief that the pandemic was caused by the Plague Bacterium, Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic disease with wild reserves in a number of Rodent species. Despite the presence of a wild reserve, outbreaks of Yersinia pestis in Human and Domestic Animal populations are quite rare, with only three documented pandemics of the disease. The first of these, the Plague of Justinian, began around 541 AD, and persisted into the eighth century. The second, the Black Death, began around 1338 in Central Asia, and persisted in places into the early nineteenth century. The third began in China in the 1770s, and spread around the world; arguably this third Plague pandemic is still ongoing, with all wild reserves and outbreaks outside Asia apparently derived from this source.

Studies of the archaeological, historical and ancient genomic records have suggested that the Black Death was a genetically distinct strain of the Yersinia pestis Bacterium which probably originated in arid foothills of the Tien Shan mountains west of Lake Issyk-Kul in modern-day Kyrgyzstan. This spread along the trade routes of Central Asia, entering Europe via the northern Black Sea region in the 1340s. Notably, the Black Death abruptly entered Venice and other Mediterranean ports in 1347, presumably through the importation of infected Fleas from the Black Sea reason. 

From this time, there were repeated outbreaks of Plague across Europe until the early nineteenth century, although it is unclear if these represent a series of re-introductions, or the presence of a wild-reserve within Europe. Nor is it entirely clear why the Plague appeared in multiple Mediterranean ports at the same time, having been established in the Black Sea region for some time prior to this, without previously making the jump, though it has been suggested by several people that some socio-economic challenge led to a change in Human behaviour at this time, giving the disease an opportunity to spread.

In a paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment on 4 December 2025, Martin Bauch of the Department Humans and Environment at the Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, and Ulf Büntgen of the Department of Geography at the  University of Cambridge, the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the Department of Geography at Masaryk University, present evidence for a volcanic eruption at an unknown location in the years prior to the Black Death reaching the Mediterranean, which caused a regional famine, leading traders to seek new sources of grain, and thereby opening the region to the arrival of the Plague.

Bauche and Büntgen note that there has been extensive previous research into potential links between a volcanically induced climate crisis at the start of the  Late Antique Little Ice Age and the onset of the Plague of Justinian, but little previous investigation into such a link to the onset of the Black Death. They also note that ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica have revealed a spike in sulphur concentrations in 1345 considerably larger than the one caused by the Mount Pinatubo eruption of 1991, which probably represents an injection of about 14 megatons of sulphur into the atmosphere. Furthermore, there were also major spikes in 1329, 1336 and 1341, representing eruptions which would have injected roughly 3.7, 0.7, and 1.2 megatons of sulphur into the atmosphere, respectively.

Weather records from Japan, China, Germany, France, and Italy, all record the years from 1345 to 1349 as being exceptionally cloudy. A lunar eclipse in 1345 is recorded as having been exceptionally dark by witnesses in both Bohemia and China; something which can be another sign of a high volcanic dust level within the atmosphere. 

Studies of tree rings have shown that trees in the Spanish Pyrenees produced 'blue rings' in 1345 and 1346, which are interpreted as signs severe cold spells during the growing seasons affected growth. The production of blue rings in consecutive years is considered exceptionally rare. Studies of wood density across the Northern Hemisphere have suggested a progressive cooling from 1345 to 1347, with 1347 being the coolest year since 1257, when a cold spell was linked to an eruption on Mount Samalas on Lombok Island, Indonesia. 

May–September (MJJAS) temperature anomalies from 1119–2020 AD (uncertainties are expressed by grey shading), based on 534 maximum latewood density (MXD) measurement series from living and relict samples from Mountain Pine, Pinus uncinata, trees from undisturbed upper treeline ecotones in the Spanish central Pyrenees.  The pre-Black Death cold phase is indicated by the vertical blue shading. The right-side double-stained thin section shows two consecutive Blue Rings that were formed in 1345 and 1346 AD in a Mountain Pine, Pinus uncinata, from the upper treeline in the central Spanish Pyrenees. Bauche & Büntgen (2025).

While it is harder to assess rainfall in past than temperature, tree-ring data suggests that the cool period from 1345 to 1347 was accompanied by a prolonged west-east dipole in Europe, with wetter conditions around the eastern Mediterranean and dryer conditions around the western Mediterranean. Morocco, the British Isles, northern France, the Low Countries, Germany and southern Scandinavia, all appear to have suffered dry conditions, while the Iberian Peninsula, Italy, and the Balkans, had high spring and summer rainfall in those years.

Bauche and Büntgen also examined historical records from across Europe and beyond, which show a declining agricultural output from across Europe from 1345, and in particular a failure of (environmentally sensitive) Grape crops from northwestern Italy. Severe flooding was also recorded in Italy in the autumn of 1345 and the springs of 1346 and 1347, along with accompanying problems such as soil erosion. The winter of 1344/45 was exceptionally cold and snowy in the Middle East, with the winters of 1345/46 and 1347/48 being marked by drought and Locust invasions. 

Late medieval Italy had a highly urbanised population, with a complex grain supply system in place to support this population. Many city states, including major centres such as Bologna, Florence, Genoa, Siena, and Venice, had limited farmland and large urban populations, consequently importing grain over long distances to redress this imbalance. Only Rome and Milan were largely self-sufficient. Cities developed communal granaries run by officials with the power to manage these granaries, source supplies of grain from elsewhere, and prevent the export of grain from cities troubled by poor harvests or military conflicts. Typically, managing grain supplies was the second-largest source of expenditure for any late medieval Italian city-state, behind only military spending. Maritime powers such as Venice, Genoa, and Pisa, negotiated treaties with grain-producing areas such as Apulia, Sicily, Sardinia, North Africa,  the Aegean and the Black Sea region. 

In 1346/7 severe famines were recorded across parts of Spain, southern France, northern and central Italy, Egypt, and the Levant. This led to spikes in the price of grain in Spain, Italy, Egypt, and even the Arabian Peninsula. Strict grain regulations were implemented in many Italian cities from 1346, at least in part to grain-shortage induced civil unrest.

Northern Italy suffered a series of famines during this interval, which appear unrelated to any political crisis, supporting a climate-related problem as the cause. Initially, this shortfall was met by increased imports from southern Italy, but it quickly became clear that this would not be sufficient to alleviate the crisis, and that more imports would be needed from further afield. 

At this time, Venice and Genoa were in a state of conflict with the Mongols of the Golden Horde, who had been trying to eliminate Italian power in the Black Sea region. This had led to the Italian cities blockading the ports of the Black Sea, preventing the Mongols from trading with the Mediterranean. However, the onset of famine in Italy led to a re-appraisal of this situation, with a ceasefire and renegotiation of trading arrangements leading to a restoration of grain trading, saving Venice from starvation.

The Plague Bacterium, Yersinia pestis, had been present in the Black Sea region for some time, and it is likely that it would eventually have reached the Mediterranean at some point. However, Bauche and Büntgen contest that the lifting of the trade embargo against the Golden Horde in response to the volcanically-induced famine affecting northern Italy was the immediate cause of the Black Death reaching multiple Mediterranean ports in a short interval. 

The trade embargo was lifted in 1347, and shortly thereafter, Venetian and Genoan trading vessels began entering the trading ports of the northern Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, returning to Italy laden with grain. The Plague appeared in Venice less than two months after the first such trading vessel. In March 1348 Venice lifted an embargo on the export of grain to Padua, with the first Plague outbreak there coming shortly after. Records of the grain trade to Florence and Sienna are less clear, but again the first Plague outbreaks in these cities were associated with the abating of the famine. Notably, this first wave of Plague outbreaks did not affect cities such as Rome, Milan,Verona, Ferrara, Ravenna, and Bari, which controlled larger grain producing areas, and were not involved in grain imports from the Black Sea region. Elsewhere around the Mediterranean, Marseille, Palma de Mallorca, and many other important port cities had Plague outbreaks before the end of 1347, probably as a result of grain shipments from Genoa. Smaller cities such as Savona, Ventimiglia, and Tunis, began to suffer outbreaks in April 1348, again probably linked to Genoan grain shipments. The reached Trento along with grain shipments from Venice, and from their spread across the Alps into northern Europe. 

Grain trade and plague dispersal. Main aspects of the Venetian, Genoese, and Pisan grain trade network that prevented much of Italy from starvation in 1347 AD but also brought the Plague Bacterium, Yersinia pestis, to Venice and other Mediterranean harbours during the second half of 1347 AD, from where it spread rapidly. Location of the tree ring-based climate reconstructions is indicated (with two sites in Scandinavia not shown). Map is an equal-area, pseudo-cylindrical Mollweide projection with greyscale referring to elevations above sea level. Bauche & Büntgen (2025).

In 1344, a decade-long papal embargo on trade with the Mameluke Sultanate was lifted, enabling Italian merchants to resume trade with the Middle East. Following the resumption of trade with the Black Sea region, Venetian ships began carrying grain to Alexandria, and the ports of the Levant, while Mameluke traders began visiting the ports of the Crimea. While individual shipments are harder to trace for these ports than those of Italy, these ships are probably responsible for the arrival of the Black Death in North Africa and the Middle East.

Thus the resumption of trade with the Black Sea region appears to have resolved the immediate problem of a widespread famine, but also led to the simultaneous import of the Black Death to ports around the Mediterranean. The subsequent rapid spread and high fatality rate for the disease may also have been a result of a population weakened by famine. The sophisticated trade system developed by the Italian city states to ensure against famine appears to have made those states, and their allies around the Mediterranean and Europe, particularly vulnerable to the spread of the Plague. Bauche and Büntgen conclude that the Black was not just a singular event, but rather the culmination of a prolonged crisis which began with a climate crisis and then a famine.

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Avalanche kills five in the Italian Alps.

Five people have been confirmed dead following an avalanche in the Italian Alps on Saturday 1 November 2025. The incident happened at about 4.00 pm local time on Mount Cima Vertana (or Vertainspitze), one of the Ortler Alps of Italy's Alto Adige (or South Tyrol) Province. Two groups of climbers were caught in the event, with all three members of the first group, described as two men and a woman, being swept away. The second group, comprising a father and his 17-year-old daughter, were caught lower down the slope, and were swept downhill about 200 m to their deaths. The event was witnessed by two climbers from a third party, who were above the avalanche when it hit and were able to call for help. All of those involved are understood to have been German nationals.

The route of the 1 November 2025 Cima Vertana avalanche. Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico.

All of the climbers are understood to have been ascending the mountain using ice axes and crampons at the time of the incident. The summit of Cima Vertana is 3545 m above sealevel, making it the 125th highest peak in the Alps. Fog and poor visibility prevented rescue teams from reaching the mountain until some time after dawn on Sunday, with teams with Dogs being airlifted to 2600 m, before continuing the ascent on foot. A representative of the Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico has questioned why climbers were ascending the mountain so late in the day, since even a successful ascent would have led to to their having to descend in darkness.

The location of Cima Vertana. Google Maps.

Avalanches are caused by the mechanical failure of snowpacks; essentially when the weight of the snow above a certain point exceeds the carrying capacity of the snow at that point to support its weight. This can happen for two reasons, because more snow falls upslope, causing the weight to rise, or because snow begins to melt downslope, causing the carrying capacity to fall. Avalanches may also be triggered by other events, such as Earthquakes or rockfalls. Contrary to what is often seen in films and on television, avalanches are not usually triggered by loud noises. Because snow forms layers, with each layer typically occurring due to a different snowfall, and having different physical properties, multiple avalanches can occur at the same spot, with the failure of a weaker layer losing to the loss of the snow above it, but other layers below left in place - to potentially fail later.

Diagrammatic representation of an avalanche, showing how layering of snow contributes to these events. Expedition Earth.

The cause of the 1 November 2025 Cima Vertana avalanche is unclear at this time, although there is known to have been recent snowfall on the mountain, and it has been speculated that some of this poorly consolidated snow could have been shifted by high winds, triggering the event.

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Determining the contents of bronze jars from an Ancient Greek shrine in southern Italy.

In 1954 archaeologists excavated a shrine to an unknown deity at the Greek settlement of Paestum in southern Italy, which was dated to the sixth century BC. Within this shrine they found six bronze hydriai (storage jars) and two amphorae, arranged around a large iron bed. The jars contained a pasty residue with a wax-like aroma. Traces of this substance were also found on the outside of the jars, which were originally sealed with cork, leading the archaeologists to conclude that it was originally a liquid, although possibly a fairly viscous one. It was interpreted that the bed was intended to be the residing place of the unknown deity, with the contents of the hydriai and amphorae were intended as offerings. 

Honey, in the Greek and Roman worlds, was a substance of some significance. As the only practical way to sweeten food and drinks, it was economically important, but it also had spiritual significance, being associated with wisdom and immortality, and therefore a suitable offering to the gods. With this in mind, it seemed highly likely that the original contents of the Paestum hydriai was honey.

With this in mind, the Bee Research Association in London arranged for an analysis of the residue to be carried out. The substance was found to be insoluble in water, but soluble in organic solvents, and to contain trace amounts of Plant and Insect remains, Fungi, and pollen, which led the scientists carrying out the analysis to conclude that it was probably a remnant of the wax which had originally sealed the jars.

In 1970 scientist at the Istituto Centrale del Restauro in Rome carried out an analysis on residues found around the neck and in the bottom of one of the amphorae from Paestum. This was found to comprise a saponifiable substance (substance which will react with an alkali to form a soap), such as a wax, fat, or resin, but contain no detectable sugar or protein (the major components of honey).

The residue was tested again in 1983 by the Laboratory of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, who again found that it was a saponifiable substance insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents, and did not contain any sugary or starchy substances. On this occasion gas chromatography was also used to analyse the residue, concluding that it was 77.4% palmitic acid, 6.1% oleic acid, 5.2% stearic acid, 1.0% heptadecanoic acid, 1.0% linoleic acid + arachidic acid, 0.4% linoleic acid, and 6.5% unidentified substance. Since triglycerides of palmitic acid are extremely common in nature, the researchers concluded that the container had held animal fat or a vegetable oil.

In 2019, the residue from the Paestum hydriai was loaned to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, for an exhibition, 'Last Supper in Pompeii', and permission was obtained to carry out a new analysis of the biomolecular composition of the substance, using modern equipment not available when the previous tests were carried out.

In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society on 30 July 2025, Luciana da Costa Carvalho and Elisabete Pires of the Mass Spectrometry Research Facility at the University of Oxford, Kelly Domoney of the Ashmolean Museum, Gabriel Zuchtriegel of the Parco Archeologico di Pompei, and James McCullagh, also of the Mass Spectrometry Research Facility at the University of Oxford, present the results of this new analysis, and confidently identify the original material within the Paestum hydriai.

(A) Underground shrine in Paestum. (B) One of the hydriai on display alongside a Perspex box containing the residue at the Ashmolean Museum in 2019. (C) Graphic representation of the arrangement of the bronze jars inside the shrine. (D) Sample from the core of the residue.  Carvalho et al. (2025).

The residue arrived at the Ashmolean Museum in a non-hermetically sealed Perspex box, in which it had apparently been displayed at the Paestum Museum. In order to reduce the chances of modern contamination affecting their results, Carvalho et al. took samples from 40 mm below the surface for analysis, as well as from each distinct colour zones observed on the exterior of the material; black, orange, and green, colours which suggest some sort of interaction with the bronze vessel itself over the past 2500 years. Carvalho et al. also obtained modern beeswax, honey, and honeycombs from locations in Italy and Greece in order to compare these to the residue sample.

Carvalho et al. first used Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to obtain an overview of the chemical substances present within the sample. This yielded a spectrum almost identical to that of modern beeswax for the interior sample, strongly supporting the idea that this was the original substance. They also compared the spectra of new and artificially aged honeycombs from both Greece and Italy, establishing that there was little difference in these, and that these structures appear to be chemically stable at least 

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum  of the core sample of the archaeological residue superimposed on beeswax (a) and honey’s (b). Carvalho et al. (2025).

Next, Carvalho et al. carried out a Gas Chromatography coupled to Quadrupole Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry analysis of the sample, along with samples of honey, beeswax, and fresh and artificially aged honeycomb. This produced almost no results for the beeswax, suggesting that the bulk components of this material were broken down by the high temperature at which this method operates (over 300°C), but did produce results from the sample, as well as from the honey and honeycomb controls, suggesting that the sample was never pure beeswax.

Electron ionisation chromatograms from the Quadrupole Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry analysis of beeswax (a), the residue core sample (b), honey (c), and honeycomb from Greece, fresh (d) and aged (e). Compounds identified: (1) Hexadecanoic acid, (2) Heneicosane, (3) Octadecanoic acid, (4) Pentacosane, (5) Heptacosane, (6) Nonacosane, and (7) Hentriacontane. Carvalho et al. (2025).

Anion exchange Ion-Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry identified seven hexose sugars, hexadecanoic acid, heneicosane, octadecanoic acid, pentacosane, heptacosane, nonacosane, and hentriacontane within the sample at levels higher than would be expected in beeswax, but lower than would be expected in honey. It also found significant levels of the sulphur amino acid taurine, which was not present in any of the control samples.

These hexose sugars were also recovered from aqueous extracts of honeycomb (i.e. the liquid obtained by soaking honeycomb in water)along with gluconolactone (a derivative of glucose) and galacturonic acid, and low levels of succinic, malic, and citric acids. All of these compounds were yielded at higher levels by the fresh honeycombs than by the artificially aged honeycombs.

Finally Carvalho et al. used a proteomic approach to try to identify specific proteins within the sample, as well as the beeswax and honeycomb controls, which were compared to the UniProt All Proteins database. The reesidue sample produced matches for three proteins derived from the royal jelly produced by the Western Honeybee, Apis mellifera, several Bacteria-derived proteins, and a number of common contaminant proteins, including keratins, caseins, lysyl endopeptidase, and trypsin. Encouraged by this, they then compared the sample to the Bee-specific UniProt Honey database, a search which yielded eight matches, including some associated with the Eastern Honeybee, Apis cerana cerana,

Proteins were also recovered from the modern honeycomb samples, but not the beeswax, indicating that they were derived from the honey portion of the comb. Notably, the royal jelly protein signature from the Greek and Italian honeycombs was quite different, although this was not completely unexpected as the two looked different. Carvalho et al. note that factors such as climate and the floral sources from which nectar is obtained can affect protein expression in Bee products, so this difference does not necessarily mean the Bees were particularly different.

Finally, a sample of the surface residue showing orange, black, and green colouration was subjected to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This determined that the green areas of this residue were composed of 74.98% carbon, 20.78% oxygen, and 4.24% copper, with the copper portion largely dominated by Cu²⁺ ions, while the black areas were composed of 77.96% carbon, 20.12% oxygen, and 1.92% copper, with the copper dominated by Cu⁺ ions, and the orange areas were comprised of 86.50% carbon and 13.50% oxygen. The discoloration in these areas is, therefore, presumed to be derived by interactions between the original substance and the copper portion of the bronze vessel.

Honey is comprised primarily of sugars (typically 79% of the total mass, including 39% fructose), along with water (typically 18% of total mass), acids (0.17-1.17% of total mass) and trace amounts of other substances, such as vitamins, enzymes, flavonoids, and phenolic compounds. Over time this mixture undergoes Maillard reactions ('browning') as the amino acids of the proteins react with the sugars. This will occur more rapidly if the honey is stored at a warmer temperature. Eventually, the honey will take on a dark hue, as the sugars break down into furans and the acid content rises.

Previous studies of the Paestum hydriai residues concluded that this was a wax, most likely used to seal the vessels. The most commonly use wax in the ancient world was beeswax, a substance with quite different properties to honey. Beeswax is typically comprised of about 64% esters, 14% odd medium chain alkanes, 12% free acids, 2% acid polyesters, 1% acid monoesters, 1% free alcohols, and 6% other materials. Beeswax is much more stable than honey, but over time the acid and alcohol contents will increase as the was esters hydrolyse and the shorter chain alkanes are eliminated. 

The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrum obtained by Carvalho et al. yielded results very similar to beeswax, suggesting that this may have formed a significant portion of the material from which the residue was derived. However, the Gas Chromatography coupled to Quadrupole Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry analysis carried out suggested that the substance could not be pure beeswax. A study of the proteins present within the sample found several associated with honey production in the Western Honeybee, Apis mellifera, with a subsequent search of the Bee-specific UniProt Honey database yielded proteins associated with the Eastern Honeybee, Apis cerana cerana. Also produced were proteins associated with the wood-decay Fungus Armillaria gallica, and the parasitic Mite Tropilaelaps mercedesae, which targets Honeybees.

Eastern and Western Honeybees are closely related, and even where divergence has occurred, their proteins tend to be very similar. Furthermore, there is ample evidence for the cultivation of the Western Honeybee in ancient Italy, but none for the Eastern Honeybee. For these reasons, Carvalho et al. conclude that the readings suggesting the Eastern Honeybee as a source of proteins are probably erroneous, caused by the software trying to 'best fit' ancient degraded proteins.

The presence of proteins associated with the Mite Tropilaelaps mercedesae is also interesting. This Mite originated in Asia, and has a long historic connection with the Eastern Honeybee, but is generally thought only to have begun to infect Western Honeybees in the past few centuries. Carvalho et al. observe that it would be tempting to interpret this as evidence that the material at Paestum originated in Central Asia, but that a more likely scenario is that the proteins in question are common to a range of Acarid Mites.

Carvalho et al, conclude that a bulk composition similar to beeswax combined with the presence of proteins and other molecules found in honey make it likely that the material within the Paestum hydriai was almost certainly a honeycomb. This matches well with ancient literature, which frequently cites honey and other Bee-products as being suitable offerings for the gods, but contradicts earlier studies which were unable to obtain this result. Carvalho et al. emphasise that this underlines the importance of revisiting samples which have previously been analysed with less modern techniques, thus allowing our imptoving technology to improve our understanding of the past.

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Echinoderes semprucciae: A new species of Kinorhynch from a macerating Neptune Grass environment in the eastern Mediterranean.

Kinorhynchs are tiny (generally less than 1 mm) worm like Animals largely found in marine sediments, for which reason they are sometimes known as 'Mud Dragons'. They appear to be ubiquitous members of the interstitial meiofauna (Animals that live between sediment grains) in shallow marine habitats, but have been studied in relatively few locations. However, not all Kinorhynchs are sediment-dwellers, with members of the group having been found living on a wide range of Algae, marine Plants, and Animals.

In a paper published in The Eutopean Zoological Journal on 3 February 2024, Adele Cocozza di Montanara of the Department of Science and Technology at the Parthenope University of Naples, Alberto González-Casurrubios of the Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution at the Complutense University of Madrid, and Diego Cepeda of the Centre for Research on Biodiversity and Global Change at the Autonomous University of Madrid, and the Department of Life Sciences at Alcalá University, describe a new species of Kinorhynch from a macerating Neptune Grass environment off the coast of Ischia Island in the western Mediterranean Sea.

Neptune Grass, Posidonia oceanica, is a form of Seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean, where it forms vast meadows in the photic parts of the sea (i.e. those areas where sufficient sunlight penetrates to allow photosynthesis). Seagrasses are important habitat-forming organisms, and a wide range of Animals, including Kinorhynchs are adapted to life in these meadows. However, as well as meadows, Seagrasses also form areas called 'macerating Seagrass detrital bottoms', where large volumes of decomposing leaves and rhizomes accumulate, typically below the photic zone, forming an important marine carbon sink. Whilst these environments have been known since the 1950s, very little attention has been paid to them or the fauna which live there, to which end Cocozza di Montanara et al. have begun a project to study the fauna of the macerating Seagrass detrital bottom environment of the Regno di Nettuno Marine Protected Area, along the coast of Ischia Island off the western coast of Italy.

Study area at 65–80 m depth along the northwestern area of Ischia Island (western Mediterranean Sea). Cocozza di Montanara et al. (2025).

The new species is placed in the genus Echinoderes, and given the specific name semprucciae, in honour of Federica Semprucci of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo, for acting as co-supervisor for Adele Cocozza di Montanara's PhD and supporting and guiding her research on meiofauna. The species is described from two specimens, both collected on 19 June 2020 near Ischia Island, an adult female, collected at a depth of 80 m, and an adult male collected at a depth of 70 m.

Line art illustrations of Echinoderes semprucciae. (a) Ventral view of a female based on holotype (NHMD-1177723). (b) Dorsal view of a female based on holotype (NHMD-1177723). (c) Dorsal view of segments 10–11 of a male based on paratype (NHMD-1177722). Abbreviations: ac, acicular spine; gcoI, type 1 glandular cell outlet; LA, lateral accessory; LD, laterodorsal; ltas, lateral terminal accessory spine; lts, lateral terminal spine; LV, lateroventral; MD, middorsal; ML. midlateral; ne, nephridiopore; pa. papilla; PD. paradorsal; ps, penile spines; SD, subdorsal; ss, sensory spot; t, tube; Vl, ventrolateral; VM, ventromedial; number in abbreviations indicates the corresponding segment. Cocozza di Montanara et al. (2025).

The two known specimens of Echinoderes semprucciae are 202 μm (female) and 193 μm (male) in length, with a retractable mouth cone surrounded by oral styles. This retractable mouth is mounted on an organ called the introvert, which has six concentric rings of scalids and 10 longitudinal sectors defined by the arrangement of primary spinoscalids. Behind the head is a neck section, then a trunk comprising eleven segments, with spines on segments four, six, eight, nine, and eleven; the two spines on segment eleven being elongated to form a pair of tail-like structures.

Light micrographs of female holotype (NHMD-1177723) (a)-(d), (g) and male paratype (NHMD-1177722) (e), (f) of Echinoderes semprucciae. (a) Ventral overview. (b) Head, dorsal view. (c) Head, ventral view. (d) Ventral view of segments 5–6. (e) Lateral view of segments 5–8. (f) Detail of penile spines. (g) Ventral view of segment 11. ltas, lateral terminal accessory spine; lts, lateral terminal spine; lvs, lateroventral spine; lvt, lateroventral tube; pa, papillae; ps, penile spines; te, tergal extension, number after abbreviation indicates the corresponding segment, sensory spots are marked with dashed circles and type 1 glandular cell outlets with closed circle. Cocozza di Montanara et al. (2025).

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