Andean orchids – not so ancient

The Andes are the world's most species rich biological diversity hotspot, containing an astounding 15% of the world's plant species, despite making up only 1% of the earth's surface. Orchids are a key element of Andean plant ...

The impact of climate change in Ecuador's Andean mountains

The lakes of El Cajas National Park, located at 4,000 metres high in Ecuador's Azuay province, are the scene of fieldwork carried out by the research project ECUAFLUX, an initiative to analyse the carbon cycle in the Andean ...

At high altitude, carbs are the fuel of choice

Mice living in the high-altitude, oxygen-starved environment of the Andean mountains survive those harsh conditions by fueling their muscles with carbohydrates. The findings, reported online on December 6 in Current Biology, ...

Rare Andean cat no longer exclusive to the Andes

Once thought to exclusively inhabit its namesake mountain range, the threatened Andean cat—a house cat-sized feline that resembles a small snow leopard in both appearance and habitat—also frequents the Patagonian ...

New bird discovered after its extinction

After almost 120 years in the Natural History Museum collections, a new Colombian bird has been discovered, and proclaimed extinct.