Spider-like creatures help uncover the surprising origins of fatherhood

Citizen scientists have helped researchers solve a long-standing mystery about how parental care evolved in harvestmen. Using photos and observations from iNaturalist, scientists more than doubled the known cases of egg-guarding behavior and discovered that maternal and paternal care followed different evolutionary paths. The project, completed in just days with help from public data, shows how citizen science is transforming biological research on a global scale. By combining nearly 30 years of field research with observations submitted to iNaturalist, an international team led by a University of São Paulo scientist more than doubled the number of documented examples of parental care in harvestmen. The expand... [5115 chars]