It’s Friday and that means that it’s time for our Friday link dump, where we highlight some recent papers (and other stuff) that we found interesting but didn’t have the time to write an entire post about. If you think there’s something we missed, or have something to say, please share in the comments section!

An article published in PLOS ONE on Wednesday describes a new genus (Dendrogramma) of benthic organisms that, based on preliminary morphological data, have been classified at Metazoa incertae sedis.  This basically means we know they’re animals, but we couldn’t tell you which phyla they belong to.  The fact that we can’t find a taxonomic place for these critters, along with the absence of available genetic data, let’s me think that we haven’t heard the last of Dendrogramma.

National Geographic released a troubling story last week detailing the decline of Icelandic seabird colonies and what that means for their respective global populations.

A study in Science, representing the work of researchers from across the U.S., documents the genetic composition of the microbiomes associated with human homes.  Major findings include that humans tend to be the “primary bacterial vector,” and that we should be paying much less in rent based on the amount of additional bacterial occupants within our own private domicile. – Nate Johnson

September 5, 2014