On 15th June, 2026, Ricardo Araújo participated, alongside Lia Kajiki, in a panel promoted by Portuguese Explorers from National Geographic to talk about failure in scientific research and what we can learn from those experiences.
Ricardo highlighted his experience in Mozambique, back in 2009, when, after a month in the field without any findings, he found a complete fossilized cranium of Niassodon mfumukasi. Lia, an ecologist focused on bird studies in the Neotropics, disclosed her experiences in the Amazon and raised the question, “How far can we go while ensuring a safe sample collection?”
The session concluded with Ricardo’s message to learn from nature: the species with greater food specificities are usually the most likely to go extinct. To ensure survival, be it in nature or in science, we must be ready to adapt to constantly changing conditions.
