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With dramatic advancements in biological data generation, genetic rescue and reproductive technologies, and inter-institutional coordination of care across entire animal populations, zoos, aquariums, and their collaborators are uniquely positioned to lead population-wide research benefiting animal wellbeing and species survival. However, procedural and inter-institutional barriers make it exceedingly difficult to access existing zoological biospecimens and data at scale. To address this, the Zoonomics Working Group, representing diverse roles across three zoological associations (AZA, EAZA, WAZA), proposes a biodiversity biobank alliance that develops and delivers shared resources to support the collection, storage, and sharing of biological samples and associated data across the zoological and conservation community. By biobank alliance, we mean a community-guided effort that develops shared resources, standards, ethos, and practices for collecting, storing, and sharing biological samples and associated data voluntarily through transparent processes, consistent with professional accreditation standards and international best practices. While initially focused on addressing the needs and regulatory landscape of U.S. institutions, the alliance is designed to create frameworks that are adaptable and adoptable for international expansion. Such a framework would help the zoological community navigate the ethical, legal, and practical challenges of managing biospecimen collections, making access more efficient, reliable, and robust. Achieving this vision requires collective agreement on ethical principles such as reciprocity, transparency, and data stewardship, ensuring that research is both feasible and proactively supported. Such coordination will drive advances in fundamental biology and accelerate progress in animal health, welfare, management, and biodiversity conservation. 

The rich diversity of morphology and behavior displayed across primate species provides an informative context in which to study the impact of genomic diversity on fundamental biological processes. Analysis of that diversity provides insight into long-standing questions in evolutionary and conservation biology and is urgent given severe threats these species are facing. Here, we present high-coverage whole-genome data from 233 primate species representing 86% of genera and all 16 families. This dataset was used, together with fossil calibration, to create a nuclear DNA phylogeny and to reassess evolutionary divergence times among primate clades. We found within-species genetic diversity across families and geographic regions to be associated with climate and sociality, but not with extinction risk. Furthermore, mutation rates differ across species, potentially influenced by effective population sizes. Lastly, we identified extensive recurrence of missense mutations previously thought to be human specific. This study will open a wide range of research avenues for future primate genomic research. 

The ruminants are one of the most successful mammalian lineages, exhibiting morphological and habitat diversity and containing several key livestock species. To better understand their evolution, we generated and analyzed de novo assembled genomes of 44 ruminant species, representing all six Ruminantia families. We used these genomes to create a time-calibrated phylogeny to resolve topological controversies, overcoming the challenges of incomplete lineage sorting. Population dynamic analyses show that population declines commenced between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, which is concomitant with expansion in human populations. We also reveal genes and regulatory elements that possibly contribute to the evolution of the digestive system, cranial appendages, immune system, metabolism, body size, cursorial locomotion, and dentition of the ruminants.