PLoS ONE in the Science Superlatives, 2010 Edition

With the start of 2011, it’s time for our annual round-up of some PLoS ONE articles that made various lists of significant discoveries and scientific breakthroughs in 2010. Here are a few highlights.

Last year, over 25 research articles were added to our Paleontology Collection. In one of these papers, Scott Sampson and colleagues found two new horned dinosaurs in Utah. In another, Dr. Nicholas Longrich and colleagues found evidence that the Tyrannosaurus rex exhibited cannibalistic behavior. Both of these papers were included in Brian Switek’s post on Top Dinosaur Discoveries of 2010.

Continuing with the T-rex theme, a new leech dubbed the Tyrannobdella rex was found in Peru. Besides receiving a lot of media attention last year, the leech was also named one of the weirdest new animals of 2010 by National Geographic and was included in Ed Young’s Not Exactly Rocket Science review of the year.

In addition to the T-rex leech, research by Dr. Ingi Agnarsson and colleagues, on the extremely tough silk of the Malagasy ‘Darwin’s bark spider’, was also included in Ed Young’s NERS review of the year.

A study by neuroscientist Luis Populin and colleagues found that rhesus monkeys do recognize themselves in the mirror. Populin’s study was included in Wired Science’s Top Scientific Breakthroughs of 2010 and in the Science News “life” round-up.

Science News also mentioned a PLoS ONE paper that supports the connection between BPA and heart disease in its “environment” round-up.

Many of these papers received widespread coverage in the media.  For a list of 25 of our most widely covered papers, please check out our News and Blog Round-up: 2010 in review.