Very excited to share that our latest paper is out in Science! We show that the type specimen of Nanotyrannus—an isolated skull—is fully grown, showing that it is not a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex but a distinct species (1/12) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

@rorylcooper.bsky.social gave a very nice talk (with gorgeous art) on crocodilian head scale patterns. Fav finding was a potential simple explaination mechanisms driving scale diversity between species.

I didn't manage to summarise all of @rorylcooper.bsky.social 's seminar today, but here we have sonic hedgehog inhibition pausing chicken embryo feather development at stage E9, and halting chicken embryo feather development at stage E11. Thank you for the great talk on skin patterning.

Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬 We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies. Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!

Join us in Sheffield! We are keen to support early career researchers in applying for independent research fellowships (IRFs) to join our friendly and collaborative environment, in areas related to developmental biology, stem cells and regenerative biology, and neuroscience.

Today’s speaker in our DRN external seminar series is Professor Jens Januschke (University of Dundee) @dundee.ac.uk Host: Kyra Campbell @kyracampbelllab.bsky.social All welcome!

🚨 Join us TODAY for two really exciting talks on the emergence of the fractal bronchial tree and tortoise/ crocodile head scale patterning!🚨 @rorylcooper.bsky.social @maltemederacke.bsky.social

Development that lasts a life time. Check out the 2025 special issue of @dev-journal.bsky.social on Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues journals.biologists.com/dev/issue/15...

🚨 Join us tomorrow for two really exciting talks on the emergence of the fractal bronchial tree and tortoise/ crocodile head scale patterning!🚨 @rorylcooper.bsky.social @maltemederacke.bsky.social

Fully funded 4-year PhD position available in my lab! Study neuronal compensation for natural circuit perturbations in the fly brain - learn calcium imaging, electrophysiology, genetics and computational modelling. Apply by 7 Jan 2026. www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

🚨 Come join us @sheffielduni.bsky.social for a PhD on the evolution and development of feathers and flight! 🐣🔬 This project is supervised by @matt-towers.bsky.social & @alexgfletcher.bsky.social, and I'm excited to be involved as a project advisor. Please share! www.findaphd.com/phds/project... 🧪

🚨 PhD Projects 🚨 We are advertising two UKRI funded PhD projects at the @sheffielduni.bsky.social. #stemcells #development #embryology #reproductivephysiology #mathmaticalmodelling #quantitativebiology

I’ll be speaking about the mechanical development of crocodile and tortoise head scales next Wednesday at 4pm for the @tlmcambridge.bsky.social seminar series. Subscribe to the mailing list to hear more about my work, and that of @maltemederacke.bsky.social! lists.cam.ac.uk/sympa/subscr...

Today’s speaker in our DRN external seminar series is Dr Ryan MacDonald @macdonaldlab.bsky.social (University College London) Sponsored by the Physiological Society @physoc.bsky.social Host: Emily Noël @noelresearchlab.bsky.social All welcome!

I am absolutely delighted to share the invited speakers for our upcoming @bsdb.bsky.social "Molecules to Morphogenesis" meeting! Registration and abstract submission is now open - join us! bsdb.org/meetings/ March 23-26, 2026 - UK

Delighted that my light sheet image of an embryonic chicken wing was recognised as an Image of Distinction in the Nikon Small World 2025 Photomicrography Competition 🐣🔬 www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/20...

🚨 Excited to introduce FuChi (Fucci chicken), the first avian cell cycle reporter line. Thank you to all those who contributed to putting this paper together. I really think it showcases the power and beauty of the chick embryo as a developmental biology model. 🐥 🥚 🔬 @roslininstitute.bsky.social

🐊 New 90‑second video: watch the digital model of a #crocodile head side‑by‑side with a stunning multi‑material #3Dprint. ▶️ Video: youtu.be/3roeSI-HBbg?... 📖 Nature Article: rdcu.be/d3dnd 🎬 Full explainer (26K+ views, multiple languages): youtube.com/playlist?lis...

I'm a bit late to the party over here. I'll be advertising a BBSRC-funded postdoc position soon. So if anyone wants to solve some outstanding questions in limb development - please get in touch. We have a variety of models and approaches (everything from stem cells to sharks). towerslab.weebly.com

Shark tooth regeneration: RNAseq reveals genes for unlimited dental renewal https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.26.672487v1

Our latest: We developed a chemo-optogenetic system for precise spatiotemporal control of morphogen production. Using dual light + small molecule control of Sonic Hedgehog production, we recapitulated neural tube patterning in vitro & measured spread of Shh 🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

1/6 Preprint Alert Ever thought that humans & chameleons look alike? We follow chameleon development from fertilisation to oviposition & uncover the process through which they form an epiblast lumen that exhibits striking similarity to human embryos #devbio #evodevo www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The final paper from my PhD project is out! Check it out for lots of live recordings of regenerating limbs. We show how we optimized long-term live imaging of regenerating crustacean limbs, up to 10 days, with high temporal resolution. #microscopymonday #regeneration #liveimaging

Thrilled to bits to see our latest work online in Dev Cell! 🥳 We wanted to know how cells build functional organs with precision🫀🫁📏 Here we show how coupling of cell shape and organ function fine tunes the form and contractile power of the developing #zebrafish heart 1/n tinyurl.com/cell-stretch

Developing scales on the head of a shark embryo, stained with YoPro1 iodide (labelling cell nuclei) and imaged with light sheet microscopy 🦈🔬🧪

Shark embryos of four different developmental stages, growing outside of their eggcases 🦈 🧪

🧬🇬🇧 UK Evo-Devo Starter Pack go.bsky.app/SgRdF9T

Had a lovely time at the Northern England Developmental Biology meeting on Thursday, and UK Evo Devo on Friday. Great to hear about the fascinating ongoing #DevBio research in the UK and beyond!

UK EvoDevo is happening today! We'll try to answer the eternal question, which came first the tea cup of the egg? ☕🥚 Sponsored by @biologists.bsky.social @novogene-europe.bsky.social @genewiz.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org @qmul.bsky.social

Here's a tortoise embryo developing inside its egg. Check out our new article in @cp-iscience.bsky.social to learn how molecular and mechanical systems sculpt their intricate head scales 🐢🧪 www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Embryonic chimeras: donors in, hosts out Read this Research Highlight showcasing work from @stanleystrawbridge.bsky.social, Alexander Fletcher, Jennifer Nichols & co. doi.org/10.1242/dev.... @scicambridge.bsky.social @drn-sheffield.bsky.social @uoe-igc.bsky.social @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social

🐢 The tortoise head is sculpted by physics and genes! Our new research shows that tortoise head scales form through two distinct processes: 👉 Chemical signaling shapes the sides 👉 Mechanical stress folds the top 🔗 cell.com/iscience/ful... @cellpress.bsky.social @biology-unige.bsky.social

Head scales of the Sulcata tortoise, imaged with light sheet microscopy. Our new study in @cp-iscience.bsky.social reveals that their emergence is controlled by both chemical cues and mechanical forces. Read the full article here 🐢🔬🧪 www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

This is the skull of a tortoise embryo imaged with light sheet microscopy. Check out our new article in @cp-iscience.bsky.social to learn how both chemical signalling and mechanical forces sculpt their intricate head scales 🐢🔬🧪 www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

Excited to share our new research in @cp-iscience.bsky.social! We reveal that tortoise head scales are sculpted through two distinct developmental processes - chemical signalling and mechanical folding 🐢🔬🧪 @lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social www.cell.com/iscience/ful...

It's finally here! Great start of the summer. We got our latest preprint from @chemamd.bsky.social in @qmulsbbs.bsky.social @qmulse.bsky.social, showing evidence of developmental system drift in the specification of dorsoventral (belly vs back) axis in annelids 🪱🪱🪱 #DevBio #EvoDevo

‼️10 days left to register and submit your abstract!! Come and join us to help relaunch the UK EvoDevo meetings. An exciting day with friends and good science! Register and submit your abstract here 👉🏻 eshop.qmul.ac.uk/conferences-...

New paper from the lab: Our teeth arose as sensory organs on the outside of the body of ancient jawless fish.!! Congrats to Yara Haridy and the team! Background and video: phys.org/news/2025-05... Open Access Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... News and Views: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exacerbated sonic hedgehog signalling promotes a transition from chemical pre-patterning of chicken reticulate scales to mechanical skin folding: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @lanevol.bsky.social‬ @rorylcooper.bsky.social‬ #OpenBiology #DevBio #biophysics

Have you noticed the rotating header images on our site? They're winners of a competition we ran in 2021. Thank you @gaparicio.bsky.social @rorylcooper.bsky.social @zebrafish007.bsky.social @ebardot.bsky.social & Markus Schliffka for the images! Give us a visit: thenode.biologists.com

ICYMI, our new work in @royalsocietypublishing.org's Open Biology shows how mechanical forces can drive patterning. By altering growth & material properties of the chicken embryo's skin in vivo, we induce a shift from molecular to mechanical patterning 🐣 🧪 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

🚨 We make the cover of Open Biology! Boosting sonic hedgehog signalling in chicken embryos flips the script of skin patterning—chemical pre-patterns give way to mechanical folding. 🧬 From Turing to tissue mechanics. 🧪 ➡️ royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #shh #DevBio @royalsociety.org

We are recruiting new PhD students! Are you interested in tissue mechanics and how size in animals is controlled? Then join us for an exciting PhD at the interface of developmental biology, biophysics and computational modelling. Check our webpage for more detail: lsi.exeter.ac.uk/groups/harma...

This is the leg of a hatchling chicken, showing their precisely arranged scales 🐣. Read our new article in @royalsocietypublishing.org's Open Biology to learn how they develop, and how we can mechanically transform them into a pattern of brain-like folds! 🧪 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Check out our new research in @royalsocietypublishing.org's Open Biology! We experimentally induce a transition from chemical to mechanical patterning in the chicken embryo 🐣🔬 @lanevol.bsky.social 🧪 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

The March 2025 issue of @plosbiology.org is live, and the cover is finger-lickin' good! Many thanks to @rorylcooper.bsky.social & @lanevol.bsky.social for this stunning cover image of a developing chick embryo wing. journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Great to see our chicken wing image featured on the cover of @plosbiology.org 🐣🔬! To learn more about how these feathers develop, check out the full article here ⬇️🧪 journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... @lanevol.bsky.social @genevunige.bsky.social

This microCT image shows shark skin denticles— small tooth-like scales capable of reducing drag and improving hydrodynamics 🔬🦈 🧪

This is the head of a chicken embryo after 16 days of development, imaged with light sheet microscopy 🐣🔬🧪