New preprint from lab: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Sexual dimorphism arises not through wholesale transcriptional reprogramming, but via selective sex-specific survival of neurons defined by birth order and shared developmental programs.

Introducing the The Crustacean & Cephalopod Postcard Collection.* This colourful collection** comprises six astonishingly detailed illustrations of marine life. *There’s an echinoderm in there too, I know. **Mainly reddy-orange, admittedly. www.rathergoodart.co.uk/product/the-...

A broad group of National Institutes of Health (NIH) public servants have taken action with the "Bethesda Declaration" that targets the NIH and HHS Leadership. Join these courageous and committed professionals by adding your name now. actionnetwork.org/forms/add-na...

Trump’s new ‘gold standard’ rule will destroy American science as we know it" by Colette Delawalla (@cdelawalla.bsky.social), Victor Ambros, Carl Bergstrom, Carol Greider, Michael Mann and Brian Nosek for @theguardian.com: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

On the origin of Eukaryotes *before* the Great Oxidation Event: "Our findings support the hydrogen hypothesis of eukaryogenesis, which posits that eukaryotes arose from the fusion of a H2-consuming archaeal host and a H2-producing protomitochondrion." 🧪🦠 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

ICB blog Diving into Discovery: A #Researcher’s Journey in Marine #Biology, #Regeneration and #Evolution - Christine Schnitzler By Lisa Mesrop, SICB Mangum recipient, #scientist/blogger, UCSB (Oakley lab) integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/d... #science #fluorescence

Don't miss @aidemm.bsky.social co authored blog and her ICB work Investigating the #evolution and features of #regeneration using #cnidarians Aide Macias-Muñoz doi.org/10.1093/icb/...

Check out #SDBSciCommIntern Cindy Ow's @cindyow.bsky.social story on 2023 SDB Emerging Research Organisms Grant Recipient Lisa Mesrop & her work establishing the bioluminescent ostracod, Vargula tsujii known as “sea fireflies,” as a #devbio research organism. www.sdbonline.org/resource?Res...

Do you know about Xenophyophores? These giant single-celled organisms thrive in the deep sea, forming intricate structures from sand and debris. They're among the largest protozoans on Earth, reaching sizes of up to 20 cm #DeepSea #Science #MarineLife

We're used to seeing holly leaves depicted as exclusively spiny, but most wild holly plants have spiny and smooth leaves Common holly (I. aquifolium) *changes its gene expression* to produce spines in response to damage by herbivores. Each pair here is from the same plant 📷 Herrera & Bazaga 2013

Hi everyone ! For those who don't know me, I am Alice, a PhD student interested in all stuffs related to nuclei, epigenetics and chromatin organization 🧬🧪 On my free time, I love to climb, but also to paint what I learn. Here's an example of Armillaria ostoyae (watercolor).

Feeling lazy today, so the #Crustmas post will just be...look at these wild parasitic copepods, wtf these things are all crustaceans still?! Courtesy @jimmybernot.bsky.social's paper 🧪🦑 peerj.com/articles/120...

We took a break from science and headed up north to Paso Robles for some wine 🍷(just a bit north of Santa Barbara) with the habibi. We stayed in a tiny home on wheels and would reccomend to anyone interested in exploring PR!

Run, don't walk, to see this AMAZING video about the bioluminescent ostracods! As said at the end, "I want people to know about them" A #Crustmas feature related to work of @ostratodd.bsky.social @nikohensley.bsky.social @emilylau.bsky.social @lisayetermesrop.bsky.social @emily-ellis.bsky.social 🧪🦑

Highly recommend this very interesting new paper. I'll be reading it again--and then probably again & again. It's insightful, idea rich, & thought provoking even in places where I disagree w/ interpretations! 🧪 #EvoSky "Three modes of evolution? Remarks on rates of evolution and time scaling"

A workflow for Tidyverse-based local synteny visualization: Good for visualizing local synteny across species, genotypes, or acorss regions of a genome. Can be used to showcase copy number variation. Still need to write the tutorial, but will be on my GitHub soon. #Genomics #DataVisualization

We know that immune genes often show stronger signatures of selection than the genomic average. But what about immune cell types? In a new preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... we merge single-cell RNAseq (defining stickleback cell types) and population genomic measures of selection...

For #Crustmas I will give you so many ostracods, with calcified shells enclosing the body. These are myodocopes: "Giant" (3 cm) Gigantocypris with mirror eyes, bioluminescent sexual displays in the Luxorina, eyeless cave dwellers like Spelaeoecia, and SO many fossils (here with pyritized eggs) 🧪🦑

I'm going to cheat a bit on this #crustmas post and sneak in a sea slug. Here is the emperor shrimp, Periclimenes imperator, hitching a ride on the nudibranch, Ceratosoma tenue, in Lembeh, Indonesia. #sluglife #nudibranch #Invert🦑

That we live in a universe that is suitable for us shouldn't surprise anyone because otherwise the universe would be hostile to life as we know it and we wouldn't be having this conversation. But these simple faces have complicated consequences. phys.org/news/2024-12...

The colors are incredible in this share @coralreeffish.bsky.social !!! You might just enjoy IOB's #Evolutionary Patterns of Modularity in the Linkage Systems of the Skull in #Wrasses & #Parrotfishes Gartner, Larouche, @sternarchella.bsky.social , & @mwestneat.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/iob/...

Parrots and Nesting Innovations 🦜 Behavioral plasticity in nest-site selection may allow parrots to maximize their nesting success by using alternative breeding substrates, but more research is needed to understand the impact on their fitness and populations. 🔊 doi.org/10.1002/ece3... #birds 🌎🧪

New paper out! We show that heart cockles use bundled fiber optic cables to transmit light through "skylights" in their shell for their photosynthetic algae. The skylights filter out harmful UV radiation. These coral analogues are cool critters!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Latest update on the Earth BioGenome Project. The EBP is slightly behind schedule, but still moving forward. GIGA members can contribute their high quality reference genomes through our BioProject - PRJNA649812. www.science.org/content/arti...; #earthbiogenomeproject

Another fantastic bioluminescent ostracod collection trip at USC Wrigley! A huge thank you to the amazing staff at Wrigley. I’m especially thrilled that Sofia - a fellow ostracod enthusiast - had the chance to join me. Watch out world, she’s applying to PhD programs this year!

Discover how Heliconius butterflies use expanded brain structures for remarkable memory and learning abilities. This study reveals intricate details of neural evolution and its role in behavioral innovation. 📚🦋

Just a shoutout for my website! #soilanimals #soil #macro #macrophotography

Interesting new preprint out from the lab of neuroethologist Yossi Yovel, showing that dehydrating plants emit ultrasonic clicks; moths hear these sounds and avoid laying eggs on such plants. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

What does gene flow & introgression do to gene coexpresion networks? In a new preprint, Rogini Runghen and I run simulations to find out: biorxiv.org/cgi/content/... Introgression creates blocks of linked eQTL, creating modules of correlated gene expression due to LD

Special Issue: Inferring macroevolutionary patterns and processes from microevolutionary mechanisms Wow! A lot of interesting papers to read in here!

Led by the Iroro Tanshi for the @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social Announcing a special issue in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society titled: "Mobilizing Natural History Collection in the Global South" I am a guest editor, learn more below... academic.oup.com/biolinnean/p...

We published the first (true) shark genome, for the whale shark! By comparing genomes across many species, we learned more about when vertebrate genes originated, how vertebrate immunity evolved, and the evolution of cancer suppression with huge body size! elifesciences.org/articles/653...

ASU is searching for a new director for our biocollections! If you are an associate or full professor (or know one) and are interested in curating a huge collection of Sonoran desert (and other places) organisms, give us a look! apply.interfolio.com/159166

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for Summer 2024 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES, BIOLOGY at the American Museum of Natural History. Application Deadline: January 31st 2024 www.amnh.org/research/ric...

A small robotic fish powered by human heart cells??!! A thread on biohybrid robots to celebrate the large collaborative effort just out in Science (https://bit.ly/3Jj13VS)

Very excited to have been a small “fishy” part of the next @DeepLabCut with @valdisanto out now in @naturemethods (https://go.nature.com/3Jzo72d). Multi-animal pose estimation and tracking led by Mackenzie W. Mathis @TrackingActions and Alexander Mathis @TrackingPlumes

A video we made at @mbarinews.bsky.social explaining some functions of #fluorescence in the ocean, and how #bioluminescence is different… but related. 🦑🧪🌊 m.youtube.com/watch?v=whbe...

How does male parental care influence #sexualselection in females? Beautiful theoretical work by Jussi Lehtonen et al. sheds light on this question - along with some notable implications for how we define sexual selection! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

Deep conservation of cis-regulatory elements and chromatin organization in echinoderms uncover ancestral regulatory features of animal genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.30.626178v1

Migrated over Bluesky! Check out my first first-author paper. Super excited to have this out. Thanks to all the co-authors that made this possible! Stay tuned for more ‘development’ of secretory innovations at #SICB2025.

Bioluminescence evolved in ostracod crustaceans some 200 Million Years ago, first used to ward off predation, later as a courtship signal. How did this eco-system-altering trait originate? The final version of a paper led by Lisa Mesrop, just released, addresses this question. 🧪🦑 #evolution #evodevo