Please repost! I am looking for a passionate and hard-working PhD student to work in southern Africa on experimental defaunation and rewilding of megafauna. See the link below for more information: @camzoology.bsky.social @conservation.cam.ac.uk

My first paper as a first author is officially out 🎉 @elife.bsky.social We show that the iridescent colour of Morphos 🦋 tends to converge in sympatry while their chemical signals diverge, illustrating the constrasting effect natural and sexual selection on trait evolution. doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Now in its birthday suit with videos journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/... And an interview with @ficusorganensis.bsky.social! journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

#Evolution of complex adaptations can involve changes in multiple traits that lack standalone function. @benitoexplains.bsky.social &co show that leaf masquerade in #katydids evolved via concurrent modification in wing colour & shape, driven by evolutionary synergy @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4oUE741

My 4 year old is still a big fan of biphasic sleep 🫠

Looks cool 👀

Combining genomic and neuroanatomical data shows that #Heliconiini olfactory systems vary in their #olfactory receptor diversity and investment in individual brain structures, but are developmentally plastic in responsive to environmental conditions: doi.org/10.1093/jeb/... Yi Peng et al. 2025

Wow. I did not know that Alfred Russell Wallace (co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection) wrote a book in 1904 about the biological potential for life on other planets, and I've just found this extraordinary paragraph setting out the insanity of atmospheric pollution [1/3]. In 1904!

NEW from me: Political hostility, high visa fees and (in the case of the UK) stagnant incomes are making the UK and US less attractive destinations for top international talent. That steep decline in the appeal of moving to the US after 2016 is 👀

Always great fun to collaborate with your friends, especially when they are as smart as @emiliapsantos.bsky.social, and a total joy to work with a future star like @aleksandra-marconi.bsky.social! 👊🏻

New preprint led by the brilliant @aleksandra-marconi.bsky.social on cichlid brain diversification, fgf8a signalling and regulatory divergence with TEs on the mix! All part of a wonderful collaboration with @ebablab.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... @camzoology.bsky.social

Another is this hovering flight where they dance back and forth around before landing, again they do this repeatedly in a feeding bout… they also do it to artificial flowers that lack floral odours… 5/n

🧠🌟🐭 Excited to share some of my postdoc work on the evolution of dexterity! We compared deer mice evolved in forest vs prairie habitats. We found that forest mice have: (1) more corticospinal neurons (CSNs) (2) better hand dexterity (3) more dexterous climbing, which is linked to CSN number🧵

Really like this paper, led by @ficusorganensis.bsky.social, the supplementary videos aren’t up yet but will post them when I’m back in the office!

30 seconds of Irish Sea to ease your worries

Exciting times ahead - I'm beyond delighted to be joining @bristolbiosci.bsky.social in 2026! 🎉🕷️🎉🐌🎉 I'm also looking for a PhD student to join @multipleye-lab.bsky.social in our new home! Come and study the effects of light pollution on the evolution and development of spider eyes with us 🌃🕷️👀 👇

Really like this paper, led by @ficusorganensis.bsky.social, the supplementary videos aren’t up yet but will post them when I’m back in the office!

Protein-rich flowers are spatially scattered food sources for Heliconinii 🦋. This requires a sophisticated spatial memory. @ebablab.bsky.social et al. monitors the flight behavior when 🦋 encounter novel 🌺 and compare this behavior with other 🦋 species. journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint We discovered that the fruit fly #drosophila erecta requires food odor to mate and arousal is further enhanced by social group motion. Cross-species analysis of brain activity reveals a novel gate evolved from within a conserved circuit shorturl.at/gGYm7

New paper out! It was an honor to collaborate with the legend Leah Krubitzer on this review to show that paleontologists and neurobiologists working together can only improve our understanding of brain evolution 🧠 www.nature.com/articles/s44... Full access to the paper: rdcu.be/eK167

Excited to share our new #biorxivpreprint: “Sexual dimorphism in the complete connectome of the Drosophila male central nervous system” www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We describe the #connectomics reconstruction and analysis of an entire adult #maleCNS #drosophila central nervous system. 1/10

🧵🚨 The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news. Today our report is published! www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n... 1/11

This is immensely weird and immoral www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Why does the naked mole rat have the longest lifespan of any rodent, nearly 40 years? A 30-year long mystery unraveled @ScienceMagazine today! Its cGAS enzyme in cells has 4 missense mutations that upends its function, promoting DNA repair and suppressing inflammation www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

In this episode, I interview Dr Kelsey Byers - @plantpollinator.bsky.social. It was a joy to record and I hope you enjoy listening to this edit focusing on disability, advocacy, and research into pollinators and floral scents. 🐝 Norfolk bees! www.disabledscientists.com/2437552/epis...

Lots of interesting evolutionary nuggets in this study, and some we can’t exactly explain! A great combination of Yi Peng Toh’s patient neuroanatomical work and @fcicconardi.bsky.social’s bioinformagician skills, and another fun collaboration with @dickmerrill.bsky.social

New paper out! A nice collaboration. We explore how olfactory brain structures and receptors evolved across this remarkable group, Heliconiini butterflies.

Today´s Guardian has an article about our study on butterfly colors, where we compare butterfly colors in native forest to those in eucalyptus plantations. This is study is a partnership between labs from Denmark, Spain, and Brazil. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Exciting news for #drosophila #connectomics and #neuroscience enthusiasts: the Drosophila male central nervous system connectome is now live for exploration. Find out more at the landing page hosted by our Janelia FlyEM collaborators www.janelia.org/project-team....

“Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved.” Goodnight Jane, thanks for caring. ✊🏻

Featuring @maxfarnworth.bsky.social!

New from me: a *free* short version of my Political Quarterly piece on universities... The issue is settled now: the massified and accessible Higher Education system we have spent tens of billions building since the 1970s is coming to an end. (1/2) politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...

Insect spatial memory is thought to be based on panoramic snapshots that are modelled as retinotopic images. This idea won't allow a distinction of landmarks from the scene. Unexpectedly, our data suggest that 🐝 learn 3D-objects as individual landmarks. #neuroethology www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

@pinpilinpauxa-aaa.bsky.social on her @wellcometrust.bsky.social photography competition entry! 👏🏻 www.instagram.com/reel/DO-j2rM... @bristolbiosci.bsky.social 🧪 #Heliconiini #evobio #neuroscience

Unlock your potential with a Master's at the University of Cambridge! 🔬 Our MPhil in Biological Sciences offers a unique opportunity for cutting-edge, lab-based research at a world-leading institution. Explore and apply: www.mphil.bio.cam.ac.uk #Cambridge #BiologicalSciences #Postgraduate

Very interesting work from @borreroja.bsky.social on the unique foraging behaviours of #Heliconius!

Reform are filth. They represent hatred, extremism, ignorance and irresponsibility. They'd make us a wretched vicious hateful little island. If people don't stand up to this, they won't stand up to anything.

If you are from the US and interested in applying for a PhD with me (or anyone else @camzoology.bsky.social @cambridgebiosci.bsky.social), your deadline for the gates scholarship is October 15! (You’ll need to write a research proposal, so contact PIs now) www.gatescambridge.org/programme/th...

Very interesting work from @borreroja.bsky.social on the unique foraging behaviours of #Heliconius!

Women, non-native English speakers & those form low-income countries are disadvantaged in science but by how much? We found that women with non-English first languages from low-income countries publish up to 70% fewer in English than their counterparts. 1/5 doi.org/10.1371/jour... #languagebarriers

Interested in doing your PhD in Spain on 🧠 ? Contact me to discuss projects and apply for this position! www.icp.cat/index.php/en...

Long time no see...But we are back with a real firework 🎆. Join us tomorrow at noon for the first #Goenomix talk of the semester by Cassandra Extavour from Havard University. Talk: "One two three: developmental counting mechanisms in reproductive output and evolution". PM for Zoom details.

Very proud of this extremely collaborative piece: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... Here, we show that divergence in visual systems - in response to differences in the light environment - leads to rapid divergence in sexually selected colour traits. Work brilliantly led by Madeleine Carruthers. 🐟👀🎨

"Overall, the message from this survey is positive– #evolutionary #biologists are readily employable outside of #academia, generally well-prepared for those jobs, and report high levels of satisfaction in their non-academic #careers" https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.19.671061v1

Come and work with us! Three new academic posts (including Animal Behaviour) and superb facilities in the new Life & Mind Building

Are you interested in uncovering how the tiny C. elegans nervous system uses complex dopaminergic signalling to control behaviours? If so check out our new postdoc position, applications are now open: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...

Our paper on central complex evolution in Heliconiini butterflies is now available as reviewed preprint at @elife.bsky.social 🎉🎉. Please check out the helpful and constructive reviews which we are going to address in the next weeks 🤗 elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre... @ebablab.bsky.social

Applications for the next academic cycle at @uniofcam.bsky.social are now open. Provost Professor Eilis Ferran outlines the criteria you need to apply for a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. More here -https://www.gatescambridge.org. Just click on the apply tab at the top. #gatescambridge25

Traplining-behavior requires extensive spatial memory which is linked to Mushroom Body expansion in the brain of Heliconius 🦋. @maxfarnworth.bsky.social from @ebablab.bsky.social lab talks about the neural lineages that may underly this anatomical expansion. #dzg2025

Future me, while current me merrily agrees to write a review article.