Excited to share our latest study highlighted on the cover of @science.org 🥳Combining a 3D dataset representing 250 taxa spanning the whole Cenozoic, 3D modelling & printing and material testing; we deciphered the form-function relationship in the lower 🦷 of mammals www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

In the 90 minutes after @theguardian.com article went live, BHL received more than US$2,500 in donations. Thank you to everyone helping keep biodiversity knowledge free and open. Please read, share, and help us build momentum.

A bonanza for fans of the natural world: the digital library sharing 64m pages of scientific knowledge with everyone

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is an invaluable online archive of historic texts on species living and lost supplied by the world’s leading museums and universities. Now its future is in doubt

theguardian.com

Finalized version of my latest paper now online! All the same great biology linking myosin protein composition, muscle anatomy and lever mechanics across scales in rodents. Now now in a prettier, shinier pdf! www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Multiscale adaptations underlie bite force variation in rodents - Communications Biology

Multi-scale analysis of the rodent craniofacial system reveals correlated bite force adaptations at the molecular, muscular and skeletal scales, that further correlate with feeding ecology.

nature.com

Looking to make some eye-catching graphics for your next presentation or poster? You don’t have to make your own! Check out our blog post on illustration & image resources for your science to find out more! www.sciencegraphicdesign.com/blog/illustr... 🧪 #Scicomm

🚨MUSEUM JOB KLAXON🚨 We're now recruiting for a new **Collections Assistant** to help us with an exciting project to relocate an important part of our collection within @zoologymuseum.bsky.social. IS IT YOU? www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/museum-... #MuseumJob #MuseumJobs

A nice way to end the week - my latest paper with @konowlab.bsky.social is out in early access! What's behind bite force in rodents? They can change muscle anatomy, mechanics, *and* molecular composition to make more force www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Join us for our first CNB virtual mini symposium 🐓🏃🏻‍♀️! future events suited to additional time zones coming soon; join our mailing list on our website (link in flyer) to stay in the loop.

New paper out! The first from @osteosophia.bsky.social 's PhD - a new (hopefully more objective) way for categorising locomotor repertoires. With @eloygl.bsky.social @livevobiomech.bsky.social and Laura Fitton: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

A novel approach to quantifying mammal locomotor repertoires using scoring and cluster analysis

Abstract. Describing behaviour using qualitative categories is a staple of studies on tetrapod functional morphology, ecology and evolution. However, such

royalsocietypublishing.org

Here is a link to our new publication on the origins of vertebrates. "Early vertebrate biomineralization and eye structure determined by synchrotron X-ray analyses of Silurian jawless fish" url: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Early vertebrate biomineralization and eye structure determined by synchrotron X-ray analyses of Silurian jawless fish

Abstract. Understanding the origin and early diversification of vertebrates has always been a challenge because of the ambiguous and conflicting interpreta

royalsocietypublishing.org

Calling all JEB ECRs! It's that time again! The deadline for the next JEB Travelling Fellowship applications is 6 February, so if you've got a burning desire to travel to another lab to answer an extraordinary question get your application ready now! www.biologists.com/grants/trave...

Second PhD paper is out! We find: 1) aquatic and terrestrial salamanders have different limb bone adaptations, 2) complex life cycles promote different traits, 3) decoupling of external and internal bone traits increase diversity. Thread (1/8) and FREE link below! 🦎🧪 doi.org/10.1111/joa....

Habitat and complex life cycles promote morphological diversity in salamander limb bones

We examined the external shape and cross-sectional morphology of limb bones in 133 salamander species spanning the ecological and phylogenetic breadth of Caudata. We find that adaptations for aquatic...

doi.org

We are hiring a POSTDOC on an NIH award to measure inertial effects of (in)active muscle. Please share and re-post widely! Please send expressions of interest to my UML email.

New paper (with @konowlab.bsky.social)! Muscle force varies with length, but how does this affect muscle function in life? Combining live animal and muscle prep data, we found rat jaw muscles routinely operate at long, forceful (potentially unstable) lengths. rdcu.be/eNIQk

Rat superficial masseter operates at long lengths during biting

Scientific Reports - Rat superficial masseter operates at long lengths during biting

rdcu.be

The 2025-26 Eco-Evo job list is out. Good luck to those applying! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

ecoevojobs.net 2025-26

docs.google.com

Great new paper just dropped! A really comprehensive look at how mammals and their ancestors moved from sprawling to upright stances... but not in the straightforward way you might think! Congratulations to all the authors! 🎉

Robert Brocklehurst@docrobbrock.bsky.social · last yr.

I'm so excited to share my latest paper out now! How did the ancestors of mammals make the switch from sprawling to upright, taking over the world in the process? Spoiler alert; it's complicated! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

I'm so excited to share my latest paper out now! How did the ancestors of mammals make the switch from sprawling to upright, taking over the world in the process? Spoiler alert; it's complicated! journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...

Adaptive landscapes unveil the complex evolutionary path from sprawling to upright forelimb function and posture in mammals

The ‘sprawling-to-parasagittal’ postural transition is a key part of mammalian evolution from non-mammalian synapsids. This study uses evolutionary adaptive landscapes to reveal parasagittal postures ...

journals.plos.org

How did our mammalian #posture arise from our sprawling #synapsid ancestors? @docrobbrock.bsky.social &co reveal #parasagittal postures in stem therians, implying that synapsids evolved & radiated with distinct forelimb trait combinations for most of their history @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4loAHoy

Oh look! Me and @nhcooper123.bsky.social have done a podcast! For each episode we scour the @nhm-london.bsky.social's collections for weird and fun specimens that fit the theme, and then ramble to each other about them. So if that's your bag, give it a listen! 🎉

The Perfect Specimen@perfect-specimen.bsky.social · last yr.

Our first episode is PERFECT. m.youtube.com/playlist?lis... Do you like our choices? What would you have chosen? 🦋🪲🐢🐙🦈🐆🦜

New publication day! 🥳 Read all about arm joints in mammals and lizards - what they look like and how they move - with me, @l-fahn-lai.bsky.social and our co-authors. Out today in @jexpbiol.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/jeb/article-...

Relationship between joint shape and function as revealed through ex vivo XROMM

Summary: Experimental data measuring mobility across different types of limb joints in a mammal (opossum) and a reptile (tegu lizard) raise further questions on how well articular morphology predicts ...

journals.biologists.com

Announcing The first found, and most complete, #dinosaur skeleton from the Middle #Jurassic of Scotland! 📢🦖 So delighted to finally be able to share this great new fossil, published today! It was actually the first dinosaur found in #Scotland... thread 🧵 #OpenAccess #fossils doi.org/10.1017/S175...

The Elgol Dinosaur is out! This is the first and most complete dinosaur skeleton from the Jurassic of Isle of Skye, Scotland. I got to work with the amazing @elsa-panciroli.bsky.social on bringing this early ornithischian back to life. #Sciart Link to paper: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Just out of the oven! Today @migueldlm.bsky.social just published his first paper related to his PhD thesis! BFEX is a new Blender tool for making FEA more accessible for biologists and paleontologists! All using open and free software 😱 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

BFEX: A Toolbox for Finite Element Analysis With Fossils and Blender

We introduce BFEX, a Blender add-on for building Finite Elements Analysis for Fossils software. This approach streamlines the process of creating and visualizing FE models.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

New research led by Spencer Hellert tests the idea that major radiations within synapsids are begun by small faunivores. Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Press release: www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

Exciting pair of muscle evolution companion papers just out! Bishop & Pierce describe the fossil record of appendicular muscle evolution in Synapsida on the line to mammals in forelimb & hindlimb anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...