1/4 I met Claudio (Cucini) at the @sibe-iseb.bsky.social meeting in 2022 and asked if he’d like to collaborate on springtails. A few years and many discussions later, our first preprint is finally out! Here are some highlights… #Phylogenomics #Evolution #Collembola #Systematics

Ancient Rapid Radiation Underlies Persistent Phylogenomic Conflict in Early Collembola Diversification

Collembola (springtails) are among the most abundant and ecologically important soil arthropods, representing one of the oldest extant terrestrial hexapod lineages, with a fossil record extending to t...

biorxiv.org

🦇 Did you know brown long-eared bats love perching in their favourite spot and eat moths? They are not so keen on the wings though... This photo, taken by Mike Mullis, is a collection of moth wings left by a brown long-eared bat from underneath its feeding roosts in his barn in East Sussex (cont)

Ancient Rapid Radiation Underlies Persistent Phylogenomic Conflict in Early Collembola Diversification https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.05.736609v1

Bianchini, Zhu, @fcicconardi.bsky.social & @emoody.bsky.social present AliFilter, which uses machine learning to automate manual sequence alignment filtering. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molb... #evobio #molbio #compbio

AliFilter: a machine learning approach to alignment filtering

Abstract. Multiple sequence alignments are a crucial step in many bioinformatic and computational biology analyses, from protein structure and function pre

doi.org

Agraulis came to welcome me... 🤣

Female mouse embryos with a single letter change in their DNA develop male reproductive organs go.nature.com/4cnqLJ8

Female mice grow testes after this single DNA tweak

Small changes in the non-coding part of the genome have a key role in sex determination.

go.nature.com

It's so cool I'm gonna have these guys outdoors... 🥰

Alarm bells are ringing in the Horn of Africa. Farms are no longer yielding, pests are spreading, and tropical diseases are emerging. Climate change is real, and it’s destroying lives. #ClimateCrisis #GlobalAction

Thick, toxic smoke and black, acid rain has blanketed Iran’s capital, Tehran, this week, after missiles damaged oil depots and refineries go.nature.com/4bp7cQ8

‘Black rain’ in Tehran — what are the health effects?

Nature - Toxic smoke from burning oil depots has blanketed Iran’s capital following missle strikes.

go.nature.com

Bull ants use a first-of-its-kind lunar compass to find their way home. Learn more: https://scim.ag/4uc9zy6

It was amazing being part of this group for so many years... @ebablab.bsky.social

A phylogeny of 4'854 #insects --- with structural #genomics shedding light on protein functions & remote homologs www.nature.com/articles/s41... #biodiversity

Structural genomics sheds light on protein functions and remote homologs across the insect tree of life - Cell Research

Cell Research - Structural genomics sheds light on protein functions and remote homologs across the insect tree of life

nature.com

New paper covering what we think is a pretty nice and comprehensive overview over tools suitable for neuroethology in butterflies and moths. Also, check out the whole special issue if you're an insect neuroethologist. @neuroethology.org @dzg-neurobiology.bsky.social doi.org/10.1007/s003...

Emerging tools to advance neuroethology in butterflies and moths - Journal of Comparative Physiology A

Journal of Comparative Physiology A - Butterflies and moths have played historically important roles in developing our understanding of both ecology and evolutionary biology, and neuroethology. In...

doi.org

This is my boss! 💪

Stephen Montgomery@ebablab.bsky.social · 8mo ago

blown away by this, given the names of previous winners - recent and not so recent - hugely grateful to @zslofficial.bsky.social, and all the many students, postgrads, postdocs and collaborators who have helped make the last 14 years so fun and exciting Will go back to avoiding cameras now… 🫣

An impressive review on classification and study of #ants, taken from an historical perspective 🖥️🧬🐜 includes also loads of insightful sections 👀 #bugsky #phylogenetics academic.oup.com/isd/article/...

Ant systematics: past, present, and future

Abstract. The classification of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) has progressed in waves since the first 17 species were described by Linnaeus in the 1758 ed

academic.oup.com

Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social

Nature@nature.com · 9mo ago

Nature research paper: Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals go.nature.com/4i0i61w

😱

Highly Detail 3D Butterfly Made with Gaussian Splatting

A new great work by Dany Bittel.

share.google

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!

International Society for Neuroethology@neuroethology.org · 10mo ago

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/...

Exceptionally arrogant for sure 😊 share.google/zjLDckGoX3Xt...

Human exceptionalism is at the root of the ecological crisis, claims evolutionary biologist

In the grand story of evolution, the crowning human distinction is our big brain. But our large heads have been slow to recognize a less admirable trait of Homo sapiens—self-centeredness.

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

Evolution of the olfactory system during the radiation of Heliconiini butterflies

Abstract. Sensory system evolution plays a crucial role in shaping species’ interactions with their environment, yet the extent to which olfactory system d

academic.oup.com

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Olfactory floral mimicry of injured ants mediates the attraction of kleptoparasitic fly pollinators

Mochizuki reports a plant that lures pollinating flies by imitating the scent of ants injured by predators. This study reveals the first known case of ant mimicry in flowers and uncovers previously un...

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Finally... Grant proposal submitted!

Villalobos-Leiva et al. analysed population structure, genetic diversity, and geometric morphometrics of wing shape in Vanessa carye, supporting its status as a migratory species with the longest journey among American butterflies. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molb... #evobio #molbio #migration

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

#GameOverIsrael

#GameOverIsrael: European campaign calls to boycott Israel in football

YouTube video by Middle East Eye

youtube.com

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. 🐟👀🎨

Rapid Divergence of Visual Systems and Signaling Traits to Contrasting Light Regimes During Early Speciation of African Crater Lake Cichlid Fish

Abstract. Sensory adaptation is widely hypothesized to drive ecological speciation, yet empirical evidence from natural populations undergoing early stage

academic.oup.com

A new Science study of ants in Fiji—involving genomic sequencing of over 4000 ant specimens from museum collections—shows that most native species have been in decline since humans first arrived in the archipelago 3000 years ago. https://scim.ag/489mI2o

Genomic signatures indicate biodiversity loss in an endemic island ant fauna

Insect populations have declined worldwide, but the extent and drivers of these declines are debated. Most studies rely on field surveys performed in the past century, leaving gaps in our understandin...

science.org

𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘴𝘱.

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