Maurice Elphick
@mauriceelphick.bsky.social
Biologist https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SBj_WCcAAAAJ&hl=en
Our Dispatch "Evolution: Ancient monoamines in a neuron-less animal" out in @currentbiology.bsky.social. Monoamine signaling and behavioral responses in placozoans suggest this system predates bilaterians. authors.elsevier.com/a/1nYJl3QW8S... @annaferraioli.bsky.social @msarscentre.bsky.social
Led by the nose: a queen’s scent shapes naked mole rat society www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Led by the nose: a queen’s scent shapes naked mole rat society
Naked mole rats live in colonies characterized by having a single breeding queen. It emerges that a queen-associated chemical helps to maintain this reproductive hierarchy.
nature.com
ICB celebrates #NationalSeaStarDay Sea Star Superpowers: Celebrating our Ocean Superheroes for National Sea Star Day by Colleen Hecker on the work of Matt McHenry & Theodora Po, PhD read in full integrativeandcomparativebiology.wordpress.com/2026/07/28/s... #science #biology
Could a £50,000,000 experimental evolution experiment set us up to think differently about evolutionary biology? To enable a shift from a (largely) retrospective mindset to one of forecasting evolutionary changes?
Our University Research Fellowships are now open for applications. This scheme provides outstanding early-career scientists with the opportunity to build an independent research careers and pursue cutting edge scientific research. Find out more and apply now: royalsociety.org/grants/unive...
Looking forward to participating in the 12th European Conference on Echinoderms #ECE12 www.euroechino.net at UCL @ucl.ac.uk next week and meeting fellow echinodermologists from all around the world.
12th European Echinoderm Meeting 2026
description
euroechino.net
In an article published today, we show that ancient feeding-related neuropeptides have been repurposed to control brood care in clonal raider ants. Photo: Bart Zijlstra, UNIL /1
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences at QMUL @qmulsbbs.bsky.social is looking for early/mid career fellows to sponsor. We offer a diverse and welcoming environment, pro-promotion attitude, and excellent facilities. Details via the link below www.qmul.ac.uk/sbbs/researc...
Research Fellowships - School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences
qmul.ac.uk
Prebilaterian Origin of Monoaminergic Signalling is out! This paper represents four years of work, not only mine, but friends and colleagues. I am particularly grateful to Tatiana Mayorova; without her help, this paper would not have been nearly as complete. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Prebilaterian origin of monoaminergic signaling
Monoamines such as serotonin, dopamine, and tyramine regulate physiological and behavioral processes in bilaterian animals, but the evolutionary origi…
sciencedirect.com
New research reveals surprising similarities between sea star and human ovaries, including shared cell types, genes, and signaling pathways that may date back more than 500 million years. Read the full story here: go.mbl.edu/sea-star-ovary
Thank you to my QMUL @qmulsbbs.bsky.social colleague Greg Szulgit who has made this great video that features our 2024 paper on starfish autotomy, which was published in @currentbiology.bsky.social www.cell.com/current-biol... www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMHL...
Can weird properties in starfish be used to understand hyper-flexibility in humans?
YouTube video by Bacon's Sandwich
youtube.com
Published today in Open Biology, our investigation of the evolutionary and functional significance of neuropeptide cocktails. Congrats to my co-author Nayeli Escudero Castelán and thanks to @leverhulme.ac.uk and @ukri.org BBSRC for funding. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsob/article...
The evolution and functional significance of neuropeptide cocktails: insights from SALMFamides in asteroid echinoderms
Abstract. Neuropeptides derived from larger precursor proteins are neuronal signalling molecules that regulate physiological processes and behaviour. Some
royalsocietypublishing.org
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Evolutionary conservation and adaptability of cholecystokinin neuropeptide signaling in the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus - BMC Biology
Background Food ingestion is fundamental for animal survival and growth, with the cessation of feeding upon nutrient fulfillment being tightly regulated by a variety of satiety factors. Notably, sulfa...
link.springer.com
Chocolate chip sea stars sport an “ossicle” at the end of each arm, which transmits and concentrates light into an internal cavity located beneath the ossicle. The function of the structure is unknown, but it could be a brightness sensor. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/KPeK50ZauNp
Professor Lars Chittka FRS is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. His work has transformed our understanding of animal intelligence by demonstrating that bees, despite their tiny brains, exhibit advanced cognitive abilities such as counting, attention and others. #RSFellows https://bit.ly/49xJuRy
Biologically immortal sea cucumber tissues may provide new opportunities for ethical aging research in regenerative biology, biomedical research, and tissue engineering. Learn more in #ScienceAdvances: https://scim.ag/4dMH6sN
Natural tissue immortality: Indefinite survival of sea cucumber explants
Biological immortality of marine tissues offers previously unexplored potential for ethically unconstrained biomedical and aging research.
scim.ag
I have a new paper out today in PeerJ with a new intermediate pterosaur taxon, Laueropterus vitriolus. The full paper is here if you want the technical stuff: peerj.com/articles/212...
A new early monofenestratan pterosaur from the Mörnsheim Formation of southern Germany
A number of new early monofenestratan pterosaurs have recently been described from the Late Jurassic Mörnsheim Formation of Southern Germany, greatly expanding our knowledge of the diversity and evolu...
peerj.com
Online Now: Immunometabolic gatekeeping: How tissue metabolism conditions tumor immunity
Immunometabolic gatekeeping: How tissue metabolism conditions tumor immunity
Why the link between immune infiltration and tumor control varies so strongly across tissues remains unresolved. We propose the “immunometabolic gatekeeping” framework, whereby tissue-intrinsic metabolic activity and waste-handling capacity shape anti-tumour immunity. In high-flux tissues, metabolic stress impairs immune surveillance, decoupling infiltration from control and allowing tumor outgrowth. This framework explains cancer paradoxes—including T cell prognostic heterogeneity, hereditary and pediatric tumor tropisms, sex-biased tumor incidence, and cancer-resistant species—and suggests metabolism-aware strategies for cancer prevention and immunotherapy.
dlvr.it
Happy to announce that we received the HFSP to study the evolution of TRP channels! bit.ly/4uGmMQ3 This project is a collaboration between Luis Bezares from the @biodev-vlfr.bsky.social LBDV in Viellefranch and the University of Southampton. @unisouthampton.bsky.social
New Awards 2026 | Human Frontier Science Program
bit.ly
Postdoc position in thermosensory evolution at Queen Mary University of London. Seeking applicants with a PhD in related fields and experience in genetics or ne… https://qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/appcentre-ext/brand-4/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/3/opp/8717-Postdoctoral-Research-Associate/en-GB #postdoc
Postdoctoral Research Associate - QMUL Jobs
Postdoctoral Research Associate - QMUL Jobs
qmul-jobs.tal.net
Sea-urchin spines generate electrical signals in flowing water www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Sea-urchin spines generate electrical signals in flowing water
The spines of sea urchins can generate a voltage when water moves around them — a phenomenon that could be used to design underwater flow sensors.
nature.com
Molecular and neural basis of pleasant touch sensation | www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Molecular and neural basis of pleasant touch sensation
A neuropeptide and spinal neural circuit that encode and transmit pleasant touch sensation have been identified.
science.org
Are you a computational postdoc or even in the last year of your PhD and you want to set up your own lab? Want to work in one of the most multi-disciplinary and multi-national institutions in the world? Want to be a leader in understanding biology - molecules up? Apply below!
EMBL-EBI@ebi.embl.org · 5mo agoWe’re recruiting new Research Group Leaders! We offer: 🔬 Core funding 💻 Access to world-leading infrastructure 👩🏽🔬A network of world-leading scientists …and much more. Apply by 11 April: embl.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/EMBL/j... #ResearchCareers #Bioinformatics @timcoorens.bsky.social @embl.org
KISSPEPTIN FUNCTION REVEALED IN AN INVERTEBRATE - Congrats to @tabindaislam.bsky.social whose first PhD paper was published today in BMC Biology. Thank you to co-authors @luisguerra.bsky.social & Dean Semmens and to our funders - @leverhulme.ac.uk BBSRC & IsDB. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Evolution of neurohormone function revealed by actions of kisspeptin-type peptides in an echinoderm - BMC Biology
Background The neurohormone kisspeptin regulates reproductive maturation and function in mammals by stimulating hypothalamic production and release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone. However, little i...
link.springer.com
