Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Simon Baeckens @simonbaeckens.bsky.social · Sep 8

Extreme climate events can catalyze rapid evolutionary change! in our new Current Biology (@currentbiology.bsky.social) piece, Colin and I argue it’s time to study their evolutionary consequences systematically — beyond opportunistic observations. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Evolutionary consequences of extreme climate events

Simon Baeckens and Colin Donihue review case studies of rapid evolutionary change in response to extreme climate events and sketch a framework for future studies in the rapidly changing climate of the...

www.cell.com

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Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Aug 29

Ce matin, j'étais la grande invitée de l'émission CQFD sur RTS. Merci encore à Lucia Silling, Stéphane Gabioud et Cécile Guérin pour leur invitation ! Une fois de plus, ce fut un grand plaisir de participer à votre émission ! #scienceisFUN; #RTS; #CQD www.rts.ch/audio-podcas...

Des chauves-souris et Anne-Claire Fabre, conservatrice des mammifères

Le swarming : quand les chauves-souris femelles choisissent leur partenaire Les brèves du jour Grande invitée : Anne-Claire Fabre, conservatrice des mammifères au Muséum dʹhistoire naturelle

www.rts.ch

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ScorpYuri @scorpyuri.bsky.social · May 21

This may suggest a trade off between grasping and holding with profound consequences of predatory strategies, diet and even venom evolution.

Thanks to @anthony-herrel.bsky.social and Arie van der Meinden for your supervision! It

If anyone needs a copy of the manuscript just drop me a message

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Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · May 26

#ICVM2025 symposia: www.isvm-icvm.org/icvm-2025

1. Phenotypic variation and development of mammalian and avian voice boxes;
2. Comparative functional morphology of elasmobranch fishes
3. Paleo-Evo-Devo: A Pilgrimage into the Past through the Lens of the Present
4. Recent Advances in the Macroevolutionary Morphology of Rodents
5. Anatomical foundations of the mammalian biodiversity
6. Kings and queens of the air: how archosaurs grew wings and controlled the skies

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American Naturaliﬆ / ASN 🐌 @asn-amnat.bsky.social · Jun 23

Simon et al. compared the role of constraints and selection on function to align evolutionary patterns of hindlimb trait covariation in frogs. They inferred that species tracked jumping performance peaks along lines of least resistance within-species.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent

www.journals.uchicago.edu

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Priscila Rothier @priscilarothier.bsky.social · Jul 11

Thrilled to share our new paper out in BMC, part of my postdoc at @cornellvet.bsky.social! 🐘🐀
We found that larger mammals evolve more diverse morphologies, while smaller ones can explore many locomotor strategies without much change to their forelimbs.
bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Body mass evolution as a driver of morphological and ecological diversity in terrestrial mammals - BMC Ecology and Evolution

Body mass plays a fundamental role in the macroevolutionary dynamics of morphological, ecological, and phylogenetic diversification. Given biomechanical principles, large body masses in terrestrial ve...

bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com

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Journal of Zoology @jzoology.bsky.social · Jul 16

The #evolution of sexual dimorphism in semi-fossorial #lizards: a case study with Ablepharus kitaibelii zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #morphometrics #skink

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Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · Jul 14

#ICVM2025 abstracts are now published! (1 pdf to rule them all)
Remember that, whatever format you're doing, the recorded presentation must be submitted by 20 July!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/10974687...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Anthony Herrel @anthony-herrel.bsky.social · Jul 11

Great paper by the amazing @priscilarothier.bsky.social

Check it out!

Priscila Rothier @priscilarothier.bsky.social · Jul 11

Thrilled to share our new paper out in BMC, part of my postdoc at @cornellvet.bsky.social! 🐘🐀
We found that larger mammals evolve more diverse morphologies, while smaller ones can explore many locomotor strategies without much change to their forelimbs.
bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Body mass evolution as a driver of morphological and ecological diversity in terrestrial mammals - BMC Ecology and Evolution

Body mass plays a fundamental role in the macroevolutionary dynamics of morphological, ecological, and phylogenetic diversification. Given biomechanical principles, large body masses in terrestrial ve...

bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com

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Anthony Herrel @anthony-herrel.bsky.social · Jun 23

Really cool paper by my collaborators!

American Naturaliﬆ / ASN 🐌 @asn-amnat.bsky.social · Jun 23

Simon et al. compared the role of constraints and selection on function to align evolutionary patterns of hindlimb trait covariation in frogs. They inferred that species tracked jumping performance peaks along lines of least resistance within-species.
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent

www.journals.uchicago.edu

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Gabriel S. Ferreira (he/his) @gsferreira.bsky.social · May 30

🚨🚨PhD position alert!🚨🚨
Do you like 🐢🐢? Or ecomorph evolution? I am offering a 36-month PhD position funded by the DFG about ecomorphology and neuroanatomy of turtles. Check out the ad here: www.senckenberg.de/en/career/sc...

Please share and if you have questions, send me a message 😉

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Anthony Herrel @anthony-herrel.bsky.social · May 26

Deadline for abstracts today

Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · May 26

#ICVM2025 symposia: www.isvm-icvm.org/icvm-2025

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Anthony Herrel @anthony-herrel.bsky.social · May 21

Great paper by Yuri Simone @scorpyuri.bsky.social on trade offs in scorpions.

ScorpYuri @scorpyuri.bsky.social · May 21

This may suggest a trade off between grasping and holding with profound consequences of predatory strategies, diet and even venom evolution.

Thanks to @anthony-herrel.bsky.social and Arie van der Meinden for your supervision! It

If anyone needs a copy of the manuscript just drop me a message

2

Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · May 14

Scientific illustrators, palaeo-artists, etc.: you're damn right you're welcome to attend!

Palaeo/physical anthology: you'd better believe you're welcome!

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Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · May 14

Vertebrate morphology writ large is welcome for abstracts:
anatomy of various body systems: absolutely!
biomechanics: yes!
development/evo-devo: indeed!
palaeontology: please!
morphometrics: yes!
methods-focused: sure!
morphology-related science (genetics, ecology, behaviour, etc.): affirmative!

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Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · May 14

Again, we're running the 1st ever virtual international conference on vertebrate morphology (ICVM) this August 7-10: www.isvm-icvm.org/icvm-2025
Abstracts are due 26 May (12 days)!
Of course you can just register and not submit abstract(s).
~3 days of great talks, posters, keynotes and more!

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Nina Rønsted @ninaronsted.bsky.social · May 2

We are hiring. The Natural History Museum Denmark seeks a Tenure-track Assistant Professor and Curator in Vertebrate Paleontology.

Duties are collection-based research, curation of collections, teaching and public engagement.

Deadline: 18 May 2025. View full job posting: bit.ly/3XPIQcg

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Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Apr 30

Paper alert 🚨
Our 1rst paper with @vivienl.bsky.social and colleagues is out in Functional Ecology! In this paper, we investigated how complete metamorphosis promotes morphological and functional diversity in Caudata.Want to know more? Read this👇
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Complete metamorphosis promotes morphological and functional diversity in Caudata

Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Journal of Zoology @jzoology.bsky.social · Apr 14

Two #fox species in NE #Argentina show high dietary overlap despite varied habitats, revealing a noncompetitive coexistence zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #Canidae #mesocarnivore #sympatry

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Journal of Zoology @jzoology.bsky.social · Apr 14

#Parasite load, throat colors, and cellular immune response in a high-altitude #gecko endemic to #Morocco zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #coloration

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ISYEB @isyeb.mnhn.fr · Apr 14

Dans un article de #Sciences_et_Avenir paru le 11/04/2025,
@audelalis.bsky.social @isyeb.mnhn.fr et Anthony Herrel @mecadev.bsky.social sont interviewés sur les stratégies adaptatives des organismes vivants.
"Survivre dans le désert ...."
▶️ www.sciencesetavenir.fr/archeo-paleo...

Survivre dans le désert : les étonnantes stratégies d'adaptation des animaux et des plantes en milieu hostile

Les déserts, hostiles à la vie, abritent une richesse d’espèces surprenante. Du froid polaire à la chaleur étouffante des déserts chauds, une quantité de stratégies adaptatives s’est développée chez c...

www.sciencesetavenir.fr

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How We Talk About Science @howwetalkabtsci.bsky.social · Apr 13

When our fishy ancestors came onto land, there was a lot that had to change: not just fins, but also necks! In our latest post, we cover a recent study that shows how neck muscles were co-opted to build a mobile neck during evolution. Read it here: isabellacisneros.substack.com/p/heads-will...

Heads Will Turn: How Neck Muscles Supported A Major Evolutionary Transition (Fixations #3)

In our latest Fixations post, we explore how evolution built upon existing muscle groups to craft a mobile neck during the water-to-land transition.

isabellacisneros.substack.com

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Journal of Zoology @jzoology.bsky.social · Apr 9

Journal of Zoology is now on Bluesky! Follow us to discover what we've published recently in our scientific journal covering all areas of #zoology - and find out more about us at zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1469... @zslscience.bsky.social

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Anthony Herrel @anthony-herrel.bsky.social · Apr 7

Looks like my animals are doing ok.

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Maïtena Dumont @maitenadumont.bsky.social · Apr 5

We are recruiting a PhD (2025-2028) in our laboratory GPM in Rouen (Normandy, France) on study of fish teeth structure, pigmentation and mechanical properties. More infos in the link below. gpm.univ-rouen.fr/fr/node/356

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ISYEB @isyeb.mnhn.fr · Apr 2

L'exposition "Déserts" ouvre ses portes aujourd'hui au @mnhn.fr
Découvrez les milieux les + extrêmes de notre planète et les incroyables stratégies d’adaptation du vivant.
@audelalis.bsky.social et Denis Larpin @isyeb.mnhn.fr commissaires scientifiques de cette expo
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEMl...

Exposition "Déserts" - Bande-annonce

YouTube video by Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle

www.youtube.com

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DZG 2025 Berlin @dzg2025berlin.bsky.social · Mar 31

👋 Looking forward to the 117th Annual Meeting of the German Zoological Society. Please like and share 🤩

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CNRS Écologie & Environnement @cnrsecologie.bsky.social · Mar 28

#RésultatScientifique🔎
Une étude publiée dans l'American Journal of Primatology, menée par l'ISEM et le MECADEV, documente les déplacements nocturnes du kinkajou dans les arbres yayamadou en Guyane, comparés à ceux de deux primates diurnes.
▶️ www.inee.cnrs.fr/fr/cnrsinfo/...

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Tropical Ecology @tropicalecology.bsky.social · Mar 24

Just published ! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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Marion Segall @marionsegall.bsky.social · Mar 21

I am looking for a PhD candidate to work on the morphological and functional evolution of the head shape of limbless squamates. The project will involve evolutionary biology, experimental and computational biomechanics, and a lot of scaly animals!!! More info here:
adum.fr/as/ed/voirpr...

adum.fr

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