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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 10h

Hey maybe jerboas are also big and dangerous sons of bitches!

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 10h

🥹🥹🥹🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 10h

Thank you to all the authors and network of colleagues and mentors who have helped make this work happen. I can't wait to keep digging into vertebra development, axial skeletal diversity, and tail biology!!

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 10h

Here, we use the jerboa and mouse to understand the temporal growth dynamics that establish adult vertebral proportion, the cellular drivers of differential growth, and candidate genetic mechanisms that determine and diversify vertebral proportion.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cellular and genetic mechanisms that shape the development and evolution of tail vertebral proportion in mice and jerboas - Nature Communications

Vertebra lengths differ from the neck to the tail tip and differ between species, evidenced by extreme differences in mouse and jerboa tails. Here, Weber and colleagues identify cellular mechanisms and candidate genes that shape vertebral proportion.

www.nature.com

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 10h

We find that their long tails are acquired by far greater elongation of individual vertebral elements in the mid-tail region. This pattern, called a 'crescendo-decrescendo' of tail vertebral lengths, likely enhances their ability to inertially maneuver. See: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 10h

This project started during my postdoc interview when I asked @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social "jerboa tails seem longer. Have you looked into that?". It turns out the jerboa tail is approximately 1.5x longer than the mouse, normalized to body length, but with 3-4 *fewer* vertebrae than in mice.

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 10h

Vertebral skeletal diversity in mammals is remarkable. How do the differences between vertebral size and shape develop and evolve? See how we tackled this question in our paper published in @natcomms.nature.com today!

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 7d

I love degus!! They have sweet little medium tails, and a few features that I'd love to study. That 90 day gestation is LONG but it looks like they're born precocial so I may not always need to wait 3 whole months...

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 7d

I'd love to study tree squirrel tails but that particular side quest has been benched for the time being.

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 7d

By short(er) I mean anywhere from shorter than the length of the body (nose-anus) to a stubby little guinea pig tail. I'm already looking at mouse tails (1x its body length) and jerboa tails (1.5x body length).

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 7d

Bsky brainstorm! I'm looking for a short(er)-tailed rodent amenable to embryological research (timed pregnancies, decent litter size, easy to get/breed enough to sacrifice dams, etc).

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

Denis Duboule @denisduboule.bsky.social · 23d

Out today. 🙏 again to everyone for this wonderful piece of work, in particular to Aurelie @aurhin.bsky.social Chase @chasebolt.bsky.social and Brent @homeobox.bsky.social. 🙏 also to the Harris lab @fish4walking.bsky.social and @neilshubin.bsky.social @biology-unige.bsky.social @college-de-france.fr

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 23d

This is SO cool and was such a fun read this morning. Congrats to the whole team!!!

Aurelie Hintermann @aurhin.bsky.social · 23d

Are digits modified fins, or evolutionary innovations? Read how we tackled this old question from a new angle🧪
A story with @chasebolt.bsky.social, @homeobox.bsky.social and myself, coordinated by @denisduboule.bsky.social from @college-de-france.fr and published in @nature.com today!
#InHoxWeTrust

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

John Wallingford @jbwallingford.bsky.social · 25d

Side hustle level-up! My book, IN THE BEGINNING, will be published by @harperonebooks.bsky.social in 2027! It's about the human embryo, how it gets built, and what it means for where we come from and where we're going.
@harpercollins.bsky.social (1/2)
@socdevbio.bsky.social
#devbiol
#scicomm

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · 25d

It's chilling to hear my Dad's voice in Eric Dane's, knowing that ALS has reached his respiratory muscles and how heartbreaking it must be for his loved ones to watch the disease progress. I admire how @iamals.bsky.social approaches ALS research, treatment access, and outreach, so please amplify:

iamals.bsky.social @iamals.bsky.social · 25d

We're launching our Push for Progress campaign to accelerate ALS research, expand treatment access, & secure $1BN in federal funding over 3 years. ALS is at a tipping point CLOSE to new treatments, but thousands will lose access unless we TAKE ACTION @ iamals.org/progress

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

tdcapellini.bsky.social @tdcapellini.bsky.social · Aug 27

1) I am delighted to present this terrific tour de force research conducted by my post-doc Dr. Gayani Senevirathne @gayani.bsky.social and published today in Nature -
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The evolution of hominin bipedalism in two steps - Nature

The human pelvis exhibits distinct spatiotemporal ossification patterns and an ilium cartilage growth plate that is shifted perpendicularly compared with those of other mammals and non-human primates—...

www.nature.com

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

Kim Cooper @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social · Jul 11

I think we have a new celebratory lab prosecco @ceriweber.bsky.social

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

M. Brent Hawkins @homeobox.bsky.social · Jul 7

We take for granted that our hands have two sides and can articulate in an endless number of ways. But what about a fish’s fin? Can a fish know something “like the back of its fin,” or have its future told with a fin palm reading? Check out this bluetorial to find out 👇🧪🧬🐟 doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Schematics depicting the dorsal and ventral sides of fins and limbs

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · Jun 25

Same

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

Kim Cooper @ucsdcooperlab.bsky.social · Jun 25

This is insane and so wrong. This cohort of 2020 postdocs, who are now largely also job search ready in this market(?), keep getting screwed.

Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · Jun 25

NIAMS just announced K99/R00 extensions, which is fantastic for trainees impacted right now, BUT I’d like to point out that the *only* postdocs who did not benefit from COVID extensions and are ineligible for the new extensions are those who started in 2020 lockdowns.

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · Jun 25

NIAMS just announced K99/R00 extensions, which is fantastic for trainees impacted right now, BUT I’d like to point out that the *only* postdocs who did not benefit from COVID extensions and are ineligible for the new extensions are those who started in 2020 lockdowns.

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

MwahahahahahadScientist @mads100tist.bsky.social · Jun 22

Extremely honored to receive this prize from @socdevbio.bsky.social, which recognizes not only my love for developmental biology, but the extremely online I am 🧪 (protect science, protect people, viva la dev bio!)

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Reposted by Ceri Weber

Crystal Rogers, PhD @rogerslabucd.bsky.social · Jun 22

Love my #DevBio community! Congratulations on an amazing meeting! #2025ICDB @socdevbio.bsky.social @uribelab.bsky.social @mikepiacentino.bsky.social @ceriweber.bsky.social

Developmental biologists at the international congress of developmental biology

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · Jun 22

Congratulations to @evodevodiva.bsky.social on her lifetime achievement award! Undergrad research in the Swalla lab helped make me into the evodevo scientist I am today.

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Ceri Weber @ceriweber.bsky.social · Jun 22

Celebrating Blanche Capel with fellow Capel Lab alum Lindsey Barske at #2025ICDB #2025SDB @socdevbio.bsky.social

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