Luíseach Nic Eoin
@roinnanluisigh.bsky.social
Archaeologist-turned-editor at Nature Ecology & Evolution. Eland, not dassie.
Pinned
Hello! I'm Luíseach, an editor handling all the old things 🏺🦕🦴🧬 (but also live humans) @natureecoevo.bsky.social. My handle, Roinn an Luísigh, is a pun that I thought was funny 12 years ago because my name rhymes with 'taoiseach'. Puns work best when they're laboured and need explaining, right?
Great day for cat archaeology all round
The domestic cat may be a far more recent arrival to Europe than previously thought, a new Science study. finds. The results offer new insight into one of humanity’s most enigmatic animal companions and identify North Africa as the cradle of the modern housecat.
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
Learn more: https://scim.ag/44kov1S
November 28, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Great day for cat archaeology all round
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Finally the research has been published to prove that wild cat (Felis silvestris) lived in Ireland 5,500 years ago. Many claims over the years but the backup genetics was needed and a good number of bones have been recovered to provide enough material www.rte.ie/news/munster...
Wildcat bones found in Co Clare dated to 5,500 years ago
The first directly dated wildcat bones found in Ireland have been identified, confirming that the species inhabited the island more than 5,500 years ago.
www.rte.ie
November 28, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Finally the research has been published to prove that wild cat (Felis silvestris) lived in Ireland 5,500 years ago. Many claims over the years but the backup genetics was needed and a good number of bones have been recovered to provide enough material www.rte.ie/news/munster...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Paleo folks: Please recommend researchers (incl yourselves) interested in phylogenetic reconstruction in deep time, molecular clocks (discord w/ fossil clocks), foundational/methodological issues in phylo/paleo-reconstruction & who'd be interested in hanging w/ historians & philosophers of science ⚒️
November 24, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Paleo folks: Please recommend researchers (incl yourselves) interested in phylogenetic reconstruction in deep time, molecular clocks (discord w/ fossil clocks), foundational/methodological issues in phylo/paleo-reconstruction & who'd be interested in hanging w/ historians & philosophers of science ⚒️
"Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished"
That'll be because without heads, they couldn't see where they were going?
www.science.org/content/arti...
That'll be because without heads, they couldn't see where they were going?
www.science.org/content/arti...
Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished
Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:53 PM
"Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished"
That'll be because without heads, they couldn't see where they were going?
www.science.org/content/arti...
That'll be because without heads, they couldn't see where they were going?
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
The geology department at the University of Leicester, where myself and countless others did our palaeontology PhDs, is at serious risk of closure
Please show your support by signing the below!
c.org/KtYyZB8dHk
Please show your support by signing the below!
c.org/KtYyZB8dHk
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?
c.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:50 AM
The geology department at the University of Leicester, where myself and countless others did our palaeontology PhDs, is at serious risk of closure
Please show your support by signing the below!
c.org/KtYyZB8dHk
Please show your support by signing the below!
c.org/KtYyZB8dHk
I'm not at #SVP2025 unfortunately, but if you're interested in publishing in @natecoevo.nature.com one of my excellent colleagues can tell you how to get in touch with us!
Here’s the @natureportfolio.nature.com crew at #SVP2025 - @joaovascoleite.bsky.social @devinleaward.bsky.social @lukegrinham.bsky.social and me. Come and chat.
November 13, 2025 at 11:30 AM
I'm not at #SVP2025 unfortunately, but if you're interested in publishing in @natecoevo.nature.com one of my excellent colleagues can tell you how to get in touch with us!
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Here’s the @natureportfolio.nature.com crew at #SVP2025 - @joaovascoleite.bsky.social @devinleaward.bsky.social @lukegrinham.bsky.social and me. Come and chat.
November 13, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Here’s the @natureportfolio.nature.com crew at #SVP2025 - @joaovascoleite.bsky.social @devinleaward.bsky.social @lukegrinham.bsky.social and me. Come and chat.
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Anyone interested in learning about why journals make a proactive effort to increase women's participation in the peer review process should take the time look at some actual evidence about why this is needed. Ditto journalists covering such a story. Do some reporting! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Women are credited less in science than men - Nature
The difference between the number of men and women listed as authors on scientific papers and inventors on patents is at least partly attributable to unacknowledged contributions by women scientists.
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Anyone interested in learning about why journals make a proactive effort to increase women's participation in the peer review process should take the time look at some actual evidence about why this is needed. Ditto journalists covering such a story. Do some reporting! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Richard Wrangham pays tribute to Jane Goodall in an obituary for Nature, outlining how she was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats. 🧪
Jane Goodall obituary: pioneer primatologist who inspired generations of scientists
She was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats.
go.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Richard Wrangham pays tribute to Jane Goodall in an obituary for Nature, outlining how she was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats. 🧪
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Sheng et al. call for greater survey efforts and broader conservation initiative to protect the 11 (ELEVEN!) felid species of the Tibetan Plateau.
(Strong contender for the Correspondence, or indeed article of any kind, with the best figure we ever published)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(Strong contender for the Correspondence, or indeed article of any kind, with the best figure we ever published)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Protect the Tibetan Plateau’s rich felid diversity - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Protect the Tibetan Plateau’s rich felid diversity
www.nature.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Sheng et al. call for greater survey efforts and broader conservation initiative to protect the 11 (ELEVEN!) felid species of the Tibetan Plateau.
(Strong contender for the Correspondence, or indeed article of any kind, with the best figure we ever published)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(Strong contender for the Correspondence, or indeed article of any kind, with the best figure we ever published)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
The archaeological record of plastics
A fascinating new publication: The Plastics Age: An archaeology of our time, a cross-disciplinary approach to create an overarching theory of how and in what ways plastics are forming an archaeological record.
#contemporaryarchaeology #anthropocene #plastics
#contemporaryarchaeology #anthropocene #plastics
Archaeological and systemic context for the plastic age: Theorising the formation of contemporary and future archaeological records | Cambridge Prisms: Plastics | Cambridge Core
Archaeological and systemic context for the plastic age: Theorising the formation of contemporary and future archaeological records - Volume 3
www.cambridge.org
September 4, 2025 at 8:27 AM
The archaeological record of plastics
FYI this excellent piece is now free access for a month--check it out! #palaeontology #plasticpollution
Sarah Gabbott's @thepalass.bsky.social plenary talk has been living rent free inside my head ever since December so I'm delighted that she's written it up as a Comment for @natecoevo.nature.com: we need taphonomy to understand plastic pollution
rdcu.be/eAmRU
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eAmRU
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Understanding environmental impacts of plastic requires a palaeontological lens - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Growing evidence suggests that timescales for plastic degradation have been vastly underestimated. The fossil record of plastic-like biopolymers might provide a perspective on plastic fossilization in...
www.nature.com
August 22, 2025 at 9:04 AM
FYI this excellent piece is now free access for a month--check it out! #palaeontology #plasticpollution
Sarah Gabbott's @thepalass.bsky.social plenary talk has been living rent free inside my head ever since December so I'm delighted that she's written it up as a Comment for @natecoevo.nature.com: we need taphonomy to understand plastic pollution
rdcu.be/eAmRU
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eAmRU
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Understanding environmental impacts of plastic requires a palaeontological lens - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Growing evidence suggests that timescales for plastic degradation have been vastly underestimated. The fossil record of plastic-like biopolymers might provide a perspective on plastic fossilization in...
www.nature.com
August 12, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Sarah Gabbott's @thepalass.bsky.social plenary talk has been living rent free inside my head ever since December so I'm delighted that she's written it up as a Comment for @natecoevo.nature.com: we need taphonomy to understand plastic pollution
rdcu.be/eAmRU
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/eAmRU
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Our August issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...
🧪 Featuring research on:
🧬 The antibiotic resistome
🌍 Palaeobiogeography of lagerpetids and early pterosaurs
🫄 Evolution of mammalian pregnancy
Cover shows a pangolin from Emogor et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 Featuring research on:
🧬 The antibiotic resistome
🌍 Palaeobiogeography of lagerpetids and early pterosaurs
🫄 Evolution of mammalian pregnancy
Cover shows a pangolin from Emogor et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
August 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Our August issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...
🧪 Featuring research on:
🧬 The antibiotic resistome
🌍 Palaeobiogeography of lagerpetids and early pterosaurs
🫄 Evolution of mammalian pregnancy
Cover shows a pangolin from Emogor et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 Featuring research on:
🧬 The antibiotic resistome
🌍 Palaeobiogeography of lagerpetids and early pterosaurs
🫄 Evolution of mammalian pregnancy
Cover shows a pangolin from Emogor et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
This company claimed to ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves. Then the fighting started. Colossal’s bold announcements have drawn criticism from many scientists, but the billion-dollar firm is not backing down. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
This company claimed to ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves. Then the fighting started.
Colossal’s bold announcements have drawn criticism from many scientists, but the billion-dollar firm is not backing down.
www.nature.com
August 4, 2025 at 2:52 PM
This company claimed to ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves. Then the fighting started. Colossal’s bold announcements have drawn criticism from many scientists, but the billion-dollar firm is not backing down. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Like science? Then you better be interested when *someone* starts putting out hit pieces on scientists. This is beyond the pale ethically and honestly anyone who doesn’t want to slide to hell on a slick of ai generated content that benefits billionaire business, maybe now is the time to get angry.
August 1, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Like science? Then you better be interested when *someone* starts putting out hit pieces on scientists. This is beyond the pale ethically and honestly anyone who doesn’t want to slide to hell on a slick of ai generated content that benefits billionaire business, maybe now is the time to get angry.
I was really looking forward to @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social but unfortunately can’t make it anymore. Hope to catch up later, but if you’ve got any #conservation #palaeobiology papers please do submit them to @natecoevo.nature.com! Or drop me a message to discuss
July 28, 2025 at 12:01 PM
I was really looking forward to @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social but unfortunately can’t make it anymore. Hope to catch up later, but if you’ve got any #conservation #palaeobiology papers please do submit them to @natecoevo.nature.com! Or drop me a message to discuss
Paranthropus robustus ecology and life history via Sr isotopes from teeth
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/exFEL
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/exFEL
Geochemical chronologies in Paranthropus robustus teeth inform habitat and life histories
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Strontium analysis of Paranthropus robustus teeth from two South African sites reveals that the Pleistocene hominin probably exploited both savanna and riparian...
rdcu.be
July 24, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Paranthropus robustus ecology and life history via Sr isotopes from teeth
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/exFEL
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/exFEL
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Our July issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...
🧪Featuring research on:
🌴Regenerating tropical forests
🐊Early archosauromorph reptiles
🦑Bobtail squid visual and nervous systems
Cover shows an orchid mantis, from Pei et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪Featuring research on:
🌴Regenerating tropical forests
🐊Early archosauromorph reptiles
🦑Bobtail squid visual and nervous systems
Cover shows an orchid mantis, from Pei et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
July 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Our July issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...
🧪Featuring research on:
🌴Regenerating tropical forests
🐊Early archosauromorph reptiles
🦑Bobtail squid visual and nervous systems
Cover shows an orchid mantis, from Pei et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪Featuring research on:
🌴Regenerating tropical forests
🐊Early archosauromorph reptiles
🦑Bobtail squid visual and nervous systems
Cover shows an orchid mantis, from Pei et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
And here is a whole host of expert comment on the Moa/Colossal announcement -- well worth a read, with lots to think about.
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m...
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m...
Moa "de-extinction" plans announced - Expert Reaction
An overseas company has announced plans to "bring back" the South Island giant moa.
Colossal Biosciences, working with Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and Canterbury Museum, says it expects to "resurrect" t...
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz
July 9, 2025 at 11:19 AM
And here is a whole host of expert comment on the Moa/Colossal announcement -- well worth a read, with lots to think about.
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m...
www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m...
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
Nazi Germany did literally ban Nature:
"Articles are often published in the London weekly scientific journal Nature containing outrageous and vile attacks on German science and the national socialist state.
The journal must therefore be excluded from general use in the scientific libraries."
"Articles are often published in the London weekly scientific journal Nature containing outrageous and vile attacks on German science and the national socialist state.
The journal must therefore be excluded from general use in the scientific libraries."
July 1, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Nazi Germany did literally ban Nature:
"Articles are often published in the London weekly scientific journal Nature containing outrageous and vile attacks on German science and the national socialist state.
The journal must therefore be excluded from general use in the scientific libraries."
"Articles are often published in the London weekly scientific journal Nature containing outrageous and vile attacks on German science and the national socialist state.
The journal must therefore be excluded from general use in the scientific libraries."
Finding out #Jomon people (hunter-fisher-gatherer-potter-beangrowers) may have #domesticated adzuki beans blew my tiny mind, so I wrote a Research Highlight about it for @natecoevo.nature.com
🫘🫘
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(original paper is in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...)
🫘🫘
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(original paper is in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...)
Early Japanese people were full of beans - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Nature Ecology & Evolution - Early Japanese people were full of beans
www.nature.com
June 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Finding out #Jomon people (hunter-fisher-gatherer-potter-beangrowers) may have #domesticated adzuki beans blew my tiny mind, so I wrote a Research Highlight about it for @natecoevo.nature.com
🫘🫘
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(original paper is in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...)
🫘🫘
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
(original paper is in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...)
Reposted by Luíseach Nic Eoin
This article is the culmination of a @wennergrenorg.bsky.social project led by the iso-GOAT 🧪Judith Sealy. I'm so honored to have attended the conference, talked about open science in isotopes research, and then been part of this paper led by Max Spies 🏺https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.250283
Strontium isoscapes for provenance, mobility and migration: the way forward | Royal Society Open Science
Strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) are increasingly used as a provenance tool in multiple disciplines. Application
to biological materials requires knowledge of the variation in bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr acr...
doi.org
June 24, 2025 at 2:08 PM
This article is the culmination of a @wennergrenorg.bsky.social project led by the iso-GOAT 🧪Judith Sealy. I'm so honored to have attended the conference, talked about open science in isotopes research, and then been part of this paper led by Max Spies 🏺https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.250283
Forests in England and Wales associated with higher human #wellbeing are in areas with the least socioeconomic deprivation according to new research from @jessjessfisher.bsky.social and colleagues from @dice-kent.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... (OA) #AccessToNature 🧪🌎
Spatio-temporal variability in forest biodiversity associated with human well-being across socio-economic deprivation gradients - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Applying a combined social science and trait-based ecology approach, the authors identify ecological traits in forests eliciting positive or negative well-being among human participants in England and...
www.nature.com
June 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Forests in England and Wales associated with higher human #wellbeing are in areas with the least socioeconomic deprivation according to new research from @jessjessfisher.bsky.social and colleagues from @dice-kent.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41... (OA) #AccessToNature 🧪🌎