Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Aug 28

Holy cow I just figured out you can submit directly to a journal from BioRxiv @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social. Awesome.

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Aug 28

Why is it easier to submit a manuscript to @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social than to *any* journal? How is that possible?

1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Aug 28

🍎
Man, that 4 game series against the Phils in September is gonna be a doozy.

1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Aug 22

Any good recs for resources?

1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 29

Has anyone on here used GitHub pages to build a website? Either for personal or for a piece of software?

Would love to ask some questions as I’m apparently too dumb to work through the GitHub instructions.

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 17

For anyone interested in watching the monthly OCSG research talks, all have been recorded and can be found here:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Arthur’s incredible talk will be up soon!

OCSG_meeting_schedule

docs.google.com

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 16

Good morning Australasian reptile genomics folks (that seems very specific).

The Open Consortium on Squamate Genomics has a presentation by Arthur Georges (Uni Canberra) on Telomere-to-Telomere reptile genomes, this morning at 9am AEST.

Join us for some dragon chat!

bsky.app/profile/bren...

1 2 9

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Phew.
Thanks for coming along on that ride.
Now go outside and pet a frog.

kermit the frog from the muppet show is standing in front of a red curtain

ALT: kermit the frog from the muppet show is standing in front of a red curtain

media.tenor.com

2

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Saganura
Sylvagemma
Teretistes
Viridihyla

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Ranoidea
Rawlinsonia
Rhyaconastes
Sandyrana

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Nyctimystes (more)
Pengilleyia
Pelodryas
Spicicalyx
Papuahyla

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Mahonabatrachus
Megatestis
Melvillihyla
Mosleyia
Nasutibatrachus
Nyctimystes

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Hyalotos
Ischnohyla
Kallistobatrachus
Lathrana
Leptobatrachus
Litoria !

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Cyclorana
Drymomantis
Dryopsophus
Eremnoculus
Exedrobatrachus
Exochohyla

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

If you've made it this far, here are images of all the pelodryadid genera. Check out the paper for even more images and other cool stuff. tinyurl.com/4udpmxsm

Amnihyla
Colleeneremia
Coggerdonia
Carichyla
Chlorohyla

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

This was a huge effort from a lot of people over many years. Most are not on BlueSky (Stephen Richards, Glenn Shea, Michael Mahony, et al.) but thanks to @stevedonnellan.bsky.social @keoghlabanu.bsky.social and @damienesquerre.bsky.social

2 1 5

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Right now you might be thinking "what's the best way to keep track of these new names?"

While the common databases are working to incorporate these names, try this handy PDF table of new/old names:
tinyurl.com/rtc32yxe
It even has links to @amphibiaweb.org and FrogID.

tinyurl.com

1 2

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

But what are my favorite new names?
Here's just a couple:

Megatestis: "mighty/marvelous testicles". Big aquatic treefrogs that can float around on their nards.

Nasutibatrachus: little frogs with a big nose.

Spicicalyx: fun to say. Named for their spiky heels.

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

Here's just a taste of some of the amazing diversity in this group of frogs:

1. Mahonabatrachus timida
2. Pelodryas splendida
3. Exochohyla prora
4. Ranoidea raniformis
5. Nyctimystes pulcher
6. Mosleyia nannotis
7. Cyclorana platycephala
8. Litoria nasuta

1 2

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

The thing is, pelodryadids didn't get the memo that they're supposed to be "tree frogs".

Instead, they've evolved to live in deserts (Pelodryas), fast flowing streams (Mosleyia), burrow underground (Cyclorana), float in billabongs (Megatestis), and in claim every outback toilet and shower.

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

To accommodate Cyclorana and Nyctimystes, which are morphologically distinct and well known, we applied and constructed 31 additional genera.

I know what you're saying right now, "that's a lot of genera". But hear us out, there's a lot of diversity to know and love, let me show you...

1 1

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

For a long time, we've known that the biggest genus of Australian frogs, Litoria, isn't a monophyletic group. Two other genera, Nyctimystes tree frogs from New Guinea, and Cyclorana are embedded within the genus.

Time for some taxonomic work!

Pics of:
Cyclorana occidentalis
Nyctimystes eucavatus

1 2

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jul 4

🚨🐸 Frog Nerds Assemble 🐸🚨

Recently we published a paper on the phylogenetics and taxonomy of Australia and New Guinea's tree frogs, the Pelodryadidae.

Link here: tinyurl.com/4udpmxsm

What does this mean for you Litoria-lovers?
There's a whole bunch more names to use!

Let me explain ...

4 18 35

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · May 22

You’ve got a good start looking for the Perfect Specimen in the herp collections!

4

Ian Brennan @brennian.bsky.social · Jan 15

Ah thanks for the heads up Mark. I’ll make a note, as I’m just a cog in the machine. Hopefully we can get it straightened out though!

2 1