Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Juan Liu @liujuan.bsky.social · 6d

New in @science.org, meet Acronichthys maccagnoi, a new species from Late Creatacous Canada that changes what we know about the origins and evolution of one of the most successful fish groups on Earth.

2 32 83

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Cecilia Baldoni @cecibaldoni.bsky.social · 21d

PhD Alert! 😍 Our lab is hiring a PhD student to study how shrews shrink in winter and grow in spring. Yes, you read that right!
tinyurl.com/shrinkingshr...
Join us at the @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social, study a super cool animal, and join the @imprs-qbee.bsky.social community!

DM me for questions!

Seasonal size change and aging in shrews

imprs-qbee.mpg.de

2 50 36

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Sep 4

Congrats @selfishmeme.bsky.social and colleagues! Really neat study! 🐜 (Ameise-ing as we would say in German)

3

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Nature @nature.com · Sep 3

A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species

go.nature.com/4mOb5T9

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother

Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

go.nature.com

7 130 290

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

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

1 18 34

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

Congrats @jmhuie.bsky.social ! Really neat paper!

1

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Jonathan Huie, PhD @jmhuie.bsky.social · Aug 28

Excited to share the first paper from my PhD!

We looked at what traits help Aneides salamanders excel at climbing using museum specimens, CT scans, SEM, and more! No claws or toe pads, so how do they do it? In short, with long limbs, big feet and grippy toes! 🦎🧪

DM for PDF

doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Phylogeny of Aneides and Plethodon with animal photos

Phylomorphospace showing body shape variation

Morphospace of toe bones and box lots showing estimated gripping force

Representative SEM images of salamander feet

1 49 150

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

2 12

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Dan Killam @dantheclamman.blog · Aug 24

Freshwater mussels mostly use fish as a host to move upstream. The salamander mussel is unique in latching on to aquatic salamanders! Its larvae encyst in the gills of mudpuppies, possibly staying with their hosts over the winter! (204)

Fig from Porto-Hannes et al. 2025 showing a mudpuppy with its bright red exposed gills. There are little spots on the gills, each of which is a little sluglike mussel glochidium only a couple mm in size

1 4 35

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Aug 22

Thanks a lot @k4tj4.bsky.social ! I really enjoyed your talk on Monday too! It was soooo inspiring ❄️ and soooo impressive ! In addition it was really nice to put a face on a name that I am following since years! I really like your work!

1

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Aug 14

🚨Paper Alert🚨Wanna know how a climate crisis 56 million years ago shaped the current diversity of salamandrids? Check the the paper led by the amazing Loredana Macaluso and a fantastic team of [email protected], A. Villa & B. Mennecart. I am truly delighted to be part of it!!!🦎👇

Roberto Rozzi @robertorozzi.bsky.social · Aug 13

Our study on the role of the #PETM on the early evolutionary success of #salamandrids is out! Delighted to be part of this great project led by Loredana Macaluso, with A.Villa, @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social & B.Mennecart #salamanders #climatechanges 🌡☀️⌛️
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... (1/2)

Time to grow up: the PETM climatic event favoured metamorphosing salamanders (Urodela, Salamandridae) | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Currently, little is known about the early evolution and geographical origin of Salamandridae, the most species-rich family of Palearctic salamanders. The description of new fossil material from the e...

royalsocietypublishing.org

1 5

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

3D Anatomy Studios @3danatomystudios.com · Jul 31

Attending the virtual #ICVM2025 conference? Check out our lightning talk on the imaging and articulation techniques we used to make our physical model of a dogfish skull and how physical models give new insights in research & education. icvm.econference.io/public/3JC8E... (registration req to view)

Title slide of our ICVM 2025 presentation

4 11

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Aug 6

👀👇👇👇

Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · Aug 6

#ICVM2025 LIVE sessions begin tomorrow, Thursday 7 August 2025, at icvm.econference.io/public/: 0700 EST (USA) (*not 1200 I'd posted before*) = General Assembly / Members' or Business Meeting Please come! There will be plenty of useful information and opportunities for Q&A!

icvm.econference.io

1 1

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Aug 5

Curious about the answer? Dive into her paper (journals.biologists.com/bio/article/...) and check out her blog post (metamorphosis-project.org/publications...) to learn more!

The impact of size and ontogeny on suction feeding kinematics in the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum)

Summary: In Ambystoma mexicanum larvae, juveniles and adults all use suction feeding. In this research, kinematic analysis reveals shifts in the speed and acceleration of jaw and hyoid movements betwe...

journals.biologists.com

1 3

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Aug 5

Huge congratulations to Isabelle Toussaint-Lardé on publishing the first paper of her PhD! 🎉

Ever wondered whether paedomorphic species change their feeding strategies from larval to adult stages? Is adulthood in axolotls just an illusion? 🧠👀

1 2 10

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Aug 3

You can be proud! They were all amazing!!! 🤩

Pedro Godoy @pedrolgodoy.bsky.social · Aug 1

Proud supervisor moment! 🥹🤩
So incredible to watch our undergrad students from the lab shine in front of such a knowledgeable audience at @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social. They absolutely crushed it and I couldn’t be prouder!
@fernandalandim.bsky.social, Anna Clara Annes, Jorge Silva and Gabriela Karam.

1 1 4

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · Aug 1

Critics of Colossal's de-extinction ideas and projects are being hit by online, apparently (mostly) AI-generated, smear campaigns. It's dodgy as hell. This is anti-science; anti-free-speech; vile shenanigans. It needs to stop.
www.newscientist.com/article/2490...

Critics of de-extinction research hit by mystery smear campaign

Several researchers who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences’ plans to revive extinct animals say they have been targeted by online articles trying to discredit them

www.newscientist.com

1 5 20

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Jul 19

Paper alert!!! 🐒🦍🦧🚨🚨🚨Must read this summer! Check out the amazing paper of @euarchont.bsky.social ! Many thanks again for including me in this study! 👇👇👇

Oriol Monclús Gonzalo @euarchont.bsky.social · Jul 19

New paper on early primate locomotion! 🐒
Based on tarsal shape, we reconstruct the locomotor repertoire of several early primates, providing the most extensive taxonomic scope to date. 👇
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
With David M. Alba, @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social and Judit Marigó

Reconstruction of the locomotor repertoire of early primates in the light of astragalar and calcaneal shape

The locomotor behavior of the earliest euprimates is key to our understanding of the origin and early diversification of the group. Postcranial traits…

www.sciencedirect.com

2 5

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · Jul 7

👀👀👀🤩

Thomas Halliday @tjdhalliday.bsky.social · Jul 7

🚨Exciting news🚨
The illustrated version of Otherlands has appeared through my letterbox!

The art by Gavin Scott is just beautiful, with more than 100 pages of scenes, stories, and guides to bring the past to life.

Perfect for readers aged 7-11, but also for anyone who just wanted more pictures!

A child sitting on the sofa totally engrossed in Otherlands, the illustrated edition.

A double page spread of the book featuring a cartoon strip style story about a nesting Caudipteryx.

A double page spread of a book featuring a panoramic view of Pliocene Africa, complete with early hominids, elephants, giant otters, sivatheres, and many others.

1

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Fernando Blanco @fernandoblancos.bsky.social · Jun 13

🚨 I'm looking for #Postdoc opportunities starting this September! 🧑‍🔬🔍
I'm a highly motivated researcher with experience in R, network analysis, and multivariate statistics. My focus is on the evolution of ecosystems and biodiversity over deep time.

1 20 20

Reposted by Anne-Claire Fabre

Antoine Logghe @temno-tracker.bsky.social · May 23

Really glad to share with you what would be the oldest evidence of the epidermal skin of early synapsids, with the description of sphenacodont body impressions, likeky belonging to Dimetrodon teutonis, from the early Permian of BROMACKER! Behold Bromackerichnus!

www.cell.com/current-biol...

Early Permian synapsid impressions illuminate the origin of epidermal scales and aggregation behavior

Marchetti et al. describe Bromackerichnus, the first definite body impression of early synapsids and, more specifically, sphenacodontids. Bromackerichnus includes the earliest fossil evidence of epide...

www.cell.com

4 14 24

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · May 19

J' en parle un peu :) aïe aïe aïe! ;)

1 1

Anne-Claire Fabre @grumpydrfabre.bsky.social · May 19

En français 📢 Ce matin j'étais sur la RTS pour parler de Madagascar, de sa faune et de sa flore uniques, et des lémuriens en particulier dans l'émission CQFD.
👇
www.rts.ch/audio-podcas...

#CQFD #RTS #CQFD #friturevocale @nmbern.bsky.social

Des expositions, des lémuriens et notre libre arbitre

Pint of Science et Les mystères de lʹUNIL Les brèves du jour Lʹhistoire évolutive des lémuriens Notre libre arbitre est-il réellement libre?

www.rts.ch

1 1 6

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

Apply! 👇👇🐍🪱🥒

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

1 2

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

👀♀️💪🇫🇷

Marion Segall @marionsegall.bsky.social · Apr 30

Connaissez vous les noms féminins des animaux...?
L'imagier des femelles est là pour vous, pour les grand.e.s et les petit.e.s!
Ravie d'avoir apporté ma contribution à cette belle initiative!

www.sens-dessus-dessous-editions.fr/albums/lionn...

2