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Jo Wolfe, PhD

@jopabinia.bsky.social

16K followers 2.9K following 15K posts

Why things evolve into crabs. Evolutionary biologist (species alive today AND fossils, and how to study them together). Canadian at Harvard (she/her) My science: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CKqoVjEAAAAJ&hl=en

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · Aug 1

Our paper on convergent evolution of land crabs is out in its final final form. The journal didn't pick my image as the cover, so I'm sharing it here because it must be seen!

academic.oup.com/sysbio/artic...

🦀🦑🧪

Circular timetree of crabs with pie slices colored by superfamily (Figure 2 in the paper). Simplified version with no text/labels. Line drawings of crabs arranged around the perimeter like a zodiac, with colors matching the superfamily pie slice.
Figure by me, drawings by Harrison Mancke and Javi Luque

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

S.S. Julian @octopolis.bsky.social · 1h

Happy World Octopus Day! To celebrate, here’s the first piece in my series of Octopolis tarot cards: The Fool!
#octopolis #worldoctopusday #octopus #tarot

$A digital illustration within a tarot card frame titled ‘The Fool’. The images is of a mimic octopus bursting through the surface of the ocean into a sunlit day. The octopus is covered in many colored stripes. It holds one arm up through which light refracts. In another arm it holds a bundle of kelp. Beneath the water is a yellow cuttlefish looking very happy.$

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

🖍️zarf @zarfera.bsky.social · 1h

Gourd day to you!

Two wax crayon drawings of kawaii style pumpkins. One is orange and one is green.

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 36m

🧪⚒️

Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 56m

we have published a really bizzare jurassic #fossil midge today, with cool "sucker" on the end of abdomen, might be of interest for some of you @franzanth.bsky.social @jopabinia.bsky.social @jacquelyngill.bsky.social @stephenbheard.bsky.social

Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 8h

thread 1/9
How a 150 MYA fly from Australia helped us understand continental drift 🪰🌏🧪🦖
Meet Telmatomyia talbragarica — a new Jurassic non-biting midge (Diptera: Chironomidae) from the Talbragar Fish Beds, NSW. It once clung to life in a Jurassic lake. @ebdonana.bsky.social
tinyurl.com/2v3kx4h7

The oldest Gondwanan non-biting midge (Diptera, Chironomidae, Podonominae) sheds light on the historical biogeography of the clade

Podonominae, a group of non-biting midges within the Chironomidae family, serves as an important biogeographical model. For a long time, it was believ…

tinyurl.com

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 3h

@noncompliantcyborg.bsky.social

Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 3h

One from my favorites folder. I love it when Dr. Robin Beaman is on board, his voice is so calming & he knows so much fantastic stuff. Benthic ctenophore from
@schmidtocean.bsky.social dive 398, Noddy Reef. #edgegbr #MarineLife

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 13h

So cute, and epic hashtag

Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Dr Perry Beasley-Hall @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social · 14h

Cooloola monsters are weird, chunky insects endemic to South East Queensland, Australia. They're probably related to king crickets (Anostostomatidae), but not much is known about their evolution. The wingless females live permanently underground. #EverydayEnsifera

📸: Visit Gympie Region

A pale insect with tiny eyes digging underground. It looks almost like a fat potato with legs.

Source: https://www.visitgympieregion.com.au/great-experiences/wildlife/

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 14h

Unlikely, the only specimens yet identified were 50-100m depth, and only in Western Australia. Doesn't mean they aren't lurking elsewhere though

Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 17h

@xenomatt.bsky.social @futurehistorian.bsky.social

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 17h

Lede: buried! This is a revision of my favorite porcelain crab genus, Porcellanella 🦀

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 22h

I co-reported a second feature on what the devastating fires in Los Angeles taught the art insurance industry: www.artnews.com/art-news/new...

What the Los Angeles Wildfires Taught the Art Insurance Industry

After the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles in January 2025, art insurance experts discuss what has and hasn't changed in the industry.

www.artnews.com

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

でんか @k-hermit.com · 1d

🦀

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Kelley Whitley @kelleywelley.bsky.social · 1d

Pen and ink drawing of a depressed spider crab, Xenocarcinus depressus.
#Inktober #inktober2025 #sciart #coralreefs #crustacians #marinelife

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Patrick Lynch @patrlynch1.bsky.social · 1d

An iconic keystone species of the U.S. Atlantic Coast, the Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus), or "beautiful, savory swimmer." For a new project.
🧪🌿🌎 #sciart #wildlife #scicomm #sciviz #wildlifeart #illustration #scientificillustration #natureart #visualscicomm #sciviz #scicomm #crabs #BlueCrab

A very detailed top-view illustration of a female Blue Crab. Drawn with Photoshop and a Wacom drawing tablet.

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 1d

moon big

sky photo, moon glowing from behind thick clouds, mostly covered by tree canopy

treeless photo of the moon in the middle of thick clouds above a house roof

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Chris Gug @gugunderwater.bsky.social · 22d

The so-called “Monster Shrimp” is the larval stage of the deep sea-dwelling Cerataspis monstrosa.

#cerataspismonstrosa #deepseacreatures #blackwater #blackwaterdiving #blackwaterphotography #gug #chrisgug #gugunderwater

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Dan Killam @dantheclamman.blog · 1d

Phoresis is the name for when one organism attaches to another for the purpose of travel, and pea clams (Sphaeriidae) are masters of it. They attach to birds, fish, salamanders, and even aquatic insects like dragonflies or water boatmen to get a ride upstream. Ride on, little clams! (293)

Figure from Zelaya and Marinone 2012 showing a reservoir in Bolivia, where an unfortunate water boatman was found with two pea clams clamped onto its little claws. A pea clam is shown, 4 mm long or so. A close up of a claw, and a chip on the shell from where the boatman tried to kick off its hitchhiker, and also a piece of the leg stuck in the clammed-up bivalve gill

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 1d

Lol I was like hmmm I must have forgotten how to follow people. But that's still true because I noticed some people followed me and I'm not allowed to follow back. On my same server lolsob

Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 1d

Tomorrow!

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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 1d

Monterey is justifiably popular in this thread. I love it too, but can't deny Okinawa. Is it cheating if I post something from there that's not open to the public

(The public parts have excellent deep sea critters and whale sharks, something for everyone)

Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · Feb 2

This month, fight the horrors with #CrabAZ.

B is for Birgus, the largest land invertebrate alive! It is a specialized hermit crab (they live in the ocean with shells when young). This one is about 15 years old, and will be released after 1 year in captivity - they can reach 60 years!

🦀🦑🧪

Coconut crab seen from above. Posterior part of the carapace is so round

Coconut crab seen from the front, looking curious. I am patting its carapace and my hand is smaller than it

Coconut crab relaxing and trying to burrow under my crossed legs. I am happy. We're behind the scenes at the aquarium so the backdrop is bins and pipes

Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 2d

@dantheclamman.blog

Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 2d

Did I ever share my smoothie recipes with you?

The 2nd skeet was before I found a place with Colombian frozen fruit - lulo/naranjilla + mango is the besssst

Nb - unfortunately requires mental effort to make the combos, but I'm not above premixed frozen fruit either

Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · Mar 18

I'm a smoothie evangelist! Love a blender with the cup having a lid, so you can take your smoothie to places.

My recipe is: start with coconut milk (I don't drink cow milk), then greek yogurt, banana, combo of other fruits (be creative with this), coconut water then blend, finish with chia seeds

Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

The Doctor of Spooktober Past @lucidillusions.in · 2d

Wrote a blog about #InverteFest, for Members I talk about Dec '25 edition, and what I'm researching and thinking about while I write the story that I will send out.

(I imagine @franzanth.bsky.social judging me for not making and submitting the art this early in the season :P)

🦑 #WritingCommunity

Invertefest Dec '25 | Lucid Illusions

www.patreon.com

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Reposted by Jo Wolfe, PhD

でんか @k-hermit.com · 3d

₍₍⁽⁽🦀₎₎⁾⁾

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