Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Neil Shubin

@neilshubin.bsky.social

5.9K followers 4.2K following 220 posts

Paleontologist. Developmental Biologist. Anatomist. Polar wanderer. Telling people that they are fish since 2008.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Nov 21

"dazzling" "it enlightens and amazes".

Fabulous prepublication review of ENDS OF THE EARTH in Publisher's Weekly. 💙📚 #arctic #antarctica #science

www.publishersweekly.com/9780593186527

Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions in Search of Life, the Cosmos, and Our Future by Neil Shubin

In this dazzling report, Shubin (Some Assembly Required), a biology professor at the University of Chicago, examines what the Ea...

www.publishersweekly.com

8 18 96

Reposted by Neil Shubin

Der Führer hat immer recht! 🇺🇦 @grrlscientist.bsky.social · 8d

‘Ends Of The Earth,’ By Neil Shubin — Review

#BookReview📖 by @grrlscientist.bsky.social

#books #BookSky💙📚 #Nonfiction #science #Arctic #Antarctic #ClimateCrisis #PolarResearch #memoir #travelogue www.forbes.com/sites/grrlsc...

3 7

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · 18d

Beginning a new adventure in the Arctic in July 1999. I’m to the left. Marcus Davis to the right. First day of fieldwork in the Arctic. We’d find Tiktaalik roseae five years later.
Photo: Ted Daeschler 🧪

1 7 43

Reposted by Neil Shubin

Chase Bolt @chasebolt.bsky.social · 20d

Our work exploring a new explanation for the regulation of Hoxd genes and the #fin-to-limb transition. 🧪

It was an absolute joy working on this w/ @aurhin.bsky.social and @homeobox.bsky.social @denisduboule.bsky.social @neilshubin.bsky.social

#evo-devo #InHoxWeTrust

How Did Hands Evolve? The Answer Is Behind You.

www.nytimes.com

4 11 25

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · 20d

Congratulations!!

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · 20d

Congrats to Aurelie Hinterman aurhin.bsky.social, Chase Bolt chasebolt.bsky.social, and Brent Hawkins @homeobox.bsky.social!

Coverage in NYTimes by @carlzimmer.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/s...

12 35

Reposted by Neil Shubin

Tyler Keillor @tylerkeillor.bsky.social · 21d

Before recently shipping this model out to its new home at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in Singapore, I brought it over to @neilshubin.bsky.social lab to see the latest updates to the sculptures anatomy. Tiktaalik’s discovery site on the wall map makes the scene!

6 42

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · 28d

Feeling the incalculable loss of Mark Norell (1957-2025): wonderful scientist and cherished friend. His influence will continue through his many mentees and the science he did and inspired.

4 17 96

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Sep 4

Excited to be giving 4 lectures in Paris in October at the Collège de France. Free and open to the public!

Denis Duboule @denisduboule.bsky.social · Sep 3

‘Our Ancestors the Fish’, a course by Prof. @neilshubin.bsky.social, Univ of Chicago, invited Prof @college-de-france.fr. in Paris @psl-univ.bsky.social. Four conferences, free access, open to everyone, with Tiktaalik as a guest star. Friends, colleagues and fossils in Paris and around, please RT🥁

6 35

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 28

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial telling students in central Tennessee about their inner fish.

I’m so grateful to the high school and middle school teachers who brought their students from small schools to the event (some from almost an hr away).

3 14 140

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 28

5 28

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 27

Congrats to @tdcapellini.bsky.social @gayani.bsky.social and the entire team!

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

1 1 7

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 22

Missing links in evolution explained

news.uchicago.edu/explainer/mi...

'Missing links' of evolution, explained

When we look at the world around us, we see a wondrous variety of living things. How do species evolve into all these different forms? UChicago scientists explain.

news.uchicago.edu

3 4 29

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 14

The great Tyler Kellior swung by lab with the latest reconstruction of Tiktaalik. Here we are in the "look what I just caught!" pose and Tyler with his "a man and his fish" one.

Geological map of the Ellesmere Island are in the background...

3 9 52

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 13

Thank you!

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Aug 12

I’m thrilled that ENDS OF THE EARTH has been shortlisted for the Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize!

In such fabulous company on the list.

royalsociety.org/medals-and-p...

5 9 50

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 27

ENDS OF THE EARTH is available now for a limited time on ebook for just $1.99. Get it while it lasts! 💙🧪

2 5 22

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 26

New from the lab! Announcing MORPHOVIEW a powerful tool to quantify in high throughput the 3D structures of cells and tissues during organ morphogenesis. Great work by Sam Norris. 🧪

https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dvdy.70061

3 8 35

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 15

It is not a political statement to note the fact that science enhances our well being, expands our knowledge of the world, and drives economic growth 🧪

4 53 180

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 15

Thank you!

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 15

Thank you!

Jeff Goodell @jeffgoodell.bsky.social · Jul 15

BTW @neilshubin.bsky.social's new book "Ends of the Earth" is also awesome.

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/692649...

Ends of the Earth by Neil Shubin: 9780593186527 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

The bestselling author of Your Inner Fish takes readers on an epic adventure to the North and South Poles to reveal the secrets locked in the ice about life, the cosmos, and our planet’s future....

www.penguinrandomhouse.com

1 8

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 15

Thank you Jeff!!!

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 15

Thanks Joe!

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 15

Thanks Maureen. And thank you for your own work 🙏

Reposted by Neil Shubin

Dan Garisto @dangaristo.bsky.social · Jul 14

When Marcia McNutt's term ends next year, @neilshubin.bsky.social will take the reins at NAS to lead the organization through what may continue to be a fraught landscape for government-funded science.

Quick story w/ Jeff Tollefson:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Embattled US scientific society names palaeontologist to top job

Neil Shubin, a University of Chicago researcher known for co-discovering a ′missing link’ fossil fish, will lead the National Academy of Sciences if ratified by members.

www.nature.com

3 30 77

Neil Shubin @neilshubin.bsky.social · Jul 15

Thank you Ahna!