New paper out!
Beyond #eDNA potential—this work a major collaborative effort and brings out several key lessons learned from applying #eDNA for monitoring diadromous fish-what works, what needs caution. @thefsbi.bsky.social #JFB onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @azti.bsky.social #SeaLamprey
Well that's a wrap for our 2nd European Cetacean Society marine mammal eDNA workshop. An amazing day with co-organisers Elena Valsecchi, @bettinathal.bsky.social & all the participants. So much exciting science going on. Thanks to everyone who contributed presentations & discussions #ECS2026 🧪🧬🌍🐳🦭
Lauren Rodriguez talking about her cool cetacean eDNA population genetics work from the Azores. #ECS2026 🧬🧪🌍🦭🐳
Bettina Thalinger gives an overview of the eWhale cetacean eDNA Biodiversa+ project. #ECS2026 🧪🧬🌍🐳🦭
Joy Boy presenting on diet eDNA metabarcoding of North Sea marine mammals. #ECS2026 🧪🧬🌍🐳🦭
Luis Alfonso on eDNA meta barcoding work flows for marine mammals #ECS2026 🧬🧪🌍🦭🐳
Graziella Pupillo presenting on Mediterranean monk seal eDNA assay as part of marine mammal eDNA workshop at #ECS2026 🧪🧬🌍🦭🐳
Travelling to Dundee for this year's European Cetacean Society Meeting. Looking forward to a week of workshops and hearing about exciting new science.
Presenting today in the bycatch workshop, and running our marine mammal eDNA workshop tomorrow #ECS2026 🧬🧪🌍🦭🐳
Genome-wide genealogies reveal deep admixtures forming modern humans www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04...
Heatmaps of climate variables in southwestern United States
The endangered Pacific pocket mouse
Climate change is a huge challenge for endangered species because genetic variation needed to adapt is often lacking.
Our new study in Science Advances highlights the potential for conservation breeding and reintroduction to boost resilience to climate change. @science.org
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
Can you believe that until now there were more genomes sequenced for the woolly mammoth than for living African elephants?
Today, we bring you the first genomic, continent-scale analyses of 232 high-quality genomes of both species, the savanna and forest elephant.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposting this old thread on the "Pervasive findings of directional selection" from ancient DNA. While the authors extended their results in various ways, I think many of these points still stand.
Not long left now to get your applications in!
Really looking forward to European Cetacean Society (ECS) in Dundee next week! If you're interested in seal diet and predation, Holly Armstrong and I will be presenting in the Advances in Dietary Studies workshop on Monday, and at both poster sessions later in the week. Come say hi 👋
A nice study of 38,000 people across 75 countries found that feeling connected to nature consistently predicts higher well-being, hope and resilience – regardless of wealth or national culture (our story in Nice News)
Great couple of days at the University of Sheffield for the UK DNA working Group & Ecological Genetics 70th Anniversary meeting 🧪🧬🌍. Lots of great #eDNA work going on. Proud to have group members Nimna Wickramasingha and Isna Aziz presenting their research #EGG2026. @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social
Only 9 days left until applications to become a BES Fellow close! ⌛
🦋 Do you think you can read nature's patterns better than an AI? We just released an interactive challenge that puts human intuition to the test.
🔗 No expertise required, and anyone is invited to participate! Try ANTENNA's Biodiversity Forecasting Challenge here: pollinators-antenna.eu/forecasting
Run an MD simulation of any protein in the AlphaFold Protein Structure Database using AF-CALVADOS
Thanks to @sobuelow.bsky.social AF-CALVADOS is now on Colab
colab.research.google.com/github/KULL-...
Watch the video. Read the whole damn paper. Birds. Are. Amazing. #birds 🌿
A pink-hued Rallicola pilgrimi louse on a white background, with a black scalebar on the bottom left reading "0.5 mm". This species is thought to have been driven extinct when its host, the Little Spotted Kiwi (Apteryx owenii) was treated with insecticides during its conservation reintroduction to predator-free islands. Credit: Museum of New Zealand (Te Papa Tongarewa), https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/772308
A specimen of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus on a human hand, a small, white, ringed tapeworm. This species was recently raised successfully in vitro, raising the possibility that other cestodes may be similarly raised in culture. Credit: Matt Bowser, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schistocephalus_solidus_4963010.jpg
In fact, much work has already been done on the opportunities and challenges of parasite conservation, from understanding how to preserve parasite diversity in host reintroductions to innovative in vitro methods of maintaining tapeworms in captivity, and even more in development!
Figure 2 from the article, illustrating how parasite data can be processed into Red List assessments and from there incorporated into conservation actions. "Collect & share parasite data • Name & describe species • Research & monitor (conduct surveys, analyze trends) • Publish data & deposit specimens • Digitize collections Conduct Red List assessments • Compile data • Assess against criteria • Peer review • Publish • Reassess with new data Conservation actions • Inform policy • Create recovery plans • Support in situ and ex situ conservation (e.g., cryopreservation) • Collaborate with host specialists • Educate public" Figure text below: "Figure 2. From parasitological data to conservation action. A conceptual work illustrating how existing parasitological knowledge can be translated into parasite conservation outcomes. First, researchers collect and share parasite data by describing species, conducting surveys and monitoring programs, publishing findings, depositing voucher specimens, and digitizing museum collections. These data feed into IUCN Red List assessments, where evidence on distribution, host associations, and population trends is compiled, evaluated against IUCN Criteria A–E, peer-reviewed through the IUCN Species Survival Commission Parasite Specialist Group, and published, with reassessments occurring as new information becomes available. Red List assessments then inform conservation actions, including policy development, recovery planning, and the integration of parasite needs into host conservation programs, and both in situ and ex situ strategies (e.g., captive maintenance or cryopreservation). Together, these steps show how coordinated participation by parasitologists can transform routine research activities into actionable conservation outcomes for parasite biodiversity."
One of the Specialist Group's big goals reflected in this article is on turning new & existing data on wildlife parasites into solid, peer-reviewed Red List assessments and then into real conservation action in collaboration with parasitologists and host specialists around the world.
![Figure 1 from the article, a summary of the IUCN Red List criteria for assessing species into one of the threatened categories: Vulnerable (marked in yellow), Endangered (marked in orange), and Critically Endangered (marked in red). The criteria are demarcated into five categories, with further subcategorization on the basis of each criterion:
"(A) Population size reduction. Population reduction (measured over the longer of 10 years or 3 generations based on any of A1 to A4)
(B) Geographic range in the form of either B1 (extent of occurrence) AND/OR B2 (area of occupancy)
(C) Small population size and decline
(D) Very small or restricted population
(E) Quantitative Analysis"
Figure text below:
"Figure 1. The IUCN Red List criteria summary sheet. This document, provided by the IUCN, summarizes the five criteria
(A–E) and the associated thresholds for assigning species to one of the ‘threatened’ risk categories: Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN), or Critically Endangered (CE). The full details for applying the criteria or assigning species to other threat classes can be found in the Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2024)
. Use of this summary sheet requires a full understanding of the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria [11] and the Guidelines for Using
the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria
. Please refer to both documents for explanations of terms and concepts used here."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bgxcxgp53ail6kazun2ewbvm/bafkreidjybtrp74myaoyt6hkjfldgmpaljbewd7agls36bvdq7dtt5mi6m)
Figure 1 from the article, a summary of the IUCN Red List criteria for assessing species into one of the threatened categories: Vulnerable (marked in yellow), Endangered (marked in orange), and Critically Endangered (marked in red). The criteria are demarcated into five categories, with further subcategorization on the basis of each criterion: "(A) Population size reduction. Population reduction (measured over the longer of 10 years or 3 generations based on any of A1 to A4) (B) Geographic range in the form of either B1 (extent of occurrence) AND/OR B2 (area of occupancy) (C) Small population size and decline (D) Very small or restricted population (E) Quantitative Analysis" Figure text below: "Figure 1. The IUCN Red List criteria summary sheet. This document, provided by the IUCN, summarizes the five criteria (A–E) and the associated thresholds for assigning species to one of the ‘threatened’ risk categories: Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN), or Critically Endangered (CE). The full details for applying the criteria or assigning species to other threat classes can be found in the Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2024) . Use of this summary sheet requires a full understanding of the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria [11] and the Guidelines for Using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria . Please refer to both documents for explanations of terms and concepts used here."
A big focus of the article is on the groundbreaking work of extending the IUCN Red List Criteria to assess parasite taxa while considering their unique ecological conditions, such as their reliance on one or more host species and their possible limited distribution compared to hosts.
A cover to the March 2026 edition of Trends in Parasitology, showing a yellow-brown snail infected with bright green Leucochloridium worms in its eyestalks, perched on the leaf of a plant. The background is black and speckled with droplets of rain or mist. "Trends in Parasitology A Cell Press Journal Parasite coloration Volume 42 | Number 3 | March 2026 | ISSN 1471–4922"
A screenshot of the header of the article as it appears on the Science Direct website. "Opinion Parasite conservation now: turning knowledge into action Skylar R. Hopkins, Chelsea L. Wood https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2026.03.009"
The Parasite Specialist Group has published a new paper on assessing and conserving wild parasite species! The first link below is a DOI, while the second link will allow you to view and download the whole paper until May 23rd.
doi.org/10.1016/j.pt...
authors.elsevier.com/a/1mtNP5Eb1x...
Thanks @evopaa.bsky.social for highlighting the contributions of @ergabiodiv.bsky.social to advancing the generation of high-quality #genomic resources for the research #community academic.oup.com/gbe/article/...
(Top left) The Gila monster, (Heloderma suspectum) with its distinctive black and orange pattern, is among the most iconic animals from the deserts of southwestern North America. (Top right) The logo for this project, which started with a crowdfunding effort to assemble a reference genome in collaboration with 10X Genomics. (Bottom) Using DNA and RNA data from six individuals (three males and three females), we investigated Gila monster sex chromosomes (ZW in females and ZZ in males) and their evolution, finding incomplete dosage balance between the sexes and a lack of dosage compensation.
The first draft of the Gila monster genome was used to study whether there is equal expression of genes on the Z chromosome between males (who have two Z chromosomes) and females (who have a single Z chromosome). academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... #2026MMM
Human, animal and environmental health are inseparable.
From climate change to antimicrobial resistance, what harms nature harms us.
On #WorldHealthDay, let’s back a #OneHealth approach, for healthier people and a healthier planet.
