#AES2025 Day2, Jackson Randell discusses the importance of understanding genetic purging and its implications for trapdoor spider conservation 🕷️
@austevolsoc.bsky.social @brunobuzatto.bsky.social @rowanlym.bsky.social @reneecatullo.bsky.social

Photo credit: Peter soltys. Image created by Nicholas Wu.

How vulnerable are #amphibians to extreme heat? 🐸🌡️

Our paper in @nature.com shows that many amphibians are already overheating, and many more species will be impacted by climate warming globally.

See the thread below for a digest 🧵

Link to the paper: doi.org/10.1038/s415...

#Nature

Woolly mice are cute and impressive – but they won’t bring back mammoths or save endangered species “De-extinction” research is a poor alternative to helping ‘pre-extinction’ animals still alive today.

"Focusing on bringing back extinct species distracts from a more urgent reality: species are going extinct right now, and we are not doing enough to save them."
@emilyroycroft.bsky.social in @aunz.theconversation.com
🌏
theconversation.com/woolly-mice-...

Vulnerability of amphibians to global warming - Nature A 4 °C global temperature increase would push 7.5% of amphibian species beyond their physiological limits.

@nature.com has just published online our new paper!🎉🐸🌡️Lead by @patricepottier.bsky.social and supervised by myself and @itchyshin.bsky.social: in this massive research effort we overcome several common convictions related to the topics we studied. www.nature.com/articles/s41... Here are take-homes.

It seems the end of everything is upon us. Is no one coming to our rescue. How about … the molluscs?! | First Dog on the Moon Did you know molluscs protect the citizens of Poland from water pollution? It’s true!

Everyone's friend the humble mollusc is here to save us. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Today at the UWA School of Biological Sciences Postgraduate Conference, we heard from our brilliant PhD researchers on everything from arachnids to marsupials to magpies! 🕷️🦅🐀
Below is a thread of their presentations 🧵

While you sleep, these insects are working hard on the night shift to keep our environment healthy Artificial lights at night are causing serious disruption to these insect night shift workers. That’s a problem for everyone.

Reducing light pollution wherever and whenever we can will greatly help our night active insects, including the #moths, #beetles, #lacewings and other #inverts that share our environment
#ausinverts #wildoz #bugsky #teammoth

theconversation.com/while-you-sl...

I'm late to the party in sharing this...our paper looking at global genetic diversity change is now out! What did we find? Check out the thread below

Global meta-analysis shows action is needed to halt genetic diversity loss - Nature A comprehensive meta-analysis of global terrestrial and marine genetic diversity covering more than three decades of research demonstrates rapid loss of genetic diversity and identifies conservation i...

Out now in @nature.com! Our comprehensive meta-analysis of global terrestrial and marine genetic diversity demonstrates rapid loss of genetic diversity and identifies conservation interventions that could mitigate this process
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪🌍🦤🧬
#consgen #PopGen

We’ve also created a 2-page policy brief for anyone wanting to learn more about conserving #GeneticDiversity- available in 14 languages (and more to come)! Follow the link below ⬇️

url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/uWHeC71Zo8...

Checkout our @aunz.theconversation.com article for 5 strategies that can help safeguard #GeneticDiversity for resilient populations
🧬🐸🌲🦅🦒🍄🐝🐠

How good

My legendary students independently made a bunch of stickers for the lab with this logo (which they also created; art by Diego Solano-Brenes). I'm so lucky to have this crew — check their projects out here:

www.buzatto.info/people

Special thanks to Tricia Slattery and Diego!

Hot off the press.

global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Details : Research Fellow in Mammalian Movement Ecology and Energetics : The University of Melbourne Careers at The University of Melbourne

Please circulate: Postdoc position on responses of Australian mammal pests to climate change. Part of my ARC Laureate Fellowship research. Lots of hands-on fieldwork. Learn about biophysical models. Remote locations. Collaboration with #EcologicalHorizons and #AWC jobs.unimelb.edu.au/en/job/91880...

The world’s most venomous spider is a species complex: systematics of the Sydney funnel-web spider (Atracidae: Atrax robustus) - BMC Ecology and Evolution The Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1877 is an iconic Australian species and considered among the most dangerously venomous spiders for humans. Originally described in 18...

First paper of 2025 — the Sydney funnel-web spider is actually at least three different species:

bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

@flindersuniversity.bsky.social @uni-hamburg.de

Ridgeline chart showing the distribution of global daily air temperature differences from the pre-industrial reference period (1850-1900), for every year between 1940 and 2024. Each individual year resembles a hill, shaded in a darker shade of red and further to the right for warmer years. The trend is clearly towards warmer years, with 2024 standing out as first year above 1.5C.

NEW: 2024 has just been confirmed as the warmest year on record, and the first to breach the 1.5C threshold.

We used a ridgeline (Joy Division inspired) chart to visualise daily temperature anomalies since 1940.

2024 clearly stands out with 100% of its days above 1.3C and 75% above 1.5C.

Thanks Simone!

3 year #Entomology museum job at the Western Australian Museum. Apply if you ❤️ insects, collections and identifying! 🦟🪰🦗🐜🐝🪲
search.jobs.wa.gov.au/page.php?pag...

One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction - Nature A global multi-taxon extinction risk assessment of freshwater fauna for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species finds one-quarter of species to be at high risk of extinction.

One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with #extinction doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Population genomic diversity and structure in the golden bandicoot: a history of isolation, extirpation, and conservation - Heredity Heredity - Population genomic diversity and structure in the golden bandicoot: a history of isolation, extirpation, and conservation

📣 Heredity best student paper prize talk

We look forward to Kate's talk tomorrow at Popgroup Thur 9th @10am (LT1 )
Population genomic diversity and structure in the golden bandicoot: a history of isolation, extirpation, and conservation

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
@gensocuk.bsky.social #pgg58

Thanks Sean!

#evolbiol #evolsky #evolution #reproductivebiology #geneexpression #RNA #phenotypicplasticity #sexualselection

Silent cells? Potential for context-dependent gene expression in mature sperm | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Sperm are traditionally viewed as transcriptionally and translationally silent cells. However, observations that components of the cellular machinery of gene expression are maintained in ejaculated sp...

New review paper!
@1jonevans.bsky.social @pacogarciagonzalez.bsky.social and I ask whether mature sperm cells might actively express genes. Really proud to see this one out - has been a long, difficult journey through much skepticism to publication. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

Postdoc in Hosken lab (UoExeter, UK) closing soon (evolution of body shape) get in touch if you are interested. Please repost.

jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...

Reproductive interference alters species coexistence in nematodes due to asymmetric sperm-induced harm Species coexistence is shaped by a range of biotic and abiotic factors. Beyond predation, parasitism, and competition, one species may interfere with another's reproduction to induce sexual exclusion ...

Just accepted #EcologyLetters! Exciting work by recent grad Rebecca Schalkowski with @katjakasimatis.bsky.social and Megan Greischar linking 2 species community coexistence to sperm cell mediated reproductive interference! Preprint here www.authorea.com/users/804447...

I've recently been trialling some thermal binoculars to help with creature tracking. Pretty impressed so far, picking up lots of things that are often tough to get eye shine out of, like this chuditch (western quoll) #WildOz

‘One of the most important species for science’: how the humble fruit fly transformed 4 fields of research Fruit flies have contributed to some of the most important scientific discoveries over the last century. They should be celebrated – not sprayed.

Fruit flies have contributed to some of the most important scientific discoveries over the last century. They should be celebrated – not sprayed.

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) can bypass female-modulated sperm selection (top of figure) that ensure that genetically compatible or competent sperm are used for fertilization. ART can also introduce a range of novel environmental stressors (bottom of figure) that generate epigenetic modifications in offspring. Failure to design procedures that both mimic natural conditions and mitigate the harmful effect of unnatural environmental conditions during ART can impact the health trajectories of ART offspring and potentially their descendants. CREDIT: Biorender

A Perspective explores the consequences of bypassing natural selection in assisted reproduction—including the filtering of sperm for quality inside the female reproductive tract—and options to mimic such selection to reduce risks to offspring. In PNAS Nexus: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Happy new year all. Last couple of weeks for this PhD opp so giving it a bump. Please pass on to anyone who may be interested. I'm back to work 6th and happy to chat to anyone with questions from then on.