The geological roots of life on Earth Andrew Knoll previews his new book on the 4-billion-year “conversation” between Earth and life — and recent interruptions by humans.

The FAS Current sat down with Andrew Knoll, Fisher Research Professor of Natural History and Earth and Planetary Sciences Emeritus, to discuss his new book “Earth and Life: A Four Billion Year Conversation” on the 4-billion-year “conversation” between Earth and life.

A 500-million-year-old clawed predator rewrites the origin of spiders and horseshoe crabs Harvard researchers reveal the earliest known Chelicerata in a new study published in Nature. The 500-million-year-old fossil, named Megachelicerax cousteaui, provides unequivocal evidence of chelicer...

Meet Megachelicerax cousteaui, a 500myo sea predator that just rewrote the evolutionary history of chelicerates by 20 million years! New study in @nature.com by @cambrianlife.bsky.social Dr. Rudy Lerosey-Aubril and Prof. Javier Ortega-Hernandez

An exciting new study in PNAS led by postdoc Andrea Unzueta Martinez and Prof. @pgirguis.bsky.social lab shows that oysters coordinate with microbes living inside of them to build their hard shells! A game changer for understanding ocean resilience as waters become more acidic from #climatechange

Wendy Valencia Montoya Receives Weintraub Graduate Student Award for Groundbreaking Thesis on the Evolution of Sensory Worlds - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Wendy Valencia Montoya has been named a recipient of the prestigious 2026 Harold M. Weintraub Award in recognition of her doctoral thesis, an ambitious and interdisciplinary body of […]

Wendy Valencia Montoya Receives Weintraub Graduate Student Award for Groundbreaking Thesis on the Evolution of Sensory Worlds 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @basicsci.fredhutch.org @harvardoeb.bsky.social

Four stages of early embryonic development: a single cell, two cells, four cells, and six cells, shown against a black background.

Study from MCZ & @harvardoeb.bsky.social reveals surprising totipotency in early worm embryos, going against previous assumptions that because individual cells at this stage have different roles, removing or rearranging them would prevent growth of a complete organism. @currentbiology.bsky.social

A marine nudibranch with translucent, feathery appendages on its back is shown against a black background.

A group of people standing together on a rocky shoreline with a partially cloudy sky at sunset. The sun is low on the horizon over calm water.

Harvard students traveled to the Florida Keys over spring break for the @harvardoeb.bsky.social course Biology and Evolution of Invertebrate Animals, looking for creatures like this sea slug.

The MCZ funds spring break trips for many OEB courses, adding a meaningful field component to classwork.

Let’s Botanize Botanizing is the new birding! This fascinating book of 101 botany prompts is about the joy of getting to know plants in much the same way we get to know bir...

Let’s Botanize! "101 Ways to Connect with Plants” is officially published! OEB alumns Ben Goulet-Scott (PhD ‘22) & Jacob Suissa (PhD ‘23) of @letsbotanize new book is out now! What are you waiting for? Go get yours now! tinyurl.com/3w9xaxjs

OEB is thrilled to announce that Carrie Albertin has officially joined as Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Assistant Curator in Malacology at @mczharvard.bsky.social Please join us in welcoming Professor Albertin!

Isolated, detailed images of ?Carcinosoma aurorae's limbs

A new study from @invertebratepal.bsky.social describes a new sea scorpion species that shows these animals were skilled predators much earlier than the fossil record showed! The study is led by Peter Van Roy, Ghent University, & co-authored by OEB PhD candidate Jared Richards. tinyurl.com/bdcwmrws

A 480-million-year-old parasitic spionid annelid The Paleozoic fossil record provides unique insights into the evolution of life history traits through the direct preservation of interspecific intera…

A new study in iScience led by Karma Nanglu at UC Riverside & Prof. Javier Ortega-Hernandez @invertebratepal.bsky.social reveals that a parasitic worm, called spionids, still plaguing oysters today has been drilling into shells for nearly half a billion years & has barely changed! #fossils #parasi

From the depths to discovery: a tiny limpet reveals big secrets of the deep sea In a new study published in Molluscan Research, Harvard researchers formally describe a new species of deep-sea limpet discovered during the 2023 E/V Nautilus expedition near the Johnston Atoll.

A new species of a tiny deep-sea limpet reveals big secrets of the deep sea! New study from Professor Gonzalo Giribet's lab describes an exciting find from the 2023 @nautiluslive.org expedition to the remote Johnston Atoll

Congratulations to OEB alum Wendy Valencia Montoya (PhD '25)

Ancient Cephalopod, New Insight: Nautilus Reveals Unexpected Sex Chromosome System | Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

A new study by Professor David Combosch (former postdoc) and OEB Professor Gonzalo Giribet reveals the surprising sex determination system in the living fossil, Nautilus #evolution #genetics #cephalopod #chromosome

Ancient Arthropods on the Move: Unraveling the Secret Steps of the Burgess Shale Trilobites | Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

Postdoc Sarah Losso & Professor Javier Ortega-Hernández new study in BMC Biology analyzed 156 limbs from 28 well-preserved Olenoides serratus fossil specimens and solved the mystery of how these ancient Cambrian trilobites moved their limbs! @invertebratepal.bsky.social

Hidden in plain sight: A century-old museum specimen turns out to be a landmark in evolution | Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

A new study by RJ Knecht (PhD '25) confirms a Cambrian fossil, Palaeocampa anthrax, that was misidentified for 130 years is the oldest and first-known nonmarine lobopodian, an ancient relative of modern arthropods

OEB is pleased to welcome our new Co-Chairs Professors Ben de Bivort and Mansi Srivastava! @debivort.bsky.social

Head over heels: How mammals stood up and took over the world For more than a century, scientists have puzzled over a fundamental mystery in our evolutionary history: how did mammals go from sprawling like lizards to striding like cats and dogs?…

How did mammals go from sprawling to an upright position? Postdoc Robert Brocklehurst & Professor Stephanie Pierce have the answer and it's a surprising winding, dramatic one!

Seeping Groundwater Can Be a Hidden Source of Greenhouse Gases - Eos A new study in the Farmington River watershed shows that groundwater seeps can release 20% of dissolved emissions into the atmosphere before the water joins streams.

A new study from @harvardoeb.bsky.social found that 21% of the greenhouse gases in groundwater are emitted into the air before the water integrates into streams. Words by @sarahderouin.com eos.org/research-spo...

MCB to Host 2025 Prather Lectures Featuring Feng Zhang - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology This year, MCB will host the annual John M. Prather Lectures in Biology, a series of three talks inspired by a bequest to Harvard by the 19th-century Harvard-trained […]

MCB to Host 2025 Prather Lectures Featuring Feng Zhang
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... 🧬🧫🧪 @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @harvardoeb.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social @fleshball.bsky.social @rivaselenarivas.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social

PhD candidate Sarah Losso finds An evolutionary clue, curled up and long unstudied, in a Harvard museum
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Prof. Bence Ölveczky has joined the Washington, DC crew to sail the most dangerous leg of Clipper Round the World Yacht Race from Cape Town, South Africa to Freemantle, Australia. That leg passes through some of the world's most dangerous waters. Follow Bence and the team on teamwashingtondc.com

Join Professor Andrew Davies and conservation scientist Fiona "Boo" Maisels from WCS, on Mongabay Explores Podcast, where the researchers explain the ecological benefits of forest elephants, why they are crucial for forest health, and what could happen we lost them.

tinyurl.com/t7tzwk5a

New study, led by postdoc
@jopabinia.bsky.social finds true crabs left the marine environment 7-17 times & are 45 mil yrs older than previous estimates, dating to the Middle Triassic alongside some of the earliest dinosaurs! t.co/RzPPZVU34q