𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐭𝐡𝐲𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐬? Well, we’ve always assumed they did (and for good reason), but there’s been surprisingly little direct evidence to support this assumption.
In a new paper, we describe an unassuming little Jurassic fossil that directly confirms it: doi.org/10.3374/014....
SciAm just announced its inaugural list of Young American Scientists—a group of extraordinary young people changing science for the better.
I had the joy of chatting with @armanafzadeh.bsky.social, who studies the evolution of animal joints! #SciAmYoungScientists @sciam.bsky.social 🧪
I think a lot about how mountain species are responding to warming temperatures
so it was great to team up with @suzetteflantua.bsky.social @kjfeeley.bsky.social Christi McCain & Jenny McGuire to write a review of sp responses to both modern AND Quaternary warming
www.nature.com/articles/doi...
🎉 @armanafzadeh.bsky.social has been named to @sciam.bsky.social’s inaugural class of Young American Scientists for her innovative research. Manafzadeh will join Georgia Tech this fall as an assistant professor in the School of Biological Sciences.
Learn more: biosciences.gatech.edu/news/fossils...
So glad to have been interviewed for this story! I stand by it ⚰️🔨
See the article below and the original paper by Ned Snelling and colleagues for more info on the increasingly dubious connection between high oxygen and griffenfly size 😎
Two new preprints from my lab, both putting computer science approaches to work for ecology & evolution 🦎
Each tackles the same old bottleneck — turning huge piles of digital images into usable data — and each is a free, open-source web tool you can actually use 🎉
Quick threads on both below 🧵
PhD candidate!! Congratulations to Miranda Margulis-Ohnuma 🤩🐟🐍 working with her has been the best part of my four years at Yale.
Our work on mammalian hallucal grasping, led by Irene Montañez-Rivera during her time in the @johnnyakatura.bsky.social group, is out now in iScience. A true team effort; thanks to the whole crew for inviting me to contribute a small piece! www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
The secret's out – thrilled to share I’ve been selected as a member of the inaugural class of @sciam.bsky.social's Young American Scientists!
It's been so fun to learn about the work of the other 27 awardees from around the country. www.scientificamerican.com/issue/sa/202...
Our special issue of the @journalofanatomy.bsky.social (co-edited by Virginia Abdala and me) on the evolution of joints in vertebrates is out now — check it out! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14697580...
ALT: a whale is swimming in the ocean and has white spots on its back
“This study places what may be the final nail in the coffin for the prevailing view that more oxygen made ancient insects bigger.”
Learn more: https://scim.ag/4vcqqS8
Flying insect respiratory systems suggest abundant oxygen can’t explain ancient gigantism
