What can spider names tell us about the tangled web of author inequalities?
A recent paper in @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social by Montana et al. looked at every spider described from the Americas in 1946-2021, analysing over 9,000 species and nearly 600 researchers.
Read more:
Calling all systematics and taxonomy researchers! Applications are now open for our Linnesys grants.
Run with the Systematics Association, the scheme supports small-scale research and education projects with grants of up to £1,500.
Find out more and apply by Friday 27 March
buff.ly/WrVmOnY
Preprint: Dishonesty can be based on honesty.
Increased pheromonal attractiveness despite reduced pheromone production in a aging female spider.
Senescent widow spiders are poor mates but remain attractive to mate-seeking males through deceptive signalling.
doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.04.709482
In @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social, we just released a open dataset on subterranean spiders, with >30000 georeferenced localities for >600 cave spider species:
doi.org/10.32942/X2M...
The kind of information we need to implement evidence-based subterranean conservation!
#Subterranean #habitats host unique species that remain largely under-explored.
New study on the endemic ground Trechus #beetles of Portugal, currently Red Listed as Endangered, revealed an interesting #evolutionary trajectory.
⬇️Uncover what the study found here: doi.org/10.3897/subt...
#ArticleIRBio
📄 chromosome-level genome assembly of the blind scorpion Belisarius xambeui Simon, the most singular scorpion in Europe
👥S.GuiraoRico, VA.Pisarenco, M.Domènech,ABellvert,SAdriánSerrano,ASánchezGracia,M.Arnedo, J.Rozas
📕 ERGA-BGE-CBP
🔗 open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/6-5...
Everything you always wanted to know about mushroom-forming fungi! Great collab with amazing mycologists. Thanks Laszlo Nagy for leading this effort!
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
So I pleased to announce the conceptual spawn of FigTree: PearTree (acronym still to be finalised). If you want to dive right in it is hosted as a web app here: artic-network.github.io/peartree (click the “Example...” button for immediate candy and then click every button you can find).
Footage of the World Wide(st) Web - in a smelly cave in the Balkans.
🕷️🕸️
🧪
youtube.com/shorts/8yhOF...
The colonial spider web in Sulfur Cave, is home to a mixed colony of Tegenaria domestica and Prinerigone vagans. A. Side view; B. frontal view. The swarm of adult chironomids is visible near the cave stream. Photo A: Marek Audy.
Biggest spider web in the world: the area of a flat.
Found in a sulphur-smelling cave in the Balkans, this ~100m² spongy web is maintained by two species of solitary 🕷️. The 110K inhabitants feed on midges, probably because they can't see the other spiders.
🧪
subtbiol.pensoft.net/article/1623...
Read more about this Arachnopolis here: doi.org/10.3897/subt...
🧬 Hiring Postdocs at @astar_gis !
We need Computer Scientists and Computational Biologists to develop novel algorithms for de novo assembly of cancer genomes or to help us reconstruct them.
Experience in sequence alignment/assembly algorithms or assembly of complex genomes required
Please RT! 🔄
Let's look at some numbers
2022: 7 044 applications submitted. 17.9 % success rate
2023: 8 039 applications submitted. 15.8 % success rate
2024: 10 360 applications submitted. 16.6 % success rate
2025: 17 058 applications submitted (record high). 9.7% success rate (preliminary numbers).
Long-read sequencing can revolutionise the way we monitor #biodiversity.
A comprehensive guide for using #ONT & #PacBio for analysis of biodiversity through #eDNA, #metabarcoding, metagenomics
Just published in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Highlight of our review paper on long-read sequencing for biodiversity analysis by the EBP @ebpgenome.bsky.social
#BiodiversityGenomics #eDNA #Biodiversity
#PacBio #ONT
Read @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/2041...
Subterranean ecosystems are key to water, climate, biodiversity & culture. But to what extent?
As part of @biodiversa.eu DarCo we demonstrate that they contribute to 75% of classified ecosystem services. Read OA in Biol Rev:
doi.org/10.1002/brv....
Illustration @jmalumbresolarte.bsky.social
Our new paper, out today! We resurrected ancient nitrogenases first used by life on Earth 3 billion years ago. We combined synthetic biology and geology & validated their chemical #biosignature in rocks that helps reveal ancient life on Earth!(and beyond!)
Link: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Spiders possess multiple types of silk glands, which produce silk materials with contrasting properties.
What happens if they combine different silks into a single line - Does this reinforce, even toughen, the silk thread?
We got some answers from cellar and cave spiders:
doi.org/10.1039/D5SM... 🔓
Chromosome-scale #genomes from newly sequenced spiders & the whip scorpion, the genetic basis of spinneret emergence in spiders & the complex history & functional importance of arachnid genome #evolution www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #biodiversity #genomics
AI-generated graphical summary of the DNA replication origins study
📢new study @genomedatalab.bsky.social
When a cell divides, it copies 3 billion DNA letters. How does it know where to begin?
⁉️For years, the field debated if replication initiation was random or strict
📜Our preprint uses AI + mutation signatures to show it’s a precise, two-part system
And here's the report @qedscience.bsky.social generated for our new paper, summarizing what's new and what was already known before. I'm planning to submit q.e.d's reports as cover letters together with my pre-prints from now on (and so should you!)
A genome-wide comparison of #gene regulatory sequences & embryonic gene expression in arachnids - new insights into the impact of the arachnopulmonate whole #genome duplication academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... #biodiversity #genomics
a life changing opportunity made possible by the Nobel Prize funds awarded to John Sulston -- the @sangerinstitute.bsky.social runs the Sanger Prize scheme, open to an undergrad from any LMIC to spend 3 months here learning all about genomics. more details here www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/...
The commitments in the SAFE Labs Handbook.
A new community-driven lab handbook for reducing conflict and creating more positive and equitable work environments gets strong support from a survey of 200 researchers.
buff.ly/K7CGFLV
I have only read the abstract so far, but that is enough to see that this should be a useful paper for those whose work confronts the "hideously complex concept of effective population size"
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
In an era marked by rapid climate change and biodiversity loss, it is imperative that we continue to invest in the unique value of natural history collections data
"Global sampling decline erodes science potential of natural history collections" 🧪
I’m recruiting a postdoc to work on algorithms for cancer genome reconstruction. We have access to a rich set of tumour samples sequenced across multiple technologies. If interested, feel free to DM. Please share.
Abstract submission & Award applications for SMBE 2026 are now open!
Abstract submission & Award applications for SMBE 2026 are now open!
Submit your research and apply for SMBE awards via the submission portal.
📝 Read more & submit here: smbe2026.org/abstracts
And symposium selection is now finalized!
👉 See all accepted symposia: smbe2026.org/programme
#SMBE2026
Please help! We are looking for tissue-specific RNA-seq datasets or pubs with both male and female individual gene expression data, not pooled, from animal species. If you know of any relevant resources, please drop a link in the comments or send me a DM. Also, please help spread the word - thanks!
Join us in Crete in May 2026 for the Mathematical and Computational Evolutionary Biology Meeting mceb2026.sciencesconf.org on the island's northern coastline near Heraklion. Abstract Deadline: January 31st
