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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Nearly 55,000 RNA viruses were identified across urban and peri-urban environments in 102 cities; 77% had not been observed before. Eran Elhaik and colleagues helped build the global atlas from 2,922 metatranscriptomes. doi.org/10.1038/s414... #RNAvirus #Virology #Microbiology

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Small eyes can deliver sharp vision. Elisa Rigosi and colleagues found that the blue-banded bee Amegilla murrayensis can detect objects as well as much larger honeybee drones. They recorded signals directly from photoreceptors. doi.org/10.1073/pnas... youtu.be/JSnXLZ1zk5g?...

youtu.be

Visual tracking in the wool carder bee - David O'Carroll

YouTube video by Lund University

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Andreas Nord @cyanistesnord.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I was happy to play a small part in this study. A rare and ingenious use of a long-lived seabird model from a well-studied population to uncover how mitochondrial function and respiration changes with age and between the sexes. @biologists.bsky.social @biologylu.bsky.social

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Dragonflies challenge a long-standing assumption in biology. Across 63 species, @evolodonata.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy found metabolic rate scaled almost in proportion to body size, challenging classic metabolic theory. doi.org/10.1111/ele.... #Biology #Evolution #Metabolism #Odonata

Insects above a lake's surface. Photo: Erik Svensson.

An insect sitting on a twig. Photo: Erik Svensson.

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Why fly 4,500km farther than necessary? Jan-Åke Nilsson & colleagues tracked pied flycatchers across Europe & combined geolocators with an egg-translocation experiment. The results show that inherited migration programmes from the Ice Age still shape autumn migration. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Innate factors and ontogeny determine nonbreeding areas of migrant songbirds

Migratory birds connect ecosystems worldwide and often show connectivity between breeding and nonbreeding areas, meaning that individuals have nonbreeding (“wintering”) locations close to others from ...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Johanna Hedlund (Lund University) and colleagues reviewed 392 papers on Odonata migration, confirming 100 migratory dragonfly and damselfly species and 85 possible migrants, including altitudinal round trips within one lifetime. doi.org/10.1002/brv.... Photo: Johanna Hedlund

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Young birds can adapt to heat after hatching, but it may affect growth. Elin Persson’s PhD thesis combines quail lab experiments with heated blue tit nestboxes to show how post-hatch temperature changes thermoregulation. Congratulations, Elin! Summary: www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat...

Close-up of a bird. Photo: Anders Örtegren.

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Julia Weber’s PhD thesis shows that legume-rich leys can provide flowers for pollinators despite mowing or grazing. Organic leys offered a more consistent resource, and satellite data helped map where these flowers occur. www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Flower-rich road verges can feed bumblebees, but traffic changes the balance. Sofia Blomqvist and colleagues surveyed 60 Scanian verges, counted live and dead bumblebees, and used scent-trained dogs to find nests. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Photo: Kennet Ruona

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

The baby oil crisis is solved. After @olofhellgren.bsky.social appeal, people donated Johnson’s baby oil gel, enough for about 10 years of fieldwork on malaria-transmitting biting midges in bird nest boxes. Thank you to everyone who helped.

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Erik Svensson @evolodonata.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/05/2026

Happy to finally see or phylogenetic comparative study on the macroevolution of steep metabolic allometry in the insect order Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) finally published in Ecology Letters! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111… […] [Original post on ecoevo.social]

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Sissi Lozada Gobilard @slozadagobilard.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Just published @nordicjbotany.bsky.social! We studied flower color and seed dispersal in Anemone coronaria under climate change. Spoiler: Anemones cannot keep with the pace of climate change. doi.org/10.1002/njb..... Amazing collaboration with TzlilLabin, JinleiZhu and @yuvalsapir.bsky.social

doi.org

Distribution under climate change of Anemone coronaria: linking flower colour and seed dispersal

Flower colour polymorphism is driven by divergent selection regimes on the colour morphs across time and space. Anemone coronaria, a colour-polymorphic geophyte with red, purple, and white flowers, d...

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Stanley Heinze @stanley-heinze.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Are you a computational scientist? Within 7 years of your PhD? Come join us at Lund University! We have two new positions as assistant professor! Deadline: 25th of May. The advert is broad, but this is your chance to push computational neuroscience in a fantastic place! lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

lu.varbi.com

Two positions as Associate Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Computational Science

We are looking for an up-and-coming researcher who wants to conduct pioneering research to take up a position as Assistant Professor in Computational Science. Computational science research is conduct

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Michael Bok @mikebok.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

I am hiring a PhD student to join our group in Lund, Sweden working on an ERC-funded project to untangle color and polarization vision in some amazing crustaceans – minute water fleas and pugnacious mantis shrimp! Please forward this to promising students. Apply here: lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Jessica Abbott @jessicakabbott.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

This has been a side project for many years, but now our definitions of life study is finally published! www.nature.com/articles/s44...

nature.com

The problem of defining life: a case study using family resemblance - npj Complexity

npj Complexity - The problem of defining life: a case study using family resemblance

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Birds may be more vulnerable to heatwaves than current data can predict. In a new TREE article, @cyanistesnord.bsky.social & colleagues argue that heat tolerance must be studied across temperature, humidity, life stages & species to identify birds at risk. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

A bird is standing on top of a tree. Photo: Marc Trevor Freeman

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Larvae of Drosophila enhydrobia live underwater and prey on other insects. Using DNA from a pinned museum specimen, @marcusstensmyr.bsky.social and his colleagues reconstructed the fruit fly's genome and found major losses of smell and taste genes. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Chemosensory evolution in the aquatic predator Drosophila enhydrobia

From the Wunderkammern of Renaissance Europe to the curated vaults of today’s natural history museums, millions of insect specimens have been preserve…

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Moonlight shapes life in red-necked nightjars. Anders Hedenström and colleagues used multisensor loggers and GPS to show that foraging, energy saving, migration and reproduction follow the lunar cycle. The article is published in Science Advanced www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Photo: Carlos Camacho

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

On Palmyra Atoll, restoring Pisonia grandis may require more than removing introduced coconut palms. @ckcornwallis.bsky.social Charlie Cornwallis and colleagues sampled soils on 27 islands and found rare, Pisonia-associated fungi that help sustain the atoll ecosystem. www.cell.com/current-biol...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Olof Hellgren is looking for Johnson’s baby oil gel (chamomile). Used in nest boxes to trap malaria-transmitting midges, its viscosity allows upside-down mounting. Long-term research data require identical methods; the oil can’t be replaced. If you have a bottle, contact olof.hellgren@biol.lu.se

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Tracking data show that thrush nightingales are inactive during the day while crossing deserts and fly at night. They rely on energy reserves. @pablomaciastorres.bsky.social et al. quantify diel behaviour across migration using light/activity loggers. royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

How fragmentation shapes elephant genomes: 232 genomes across Africa show deep divergence between savanna & forest elephants, but also gene flow and emerging isolation. Led by @patriciachrzan.bsky.social (Univ. of Copenhagen; visiting at Lund). www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Moss metabolomics at scale. In #BRYOMOLECULES, >200 axenic bryophyte cultures enable controlled analyses of intrinsic chemistry. Extracts are profiled using LC-MS and chromatography to map metabolomes. >140 samples analysed. bryomolecules.eu #PlantScience #Biology #LundUniversity

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Soot particles don’t affect all animals the same way. Susana Garcia Dominguez shows, using controlled exposures and field data, that air pollution impacts birds & bumblebees through time-dependent effects on immunity, oxidative balance and DNA integrity. 🔗 www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Can DNA reveal where someone has been? Eran Elhaik (Lund University) develops AI-based methods combining genetic and microbial data to link people to specific environments, adding a new dimension to forensic analysis. 🔗 www.biologi.lu.se/artikel/ny-d... #Forensics #Genetics #Bioinformatics #AI

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Female resistance, not just mate choice, drives reproductive isolation in Bahamas mosquitofish. In common-garden, no-choice trials, females were more aggressive to males from other populations, reducing fertilisation success and gene flow. link.springer.com/article/10.1... Photo: Brian Langhans

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

PhD defence: Ashish Ahlawat Using transcriptomics + Raman spectroscopy, fungi grown on cellulose show decomposition strategies form a continuum—not strict white vs brown rot. Nitrogen availability shapes responses. 🔗 www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat... Photo: Annabel, Wikimedia Commons

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Congrats to Elin Dirlik, who has defended her thesis, Getting It Straight: Dynamic Cue Weighting and Orientation Strategies in Ball-Rolling Dung Beetles. The work shows how dung beetles dynamically integrate cues such as sun position and wind direction to maintain straight-line orientation.

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Open position as an Associate Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Molecular Microbiology at the Department of Biology, Lund University. Apply before 28 April 2026. More info & application at lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/... Please share.

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Stanley Heinze @stanley-heinze.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

After 5 years of developing, a new preprint from the lab - introducing our workflow for comparative insect connectomics, aimed at democratizing connectomics. @erc.europa.eu @lundvision.bsky.social @biologylu.bsky.social Read it here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Great cormorants can exceed minimum power speed & adjust flight speeds seasonally, though wind responses are inconsistent & their speed range is narrower than in smaller birds. Physiology and ecology shape flight performance. By A Hedenström, M Klein Heerenbrink & S Åkesson doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

How do microorganisms survive without oxygen? In her PhD thesis, Karla Iveth Aguilera Campos studied metabolic interactions between breviate protists and bacteria in anoxic environments, shedding light on microbial cooperation. www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat... Congratulations Karla!

By Karla Iveth Aguilera-Campos, Julie Boisard, Viktor Törnblom, Jon Jerlström-Hultqvist, Ada Behncké-Serra, Elena Aramendia Cotillas, Courtney Weir Stairs - https://doi.org/10.1093/ismejo/wraf171, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=174931819

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Dan-E Nilsson and colleagues propose that the vertebrate retina evolved by lateralising an ancestral median photoreceptive organ, not as a de novo structure. Bipolar cells may even have dual evolutionary origins. www.cell.com/current-biol... (Image: TheAlphaWolf/Wikimedia Commons)

A few species of vertebrates still retain the median eye on top of the head. In this frog, the median eye appears as a small light-blue spot between the regular eyes.

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Valentin Gillet defended his PhD on comparative connectomics of the insect central complex. He developed a multiresolution EM pipeline and reconstructed head direction and PFN circuits across species to study conserved and divergent navigation motifs. 🔗 www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Sandra Rabow defended her PhD on phytoplankton community dynamics in freshwater systems. Her work examines ecological drivers of Microcystis dominance and species interactions under changing temperature and nutrient regimes. 🔗 www.lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Congrats to @etkayapar.bsky.social who has defended his PhD on integrating sparse and dense genomic datasets to infer robust phylogenies for species-rich moth groups such as Gelechioidea, Geometridae, Noctuidae & Erebidae and advancing phylogenomic methods. lunduniversity.lu.se/lup/publicat...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

In Environmental Pollution, @hanbangzou.bsky.social and colleagues use microfluidic “soil chips” + AI video tracking to monitor soil protists under nanoplastic exposure. Flagellates & ciliates slowed by 24–30% at high concentration; amoebae unaffected. doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

An amoeba seen through a microscope. Photo Wikimedia Commons.

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

Dan-Eric Nilsson & his colleagues have created virtual animals with AI vision to study evolution in a new way—watching natural selection and adaptation unfold in real time inside simulated worlds. A powerful new tool for evolutionary biology. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #evolution #AI #biology

science.org

What if eye...? Computationally recreating vision evolution

Recreating evolution by coevolving eyes and behaviors in embodied agents allows exploration of what-if questions in vision.

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Journal of Applied Ecology @jappliedecology.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Did you know that we're looking for new Associate Editors to join our Editorial Board? 🌍💭 If you'd like to help shape the publishing landscape of the BES journals, find out more below! 👇 britishecologicalsociety.org/content/appl...

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Systematics and Biodiversity @nhmsystbiodiv.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Join us in Upsala Sweden for BioSyst EU, 17th–19th August 2026, for a three-day conference celebrating European systematics and biodiversity research at its origin. Systematics and Biodiversity are proud to be an official sponsor! A call for symposia will be coming soon.. #BioSystEU2026

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Paul Dufour @pauldufour80.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

🚨 PhD offer (please share) Fascinated by bird migration and movement ecology? 🦜🌍 Join us at @vogelwarte.bsky.social to study annual cycle energetics with multi-sensor loggers in multiple species Deadline: 20 Feb 2026 Starting: June 2026 Supervision: Martins Briedis & me Info: tinyurl.com/2dbv9nzh

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Courtney Stairs @cstairs.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

New postdoc funding opportunity in Sweden! If you're interested in applying for this 'Data-Driven Life Sciences' fellowship, please get in touch, we'd be happy to host and help with the application (and talk options beyond the 2-year position). www.scilifelab.se/data-driven/...

scilifelab.se

DDLS Research School Postdoc call 2026

Call for Academic and Industrial Postdoctoral Fellowships in Data-Driven Life Science 2026 Generic Description of the DDLS Postdoc Program The SciLifeLab and Wallenberg National Program for Data-Drive...

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Kathrin Rousk @kathrinrousk.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Interested in #NitrogenBiogeochemistry, links to #Carbon & #Phosphorus cycling; the #Organisms involved in #NutrientCycling? Curious about #BorealForests and #Excursions to large-scale field experiments? Then join our session "Nitrogen Biogeochemistry..." at BIOGEOMON www.slu.se/en/about-slu...

slu.se

BIOGEOMON2026 | slu.se

Join Us at the 12th BIOGEOMON Conference The BIOGEOMON conference is an open, interdisciplinary forum for sharing the latest discoveries and exploring future directions in ecosystem biogeochemistry. W...

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Stanley Heinze @stanley-heinze.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Very proud of this new paper from the lab! Work by the magnificent Andrea Adden and many brilliant collaborators illuminate how moth and butterfly brains have evolved in light of different ecologies. Freely available here: rdcu.be/eVR3B; @lundvision.bsky.social @biologylu.bsky.social

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Reposted by Department of Biology, Lund University

Michael Bok @mikebok.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

My collaborator at University of Copenhagen, Anders Garm, is looking for a 3 year postdoc to work on bioluminescence, neurobiology and ecology of ctenophores. More information here: candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Tobias Uller shows how a long-stable colour polymorphism in the wall lizard can be rapidly lost. Analysis of >10,000 individuals across 240 populations reveals how the spread of a large, aggressive morph is linked to the disappearance of other colour variants. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Adaptive spread of a sexually selected syndrome eliminates an ancient color polymorphism in wall lizards

Genetically determined color morphs are found in many animals. Polymorphism can be maintained by social selection if competitive interactions allow each morph to increase in frequency when rare. This ...

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Department of Biology, Lund University @biologylu.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

A small milestone worth celebrating: our Department of Biology, Lund University LinkedIn account has passed 1,000 followers! 🎉 When we published our first post in January 2025, we had no idea what would happen. Merry X-mas & happy 2026! Please follow us there: www.linkedin.com/company/depa...

linkedin.com

Department of Biology, Lund University | LinkedIn

Department of Biology, Lund University | 1,018 followers on LinkedIn. Biology – the study of life! | We cover vast aspects of biology and collaborate across many research areas. Our premises and infr...

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