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McGill Biology

@biomcgill.bsky.social
1.2K followers 716 following 191 posts

McGill University's Dept of Biology explores fundamental questions about the origin, #evolution, development, and #behaviour of living organisms. #biodiversity #ecology #neurobiology #molecularbiology

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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Skeleton Panda Sea Squirt (Clavelina Ossipandae) is a translucent reef-dwelling creature whose rib-like structures and panda-like markings give it a spooky, animated look. Found in Southeast Asia, it harmlessly filters seawater and helps keep coral ecosystems healthy. Original post
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DAPPER DON DHARSHI @dapperdondharshi.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
A marine biologist films this octopus changing colors while dreaming and it’s spectacular
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McGill Science @mcgillscience.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
By comparing variations in the colour of the coats of the eastern grey squirrel in Montreal city parks, researchers found that hyper-local conditions appear to play a bigger role in determining wildlife traits than had been thought. Learn more about this McGill-led study ➡️ mcgill.ca/x/5zd
Black squirrel
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PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 25/09/2026
A long-standing mystery in #neuroscience is how the length of myelin sheaths are matched to the axons they wrap. Marie Bechler &co show that #oligodendrocytes use Piezo1 to sense axon diameter and locally control sheath elongation 🧪 #NeuroSky buff.ly/9HdgiHt
This image depicts a single oligodendrocyte cell myelinating mixed diameter synthetic axons. The myelin basic protein immunofluorescence image has been colorized by confocal z-plane and modified with edge detection to highlight numerous myelin sheaths of different lengths formed by a single oligodendrocyte.  The longer myelin sheath formed on a larger diameter synthetic axon stands out in blue-green. Image credit: Marie E. Bechler
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Melanie D. White @melaniedwhite.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Happy #FluorescenceFriday from the UQ Institute for Molecular Bioscience where the fluorescence is real and the embryos are keeping a watchful eye 👀. Imaged by the entirely human @vanderspuy.bsky.social 🔬 👩‍🔬
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Anh Hoang Le, PhD 🏳️‍🌈🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇻🇳 @anhhle2702.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Happy #FluorescenceFriday. The first time I imaged a 🐸 embryo, I didn't realise they had these ciliated cells on the outer surface. So you can imagine how surprised and curious I was! These cilia are similar to those found in the human airway. And yes, this is just a good old confocal + 🔥LUT!
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Jorge Ferreira @jorgeferreira.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Don´t know yet what you´ll be doing next April? Why not join us for a great meeting in Porto? Registration for Forces across scales is now open! meetings.embo.org/event/27-for...
meetings.embo.org
Forces across scales
This EMBO Workshop on Forces Across Scales will provide an integrative perspective on mechanobiology, a rapidly advancing field that examines how mechanical forces shape biological systems across mol…
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Cells & Development @cellsdev.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We heard through the vines that #cilia are hot (or not?) right now so here is a cool article by the Saxena lab about how Notch signalling inhibit zebrafish olfactory multiciliated cells differentiation 🐟 AND we got a cool movie with it too! #FluorescenceFriday www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
New: Working with European starlings, Sereena Moore (Guigueno Lab) & her team found that the insecticide chlorpyrifos disrupted cell proliferation in a brain region important for spatial cognition & migration, the hippocampus. The article (open access) can be found here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
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Astrobiology @astrobiology.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
astrobiology.com/2026/09/23/h... #astrobiology #microbiology #extremophile #AwayTeam
astrobiology.com
Hot Spring Organism Breaks Record For Heat Tolerance Of Complex Life
A tiny, single-celled organism can thrive at temperatures that would kill all other known complex life.
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Gary McFarlane @garym6942.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Two new large stick insect species have been identified by Australian researchers, in a discovery they say illustrates how little we still understand about insect diversity. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... #entomology #biology #science #wildlife #SciChat
theguardian.com
Discovery of new Australian stick insect species reveals case of mistaken identity
New study describes two species, Anchiale robusta and Anchiale mabiensis, both found in far north Queensland
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Giovanni D’Angelo @giodang.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
#lipidtime: It's a lipid universe. Today in Nature we publish the Lipid Brain Atlas, the first map of membrane lipid composition across the entire mouse brain, a layer of organisation that cell-type and transcript maps had left out. #lipidomics #neuroscience #BrainAtlas
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Tara Calishain @researchbuzz.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
#birds #feathers #books #GLAM 'This unique object contains 156 illustrations made from feathers and other organic materials, including approximately 100 bird depictions incorporating beaks, feathers and feet.' www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/cha...
mcgill.ca
History, art and science join forces to unlock the mysteries of a 400-year-old book
A major grant will enable McGill University Libraries to delve into the Libro di Piume, or Feather Book, an exceptional artifact created in Italy more than 400 years ago. This unique object contains 1...
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Veronica Groves (she/her) @veronicagroves.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Great work by @ivanakomendic.bsky.social and mentee (and now MSc student at MUN) Nora Hand-Lennon
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Andrew Hendry @ecoevoevoeco.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
How can you use repeatability to infer LOCAL selection - check out our new paper in Molecular Ecology. "The Spatial and Temporal Repeatability of Genomic Responses to Natural Selection ..." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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Andrew Hendry @ecoevoevoeco.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Maybe you have heard about our Alaska stickleback introduction experiment? You might want to apply for our multi-PI freshwater science postdoctoral position. The video below is of one of our source lakes for the intro. scasscsa.mcjobboard.net/jobs/235865
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WeberLab@McGill @weber-lab.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
🚨We're hiring!!🚨 @biomcgill.bsky.social is looking for a Quantitative Cell Biologist to join our diverse and interdisciplinary community. Please share this ad broadly, and reach out if you have any questions. mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/McGill...
mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor in Quantitative Cell Biology - Department of Biology
Please refer to the How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) job aid for instructions on how to apply. If you are an active McGill employee (ie: currently in an active contract or position at ...
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Matteo Carandini @carandinilab.net · 18/09/2026
Baby jellyfish are adorable: www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/20...
nikonsmallworld.com
Jellyfish larvae suspended in water droplets | 2026 Small World in Motion Competition
Benedikt Pleyer - Jellyfish larvae suspended in water droplets
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
McGill has a productive group of freshwater scientists working on fish & invertebrate ecology, evolution, invasive species, ecotoxicology and global change. We are looking for a postdoctoral fellow that can forge new collaborations among us. See our job ad here: scasscsa.mcjobboard.net/jobs/235865
scasscsa.mcjobboard.net
Postdoctoral Fellow in Freshwater Science
The GRIL node at McGill University comprises seven aquatic scientists (see below) that span a broad range of expertise; we are advancing knowledge regarding landscape-scale processes, long-term change...
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Goutham @kodakandlag.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Like stars in the night sky 😍 #FluorescenceFriday but make it live cell calcium imaging
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Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Squid vibes: #DeepWonders science team encountered this cutie at 1,045 m. They marveled at the specialized cells in their skin, chromatophores — these tiny sacs that contain pigment. As a squid relaxes & contracts its muscles, it reveals or hides pigment for camouflage or communication.
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A photo by Anthony Zerafa won the Flora & Fungi category in the 2026 Canadian Wildlife Photography of the Year competition. Shown below: Scheuchzer’s cottongrass — known in Inuktitut as kanguujat (“what looks like snow geese”) on Axel Heiberg Island, Nunavut: canadiangeographic.ca/articles/ann...
Photo by Anthony Zerafa
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
What happens when populations are continually exposed to extreme & dynamic environments? Do they show the same genomic responses over space & time? Hickox & collaborators incl Profs. Andrew Hendry & Rowan Barrett demonstrate repeatability of natural selection. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The Spatial and Temporal Repeatability of Genomic Responses to Natural Selection as Demonstrated in Stickleback Populations Experiencing Highly Dynamic Environments
The evolution of genotypic parallelism under shared environmental conditions provides strong evidence for the role of natural selection. However, analyses typically examine genomic signatures of sele....
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Jory Griffith (Biology MSc graduate) and supervisors Anna Hargreaves & Jennifer Sunday published a paper in PNAS, in which they showed that the global latitudinal diversity gradient is 3 times weaker in cities compared to natural areas: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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McGill Alumni @mcgillalumni.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🎙️ Can universities solve the climate crisis? Rees Kassen, academic director at the McGill Sustainability Park, and Grégoire Baillargeon, president of BMO Quebec, discuss the challenges facing us, and why they require an all-hands-on-deck response. Stream ‘Mark my words’: [link].
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Massimo (mirror) @rainmaker1973-m.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This microscopic freshwater organism, Limnias malicerta, is a rotifer, recognized by its rotating wheel-like structures. It uses spinning cilia on its head to swim and capture tiny food like algae and bacteria. Original post
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McGill University @handle.invalid · 04/09/2026
Jérôme Dupras, the Chief Scientist of Québec, visited McGill this week to meet with researchers, tour the Sustainability Park, and learn more about D2RMcGill and CIRMMT. 🎸 Our special guest also shared some musical talents - can you guess the popular Québécoise tune he played?
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McGill University @handle.invalid · 27/08/2026
Backed by a historic federal investment, McGill has recruited six Eddie Goldenberg Research Chairs of Canada. These globally renowned experts are coming to Canada to tackle pressing challenges, make discoveries, and advance innovation here at home.
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Gedig & Fussmann show how higher methane in nutrient-enriched lakes may promote growth of certain phytoplankton (incl blue-green algae) & alter ecosystem function. Increased methane uptake from human activities can thus have fundamental impacts on lake ecosystems: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
iopscience.iop.org
The effect of elevated dissolved methane concentrations on freshwater phytoplankton: a mesocosm study
The effect of elevated dissolved methane concentrations on freshwater phytoplankton: a mesocosm study, Gedig, Daniel P, Fussmann, Gregor F
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voigtvision.bsky.social @voigtvision.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
🤩 It's time for some invertebrate eye candy! 🤩 Here's a ctenophore (or comb jelly) stained with phalloidin by John Alexander Salazar Hernandez & imaged on an exaSPIM built by Kaelin Wulf of the team of @adamkglaser.bsky.social as part of the FHL Functional Biodiversity course #microscopy
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Stacey Ogden 🦔 @labogden.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Happy #FluorescenceFriday! This is how I imagine Vincent van Gogh would paint cells of the developing lung 👨‍🎨🫁 Image rendered from a micrograph of developing alveoli of a neonatal 🐭 Fluorescent proteins mark cell membranes and nuclei 🔬 by postdoc @christinaadaly.bsky.social
A van Gogh like image of a micrograph of cells of the lung.
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Science Magazine @science.org · 12/08/2026
These microscopic animals fight off infection using genes “stolen” from bacteria. Learn more: scim.ag/4xEx6Jb #ScienceMagArchives
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
In a new paper, Cortés & Larsson describe the exceptionally rich fossil record of the Lower Cretaceous Paja Formation of Colombia. Its food web reached 7 trophic levels! The authors use this case to describe a novel macroecological pattern: a Biotic Inflection. www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco...
frontiersin.org
Frontiers | The Paja Formation of Colombia records uniquely high biodiversity during a biotic inflection in an Early Cretaceous Gondwanan marine ecosystem
Regions of high biodiversity are classically defined as regions of high species richness, endemism, and ecological innovation, yet their conceptual and empir...
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Prof. Rees Kassen published a paper that sketches a functional theory of adaptation, building off results of microbial evolution experiments. It's about being able to grow in the presence of stress, which usually involves mutations to high-level regulatory processes. Read: doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
doi.org
Toward a Functional Genetics of Adaptation: Insights From Microbial Experimental Evolution
Abstract. A general theory of adaptation is one that accounts for both the quantitative and functional properties of adaptive evolution. To date, the field
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
A recent paper by García-Elfring, Paccard & Barrett documents genomic differentiation between marine & freshwater threespine stickleback populations across Atlantic Canada, revealing signatures of parallel adaptation despite differences in population history. Read the paper: doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...
doi.org
Genomic Patterns of Parallel Divergence Across Demographically Heterogeneous Stickleback Populations in Eastern Canada
Abstract. The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a key model in evolutionary genetics, particularly for studies of parallel evolution, yet
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Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Enypniastes eximia, a deep-sea sea cucumber recorded at 1095 m during #DeepWonders expedition. We see how this graceful gelatinous gem earned the nickname Spanish dancer. Look how their tubefeet glide across the seafloor, scooping up nutritious marine snow as the animal swoops up into the water.
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WeberLab@McGill @weber-lab.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Excited to see this project finally come together 🥳 I used the timing of nucleolar assembly at the 8-cell stage as an assay for concentration-dependent phase separation (doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...), but could never explain why they don't appear at the 4-cell stage. Now we know!! 🤓
doi.org
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Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences @cjfas.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
How are zebra mussels, water chemistry, and native unionids connected? Brielle Comartin ‪& Anthony Ricciardi ‬report on the impacts of biofouling in a lake with suboptimal calcium concentrations ➡️ ow.ly/pSNe50ZfXmr 📊: Comartin & Ricciardi, Fig. 6 | cjfas-2025-0135
Mean fouling intensity as a function of calcium concentration
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McGill University @handle.invalid · 22/07/2026
🏆 Montreal named #1 student city in Canada and top 20 worldwide We're proud to call one of the continent's top-ranked student cities home. From innovation and culture to exceptional student experiences, Montréal helps make McGill a destination for talent from around the world. mcgill.ca/x/5XA
Four students stand and sit along a stone overlook on Mount Royal, with Montreal’s downtown skyline blurred in the background at sunset. The group is engaged in conversation, wearing casual clothing, including a blue McGill sweatshirt. Trees and city buildings fill the scene, with warm evening light illuminating the skyline.
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Schmidt Ocean Institute @schmidtocean.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Opisthoteuthis, or flapjack, a genus of cirrate octopuses observed at 1,040 meters during the #DeepWonders expedition with @divaamon.bsky.social. Using their umbrella-like body shape, they coast through the water. Their fins help guide their way (despite looking like large floppy ears).
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Andrew Hendry @ecoevoevoeco.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Urbanization and melanism in squirrels In Montreal, well, it's complicated Check out the new paper in @animalecology.bsky.social led by Francis Dinh - who was an undergrad in Biology (@biomcgill.bsky.social) at McGill U (@mcgillscience.bsky.social) when he did the work @mcgillumedia.bsky.social
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Kirsty Wan @micromotility.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Do #tintinnids dream of electric sheep? 🤯 Here is a single cell capable of building a lorica and living inside it for protection... it also swims, feeds, hunts Can even detect and habituate to mechanical cues! #celllearning #protistsonsky #cilia Read more in our preprint doi.org/10.64898/202...
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Lars L. Iversen @lifeinmud.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
We are recruiting a PhD student in our lab at @biomcgill.bsky.social Please apply if you are interested in #freshwater #biodiversity and/or #insect #ecology
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Veronica Groves (she/her) @veronicagroves.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
@tjcolvin.bsky.social and I hosted the 2nd annual @afsquebec.bsky.social #iNaturalist BioBlitz this past weekend documenting underreported aquatic #biodiversity in the St Lawrence & Ottawa rivers. Thanks to support from #BlitzTheGap @biomcgill.bsky.social ! 🐌🐟
Group photo of 9 participants in front of the river and sorting table.Table covered in supplies for identifying aquatic macroinvertebrates.Sorting container with two species of snail, a leech and an empty caddisfly case.
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Genome Biology and Evolution @genomebiolevol.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
García-Elfring, Paccard & Barrett find that freshwater-associated differentiation in Atlantic Canadian stickleback occurs across contrasting demographic contexts and suggest a role for neurological and behavioral pathways in adaptation @biomcgill.bsky.social 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag083 #genome
doi.org
Genomic Patterns of Parallel Divergence Across Demographically Heterogeneous Stickleback Populations in Eastern Canada
Abstract. The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a key model in evolutionary genetics, particularly for studies of parallel evolution, yet
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McGill Biology @biomcgill.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
A molecular quirk unique to octopuses makes them better at building proteins
Certain shallow-water species carry a mutation that reduces translation errors and prevents toxic protein buildup
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Michelle says: Be kind. Always. ❤️ @snarkysillysad.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
First-ever footage of a Barreleye Fish captured deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean: #AGoodPlace Source: www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsi...
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McGill University @handle.invalid · 16/07/2026
What brings together Quebec’s top superstars in mixed martial arts and evolutionary biology? Dinosaurs of course! 🦖 Watch as Georges St-Pierre visits Prof. Hans Larsson’s lab to get an exclusive look at a brand-new dinosaur species: youtu.be/rtOYC08318I
youtu.be
New Species of Dinosaur with Professor Hans Larsson
YouTube video by GSP Podcast
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Elizabeth Beston @elizabethbeston.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
A polychaete (bristle worm) trochophore (young larva) from the top down. #marineplankton 🦑
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
For Shark Awareness Day, let's learn about the epaulette shark (Hemiscyllium ocellatum), named for a large black spot on their "shoulders" that resembles a military uniform. What's probably attracting your attention is their ability to crawl on land: let's talk about 'walking sharks'.
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