iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

New addition to the entrance to my home. Courtesy of my multitalented sister.

Handmade mosaic of a bird (probably an African starling).

The entrance to a Jerusalem house with a mosaic of a bird in a niche to the right of the main door.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

New addition to the entrance to my home. Courtesy of my multitalented sister.

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Yasin Dagdas @plantophagy.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

AI (The Guardian)

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Genome Biology and Evolution @genomebiolevol.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Kim et al. investigate the evolutionary conservation of molting gene expression across five representative pancrustaceans, showing that some genes active in molting are shared between these species, while most are different. 🔗 academic.oup.com/gbe/article/... #societyjournal #genome #evolution

GBE | Molting in Pancrustacea Is Characterized by Both Deeply Conserved and Recently Evolved Gene Modules

Photo of a molting Scylla paramamosain taken from Figure 1 of Qiao et al 2022 (https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.971648) used under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Biological collections are timeless. Today I hosted two parasitologists from Warsaw and Kiev who looked at cestode samples, collected by scientists from The Hebrew University from birds in Syria in 1930 (then under French mandate). Still useful for tapeworm taxonomy. (more info in the alt text)

From left to right: Dr. Rusłan Sałamatin (Medical University of Warsaw), Prof. Vadim Kornyushin (University of Kiev emeritus), Prof. Ariel Chipman (The Hebrew University) standing in front of the parasitological wet collections of the Hebrew University.

A glass slide preparation with a red stained cestode. The handwritten text on the slide reads: "Paradilepis sp. Kiri Khan. c186 Plegadis falcinellus. Syria 4/1930"
Kiri Khan is today in Türkiye. Plegadis falcinellus is the glossy ibis (the host species of the worm)

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

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Max Farnworth @maxfarnworth.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

I am advertising a 3 year postdoc position. This person is going to focus on cell type development and evolution across key integration centres of the insect brain in four insect species. See details in the ad.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Two preprints from the lab dropped in the last few days. #1 A detailed review led by Nitzan Alon, where we argue that the apparent similarities in the #segmentation process in different phyla stem from convergent co-option of #neurogenesis pathways. ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

ecoevorxiv.org

Nervous system centralization as the evolutionary scaffold for body segmentation: A review of the evidence

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

ecoevorxiv.org

Nervous system centralization as the evolutionary scaffold for body segmentation: A review of the evidence

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RobertoFeuda @robertofeuda.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

We're hiring 4 postdocs at @unibo.it to study nervous system evolution. Seeking expertise in single-cell genomics, molecular or developmental biology in ctenophores, cnidarians, echinoderms, flies or human stem cells. 2+2 yrs contract. Deadline: 26 Aug. Please share! bandi.unibo.it/s/apos7/proc...

bandi.unibo.it

Procedura di valutazione comparativa per titoli e colloquio per il conferimento di n. 4 contratti di ricerca presso il Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali - SSD BIOS-04/A - GSD...

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Lauren Sumner-Rooney @laurensr.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

📢 JOB ALERT! 📢 I am recruiting a 30-month postdoc to work on modelling the vision of trilobites @hfspo.bsky.social ! If you like 3D data, fossils, and functional morphology, this is the one for you! 📆Deadline 27. Aug Pls contact me with any Qs and share widely! www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...

bristol.ac.uk

Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol

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Rob Waterhouse @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Hot off the press @official-smbe.bsky.social MBE - a phylum-wide assessment to systematically evaluate, refine, and revise current understanding of the evolutionary dynamics of the #arthropod moulting genetic toolkit! academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...

academic.oup.com

Evolutionary dynamics of the arthropod moulting machinery

Abstract. Exoskeletons define arthropods, providing support for segmented bodies and appendages while protecting against environmental stress and predation

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Rob Waterhouse @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

📢 preprint update: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🦀🧬🦐🧬🐝🧬🦋🧬 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐚 #phylogenomics #evolution #biodiversity With Giulia Campli, @marcrr.bsky.social, & @chipman-lab.bsky.social

biorxiv.org

Convergent gene family evolution underpins repeated transitions to metamorphic development across Pancrustacea

Arthropod developmental modes are highly diverse, ranging from direct development with little morphological change between moults to metamorphic life-stage progressions characterised by profound trans...

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

A new and exciting crop in my vegetable garden: swallowtail caterpillars growing on a rue plant (Ruta chalepensis) I planted especially for them.

A swallowtail caterpillar (4th or 5th instar) on a rue plant. Mostly greenish-yellow with black and orange bands.

A swallowtail caterpillar (3rd or 4th instar) on a rue plant. Mostly greenish-yellow with an orange longitudinal stripe and black bands. Also various spines and hairs.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

A new and exciting crop in my vegetable garden: swallowtail caterpillars growing on a rue plant (Ruta chalepensis) I planted especially for them.

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Natural History Museum, London @nhm-london.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

The smallest centipedes have 30 legs, while the largest ever discovered had 382 👀 🐛 Despite the name, no centipede with exactly 100 legs has ever been found. Surprising science explains why!

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Take 30 scientists at all career stages, interested in the evolution of gene regulatory networks, lock them in an English country house for 4 days, feed them and give them unlimited amounts of alcohol. What do you get? Probably the most exciting conference I have ever attended. #BiologistsWorkshops

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

Another things I've really enjoyed is the interaction with the ECRs - students and postdocs. There is an excellent selection of smart and curious young people here, and I will be keeping an eye on how their careers develop.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

The buzz-line of the workshop has been "are you leaving more inspired or more confused?" (The answer is "both", surely a good thing).

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I am leaving with many new insights and with many thoughts about fundamental questions of how we define and how we identify such things as homology, serial homology, novelty and co-option and about how these things are similar and different to each other.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

The energy of this workshop has been phenomenal. Not only did we hear great diverse talks, discussions and debates went on through all the breaks and until late at night.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

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Max Telford @maxjtelford.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

It's very difficult to work out the relationships between spiral cleaving phyla. With interesting implications for their origins and the interpretation of Cambrian fossils. Work by @anaserrasilva.bsky.social. Supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

At last week’s European conference, a group of “left wing” students ignored or actively boycotted my students and me. Meanwhile, I was hanging out with Egyptian, Iranian, Moroccan and Turkish colleagues. Many European leftist activists don’t really understand the Middle East.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

“If your data is not easy to find we will publicly shame you”. “It is polite to cite us, but we won’t sue you if you don‘t. It is all openly available”. The data are mapped to different ontologies. The aim is to increase the number of species up to 1K species. www.bgee.org @bgee.org

bgee.org

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

#EED2026 @marcrr.bsky.social talking about the Bgee database for curated animal gene expression patterns. The database is manually curated, freely available. Collects data from published papers.

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Marc Robinson-Rechavi @marcrr.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/06/2026

Ariel Chipman #EED2026: what is organ identity? (He warned us that this talk "might be a bit rambing" 😅 )

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Just want to take the opportunity to remind people that Frontiers in Zoology is not a “Frontiers” journal. It existed long before they stole the name.

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Idan Sheizaf @sheizaf.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

A huge thanks to @chipman-lab.bsky.social , my co-author Eviatar, @snsf.ch for funding my PhD, and everyone at Hebrew U who supported this work. Science is a team effort! 🌌✨ #Ecology #LightPollution #Isopods (3/3)

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Idan Sheizaf @sheizaf.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

I am absolutely thrilled—my first PhD article is published and making headlines internationally! 🥳🔬 We found that everyday streetlights trigger Armadillo isopods into bizarre, continuous "death spirals." Read the paper in @ecol-evol.bsky.social here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🧵👇 (1/3)

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bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Gene family evolutionary dynamics reveal convergent genomic signatures in pancrustacean metamorphosis www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…

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Rob Waterhouse @rmwaterhouse.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Understanding how #gene family dynamics contribute to the evolutionary transitions in life histories among #arthropods www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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MU-Peter Shimon 🀄 @mu-peter.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

~ 550–520 mya was a dramatic period in evolution... This asks, what if the brain came first? And gives a different of view the Cambrian Explosion An Increase in Animal Diversity was Facilitated by Ecologically-Driven Brain Complexity Throughout the Cambrian🧪 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Schematic representation of the main points of the Brain First Hypothesis.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

It is just over two years since publication of "Organismic Animal Biology". I have gotten very positive feedback in person, but there have been almost no reviews of the book. If you are one of the ~100 people who purchased a copy and liked it, please post a review on your favorite online bookshop.

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

If you haven't purchased a copy, what are you waiting for?

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

New paper published! Another of my "sabbatical papers" - a series of papers that evolved and matured through discussions with colleagues while I was on a six month roaming sabbatical a couple of years ago. This one discusses the #Cambrian #explosion. 1/6 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

An Increase in Animal Diversity was Facilitated by Ecologically‐Driven Brain Complexity Throughout the Cambrian

The Brain-First Hypothesis suggests that the Cambrian transition from animals with simple body plans and simple brains to more complex animals was driven by a selection for brains with increased neur...

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Arthropod Abbey (Abigail Hayes) @arthropodabbey.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Hey you! I am still on the market for jobs this fall! I am an entomologist who specializes in inclusive biology teaching (15+ semesters of collegiate instruction) and a broad array of research skills spanning collection & ID, molecular work (RNAi, Genomics), and phenotyping (behavior, physiology)🧪

media.tenor.com

a person is holding a green grasshopper in their hand with the word cube visible in the background

Alt: a person is holding a green katydid in their hand, the katydid is waving its front legs around

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

The paper then lists a series of experimental approaches to support this hypothesis (grant proposals have been submitted to do the research). 6/6

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Ariel Chipman @chipman-lab.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

The #molecular toolkits involved in this increase in #brain #complexity were then independently co-opted to different organ systems (e.g. the #segmented body plan), leading to a general increase in complexity in these lineages. I call this "the Brain-First hypothesis". 5/6

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