iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Cláudia Xavier

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 09/04/2026

The bite of sicariid spiders such as the brown recluse can cause tissue necrosis. Crystal structures of the Chilean six-eyed sand spider’s venom toxin reveal how the toxin breaks apart cells—information that could help develop treatments. In PNAS: ow.ly/u5aw50YFJlR

Juvenile desert recluse spider.
CREDIT: Tom Astle (photographer).

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Lauren Sumner-Rooney @laurensr.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Exciting times ahead - I'm beyond delighted to be joining @bristolbiosci.bsky.social in 2026! 🎉🕷️🎉🐌🎉 I'm also looking for a PhD student to join @multipleye-lab.bsky.social in our new home! Come and study the effects of light pollution on the evolution and development of spider eyes with us 🌃🕷️👀 👇

findaphd.com

Funded PhD - The impacts of light pollution on plasticity and evolution in spider visual systems at University of Bristol on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Funded PhD - The impacts of light pollution on plasticity and evolution in spider visual systems at University of Bristol, listed on FindAPhD.com

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Soh Kam Yung @sohkamyung.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

My first pseudoscorpion observation was pure luck. Happen to see this wasp and took a shot. It was only later did I see what was hanging on the antenna. On iNaturalist [ www.inaturalist.org/observations... ]

A brown pseudoscopion hanging on to the antenna of a wasp. The wasp is yellow with black stripes and transparent wings.

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Josh Gibson, Ph.D. @drstrangeant.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

#microCT scan of the left palpal bulb (male copulatory organ) of a grass spider I found wandering Beckman's hallways last week! 😍(He was on his last legs when he was preserved for the scan). Taken in the Microscopy Suite of @beckmanillinois.bsky.social and rendered in the Visualization Lab.

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Chentomology @chentomology.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

We love jumping spiders because they are smol, cute, active, friendly and always looking around curiously with their huge eyes. But do you know they’re also masters of mimicry? Check out the bugs they pretend to be (and some of those are really good)!💚💚

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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 16/08/2025

Using high-speed transnasal imaging, electroglottography, and acoustic analysis, this new #JRSocInterface paper studies ten distinct phonation types in a professional metal singer: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #biophysics

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com

Panels one and two:
Two white mice make their way through a maze.

Panel three:
Having completed the maze, the two mice are rewarded with some fruit. Two scientists watch them. One says:
“Poor little things: all that thought and effort just to earn themselves a little treat.”

The second scientist looks at a clock and says: “Coffee time!”

Panels four and five:
The two scientists make their way through a maze of corridors to a door marked “Canteen”

Panel six:
The scientists look at the food on offer. One says: “Ooh, Donuts!”

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Shakira @shakiguani.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

Our arachno-colleague, Dr. Peter Jaeger, has the ambitious goal of running an inclusive and low-budget scientific conference: the Asian Conference of Arachnology (ACA) 2025. All donations will cover travel and conference expenses for students and ECR from low-income regions in Asia. #arachnology

gofundme.com

Donate to Scientific Conference in Laos, organized by Peter Jaeger

Help Empower the Next Generation of Spider Scientists in Asia! ️ We are raising funds to… Peter Jaeger needs your support for Scientific Conference in Laos

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Cláudia Xavier @claudiaxavier.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

The curious morphology of the treehoppers can help them detect different electrical charges and even distinguish friend from foe. Excellent work! This is one of the coolest things I've ever read!

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Cláudia Xavier @claudiaxavier.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

@cesarfavacho.bsky.social and I made a video to present the results of our recently published paper on Tapixaua callida (subtitles in PT and EN). This fascinating spider mimics ants in a way very similar to the Asian species Pranburia mahannopi, described by arachnologist Christa Deeleman-Reinhold.

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Stefano Mammola @stefanomammola.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

🕷️🌍🕸️ Spiders aren't creepy crawlies—they're ecosystem heroes! From pest control to biotech inspiration to key figures in our collective culture, a new review reveals the many services spiders provide: 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/brv.... (drawing by @jmalumbresolarte.bsky.social)

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Sam England @samjakeengland.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

I had a lot of fun giving this interview - I wish my research always had dramatic music in the background

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Museum für Naturkunde Berlin @mfnberlin.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Caterpillars can sense predators before contact – by detecting their electric fields! 🐛 Recent @pnas.org study led by @samjakeengland.bsky.social won the Cozzarelli Prize. Congrats, Sam – brilliant work on insect electroreception! 🎉 🔗 www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... 📽️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTjX...

pnas.org

Prey can detect predators via electroreception in air | PNAS

Predators and prey benefit from detecting sensory cues of each other’s presence. As they move through their environment, terrestrial animals accumu...

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Fabián Alfonso @paradiestus.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Wallace’s day at Museu Goeldi!

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Adrian Smith @dradriansmith.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

"What's the Point of Natural History Collections?" is out today on the YouTube/AntLab check it out and long live basic research!!!!!!!!!! youtu.be/dxUbTn7d6Fw

youtu.be

What's the Point of Natural History Collections?

YouTube video by Ant Lab

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Nicole 🪲 @fossilforager.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Happy #Invertefest! Celebrate invertebrate biodiversity 🐛💕

A circular illustration of 19 colorful different species of invertebrates across various phyla (arthropods, cnidarians, echinoderms, sponges, mollusks, annelids, flatworms). Black arching text surrounding them reads “Celebrate Invertebrate Biodiversity”. They are illustrated on a light blue background.

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Russell Garwood @russellgarwood.co.uk · 29/03/2025

Thinking about arachnid paraphyly ⚒️🧪

Joseph Wright of Derby painting Lady in Milton's Comus - A woman looking with ?concern at an overcast sky through a forest, with a tunnel of moonlight through the clouds. More: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/lady-miltons-comus

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Andi Fischer @andifischer10.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Arthropod decline, particularly in cities, has devastating consequences for predators. Consequently, globally invasive urban spiders are well adapted to long-term starvation (>42 weeks), as demonstrated in my first paper since my PhD. @cp-iscience.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110722

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Meg Adams (ArtbyMoga) @artbymoga.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

A comic about the good stuff

Meg looks at some moss “OH MY GOD!” She looks at some mushrooms “YEAH BABY!!!” She towers over a log with mushrooms and moss on it “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!!!”

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Ajay Narendra @pipilika.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Our latest paper on the jump kinematics and choreography in the Oz Splendid Peacock spider. We filmed & analysed locomotory jumps in male & female spiders. The males are incredibly light - measuring just 2mg - and oh they can jump! Videos in the thread. Open Access - read here: tinyurl.com/4bnpz9tz

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Prashant Sharma @prashantpsharma.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

The lab is delighted to release the first genome for the giant American vinegaroon! The slowly-evolving order Uropygi captures the strongest signature yet of the arachnopulmonate whole genome duplication. #biodiversity #genomics academic.oup.com/jhered/advan...

academic.oup.com

A chromosome-level genome of the giant vinegaroon Mastigoproctus giganteus exhibits the signature of pre-Silurian whole genome duplication

Abstract. Within the arachnids, chromosome-level genome assemblies have greatly accelerated the understanding of gene family evolution and developmental ge

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Humboldt-Stiftung @humboldt-foundation.de · 04/02/2025

In research evaluation quantitative data (publications, citations etc.) is often decisive. Yet, researchers contribute in many diverse ways. To seek more inclusive methods, we joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). #AcademicSky www.humboldt-foundation.de/en/explore/n...

humboldt-foundation.de

Reappraising research

Humboldt Foundation joins the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment.

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Cláudia Xavier @claudiaxavier.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Always great to see the process :)

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morena99.bsky.social @morena99.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Sea spiders (Pycnogonida) are an ancient Class of chelicerates with a fascinating evolutionary tale. A new study we just published on the EJLS uncovers their evolutionary history! 🧵 #Evolution #TheLinneanSociety #SeaSpiders #Arthropoda academic.oup.com/evolinnean/a...

academic.oup.com

A timescale for the evolutionary history of sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida)

Abstract. Sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) are an ancient lineage of chelicerates represented by a single living order, Pantopoda, and a patchy fossil

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Russell Garwood @russellgarwood.co.uk · 31/01/2025

For #FossilFriday may I present to you an amazing scorpion, Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis. It may look like the moult of a modern species, but these are actually ~330 million year old fossils, dissolved out of a rock from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 using acid. ⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky

A black and white photograph of a fossil scorpion, the front towards the right. Y ou can see mouthparts (chelicerae and pedipalps with pincers), four walking legs, and then a body and tail.

A colour photograph of a fossil scorpion, this time with the top pointing upwards. It also has nice pedipalps and a good body, but the limbs are a bit more scrappy than the other picture. It does have an impressive sting though.

A black and white reconstruction of this super cool fossil species by Jason Dunlop. It's beautifull stippled, and shows the scorpion in dorsal view, with the front upward. It looks a fair bit like a modern scorpion. The man is an amazing artist.

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Dr. Catherine Scott @cataranea.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Exciting #Arachnology news! It's been clear for some time that spiders have 'noses' on their legs but we didn't really understand how they smell airborne sex pheromones. Now we do! Gabriele Uhl & colleagues have identified the sensilla responsible: 🕷️🧪 www.uni-greifswald.de/en/universit...

uni-greifswald.de

“Olfaction with legs – spiders use wall-pore sensilla for pheromone detection"

Spiders can smell: they use pore-covered sensilla that are similar to hairs to detect volatile substances. This is the key finding of a study that has been published in the January 2025 issue of the s...

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Cláudia Xavier @claudiaxavier.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

It is my pleasure to announce that Part I of the special issue on arachnids in the Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi - Ciências Naturais has been published! Available online at boletimcn.museu-goeldi.br/bcnaturais/i...

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Dr. Ivan Magalhaes 🕷️ @6eyes8legs.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Con gente del MACN, CEPAVE y Uruguay, recién describimos la araña Pikelinia schiapelliae (Filistatidae), hallada en arenales de Argentina y Uruguay. Muy simpática! (foto 1 por Damián Hagopián)

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Dr. Jaimi Gray @jaimiagray.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

#Education resource! Over the years I created this collection of colored skull #3Dmodels for teaching. They're available to download on MorphoSource & to view on Sketchfab. Because of recent changes to Sketchfab, I migrated them to my website: www.graysvertebrateanatomy.com/work/colorso... (1/3)

A screenshot of a website displaying 8 colored skull models of amphibians and reptiles, along with buttons that will allow the user to navigate to 3D models for each skull.

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