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David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.

@davidtledesma.bsky.social
266 followers 305 following 10 posts

Paleoherpetologist. Assistant Professor, St. Edward's University, Austin, TX. Tweets are my own. www.davidtledesma.com

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David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D. @davidtledesma.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
A day late for National Fossil Day, but here's a new publication on some fossil salamanders! Did you know we used to have TIGER salamanders all across Central Texas? Why did they dissappear? Read on to see what we think happened and what that may mean for future salamanders of Texas.
cambridge.org
The late Quaternary fossil record of mole salamanders in central Texas reveals range shifts and responses to environmental change | Quaternary Research | Cambridge Core
The late Quaternary fossil record of mole salamanders in central Texas reveals range shifts and responses to environmental change
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David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D. @davidtledesma.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Happy WORLD LIZARD DAY! There are over 7,000 species of lizards in the world! Each represents a monument showcasing the magnificent diversity of life on earth. Here are some nice photos I took of two.
leaf-tailed gecko camouflaged on a treeRainbow ameiva in leaf litter
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Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
SJSCentralTX @sjscentraltx.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Central Texas flooding: Kerr County has had multiple fatalities. There were a lot of people camping along the Guadalupe River. Children’s summer camps have been flooded. They had inadequate warnings, and a warning system was not in place that would let people know ahead of time. 1/2
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Graham Coop @gcbias.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Inside me there are two wolves. One of them has a 15 genome edits the other 20 genome edits. Neither of them is a dire wolf.
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National Center for Science Education @ncse.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Teachers of #Texas, we're headed your way! We are partnering with Texas A&M College of Education & Human Development to offer a free climate change workshop on April 4-5 in College Station. Please join us! There is still time to register - forms.gle/Axkv8UW7CNNq... #EduSky #TeacherSky #TeachClimate
Free workshop for science teachers! Addressing Climate Misinformation and Misconceptions. College Station, Texas, April 4-5
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Adam Rutherford @adamrutherford.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
A mammoth circus of macabre fantasy and moral bankruptcy. I got my views on mammoths down. Enjoy. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Reviving the woolly mammoth isn’t just unethical. It’s impossible | Adam Rutherford
At a time when US scientists are under attack from their own government, the illiteracy around these elephantine fantasies is dangerous, says geneticist Adam Rutherford
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Isopod Fan Account @bedupolker.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Amphibian migration season is coming this spring. Remember to drive slow!
The front end of a vehicle stopped at an intersection, held up by a salamander in a tiny safety vest and stop sign. Behind it is a large group of yellow spotted salamanders crossing the road.
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Adriana Guatame-García @adriguatame.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.” Absurd we still need to go through this 🧪👩‍🔬
There have been people less than helpful in my journey here. I wanted to acknowledge those too, bc I know I am not unique in this experience.
No thank you to the physics study assoc that made me sing songs about how women couldn't study physics without sleeping with the professor, the day I stepped into university life. No thank you to the 5th year physics student that decided to assign me a stripper name within the first minute of meeting me in the physics coffee corner in my first year. No thank you to the technician that was responsible for onboarding me on the use of the cluster in my third year who raised his eyebrows and asked me if that meant I was some sort of computer girl. No thank you to the senior researcher that sent me utterly inappropriate texts after a conference, then proceeded to apologise months later by telling me they had not been meant for me anyway so no hard feelings remain hopefully And no thank you to him for attending every conference I've been to since. No thank you to the people who told me that it was surprising that I was doing a PhD since I was a girl. No thank you to the man who mistook me for a coffee lady at a conference, and after having to correct him two times that I did not work there, responded with you should consider it. No thank you to the researcher that asked me what I was wearing underneath my outfit during a conference. No thank you to the physicist who declared to a room full of other physicists that biologists don't know how to design an experiment. No thank you to the people who have called me scary instead of strong and intimidating instead of intelligent.
And finally, no thank you to the exec board of the TU Delft, whose knee-jerk reaction to being held up a mirror about the social safety at the university, was to sue the party holding up the mirror instead of looking at the problems they highlighted.
... You have made me feel like I do not belong in science & I cannot forgive you for that.
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Carrie Brown @brizzyc.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
"Faculty and students are experiencing profound disruption and distress, which starkly contrasts with the arrogant posture and detached demeanor of those perpetrating this harm." www.texasobserver.org/censorship-u... (Dec)
texasobserver.org
Monopoly Tycoons in a Game of Jenga: The Censorship of Bodies, Protest, and Speech at UT-Austin
Faculty and students are experiencing profound disruption and distress, which starkly contrasts with the arrogant posture and detached demeanor of those perpetrating this harm.
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Kelly Zamudio @kzutaustin.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Congrats to my student Rebecca Clemons and UT Post-doc Chase Smith.Here they drill down on aspects of the frog immune system control that we think might be important in the frog-Bd system. More on this to come! 🐸🧬🦠🧫🧪
doi.org
Primary regulatory T cell activator FOXP3 is present across Amphibia - Immunogenetics
The overall structure of the immune system is highly conserved across jawed vertebrates, but characterization and description of the immune system is heavily biased toward mammals. One arm of the vert...
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Trajan Hammonds @starlord37.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Last night I found out that the NSF math postdoctoral fellowship I applied for is being deleted because it does not comply with Trump’s executive orders on DEI in the federal government. I’m going to answer some FAQs and share some thoughts about this ordeal in this thread 1/n
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Kelly Zamudio @kzutaustin.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Happy New Year Everyone! ICYMI... Our lab is hiring for two positions, a post-doc to work on immune mechanisms of pathogen resistance and a lab technician Deadline is Feb 1 and descriptions of both positions are below or at zamudiolab.org Please help spread the word!
announcement and QR codies for the two positions open in the lab.
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Serjoscha Evers @sirjoscha.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Former preprint now reviewed through PCI Palaeo & published at PCJ: peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.... This is a response to Lichtig & Lucas (2017), who proposed two simple shell measurements (doming & plastral width) can differentiate (& predict) aquatic/terrestrial ecologies in turtles.
peercommunityjournal.org
Simple shell measurements do not consistently predict habitat in turtles: a reply to Lichtig and Lucas (2017)
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Lorenzo Seneci @crazysnakeman.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
doi.org/10.1002/jmor... New paper! With @markscherz.bsky.social, Alex Hall, and Dr. Frank Glaw. We looked at convergent evolution in boas across Madagascar and South America. Message me for the PDF if you are stuck behind paywall!
doi.org
Potential Evolutionary Convergence in Trophic Adaptations of Two Booidean Snake Lineages as Evidenced by Skull Morphology
Convergent evolution of key cranial osteological features was described in booidean snakes from the Neotropics and Madagascar. This pattern appears to be related to ecological niche, with terrestrial...
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Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Paul Harnik @paulharnik.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Do you teach 2D geometric morphometrics in your undergrad labs? I would be grateful for any materials you are willing to share. I am co-teaching a new course this spring on the evolution of form & function in calcifying marine animals & hope to have students generate an empirical morphospace.
Fossil scallop shell being digitized
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Pedro @hjorvik.eurosky.social · 11/12/2024
#sedaDNA , beavers and their ecological role. Ancient sedimentary DNA shows more than 5000 years of continuous beaver occupancy in Grand Teton National Park www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Ancient sedimentary DNA shows more than 5000 years of continuous beaver occupancy in Grand Teton National Park
Beaver-based restoration is emerging as a cost-effective conservation and climate adaptation strategy, but efforts are constrained by limited knowledge of pre-colonial beaver distribution and their lo...
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Jenna C. Hill @chillocean.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Hi everyone - just a reminder that when there’s a big earthquake in your region, it is really helpful to earthquake scientists if you fill our the “Did You Feel It” report on the USGS earthquake event page - even if it was just mild shaking or you didn’t feel it all - all the data is helpful! 🧪⚒️
earthquake.usgs.gov
The Earthquake Event Page application supports most recent browsers, view supported browsers. Or, try our Real-time Notifications, Feeds, and Web Services.
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Shelly Gaynor @shellygaynor.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Earlier this year, we published gatoRs - an R package to streamline occurrence record downloading from iDigBio and GBIF: doi.org/10.1002/aps3... This work was led by undergrad Natalie Patten - so proud of her and what this paper turned out to be (1/n)
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Geographic And Taxonomic Occurrence R‐based Scrubbing (gatoRs): An R package and workflow for processing biodiversity data
Premise Digitized biodiversity data offer extensive information; however, obtaining and processing biodiversity data can be daunting. Complexities arise during data cleaning, such as identifying and...
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David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D. @davidtledesma.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Eyes bigger than the stomach (or throat). A cautionary tale just in time for Thanksgiving.
Snake eating a horned lizard
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David Bapst @dwbapst.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
“…species-level diversity is likely underestimated by both elements, with ~30-40% of species pairs showing no significant differences in shape...” academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
academic.oup.com
Are Modern Cryptic Species Detectable in the Fossil Record? A Case Study on Agamid Lizards
Abstract. Comparisons of extant and extinct biodiversity are often dependent on objective morphology-based identifications of fossils and assume a well-est
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Dr. Jaimi Gray @jaimiagray.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Do you love talking about tomography as much as I do? I made a starter pack full of people who use CT to do their science!! Let me know if you want to join in on the tomography talk! Other 3D imaging modalities also welcome ☢️🩻👩‍🔬 go.bsky.app/VjBpAAy
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Serjoscha Evers @sirjoscha.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
My PhD student Guilherme Hermanson & I have a new paper out today in Ecology & Evolution! 🐢🤩 We think the morphologically conservative body plan of turtles can in part be explained by allometric constraints imposed by the shell. Thread 👇 for some highlights onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Shell Constraints on Evolutionary Body Size–Limb Size Allometry Can Explain Morphological Conservatism in the Turtle Body Plan
Turtle body size and limb size scale nearly isometrically along the group's evolution, although major deviations are only seen in highly specialized ecological or morphological groups. The evolution ...
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Texas Academy of Science @txacsci.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Abstracts for #TAS128 our 2025 Annual Meeting in Waco, Texas, Feb 28-March 2 are due Friday, Nov 15! www.texasacademyofscience.org/2025-meeting Don't miss out!
texasacademyofscience.org
Current Meeting
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Asher Leeks @asherleeks.bsky.social · 11/11/2024
Here is a list of labs in #ecology and #evolution who are recruiting graduate students for next year: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... PIs looking to recruit can enter information here: t.co/Fn1LRAA5Ip I believe this list is thanks to @drcarl.bsky.social #evosky #ecoevo #evolbio #AcademicJobs
docs.google.com
Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2025 (Responses)
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
Hey want to see something nice? Here's an email I got from a teacher today who used @skypeascientist.bsky.social. Excellent work, @davidtledesma.bsky.social!
a screenshot of an email that says "I am a 2nd grade teacher in Oakland, CA and I am so thankful for your program! My students loved speaking with a paleontologist this week. It was so incredible to see them so engaged and excited about the topic. Very very thankful for Dr. David Ledesma who put so much effort into making a great presentation and answering all of their questions. It was especially great because my class is entirely students of color, so I really value the fact that they were able to be inspired and learn from a scientist of color as well. They will be talking about this for the rest of the year, so thank you to the Skype A Scientist program for connecting us and making this happen!"
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