iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Tim Higham

Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

At the RVC we are grieving the death of the Structure & Motion Lab's creator, and stalwart comrade, Professor Alan Wilson FRS, from a plane crash in Namibia on Wednesday. He was a giant in comparative biomechanics and an amazing scientist. I'm still reeling. It is utterly shocking and deeply sad.

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Tim Higham @highamlab.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

As part of the upcoming 2nd edition of Fish Biomechanics (co-edited with @georgelauder.bsky.social ), our chapter on the ecology and biomechanics of locomotion and feeding in fishes is now available www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #fish #biomechanics #ecology

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Reposted by Tim Higham

yangfan-zhang.bsky.social @yangfan-zhang.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

Very exciting to have this out to bridge physiology and physics. #biology #collectivebehaviour #fish #metabolism

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Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

More than one way to be a planktivore: the vast morphospace of plankton-feeding reef fishes Ng, I., Bellwood, D.R., Strugnell, J.M. et al. More than one way to be a planktivore: the vast morphospace of plankton-feeding reef fishes. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries (2025). doi.org/10.1007/s111...

Planktivorous reef fishes are thought to possess unique morphological traits to feed on small, evasive prey. Despite the multitude of family-level studies addressing this hypothesis, results remain inconclusive. Our goal, therefore, was to determine whether specialised traits and patterns of morphological convergence are congruent across a comprehensive phylogeny of reef-associated fishes. We measured 15 morphological traits from 815 images of 299 species in 12 globally distributed families. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we mapped the evolution of plankton-feeding across lineages; assessed the effect of planktivory on body shape; and tested for the presence of morphological convergence among planktivores. We demonstrate that planktivory is evolutionary ubiquitous and occurs in 12 of the most abundant global families. Some morphological trait differences between planktivores and non-planktivores were detected, but there was no difference in overall body shape. Contrary to longstanding assumptions, we show that planktivores have not converged towards distinct morphologies, but instead encompass the entire morphospace of reef fishes. Due to their behavioural, spatial, temporal, and resource heterogeneity, reef fishes of any shape and size can readily navigate the challenges of plankton-feeding.

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Johann Mourier @sharkmourier.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

New paper led by Alexandra McInturf & @physiologyfish.bsky.social We present a methodological framework for analysing catch data to infer aggregation behaviour. We outline key metrics to explore and apply this framework in a case study of juvenile sharks. 🦈 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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Reposted by Tim Higham

Sven Sachs @dinosven.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

🚨 New plesiosaur paper 🚨 I'm pleased to announce that our paper on the plesiosaur Plesiopterys wildi has been published today in PeerJ: peerj.com/articles/189... In our study, led by @miguelpmarx.bsky.social, we describe a new and previously undescribed specimen. #science #research 1/4

Skeletons of Plesiopterys wildi, a plesiosaur from the Posidonia Shale, Posidonienschiefer, of Holzmaden, Germany. The upper specimen is a skeleton in the Urweltmuseum Hauff collection, the lower specimen is the holotype of Plesiopterys wildi in Stuttgart.

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Reposted by Tim Higham

Journal of Biomechanics @jbiomech.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

😃 A new article published in J Biomech by Kovács et al suggest sprint runners have longer Achilles tendon moment arms than distance runners in absolute terms, but this does not seem to impact running performance in either group. 👀 buff.ly/UrxOPIR #BiomechSky

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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Heather F. Smith & Jeffrey T. Laitman (2025) Paleoherpetology and The Anatomical Record The Anatomical Record (advance online publication) doi: doi.org/10.1002/ar.2... anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

doi.org

Paleoherpetology and The Anatomical Record

Click on the article title to read more.

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Tim Higham @highamlab.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Great opportunity for a Vertebrate Paleontologist - Collections Manager at the Los Angels County Museum. workforcenow.adp.com/mascsr/defau...

workforcenow.adp.com

Recruitment

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Reposted by Tim Higham

Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Howdy members of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH). The JMIH 2025 (#JMIH2025) meeting website is now active, and the deadline for submitting abstracts is March 25th. The meetings are in St. Paul, Minnesota, July 9-13 Please share burkclients.com/JMIH/meeting...

burkclients.com

JMIH 2025

Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists

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Duncan J Irschick @duncanirschick.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

New paper with colleagues! Bagchi et al published work in Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation 😃 This ML model automatically extracts whale body length & volume from aerial images! Using Mask R-CNN, it detects whales, traces their body shape, and estimates the body axis. 🧵

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Sarah W. Davies Ph.D. @daviesswphd.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

Hi folks, we have a full time lecturer position in our department at BU! academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/29783 We are a fun group of people, dedicated to creating an inclusive space! Consider joining us! Please share widely!

academicjobsonline.org

Boston University, Department of Biology

Job #AJO29783, Full-time Lecturer, Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, US

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Valentina Di Santo @vdisanto.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨 Fishes don’t just swim harder—they swim smarter. 🐟⚡ In our latest paper in @jexpbiol.bsky.social, Elsa Goerig and I show how fishes use habitat complexity to reduce the energetic cost of swimming. 🧵 🧪 journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

journals.biologists.com

Swimming smarter, not harder: fishes exploit habitat heterogeneity to increase locomotor performance

Summary: Fishes actively exploit complex environments to enhance locomotor efficiency, revealing sophisticated strategies to navigate diverse hydrodynamic landscapes and highlighting the need for habi...

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Tim Higham @highamlab.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Excited to see this paper finally come out in @jexpbiol.bsky.social - I found that frictional adhesion predicts maximum acceleration (but not speed) in nature in a rock-dwelling gecko from Namibia. #gecko @ucriverside.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

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Tim Higham @highamlab.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

I look forward to catching up with friends and colleagues at #sicb2025. Our lab will be giving 3 talks. The first will be given by Erik Axlid (Jan 4th, 8:30am): The effects of flow on prey capture in largemouth bass. #fish

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Tim Higham @highamlab.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

The lab is excited for SICB!!! Check out this talk by Marina on Saturday!! #gecko #sicb2025

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Tim Higham @highamlab.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Super excited for my PhD student's (Seth Shirazi) first manuscript - investigating the drivers of failed strikes in stickleback @jexpbiol.bsky.social #fish @ucriverside.bsky.social journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

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