Alanna Frick 🦎

In vivo sonic hedgehog pathway antagonism temporarily results in ancestral proto-feather-like structures in the chicken The Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pathway is a key regulator of feather development. These authors show that in vivo Shh inhibition during early chicken embryogenesis temporarily results in unbranched and non-...

🐔🧬 What happens when you block a feather gene?

Scientists turned off a gene in chicken embryos – and the chicks started growing dino-like fuzz instead of feathers.

It later reversed, but shows how ancient traits can reappear.

🔗 doi.org/10.1371/jour...

#SciComm #Evolution 🧪

Happy Friday - our paper on the role of range size, population fluctuation & introgression in determining genetic diversity in Gehyra geckos is online in early view @journal-evo.bsky.social, led by my fabulous student Ching Ching Lau - her first first-author paper! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

Transcription: The plusses and minuses of DNA torsion A new method for mapping torsion provides insights into the ways that the genome responds to the torsion generated by RNA polymerase II.

Transcription: The plusses and minuses of DNA torsion

Take a look at this recent Insight article delving into ‘fundamental’ research into the ways that the genome responds to the torsion generated by RNA polymerase II.

Universities are caving to Trump with a stunning speed and scope Some of the nation’s oldest and wealthiest institutions are swiftly bending to President Donald Trump, who is acting on longstanding conservative criticisms of universities as elitist and progressive.

"Last week, Vance said foreign students at elite U.S. universities are 'not just bad for national security,' but also 'bad for the American dream, for American kids who want to go to a nice university but can’t because their spot was taken by a foreign student.'"

www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

yeah

Jasmine Crockett calls out Marjorie Taylor Greene, Elon Musk during DOGE subcommittee hearing YouTube video by Austin American-Statesman

My hero Jasmine Crockett TODAY at DOGE Hearing! Bravo 👏

youtu.be/BbiSakOp9ck?...

How much Elon Musk makes from the government a day: $8 million.

How much a senior on Social Security gets a day: $65

Guess which budget Musk and Trump want to cut?

I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world.

Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO

My first #anole of 2025!! Enjoying our 75 degree weather here in NOLA!

Mystery of Spiders' Sense of Smell May Finally Be Solved in New Study Spiders have always lived alongside humans, so it's surprising how much we still don't know about them.

“… male spiders use olfactory hairs called wall-pore sensilla on their legs as a "nose" to detect the sex pheromones released by female spiders.”

www.sciencealert.com/mystery-of-s...
🧪 🕷️ 🐙

A handsome flat American alligator resting with its legs splayed out on a wooden dock like structure.

Me after a jam packed #SICB2025 met some awesome people and saw some amazing science! So excited and proud to be in this field!

Come checkout my poster today at #SICB2025!! A meta-analysis of the interactive effects of heavy metal exposure and heat stress

I love this energy:

www.instagram.com/reel/DAkWED2...

Black wolf looking straight at the camera. Pine forest behind. Yellow eyes.

We were seeing a 98% drop in exposure over on Twitter. The censorship was so extreme we thought it best to start over somewhere else. We chose Bluesky.

Help us gain our following back
Follow
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Repeat

Join the park side
@altyellonatpark.org

124-Year-Old Crocodile Celebrates Remarkable Milestone Birthday » Science Agenda Discover the incredible story of Henry, the 124-Year-Old Crocodile, celebrating his milestone birthday at Crocworld Conservation Centre!

🎉 Meet Henry, the legendary 124-year-old Nile crocodile! 🐊 Discover his incredible journey, a milestone birthday celebration, and the importance of conservation efforts at Crocworld. Don’t miss this remarkable story! 🌿➡️ scienceagenda.net/news/124-yea...

Schematical representation of a street light; abov is a inverted pyramid showing the levels of biological organization affected by artificial light: genes/cells; individuals; populations; communities; ecosystems/landscapes The original figure legend reads: Impact of artificial light at night (ALAN) on multiple levels of biodiversity. The multiple levels of biodiversity are interlinked, i.e., one level of biodiversity may respond to ALAN and modify processes at other biodiversity levels. For example, ALAN may impact the gene expression of certain clock genes, which results in a reduced fitness of individuals and a population decrease due to a phenological mismatch with other species and finally a changed community composition. This may impact ecosystem processes and nocturnal lightscapes (e.g., forests, coral reefs), which in turn influences all other levels.

Yesterday was the 3rd publication anniversary of our 2021 review paper on ecological light pollution💡 AND we also received our 100th citation on Google Scholar📈🎓 Therefore I thought it quite fitting to reproduce the original🧵 published on the other site

www.frontiersin.org/journals/eco... 🔓🧪

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Someone holds a Cascade torrent salamander in their hands to show the scale. Photo by USFWS Pacific Region

World Wildlife Conservation Day brings awareness to species in danger. 2 in 5 amphibians are at risk of extinction globally. Oregon has a plan to protect our frogs and salamanders, but we can’t do it alone. - oregonconservationstrategy.org/overview/

📸Cascade torrent salamander/USFWS Pacific Region

Children's python - Wikipedia

also it is frankly embarrassing that no OTHER country has a designated snake especially for the children, let's get it together people en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childre...

Microplastic particles in human blood and their association with coagulation markers - Scientific Reports Scientific Reports - Microplastic particles in human blood and their association with coagulation markers

🩸 Microplastics Found in Blood

A new #OA study in @natureportfolio.bsky.social found that microplastic particles (MPs) are present in 88.9% of human blood. Researchers found links between higher MP levels & blood clotting, which could affect health.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm 🧪

Ethiopian wolves are the first large carnivores found to slurp nectar Wolves from three different packs were seen licking red hot poker flowers. That sweet tooth could make them the first known large predator pollinators.

“In the highlands of Ethiopia, carnivorous Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) dine almost exclusively on rodents. But the predators also have a sweet tooth, sometimes slurping nectar from Ethiopian red hot poker flowers (Kniphofia foliosa)”

#scicomm

www.sciencenews.org/article/ethi...
🧪 🌼 🐺 🦊

The mystery of the mimic plant There’s drama in the plant world — and a shape-shifting vine is at the center of it.

Coolest thing I learned about yesterday?

Boquila trifoliolata

Final presentation week for all my classes and there were some awesome presentations, but the one that blew my mind the most: Boquila trifoliolata!

#coolscience #nature #plants #biology #ecology #ecoevo

www.vox.com/down-to-eart...

A lizard is sitting on a large light grey rock. The lizard is dark grey and yellowish. Many of its scales are spiked. The scales around the rear part of the head, the neck and the tail have especially prominent spikes.

🦎Sungazer (Smaug giganteus). Smaug is named after the dragon in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Max. size ~40 cm (~15.7").

Found in grasslands in only three provinces in South Africa

Considered Vulnerable by the IUCN.

📷by KatyaRagdoll on Pixabay

We are cold and it’s rainy! And iguanas are falling from the trees 😳😂

Bats make mental maps using echolocation There’s enough information in echolocation to help bats identify landmarks and travel between them.

Amazing findings about how bats can use echolocation at large scales 🧪🌎

Howling coyote! Caught on one of my trail cams at our place in Wisconsin. Rare to catch them in the act. (Sound up)
🦊🌿🌎

Genes of ancient animal relatives used to grow a mouse: Study reveals hidden history of stem cells An international team of researchers has achieved an unprecedented milestone: the creation of mouse stem cells capable of generating a fully developed mouse using genetic tools from a unicellular orga...

Wow!

"The study implies that key genes involved in stem cell formation might have originated far earlier than the stem cells themselves, perhaps helping pave the way for the multicellular life we see today."

#evobio
#evolution

Q&A: Holobiont biology, a new concept for exploring how microbiome shapes evolution of visible life Microorganisms—bacteria, viruses and other tiny life forms—may drive biological variation in visible life as much, if not more, than genetic mutations, creating new lineages and even new species of an...

I am ridiculously excited about this study showing that our #microbiomes' #genomes are likely at least as important as our own #DNA to our #evolution. #proudtobeaholobiont #holobiont #science #microbiology #scicomm
phys.org/news/2024-11...

Throwback photo of Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton.

Thank you Vice President Kamala Harris & Secretary Hillary Clinton. I am so thankful you care so much, that you radiate excellence, and that you terrify mediocre men and those in thrall to them. #Someday

Very small, juvenile green anole lizard on long green leaves

Starting this field day with the Doggyland Snoop Dogg Affirmation Song because yesterday’s fieldwork didn’t go so great, but I got this today!

Highlight from yesterday was this little guy though (sorry for the crappy image quality)

#gradstudent #science #itshot #fieldwork #urbanecology