Dr Joanne Boden

Looks like a great way to learn the animal evolutionary tree!

Priority effects inhibit the repeated evolution of phototrophy - npj Complexity npj Complexity - Priority effects inhibit the repeated evolution of phototrophy

New paper out! Here's a puzzle: phototrophy, the ability to use light for energy, is one of life's great innovations. It evolved early and transformed the biosphere. But it evolved 2x. Why not just once, why not more? Our work suggests the answer is priority effects.

www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Yellowstone’s colors aren’t just minerals. They’re living microbes. Heat-loving bacteria and archaea form bands as water cools, each pigment tuned to temperature and light. What looks like abstract art is a thriving ecosystem shaped by extreme heat and chemistry.

Our lab is looking for a new PhD student to contribute to research on the early evolution of microbial life. Deadline coming-up soon on Monday 19th Jan.

More info here (scroll to 'How Cyanobacteria Transformed a Starved Planet'):
www.bristol.ac.uk/geography/co...

Feel free to DM me for questions

Detection Of The Deep Biosphere In Metamorphic Rocks From The Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling - Astrobiology It is generally accepted that there is a vast, well-populated biosphere in the subsurface,

Detection Of The Deep Biosphere In Metamorphic Rocks From The Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling
astrobiology.com/2025/12/dete... #astrobiology #extremophile

Congratulations Eva!

Great to see our perspective in print! Chad, Eva, and I suggest that geological and genomic records support the idea that Earth’s first oxygenated habitats formed on the seafloor, especially in shallow benthic settings along continental shelves

#geobiology #astrobiology @earthscista.bsky.social

All Life Copies DNA Unambiguously Into Proteins. Archaea May Be The Exception. - Astrobiology The beauty of the DNA code is that organisms interpret it unambiguously.

All Life Copies DNA Unambiguously Into Proteins. Archaea May Be The Exception.
astrobiology.com/2025/12/all-... #astrobiology #originoflife #genomics

#4. Finally, we reconstruct the evolutionary trajectories of genes involved in cell patterning in filaments & reconcile them with a time-calibrated species tree. The results estimate that genomic mechanisms of growing filaments evolved shortly before the first oxygenation event of Earth's atmosphere

#3. We then interrogate the genomes of ~173 cyanobacteria spanning the full diversity of the phylum, and find that early-branching strains with filamentous morphologies lack some of the genes that more complex strains need to grow long filaments on interconnected and communicating cells

#2.

#1. By imaging septa between cells & measuring how quickly fluorescent substances are transmitted between cells to co-ordinate activity in a diverse variety of filamentous cyanobacteria, we show that early-branching strains share similar characteristics to more complex model strains

My research into the evolution of some of the world's first multicellular organisms has been published in Comms Bio! This was a team effort with microbiologists from Spain, Germany, and the UK inc. especially Dr Nieves-Morion as joint first author & microscopy expert!

www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Some seeds (uncountably large number), possibly light colored sunflower seeds, in a heap on a white background. They're sort of off-white with some dark grey streaks.

I'm preparing to give a seminar on Friday, so let's dive into the uncomfortable etymology of 'SEMINAR'.

The Latin root is 'sēmen' & we're already seeing the problem?

It means "seed", with all its implications: plant & animal.

Have I been doing seminars wrong this whole time 😬?

Early Microbial Evolution

"The origin of life on Earth remains one of the greatest and most pervasive mysteries in science. We know the story in broad strokes: Around 4 billion years ago, simple chemical compounds gave rise to living cells, which later formed..."

🦠

asm.org/articles/202...

Whoops, here's one which does: www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7.... Thanks for checking @earthscista.bsky.social!

My latest research suggests that abiotic sources of fixed nitrogen sustained Earth's early ecosystems. Preprint here: www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7...

Tune into the Geomicrobiology Research in Progress Meeting on Wed. at 11:45 am to find out more.

@earthscista.bsky.social

Noctule bat (larger) and common pipistrelle (smaller) side-by-side. Image courtesy of https://x.com/lizardschwartz/status/1439693287175114756

Excited to have seen and heard (via bat detector) noctule bats around Kinessburn and Cockshaugh park in St. Andrews yesterday evening! One of the UK's largest species at the size of a blackbird! Big thanks to Dr. Sasha Newar and the NVC Group for organizing our sunset bat tour

x.com/lizardschwar...

Phylogenomic analyses indicate the archaeal superphylum DPANN originated from free-living euryarchaeal-like ancestors - Nature Microbiology Phylogenetic reconstructions with conserved protein markers from the 11 known DPANN phyla reveal their monophyletic placement within the Euryarchaeota.

🎉 Now out “Phylogenomic analyses indicate the archaeal superphylum DPANN originated from free‑living euryarchaeal‑like ancestors” www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@earthscista.bsky.social

A new source of ammonium to support the growth and development of early life on Earth!

This is really cool Fawn! It fits quite nicely with some findings I am getting from the genomic records of biological ammonium utilization. What sort of time period are you thinking for 'early Archean'? From 4 to 3.5 Ga maybe?

#2 Potentially because molybdenum - the metal more widely used for these processes - was not widely available. Ancient Mars also had hot springs and liquid water. Might similar processes have happened there?

#1 Using a combination of isotope chemistry and genetics, Galloway et al found that microbes in hot springs were generating ammonia using iron and/or vanadium-based enzymes...

Delighted to have played a small part in Galloway et al's research on nitrogen cycling in geothermal springs at @earthscista.bsky.social.

More here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Alongside some behind-the-scenes shots from fieldwork

How the weather got ‘stuck’ over the UK – and produced an unusually dry and warm spring ‘April showers’ were few and far between in 2025.

How the weather got ‘stuck’ over the UK – and produced an unusually dry and warm spring

Article in The Conversation from me and @mattpattclimate.bsky.social, discussing spring 2025, blocking and climate change.

theconversation.com/how-the-weat...

A coal-black bird with a bill that covers the whole front of the face. A long grackle-like boat tail, muscular legs and an alert black eye. The bird sits on red sand next to water, as if a mud puddle or stream. CREDIT: Suzie McCann, eBird, 01 Jun 2019, Santa Clara Ranch, Starr, Texas, United States

This is the Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris), and it's just straight up a dinosaur.

Like, I know *all* birds are technically avian dinosaurs, but my first thought looking at this guy is: dinosaur.

(📷: Suzie McCann, eBird)

Worth watching and thinking about when we buy cod, haddock, halibut, sole, and prawns that are often trawled. I hope it says how they are caught on food labels so we can avoid bottom-trawled catches...

I will forever be haunted by this footage.

Trawling has only been filmed underwater a few times in documentary history, and never with such clarity.

What’s so heart-rending about these shots is watching how the animals don’t just get swept up — they swim for their lives.
🌎🦑🧪

🌊 🦑 🧪 ⚒️