Allan McDevitt

Colossal about to announce another timely de-extinction project

New paper out in Biological Invasions! We show that “genetic rescue” can unintentionally boost invasive fallow deer in Australia. Genomic data & simulations reveal how escaped genotypes from farms may increase pop growth & spread → key implications for management. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A comparison of protocols for isolating and extracting host DNA from caribou (Rangifer tarandus) fecal pellets - Conservation Genetics Resources Conservation Genetics Resources - Fecal samples are valuable for wildlife genetic studies where invasive tissue sampling is difficult, expensive, or negatively impacts welfare. However, fecal DNA...

Congrats to Samantha Barrette for publishing her honours thesis! 🎉👏 While are many ways to get host DNA from fecal pellets, the effectiveness of different approaches is rarely compared. We tackled this in caribou using a full factorial design and a new qPCR assay: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The co-founder of @itiscolossal.bsky.social George Church has been shown to have deep ties with Epstein, more than he let on, and should be ostracised from the palaeontological, ancient DNA, and conservation communities
edition.cnn.com/2026/02/19/p... @tetzoo.bsky.social

It takes some doing, but this may be the best yet from @coldwarsteve.bsky.social!!!

🦉 New publication! 🦆
BirT: A Novel Primer Pair for Avian Environmental DNA Metabarcoding
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Want to amplify birds from #eDNA samples? This new primer pair is the way to go!

@dirch3.bsky.social, Rachel Empey, Megan Cowperthwaite, Katerina Coveny #metabarcoding

Maybe they could start by not posting on a racist website. If you look at their account stats on X: their posts normally get around 20K view. Their post about Edwin Edogbo got _7 milllion_ views. Organizations still there are opening their employees to racist abuse for publicity.

The RIA's Archaeology Research Grants and Radiocarbon dates schemes are open to applications from now until 25 March.

Archaeologists and archaeology students (undergrad, postgrad, PhD) who wants to carry out research based in Ireland (including NI) can apply: www.ria.ie/2026/02/12/w...

Estimating Organism Abundance Using Within‐Sample Haplotype Frequencies of eDNA Data Environmental DNA (eDNA) provides powerful insights into species presence and community composition but remains limited in its capacity to infer species abundance or population structure. Here, we sh...

🧬 My haplotype paper is out!

We show that deviations between within-sample and population-level haplotype frequencies can be used to estimate how many individuals contributed to an eDNA sample.

No tissue references needed, just metabarcoding data and some population genetics.

#eDNA #PopGen

“The English have a fierce reputation for conquering the world.. invading loads of different countries and then getting upset when those people followed them home.”

- Tommy Tiernan

🧬SedaDNA Postdoc position💥 2 years Starts 2026, apply by 1st March.
Join Aleks Pluskowski at Reading & me at NHM. jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

MBE | Genomic comparisons and the adaptive basis of brain size plasticity and chromosomal instability in the Eurasian common shrew

Thomas et al. reveal that positively selected and differentially expressed hippocampal genes cluster near breakpoints in shrews, tying chromosomal rearrangements and accessible chromatin to adaptation and brain size plasticity.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msag006

📷 Christian Ziegler

#evobio #molbio

Download this latest report highlighting key potential corridors and barriers affecting #lesserhorseshoebats in Ireland along with practical actions for this rare species. www.vincentwildlife.ie/resources
#batconservationireland, @atu-ie.bsky.social, #NativeWoodlandTrust, @vwtireland.bsky.social

.🚨 ❄️ New research reveals how Eurasian common shrews survive winter by linking size 📏, metabolism ⚡, and lifespan ⏳ through genetic changes. Thanks to @hfspo.bsky.social 🌍, this study connects adaptation to longevity
www.hfsp.org/hfsp-news/ne...

UKDNA-WG 2026 - Abstract submission form The 2026 UKDNA-WG conference will be held on 13-15th April 2026 at the University of Sheffield, including a joint day with the Ecological Genetics Group on the 15th to explore the possibilities of how...

📢 Calling all #eDNA folks!!

🧬 Abstract submission is open for the #UKEOF UKDNA Working Group Conference 2026 #UKDNAWG26!

🧬 Submit your Abstract via this link! forms.gle/epwnz5PFdrrt...

Improving #species #abundance information from #river #eDNA metabarcoding data: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 🐜 🧬 📈 🌐🌍

RBmedia | Invasive Species Listen to the audiobook Invasive Species, written by Julie Lockwood;Dustin J. Welbourne, narrated by Wendy Tremont King.

The audio version of my Very Short Introduction on Invasive Species is out. This is a quick read that provides a comprehensive overview of invasion science! rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/97...

Laboratory Study on Fate and Transport of Water-Borne eDNA: A Tale of Tempered Tails and Parafluvial Processes Environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as a powerful marker for assessing species presence in flowing waters; however, estimating the spatial and temporal origins of these signals remains a challenge. T...

Big milestone today: My first PhD paper is officially out! We took a deep dive into eDNA transport dynamics in flowing waters. Check out the full study in ES&T.

pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

The Repair Shop fixes 56-year-old Loch Ness Monster camera trap The device was left underwater in the 1970s and rediscovered by accident by a robot submarine.

This story has everything. Adrian Shine's hugely impressive beard, Boaty McBoatface, Nessie, Repair Shop. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Integrating eDNA and acoustic-trawl data to provide small pelagic biomass estimates for fish stock assessment Abstract. Accurate abundance estimates of fisheries resources are essential for sustainable fisheries management. In response to the growing need for devel

New paper by Cristina Claver (@azti.bsky.social), published in @icesmarine.bsky.social JMS.

We combine #eDNA and acoustic-trawl data in a Bayesian joint model to estimate biomass of the European anchovy in the Bay of Biscay.

From the potential of eDNA to operational use

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/ices...

New paper: eDNA metabarcoding at African savanna waterholes revealed 95 species. Wet season shows overall richness, dry season favors mammals. Primer choice matters. We’re excited about eDNA powering wildlife monitoring! 🦒🐢🪿🐍 doi.org/10.1111/eva.... #eDNA #Africa #wildlife

Guidance and best practices for species identification using eDNA metabarcoding - When do you call a cod a cod? With the rapid uptake of environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding for a wide range of conservation and management uses, there is a growing need for guidance and best practices for species identification...

New pre-print is live of our review synthesizing the many factors that influence accurately putting names on eDNA metabarcoding sequences doi.org/10.3897/arph...

Great team led by Prof. Allison Watts with many MBON and NOAA colleagues

Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Bone Rationale Bone is commonly used in radiocarbon dating in archaeology and other disciplines. Despite advances in collagen extraction protocols, the process remains destructive, requiring sawing, dril.....

We have a new paper out in Rapid Comms in Mass Spectrometry about 14C dating bone using a minimally destructive approach.
analyticalsciencejournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Irish people scrambling to find all those Father Ted memes....

It's why I could never watch this. Because deep down, I'm still too angry about it, even after 24 years!

If anyone is looking for a v talented postdoc with expertise in molecular ecology, #microbiomes, mycobiomes, and/or pathogen #genomics, my friend @microbianac.bsky.social is finishing her PhD & looking for a #postdoc. Reach out if you have something coming up (Europe pref but potentially flexible).

Turning camera-trap overload into actionable wildlife monitoring in African rainforests To support adaptive management, Magaldi et al. have developed a deep-learning model to analyse ground-level camera traps in African tropical forests. A familiar problem If you work in wildlife rese…

Valuable camera-trap data can sit unanalysed for months—too slow for day-to-day management decisions 📸

Learn how researchers are tackling this issue by developing a deep-learning model in our latest blogpost! 👇
buff.ly/lfLamVC

🌍🧪

Oldest wooden tools may have been used to butcher elephants Branches sharpened 400,000 years ago shine light on humans’ early toolmaking

If there's one thing that defines humans–and our ancestors–it's tool use and innovation. In a new @pnas.org paper, @harvatilab.bsky.social and @annemiekemilks.bsky.social identify the world's oldest known wooden tool, dropped amidst the remains of a butchered elephant 430,000 years ago. @science.org

Utilizing aquatic #eDNA 🧬 to address global 🌍🌐 #biodiversity targets 🎯

Our #article @natrevbiodiv.nature.com is now freely available (upon registration) till Feb 16th: ➡️ www.nature.com/articles/s44... part of special collection 📚 on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework #GBF 🌍 🦐 🐟 🧬

Frontiers started off relatively well though but then went downhill fast. MDPI's practices quickly ruined the reputation of some of their decent journals too (Genes, Diversity etc.). So I think comparing things back then with now is very different.