Moisés A. Bernal

Two panel comic. Panel 1: a museum display of a megalodon jaw fossil, with some museum goers standing around it. There is a graphic on the information tablet next to the fossil, depicting the approximation of the megalodon’s full size compared to a human. Panel 2: “3.6 million years ago:” we see the true megalodon as it existed, a small shark with ludicrously large, juicy lips.

Degradation of fish food webs in the Anthropocene The decrease in body size driven by the selective species turnover is widely altering fish food web topology and function.

New paper out examining fish food web degradation in the Anthropocene. We show the structure of aquatic food webs are changing-- even when species richness doesn’t. These signals are strongly associated with decreases in body size within fish communities. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 🌐🐠🐡🦈🐟

New round of NSF GRFP declines without review. If you were affected:
1) Write NSF
2) Write your Congressperson
3) CC us at grfp@grant-witness.us so we can compile + follow up

Details and template at grant-witness.us/grfp-letter

This is the link to the post: bsky.app/profile/noam...

The link goes straight to the Jobs website of Drexel. Do you have the specific link? or job #?

Are you an undergrad looking to get research experience in evolutionary biology? Our lab has summer funding for an undergraduate researcher to participate in our research on how urbanization affects house mice. You can apply here: careers.drexel.edu/cw/en-us/job...

Supporting exciting biological sciences ideas and impacts on AI and biotechnology

New letter from BIO leadership...

www.nsf.gov/bio/updates/...

New in JFB: Alfaro huberi must have one of the strangest mating behaviors among poeciliid fishes. #TeamFish #FishSci

Paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Corresponding video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKWA...

These 3-yr drops are stunning. Absolutely stunning.

New Orleans: -55%
Baltimore: -60%
Philly: -60%
Chicago: -40%
Buffalo: -55%
Pittsburgh: -50%
Albuquerque: -40%
Newark: -40%
San Antonio: -55%
Portland: -45%

The media coverage of these staggering drops, tho, is staggering in its relative silence.

two researchers in pretty bad panda suits in the forest in China, holding a radio receiver

just need everyone to know that this is how wildlife biologists in China introduce panda cubs to the wild

Lol too much washing and cleaning, no thanks

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

Fossil isotope evidence for trophic simplification on modern Caribbean reefs - Nature Using nitrogen isotopes from ancient and modern fish otoliths and corals, the study shows Caribbean reef food webs are now 60–70% shorter and functionally less diverse, indicating human-driven trophic simplification and increased risk of collapse.

The food chains on modern Caribbean coral reefs may have shortened by up to 70% compared with those on their prehistoric counterparts, according to research in Nature. The findings suggest that modern reefs could be increasingly vulnerable to external stressors and ecosystem collapse. 🌍 🧪

An international team of scientists has returned from the heart of West Antarctica with 228 metres of ancient rock and mud, the longest core ever retrieved from below an ice sheet

Read the full story: go.nature.com/4rkXcxP

This is a dinoflagellate called Noctiluca scintillans, also known as ‘sea sparkle’. When it appears in large numbers (a bloom) they can bioluminescence when disturbed, making the sea flash blue! This is something I’ve unfortunately never seen, but it’s on my wish list! 1/2 #marineplankton 🦑

Green turtle rebounds, moving from ‘endangered’ to ‘least concern’ The green turtle, found across the world’s oceans, is recovering after decades of decline, according to the latest IUCN Red List assessment. The species has been reclassified from endangered to least ...

Need some good news today? This made me happy!

Many parasitic plants produce tiny seeds as light as dust: you can barely even see them. But zoom in with a powerful enough microscope, and suddenly they reveal a hidden trove of jewels.

(Thanks to Renata Piwowarczyk for the photos; microscopy by Justyna Kasińska)

What is the application process? Where can students apply?

🌍 Psst! Did you hear? The Expanding Circles Fund applications are open! Get support to attend conferences, build community, and strengthen mentorship connections across BWEEMS. Don’t miss the March 4 deadline!

very cool, congratulations

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

Switching fields or wanting to become an expert in #zebrafish research?
The @mblscience.bsky.social 2026 Zebrafish Development & Genetics course offers a fantastic opportunity to learn from leaders in the field!

Application deadline: March 2

Please spread the word!

www.mbl.edu/education/ad...

Happy birthday to one of my favourite haters, Charles Darwin

A comic-style portrait of Charles Darwin dreaming about the tree of life Illustration by Dorota Paczesniak

#DarwinDay is celebrating how Darwin’s scientific work, perseverance and intellectual bravery made biology the scientific field we know today, united through the concept of #evolution 🧪🐡

Project Drawdown launches Climate Science Serving America Fellowship to support scientists working in the public good Fellowship seeks early- to mid-career researchers based in America who are committed to science and public expertise

While others are stepping back on climate, Project Drawdown is stepping up!

We’re proud to announce the Climate Science Serving America Fellowship to support U.S.-based Ph.D.-level scientists & engineers focused on climate solutions for the public good.

drawdown.org/news/project...

This is a Labichthys snipe eel.

Like many of the animals studied during the #OBVI #LivingBioreactors expedition w/ @schmidtsciences.bsky.social, Labichthys shelter in the depths & make a daily migration to feed near surface waters at night. Read full caption: youtube.com/shorts/zWjxE...

Piranha bite force and tooth stress are fantastically high for their size! Check out our new paper on computational modeling of the cranial muscles and bite mechanics of the amazing piranhas. #biomechsky 🐟🧪🌿

link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...

US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability To Kill Cancer Cells’ - KFF Health News At a January event organized by allies of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., National Cancer Institute Director Anthony Letai said results may be released “in a few months.” Ivermectin, used to d...

This is exactly why "the measure of success" cannot be "the extent to which funding was restored." @holdenthorp.bsky.social

Because this is how current NIH leadership chooses to expend those precious funds.

kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Davis Summer Population Genomics Program Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...

Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!

Several exciting PhD opportunities here in the University of Vienna STEM-call. In our department fully funded positions in biomolecular zooarch, Pleistocene felid diversity and admixture, sedaDNA and popgen, and archsci and AMS 14C dating.
Apply below now!

careers.univie.ac.at/en/praedoc/s...

Una nueva y mejor manera de monitorear El Niño y La Niña » Yale Climate Connections Desarrollada en respuesta a un mundo que se calienta, la escala revisada de la NOAA identifica con mayor precisión qué episodios son los que probablemente tendrán los mayores impactos.

El calentamiento global ha hecho cada vez más difícil identificar con precisión El Niño y La Niña: yaleclimateconnections.org/2026/02/una-...