Nihan D. Dağtaş

Congrats to Arianna and co. for a fab paper! Posth lab animal aDNA crew going strong 😋 Some nice damage correction software for non-UDG treated samples is also presented here- which I have had the pleasure of using in my thesis 🤩🧬🐎

Ancient DNA from horses slaughtered by Neanderthals sheds light on equine evolution 200,000-year-old genes are oldest ever recovered from open-air site

In a hunt more than 200,000 years ago, Neanderthals wielding wooden spears slaughtered horses on the shores of an ancient lake. Geneticists @unituebingen.bsky.social just sequenced DNA from the now-extinct equid species. It's the oldest yet recovered from an open-air site. @science.org

Glad to be working with you! 👩‍🔬🧬

Red-backed Fairywrens

My Husband is Hot! – How having an attractive mate can provide tangible benefits to birds

Summary & Analysis by Kaleigh Remick of “Females with Attractive Mates Gain Environmental Benefits That Increase Lifetime and Multigenerational Fitness” by Barron et al.
www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

These are some of the quotes from the media surrounding Colossal’s recent moa de-extinction announcement. New Zealand conservationists would rather save existing species from extinction than bring back those that are now gone 1/3.

🧪🦣🏺 Who wants to hear a story about biotech billions, unscientific claims, and shoddy smear tactics attacking women in science*?

Thread 🧵

*which, for legal clarity, are totally denied as being connected

Critics of de-extinction research hit by mystery smear campaign Several researchers who have been critical of Colossal Biosciences’ plans to revive extinct animals say they have been targeted by online articles trying to discredit them

Academics who have questioned the validity of efforts to “de-extinct” animals like the woolly mammoth and the dire wolf have complained of an apparent campaign to discredit them.

Digital illustration of a red and blue macaw parrot flying from right to left. Overlaid is drawing of what the parrot looks like without feathers: a chubby pink creature with small limbs and a very large head.

Birds are such a strange kind of dinosaur, we would be astonished by them if they weren't around us all the time.

Goblin-like puppeteers behind a screen of feathers, as described by Gary W. Kaiser in his book The Inner Bird.

Moa "de-extinction" plans announced - Expert Reaction An overseas company has announced plans to "bring back" the South Island giant moa. Colossal Biosciences, working with Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and Canterbury Museum, says it expects to "resurrect" t...

I have serious concerns about Colossal Biosciences, Canterbury Museum & Ngāi Tahu Research Centre pursuing moa de-extinction, incl whether informed widespread engagement w/ Ngāi Tahu rūnanga & South Island iwi was done (many are against de-extinction) www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m... 1/3

A milestone: #kakapo mating calls have been heard on the North Island of NZ for the first time in over a century. At least 2 of the 3 #kakapo males at the fenced sanctuary of Maungatautari have "boomed" this summer. #conservation www.doc.govt.nz/news/media-r... Video: www.scienceagency.co.nz

Question for 🧬ancient biomolecules🧬people:
have you ever RNase treated your aDNA extracts? I know RNA concentration in extracts are relatively low, but I still need to figure out how to get rid of them.
Thanks for any advice in advance! #aDNA #ancientDNA #wetlab #aRNA #sedaDNA #AncientGenomics

Question for 🧬ancient biomolecules🧬people:
have you ever RNase treated your aDNA extracts? I know RNA concentration in extracts are relatively low, but I still need to figure out how to get rid of them.
Thanks for any advice in advance! #aDNA #ancientDNA #wetlab #aRNA #sedaDNA #AncientGenomics

A North Island kaka sitting on a branch. Copyright photo by Oscar Thomas

Need a little fun as we near Christmas? Here's something for you! We had a heap of fun writing about place names and kākā - cheeky #NZ parrots - and it's out. The work evolved over 2 summers, led by (then) undergraduate student Fin Johnson (on the right). 1/n

(Kaka photo copyright Oscar Thomas).

Apply for this funded PhD with me, Selina Brace and Silvia Bello at UCL & the Natural History Museum:

Human or Animal? Biomolecular Analysis of Upper Palaeolithic Bone Artefacts to Explore Raw Material Selection.
#ZooMs #ancientDNA #stableisotopes

www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/hum...

Filtering out the noise: metagenomic classifiers optimize ancient DNA mapping Abstract. Contamination with exogenous DNA presents a significant challenge in ancient DNA (aDNA) studies of single organisms. Failure to address contamina

Congratulations @shyama-mama.bsky.social on a great piece of work! academic.oup.com/bib/article/...

Hailing from the Americas, silky anteater is yet another one in the Pygmies List ❤️ the night & hanging out up in🌳where it escapes from vicious🦅 Not only 🐜 but sleepy wasps too fall victim to these hungry furballs. In 2017, people realized it’s not 1 but actually ~7 species😮 Pop trend unknown 📸D.Gunn

Fungal adaptation | Grant Funding | Wellcome This award will fund research on the mechanisms and triggers for fungal adaptation. Find out eligibility, what's in scope and how to apply.

Are you looking for fungi funding? 🍄

We’re offering up to £3 million per award to research how fungi adapt to their environment.

Understanding this could have powerful benefits for human life and health.

Apply by 28 January ⤵️
wellcome.org/grant-fundin...

Of all the concepts that humankind needs to absorb + act on with extreme urgency, this tops the list.

For those who think GeoGuessr isn’t nerdy enough, Artifact Guessr challenges you to both locate AND date artifacts 💀

artifactguesser.com

🏺

Western pygmy marmoset. Smallest 🐒, living in the northwestern Amazon. Adults weigh ~90g & can turn their heads 180dgr🤯 Exudativore, meaning feeds on tree fluids, like sap, resin, even latex⁉️Pop decline >30% due to deforestation, mining, palm cultivation, settlements, hunting. Vulnerable 📸T.Aronson

A pygmy squirrel climbing a tree

Least pygmy squirrel. 1 of the smallest 🐿️ on 🌏 -not bigger than a 🖊️! Found mostly in Borneo's lowland 🌳 Loves to eat 🐛 & bark. Threatened by 🌳 clearing for agriculture and industry. Although covered by some, it’s believed to occupy 🌳 that are outside the protected areas. Pop size unknown 📸 from Wiki

I've been curating some genome data lately. I'm so amazed and so surprised every time I google a different pair of Latin words that sharing them with my sister isn’t enough anymore. So here will be filled with snippets of (mostly endangered) animals that I encounter(ed) over time🙆 Here we go!

Hi AaRC, can you add me to the list please?

🧬🖥🧪 Here are some healthy reminders on just how much Illumina still dominates the #genomics space... 😐

▪️ Open postdoc position ▪️ 🔎🧬🐘
I'm recruiting a postdoc to work with me on mapping the genomic legacy of the elephant ivory trade in Europe using ancient DNA.

Hosted by Lund University 🇸🇪 with Bengt Hansson

Please RT!

Info and apply here: lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Thanks very much! I hope your next move will bring fun and productivity, but won't keep you too long from your final destination. Good luck!

Maybe we all carry a tiny bit of masochism next to our endless curiosities. I'm determined to slow down though, and hope life will allow me so 😅

Here's mine. Messy is a subjective term, I guess 🙆 #lifeofanacademic

Rewilding through inappropriate species introduction: The case of European bison in Spain The increasing pressure to release bisons as a wild species in Spain, as an ecological analogue of the extinct steppe bison Bison priscus, makes it an excellent example to reflect on whether the rewi...

conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Enhancing biodiversity: historical ecology and biogeography of the Santa Catalina Island ground squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi nesioticus | Royal Society Open Science People have influenced Earth’s biodiversity for millennia, including numerous introductions of domestic and wild species to islands. Here, we explore the origins and ecology of the Santa Catalina Isla...

Check out our new paper🐿️
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.240726