A ~16 million year old ant, back from the dead via CT-scanning and careful reconstruction by Minsoo Dong. Neoponera vejestoria is the subject of @Fioromyrmex's paper out BMC Biology describing this remarkable animal and striking extinction pattern 🐜🏝️☠️ rdcu.be/c5CxW

I made this years ago. I'm currently revamping it to put it in a two part animation series: 1. How do bee stingers work? 2. How did bee stingers evolve? Hint: There's an evolutionary explanation for why stingers look like Georgia O'Keeffe paintings.

I’m thrilled that our work on the evolution of Hymenoptera is now out in Nature Communications! We inferred a new phylogeny and investigated the influence of key innovations on the diversification of the order. nature.com/articles/s4146…

We have discovered that the smallest representatives of another family of microinsects have anucleate neurons. nature.com/articles/s4159…

Además de para alertar sobre su veneno, los colores de la ♀️ del lobo europeo de las abejas Philanthus triangulum tienen otra función: el amarillo del abdomen refleja la luz y refrigera el cuerpo, mientras que el oscuro del tórax ayuda a conservar el calor de la musculatura alar.

Entomologists have reported significant insect abundance and biomass decline, mainly from temperate regions. This #BiologyLetters study finds there are more winners than losers over 12 years of monitoring tiger moths - ow.ly/yt4s50IMmZq #climatechange #insectdecline

Antarctic on fire 🔥! We are not joking, it is out there a new brand paper of our postdoc Joseline Manfroi and colleagues reporting paleo-wildfire events associated with volcanic deposits in the Antarctica Peninsula during the Late Cretaceous: frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…

Lungfishes, one of the oldest living vertebrates, provide insights into #biogeography and diversification. #Fossil and #genetic data reveal a Gondwanan origin and radiation. doi.org/10.1111/jbi.14…

Although anatomical partitioning may affect other parameters in phylogenetic analyses, it seems that partitioning criteria like homoplasy (as proposed by Brunno B. Rosa) are more promising alternatives, also impacting topologies, as explored in another study from my PhD (4/4).

Check out my new personal website: 🐝🌼martinsaline.weebly.com

historical collection of amber fossils at the @mfnberlin

A first report of plastic use for nesting materials in an apoid wasp (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Isodontia elegans): doi.org/10.18476/2023.…

Oldest evidence of life on Earth: 3.4 to 3.5 billion year old stromatolites in the Dresser and Strelley Pool formations, Western Australia. Permits are required to access these geoheritage reserves, and permits were obtained for our visit.

talk integrating museum genomics and fossil record to understand a little better the evolutionary history of psenid wasps at the 10th Congresso of International Society of Hymenopterists

We are just beginning a new study on insect diversity in the Amazon tropical forest—at a site close to Manaus. This is an international team that will sum over 400 people to study the vertical stratification of the insect diversity of all orders (photo by Craig Cutler).

Happy to share our paper on stingless bees foraging behavior on the Cerrado biodiversity hotspot! Read and spread! 🐝🌼 With Carol Proença Fernanda Carvalho Thais Vasconcelos @ajcaguiar Alexander Keller And other amazing students and colleagues nature.com/articles/s4159…

For Day 27 entry of #paleoctober, here is PSA about Strudiella, enigmatic arthropod from Devonian. (I will be busy around tomorrow so I post this today) Here is diagrammatic reconstruction as presumed insect, although its affinity is discussed. So what is Strudiella? (1/?)

Our Chalcidoidea phylogeny is out now in Cladistics Journal Alert ! The Chalcidoidea bush of life: evolutionary history of a massive radiation of minute wasps onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…

Dr. Bruno Rosa Brunno B. Rosa integrates fossil data and genomic evidence to elucidate the evolutionary history of psenid wasps #Hymathon2023

Tonight at #Hymathon2023 I'm defending the honor of Apoid wasps at the newly minted Hymenoptera Showdown! I know best is subjective, but we are talking Apoid wasps here... Many thanks to the organizers! And to the amazing photos from iNat, only those with * are my own