Paco Cardenas
@paccardenas.bsky.social
Curator of zoology at Museum of Evolution (Uppsala University), in charge of the Linnaeus collection, marine biologist (sponges), naturalist and wannabe natural product researcher.
With 29 sponge genomes included in this integrative phylogenomic study, sponges are once more shown to be sister-species to the rest of the animals...
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 15, 2025 at 7:36 PM
With 29 sponge genomes included in this integrative phylogenomic study, sponges are once more shown to be sister-species to the rest of the animals...
Every year, we celebrate at the #MuseumofEvolution the #birthday of 'Carl Peter #Thunberg', disciple of Linnaeus, born the 11th of Nov. 1743 in Jönköping, Sweden. He's such an important scientist, taking care of the Linnaeus collection, and donating his own rich collections. Grattis Carl Peter ! 🎂
November 11, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Every year, we celebrate at the #MuseumofEvolution the #birthday of 'Carl Peter #Thunberg', disciple of Linnaeus, born the 11th of Nov. 1743 in Jönköping, Sweden. He's such an important scientist, taking care of the Linnaeus collection, and donating his own rich collections. Grattis Carl Peter ! 🎂
Happy to share our last paper in PNAS! Woo-hoo! 🥳
This article supports once more the hypothesis that sponges (and therefore animals) emerged about 100 million years before the Cambrian, and before we find any animal fossils.
www.pnas.org/doi/suppl/10...
This article supports once more the hypothesis that sponges (and therefore animals) emerged about 100 million years before the Cambrian, and before we find any animal fossils.
www.pnas.org/doi/suppl/10...
Chemical characterization of C31 sterols from sponges and Neoproterozoic fossil sterane counterparts | PNAS
Putative metazoan body fossils from the Precambrian are curiously lacking morphological
characteristics that link them unambiguously to extant anim...
www.pnas.org
November 9, 2025 at 9:20 AM
Happy to share our last paper in PNAS! Woo-hoo! 🥳
This article supports once more the hypothesis that sponges (and therefore animals) emerged about 100 million years before the Cambrian, and before we find any animal fossils.
www.pnas.org/doi/suppl/10...
This article supports once more the hypothesis that sponges (and therefore animals) emerged about 100 million years before the Cambrian, and before we find any animal fossils.
www.pnas.org/doi/suppl/10...
I had the immense privilege today of looking through the correspondence of Carl Peter #Thunberg, disciple of Linnaeus, who took over Linnaeus' professorship @uu.se. Hundreds and hundreds of letters + a handful of letters sent by Linnaeus to Thunberg!!! 🤩 @linneansociety.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 12:34 PM
I had the immense privilege today of looking through the correspondence of Carl Peter #Thunberg, disciple of Linnaeus, who took over Linnaeus' professorship @uu.se. Hundreds and hundreds of letters + a handful of letters sent by Linnaeus to Thunberg!!! 🤩 @linneansociety.bsky.social
One species of vampire moth, Calyptra thalictri has been regularly found in southern Finland, and even north of Stockholm... 😅
Vampire moths might sound more horror film than natural world, but they’re 100% real! 😱
See why some moths pick human blood over fruit juice in this week’s Surprising Science. 🩸🦇
See why some moths pick human blood over fruit juice in this week’s Surprising Science. 🩸🦇
October 26, 2025 at 12:56 PM
One species of vampire moth, Calyptra thalictri has been regularly found in southern Finland, and even north of Stockholm... 😅
These aquatic insect larvae appeared in my freshwater aquarium left outside in Uppsala, Sweden. I suspect they are #Chironomidae #larvae, anyone can confirm?
October 26, 2025 at 12:49 PM
These aquatic insect larvae appeared in my freshwater aquarium left outside in Uppsala, Sweden. I suspect they are #Chironomidae #larvae, anyone can confirm?
Entomologist Fevziye Hasan from #MuseumofEvolution in Uppsala will give a presentation at the "Living Data" conference!
I’ll be presenting “The business case for investing in biodiversity data” in the symposium: “Business sector & biodiversity data: towards a nature-positive future.” Thanks to Planetary Biology at SciLifeLab for their generous sponsorship! #livingdata2025 More info: livingdata2025.com/sessions.htm...
October 20, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Entomologist Fevziye Hasan from #MuseumofEvolution in Uppsala will give a presentation at the "Living Data" conference!
Some baby sponges grow inside their mothers, and little baby sponges are later released. This is the case in deep-sea golf ball sponges (genus Craniella). Want to know more? Read our new article 🙂
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
October 11, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Some baby sponges grow inside their mothers, and little baby sponges are later released. This is the case in deep-sea golf ball sponges (genus Craniella). Want to know more? Read our new article 🙂
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
A bit of chemistry to start your day! Sharing our latest review on sponge peptides 🧪 Surprisingly, we know so little about them...
www.publish.csiro.au/CH/CH25100
www.publish.csiro.au/CH/CH25100
Ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) from marine demosponges and their microsymbionts
Marine sponges are among the oldest animals to have emerged on Earth. They are metazoan holobionts that host diverse microbial symbionts, which constitute more than 40% of their biomass. Despite their...
www.publish.csiro.au
October 8, 2025 at 6:18 AM
A bit of chemistry to start your day! Sharing our latest review on sponge peptides 🧪 Surprisingly, we know so little about them...
www.publish.csiro.au/CH/CH25100
www.publish.csiro.au/CH/CH25100
Congratulations to my student Ivan who's been carefully registering and labeling all of our #reindeer and #moose specimens in the #MuseumofEvolution collections! (and we have a lot in Uppsala so this was not easy). #Evolutionsmuseet
October 1, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Congratulations to my student Ivan who's been carefully registering and labeling all of our #reindeer and #moose specimens in the #MuseumofEvolution collections! (and we have a lot in Uppsala so this was not easy). #Evolutionsmuseet
PhD student @melbaghooee.bsky.social from Aarhus University is visiting the Museum of Evolution for a month, to improve insect biomass measurement algorithms using deep learning (AI). Her work will have immediate applications to monitor insects, both in agriculture and ecology studies.
September 19, 2025 at 8:03 AM
PhD student @melbaghooee.bsky.social from Aarhus University is visiting the Museum of Evolution for a month, to improve insect biomass measurement algorithms using deep learning (AI). Her work will have immediate applications to monitor insects, both in agriculture and ecology studies.
In this deep-sea study we aimed to evaluate the relevance of a sponge/cnidarian 🪸 morpho-functional approach to characterise their diversity and distribution at multiscales, responses to environmental gradients and structuring roles on the megabenthic community. 👇
Image-based ecological assessment of deep-sea sponge, coral and other cnidarian assemblages through a morpho-functional approach https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.18.670867v1
September 7, 2025 at 5:47 AM
In this deep-sea study we aimed to evaluate the relevance of a sponge/cnidarian 🪸 morpho-functional approach to characterise their diversity and distribution at multiscales, responses to environmental gradients and structuring roles on the megabenthic community. 👇
The first Swedish national park with a marine focus in the Baltic Sea! Yesterday, Sweden's 31st national park was inaugurated 🥳 : NÄMDÖSKÄRGÅRDENS outside Stockholm. Covering an area of 25,300 hectares, of which 97 percent is sea, the area contains just over 1,300 islands!
September 6, 2025 at 6:35 AM
The first Swedish national park with a marine focus in the Baltic Sea! Yesterday, Sweden's 31st national park was inaugurated 🥳 : NÄMDÖSKÄRGÅRDENS outside Stockholm. Covering an area of 25,300 hectares, of which 97 percent is sea, the area contains just over 1,300 islands!
Ants never cease to amaze me. Researchers from the University of Montpellier (France) showed that ant queens of the Iberian harvester ants can produce two different species!
A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species
go.nature.com/4mOb5T9
go.nature.com/4mOb5T9
‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother
Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.
go.nature.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Ants never cease to amaze me. Researchers from the University of Montpellier (France) showed that ant queens of the Iberian harvester ants can produce two different species!
In this podcast episode of 'Biodiversity Impact', scientist Julio Díaz from the Museum of Evolution (Uppsala University) talks about his journey, his job and, of course, sponges 🙂
2. Dr. Julio A. Díaz, Marine Biologist – The Biodiversity Impact Podcast
Biodiversity Impact · Episode
open.spotify.com
August 10, 2025 at 9:31 AM
In this podcast episode of 'Biodiversity Impact', scientist Julio Díaz from the Museum of Evolution (Uppsala University) talks about his journey, his job and, of course, sponges 🙂
All my animal/plant pictures from Kenya have now been uploaded to inaturalist.org totaling 241 observations free to use by scientists or any other passionate naturalist 🙂 :
26 plants
13 mammals
4 reptiles
1 amphibian
95 birds
72 insects
8 spiders
7 molluscs
2 crustaceans
+ a few other groups
26 plants
13 mammals
4 reptiles
1 amphibian
95 birds
72 insects
8 spiders
7 molluscs
2 crustaceans
+ a few other groups
August 3, 2025 at 7:36 PM
All my animal/plant pictures from Kenya have now been uploaded to inaturalist.org totaling 241 observations free to use by scientists or any other passionate naturalist 🙂 :
26 plants
13 mammals
4 reptiles
1 amphibian
95 birds
72 insects
8 spiders
7 molluscs
2 crustaceans
+ a few other groups
26 plants
13 mammals
4 reptiles
1 amphibian
95 birds
72 insects
8 spiders
7 molluscs
2 crustaceans
+ a few other groups
Reposted by Paco Cardenas
Sponges are animals – just like us. 🧽
New sponge genomes may reveal exciting secrets that could contribute towards drug discovery, reef conservation, and much more. 🧬
sangerinstitute.blog/2025/07/03/e...
Image credit: Benjamin Mueller
New sponge genomes may reveal exciting secrets that could contribute towards drug discovery, reef conservation, and much more. 🧬
sangerinstitute.blog/2025/07/03/e...
Image credit: Benjamin Mueller
July 3, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Sponges are animals – just like us. 🧽
New sponge genomes may reveal exciting secrets that could contribute towards drug discovery, reef conservation, and much more. 🧬
sangerinstitute.blog/2025/07/03/e...
Image credit: Benjamin Mueller
New sponge genomes may reveal exciting secrets that could contribute towards drug discovery, reef conservation, and much more. 🧬
sangerinstitute.blog/2025/07/03/e...
Image credit: Benjamin Mueller
My brother has been creating more than 100 French🇫🇷 articles on #sponges🪸 in #Wikipedia (as well as dozen others in other languages). Merci pour ton soutien!
#vismaviedewikipédien
Après vérification, je viens de dépasser la 100aine d'articles créés sur les éponges sur la #Wikipédia en français (plus des 10aines dans d'autres langues).
Un monde incroyable que je vous invite à explorer en commençant par l'article [[Porifera]]
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porifera
Après vérification, je viens de dépasser la 100aine d'articles créés sur les éponges sur la #Wikipédia en français (plus des 10aines dans d'autres langues).
Un monde incroyable que je vous invite à explorer en commençant par l'article [[Porifera]]
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porifera
Porifera — Wikipédia
fr.wikipedia.org
June 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
My brother has been creating more than 100 French🇫🇷 articles on #sponges🪸 in #Wikipedia (as well as dozen others in other languages). Merci pour ton soutien!
Here it is. My very first paper on snakes and the Linnaeus collection! Isn't this cool! 🥳
Taxonomic detectives: unravelling the origins of Linnaeus’s Aspic viper ( Vipera aspis ) and assessment of the type material with designation of a neotype
| Zootaxa
mapress.com
June 30, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Here it is. My very first paper on snakes and the Linnaeus collection! Isn't this cool! 🥳
The Mediterranean coastal snail (Theba pisana) is hiding from the heatwave in the South of France 🇫🇷., 37 degrees today...
June 21, 2025 at 1:21 PM
The Mediterranean coastal snail (Theba pisana) is hiding from the heatwave in the South of France 🇫🇷., 37 degrees today...
First time I find the magnificent 'thick-legged flower beetle' (Oedemera nobilis) with its impressive swollen hind legs in the male. This is in the south of France 🇫🇷.
June 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
First time I find the magnificent 'thick-legged flower beetle' (Oedemera nobilis) with its impressive swollen hind legs in the male. This is in the south of France 🇫🇷.
The elegant 'latticed heath' 🦋 comes to rest in my garden in the shade (it's 25 degrees today in Sweden). This widespread European species was originally described by Linnaeus.
June 15, 2025 at 11:03 AM
The elegant 'latticed heath' 🦋 comes to rest in my garden in the shade (it's 25 degrees today in Sweden). This widespread European species was originally described by Linnaeus.
Just found on a dusty shelf a slide collection of Carl August Nilsson-Cantell (1893 – 1987) a #cirriped world expert that worked for a while at Uppsala University. Some of the slides are from types! (I added a red sticker) What a treasure 🤩
June 11, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Just found on a dusty shelf a slide collection of Carl August Nilsson-Cantell (1893 – 1987) a #cirriped world expert that worked for a while at Uppsala University. Some of the slides are from types! (I added a red sticker) What a treasure 🤩
The first batch of #sponge #genome notes are now out! 🥳 from the 'Wellcome Open Research' publishing platform: Aplysina aerophoba, Crambe crambe, Chondrosia reniformis, Aphrocallistes beatrix, Eunapius fragilis, Spongilla lacustris...
The genome of Aplysina aerophoba, the "golden sponge" is done. This sponge has a unique chemistry that makes it turn blue upon contact with air.
wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/10-...
www.moore.org/initiative-s...
wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/10-...
www.moore.org/initiative-s...
May 30, 2025 at 11:55 AM