Prof. Christine Böhmer
vertevo.bsky.social
Prof. Christine Böhmer
@vertevo.bsky.social
Palaebiologist | Paläobiologin |
Research | Forschung @kieluni 🇩🇪🇪🇺
#Palaeontology #Zoology #Evolution #Anatomy #Vertebrae #Archosaurs 🐊🐦🐀 @BoehmerGroup
Pinned
Feral rabbits exhibit morphologies as seen in domesticated or wild forms, but may also exhibit intermediate ones.

Sherratt et al 2025 From wild to domestic and in between: how #domestication and #feralization changed the morphology of #rabbits @royalsocietypublishing.org doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
Viviparous reproduction in #anurans - a extremely rare trait.

Thrane et al 2025 Vertebrate Zoology. Museomics and integrative taxonomy reveal three new species of glandular viviparous tree #toads (Nectophrynoides) in Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains (Anura: Bufonidae)

doi.org/10.3897/vz.7...
November 10, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
A glimpse into a vanished ecosystem: reconstructing diet and palaeoenvironment of Palaeoloxodon from the Pleistocene of Taiwan

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
A glimpse into a vanished ecosystem: reconstructing diet and palaeoenvironment of Palaeoloxodon from the Pleistocene of Taiwan | Royal Society Open Science
Palaeoloxodon is the largest known terrestrial mammal in the history of Taiwan. However, little is known about the palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of these extinct proboscideans. In this study, we...
royalsocietypublishing.org
November 8, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Great expectations: altricial developmental strategies are associated with more flexible evolution of limb skeleton proportions in birds | royalsocietypublishi... | Proceedings of the Royal Society B | #ornithology 🪶
October 16, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Morphological Evolution in Island Birds Is Associated With More Terrestrial Lifestyles and a Lower Number of Raptors and Intra‐Family Competitors | onlinelibrary.wiley.... | Global Ecology and Biogeography | #ornithology #RaptorResearch 🪶
November 4, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Study on high-altitude #birds with increased hemoglobin-oxygen affinity shows that adaptive solutions are contingent on prior evolutionary history.

Natarajan et al (2016) @science.org Predictable convergence in hemoglobin function has unpredictable molecular underpinnings
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
November 8, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Behavioral #plasticity: First documentation of systematic predation on #bats by #rats.

Gloza-Rausch et al 2025 Global Ecology and Conservation. Active predation by brown #rats on #bats at urban mass hibernacula in Northern #Germany: Conservation and one health implications

doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...
November 6, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
New #AmniotaLab research!
Faysal Bibi and Jean-Renaud Boisserie describe a fossil buffalo from Ethiopia, revealing how early members of the lineage evolved into today’s African buffalo 🐃

paleo.peercommunityin.org/PCIPaleo/art...
November 4, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Why extant, not extinct?
A new JSP paper by Sorbelli 𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭. describes an extinct 𝙇𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙖 species (Anura: Discoglossidae) from the Early Pleistocene of the Apennine Peninsula—offering fresh clues on how the genus survived in Eurasia.

Read more: buff.ly/NGVelt5 #Paleosky @amniotalab.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
A paper in Scientific Reports presents the origins of vivid colours within the gemstone ammolite — a rare type of brightly coloured fossilised ammonite shell. go.nature.com/48OT5DX #Paleosky ⚒️ 🧪
November 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Remarkable #cancer resistance of the bowhead #whale arises from its enhanced ability to maintain genome integrity through enhanced DNA repair.

Firsanov et al 2025 @nature.com Evidence for improved DNA repair in long-lived bowhead whale

doi.org/10.1038/s415...
November 5, 2025 at 6:48 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Issue 20 has closed and issue 21 is open

journals.biologists.com/jeb/issue/22...

The front cover showing two giraffes accompanies Seymour and Snelling's Theory & Modelling article discussing how the animals' long legs have raised their hearts to reduce the cost of pumping blood to their heads
November 3, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Unusual low-risk/high-gain strategy in small #bats: Short search and pursuit times with high hunting success rates and targeting prey approaching their own body size of 30 g.

Baier et al 2025 @currentbiology.bsky.social Extreme hunting efficiency in a carnivorous bat

doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
November 4, 2025 at 6:40 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
🦣 New discoveries at Mammoth Site USA: 2 foot elements— “predigit” & fused sesamoids—found 1st time in extinct elephants. Long known in modern elephants they reveal ancient adaptations for supporting massive land giants
Gardner et al anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
#FossilFriday
August 8, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
New paper by Guilherme Hermanson & me out: we explore ontogenetic shell shape change in turtles to check if there is a size threshold at which turtles reach adult shapes. This started for a different (in prep) study & was a fun little project w preliminary data

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
PG-18: turtles reach adult shell shapes at about 65% maximum carapace length - Swiss Journal of Palaeontology
Ontogenetic shell shape changes of turtles are often only documented for individual species. It is currently unclear how shell shape changes during ontogeny across species, if there are common trends,...
link.springer.com
August 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Multitaxic #dinosaur footprint assemblage from Dinosaur Park Formation incl. ceratopsid and ankylosaurian tracks

Bell et al 2025 @plosone.org
A ceratopsid-dominated tracksite from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) at Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
July 26, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
I am proud and grateful to present a dream project today in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Meet #Mirasaura grauvogeli, a #wonderreptilewith skin appendages that rival feathers and hairs, challenging our view of reptile #evolution🪶🦎
July 23, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Oh! Another paper! From @camillebader.bsky.social Camille Bader's PhD, with Alexandra Houssaye @houssayecnrs.bsky.social. Elephant limb bone microanatomy reflects bone function and posture.
Paper:
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
Tons of CT scan DICOM files:
figshare.com/articles/dat...
Long-bone microanatomy in elephants: microstructural insights into gigantic beasts
Abstract. One of the greatest challenges of terrestrial locomotion is resisting gravity. The morphological adaptive features of the limb long-bones of exta
academic.oup.com
July 24, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Enlargement of sternum traits facilitated the evolution of powered flight in birds 🧪⚒️

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Enlargement of sternum traits facilitated the evolution of powered flight in birds - Nature Ecology & Evolution
The extant avian sternum is highly adapted to powered flight, but understanding of its early evolution is hindered by patchy fossil representation and the fact that where preserved, sterna in near-bir...
www.nature.com
July 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Have you ever wondered about the origin of birds restricted to specific regions? Led by doctoral student Hevana Lima, we attempt to unravel the origins of birds endemic to the Caatinga dry forests in Brazil. Check our ms out! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Origins and Diversification of the Caatinga Dry Forest Endemic Avifauna
Aim Understanding the geographic origin of lineages is critical to comprehending their biogeographical and evolutionary histories and the historical connections among biomes. In northeastern Brazil,...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 24, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
𝑀𝑜𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝑦𝑎𝑟𝑎, a new cryptic species of Manta Ray, is described from the Western Atlantic Ocean. The existence of an undescribed manta ray species has been suggested for over 15 years and is now formally described. 🐟🧪

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
An integrative taxonomy investigation unravels a cryptic species of Mobula Rafinesque, 1810 (Mobulidae, Myliobatiformes), from the Atlantic Ocean - Environmental Biology of Fishes
Manta and devil rays comprise a vulnerable animal group with a complex nomenclatural history and a somewhat unresolved taxonomy. The existence of a putative undescribed species of manta ray in the Atl...
link.springer.com
July 23, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Despite rabbits being common lab models, their vertebral muscles were never fully described. 54 muscles were mapped in wild rabbits & hares, revealing key differences from other mammals & proposing leporid-specific terminology
Taewcharoen et al: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
July 2, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Our August issue is now out! anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...

The cover article discusses skink systematics, comparative cranial osteology of the New World Mabuyinae by Julio Ferreira-Junior et al.: doi.org/10.1002/ar.2...
July 10, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Semi-autonomous tracking algorithms: in situ measurements of fiber lengths & orientation in #chicken #embryo.

Molnar‪ @crocodilejulia.bsky.social et al 2025 @anatrecord.bsky.social Quantifying #muscle architecture in embryos using diceCT and algorithmic fascicle tracking
doi.org/10.1002/ar.7...
July 21, 2025 at 5:09 AM
Reposted by Prof. Christine Böhmer
Convergent reduction of olfactory genes and olfactory bulb size in mammalian species at altitude: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Convergent reduction of olfactory genes and olfactory bulb size in mammalian species at altitude
Graham et al. report that high-altitude mammalian species have a greatly reduced number of olfactory receptor genes, and their brains have a smaller olfactory bulb, consistent with a deteriorated sens...
www.cell.com
July 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM