Dr João Leite
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joaovascoleite.bsky.social
Dr João Leite
@joaovascoleite.bsky.social
2.1K followers 650 following 38 posts
Senior Editor Scientific Reports. NHM and UCL alum. Views are my own.
🇵🇹 in London 🇬🇧
🖐️🦕🦖 (he/him)

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9159-4016
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joaovascoleite.bsky.social
Dr João Leite @joaovascoleite.bsky.social · Nov 11
Guess it's time for a (re)introduction. Hello! I'm João, Senior Editor at Scientific Reports, part of @natureportfolio.bsky.social

Interested in evolution, ecology, earth and environmental sciences, publishing and open access.
Sadly no longer a potato grower🥔(but in the future who knows!)
White man, wearing blue shirt, standing at the main hall of the London Natural History Museum, with blue whale skeleton in the background
Reposted by Dr João Leite
tweetisaurus.bsky.social
Morning all. Meet Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, a new neornithishian dinosaur from the Morrison Formation. It goes on display @nhm-london.bsky.social from tomorrow. Paper by @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social and I in @royalsocietypublishing.org Open Science.
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
June 25, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
profpaulbarrett.bsky.social
Nice article on our new little dino, Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, named today by @tweetisaurus.bsky.social and me, and to be unveiled in a new permanent display @nhm-london.bsky.social tomorrow: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Natural History Museum to display rare dog-sized dinosaur
The dinosaur was mislabelled and misunderstood - but scientists now realise how special it is.
www.bbc.co.uk
June 25, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
lewisajones.bsky.social
Interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship this year? Feel free to reach out!

We've got micro🔬, invert 🪸, and vert palaeo🦕 @es-ucl.bsky.social!

📆 We are accepting Expressions of Interest until 9th June!

marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/post...
Postdoctoral Fellowships
The information provided on this page is a summary of the main rules and requirements for Postdoctoral Fellowships (PFs) and who can apply for them.
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu
May 27, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
thisisrafal.bsky.social
Massive thanks to Meredith Adinolfi & Sara Grimme for having me on their @scholarlykitchen.bsky.social podcast to talk about #ResearchIntegrity: a topic I'm both passionate and depressed about (but such is life)

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/05/09/s...
SSP's Early Career Development Podcast Episode 22: A Primer on Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics - The Scholarly Kitchen
In this episode of SSP’s Early Career Development Podcast, hosts Meredith Adinolfi (Cell Press) and Sara Grimme (Digital Science) chat with Rafal Marszalek, the Chief Editor at Nature’s largest journa...
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org
May 11, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
profpaulbarrett.bsky.social
Was leafing through Nopcsa’s notebooks @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social yesterday and came upon these rather charming prosauropods, which he’d either traced or sketched. That’s his handwriting too … #fossilfriday #dinosaurs
May 9, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
roinnanluisigh.bsky.social
Great @nature.com editorial and @naturepodcast.bsky.social series referencing ongoing coverage in @natureecoevo.bsky.social of the taxonomic furore regarding eponyms www.nature.com/articles/d41... (Check out rdcu.be/eja4P for the most recent NEE piece following last year's IBC votes)
Scientific naming conventions should keep in step with contemporary science
A three-part Nature Podcast series explores the importance of scientific naming conventions — and talks to researchers looking at how to make them more inclusive.
www.nature.com
April 24, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Richard Fortey obituary: palaeontologist, author and TV presenter who traced continents through fossils
The fossil expert found love at first sight with trilobites.
www.nature.com
April 24, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
emmadnn.bsky.social
Delighted to share our paper on data equity in #palaeobiology as part of Paleobiology's 50th anniversary issue 🥳

We look at how palaeo data is collected, stored, curated & shared, and how equity in these processes is crucial for our field's future (1/n) 🧪⚒️

doi.org/10.1017/pab....
Simplified flowchart illustrating generalised steps in palaeobiological research processes and the various factors that introduce inequity with regard to data collection, storage, study, analysis, publication, and reuse.
April 23, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
natureportfolio.nature.com
A study in Scientific Reports shows how a community science network helped show a decrease in bird vocalization across North America at sites that experienced more than 99% maximum solar obscuration during the total solar eclipse in April 2024. go.nature.com/42kJwsQ 🧪
An American robin perched on a branch. Stock image.
April 22, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
stupond.bsky.social
I've currently got capacity for work, so get in touch via DM or website (link below) if I can help with anything or talk over new projects. Sci Comms specialist. Motion Graphics, 3D modelling and animation, Scientific Visualisation, Graphic Design.
An illustrations showing various dinosaur skeletons I have built.
April 15, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
princessquatris.bsky.social
🚨 I'm super happy to announce that our new paper is finally out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social! 🚨

We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!

www.cell.com/current-biol...
The structure of the end-Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record in North America
Dean et al. examine the fossil record of North American dinosaurs prior to the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Estimates of detection probability from occupancy models decrease prior to the extinction...
www.cell.com
April 8, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
josephwilliamson.bsky.social
Great to see our new review on the causes and consequences of tropical insect declines out in Nature Reviews Biodiversity. 🪰🪲🐜🐛🐝🦋 It was a pleasure working with an international team of amazing tropical entomologists! 🧑‍🔬
www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Ecological effects of declining insect diversity and abundance. In tropical forests, declining insect populations will have substantial effects on plant community dynamics, resulting in reduced biodiversity, alterations to functional community composition of plants and ultimately reduced nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. Reductions in the abundance of insects will also have knock-on effects on insectivorous animals such as bats, birds and lizards. In forest-adjacent tropical communities, unequal patterns of decline across the trophic pyramid will result in a predator release effect on pest species, leading to reduced food security and increased outbreaks of insect-vectored disease in both humans and livestock. Increasing temperatures and changing rainfall patterns may affect pollinators, further exacerbating reductions in yields of locally and globally important crops. ‘Acquisitive’ leaf traits are those that maximize growth, such as high specific leaf area and leaf nitrogen content.
April 4, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
editormb.bsky.social
Communications Biology is looking to recruit an Associate/Senior Editor for our office in Pune, India:
springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/SpringerNatu...
Preferred research background: genetics, cognitive neuroscience, computational bio, ecology, immunology or cancer biology. DL 15/4, PMs open!
Associate/Senior Editor
Job Description: Job Title: Associate/Senior Editor - Communications Biology Location: Pune (Hybrid working) Nature Portfolio is the world’s leader in publishing high-quality research from across the ...
springernature.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com
April 1, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
piginatutu.bsky.social
Our new paper out today describes a sebecoidean crocodylomorph from the Early Palaeocene of Patagonia, and provides support for the survival of a large-bodied terrestrial vertebrate lineage across the K-Pg.

@pdmannion.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Tewkensuchus salamanquensis skull elements Palaeontologists retrieving the fossil from the ground
March 26, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
tjdhalliday.bsky.social
The latest translation of Otherlands is now out - in Brazilian Portuguese. If that appeals to you or your Brazilian friends, you can get it here and elsewhere.

www.planetadelivros.com.br/livro-outros...
Outros mundos - Thomas Halliday | PlanetadeLivros
Outros mundos, de Thomas Halliday. EXPLORE AS ORIGENS DA TERRA POR MEIO DE UMA JORNADA FABULOSA
www.planetadelivros.com.br
December 16, 2024 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
commssustain.nature.com
Welcome to Communications Sustainability! We are a new, editorially selective open-access journal from the Nature Portfolio @natureportfolio.nature.com We are open to new submissions of high-quality works in all #sustainability related areas of science communities.springernature.com/posts/welcom...
Welcome to Communications Sustainability!
We are pleased to introduce Communications Sustainability, a new, editorially selective open access journal from the Nature Portfolio.
communities.springernature.com
March 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
davidho.bsky.social
You want to see an octopus riding a shark.

🎥: University of Auckland

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/s...
March 21, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
natrevbiodiv.nature.com
Check out our March issue: nature.com/nrbd/volumes...
Review and opinion topics this month include:
🦴 Digitizing natural history collections
🌊 Seagrass ecosystems
💻 AI as a way to fill biodiversity gaps
🍃 Biodiversity offsets
🔁 Conservation translocations
🌎🧪
Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Volume 1 Issue 3, March 2025
Seagrass ecosystems support critical marine biodiversity and ecosystem function; inspired by the Review from Duarte et al.
www.nature.com
March 19, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
natrevbiodiv.nature.com
Our March issue also has three new Journal Club articles, which are research summaries written by early career researchers about a paper that influenced them and their career.
March 19, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
vaginamuseum.bsky.social
The Vagina Museum is just one month away from closing. Forever. A perfect storm of circumstances means that we may have to close our doors permanently and cease all digital activities. But we're not going to go down without a fight. Save the Vagina Museum. www.gofundme.com/f/btscc2
Donate to Save The Vagina Museum, organized by Vagina Museum
The Vagina Museum is one month away from closing – forever The Vagina Museum will be forced t… Vagina Museum needs your support for Save The Vagina Museum
www.gofundme.com
March 14, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
evoswami.bsky.social
So excited to see this paper finally out! Part of the Paleobiology 50th anniversary issue, we cover the history of the field, morphometrics, morphospaces, new approaches to evolutionary models & disparity, incorporating climate, the importance of fossils & more. Check it out! doi.org/10.1017/pab....
Morphological evolution in a time of phenomics | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Morphological evolution in a time of phenomics
doi.org
March 12, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
natecoevo.nature.com
Our March issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

Featuring research on:

🌲boreal forest resilience
🦠microbial community invasion
🧬evolutionary divergence of X–Y chromosome genes

Cover shows a micro-CT scan of the humpback #anglerfish from Miller et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cover image of the March issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution showing a micro-CT scan of a humpback anglerfish. The cover headline reads "Deep-sea diversification"
March 11, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
nature.com
Entries are now open for Nature’s 2025 #ScientistAtWork photo competition!

Capture a moment in your working day for the chance to win a cash prize, and see your winning image in Nature

https://go.nature.com/41Ff5Me
#ScientistAtWork 2025: Nature is seeking stunning photographic images that capture researchers’ working lives
Winners get a cash prize, and will have their image featured in Nature in print and online.
go.nature.com
March 10, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
palaeostephan.bsky.social
This project has started a long time ago, but in a galaxy not too far away… Happy to share this new study with @taphonomist.bsky.social looking at the functional morphology and biomechanics of the Rancor. Warning! Nerdy sci fi, palaeo & biomechanics thread following! jgeekstudies.org/2025/03/08/i...
Is a bone a viable weapon when combating a Rancor? Estimating the bite force of an intergalactic mega-predator
Stephan Lautenschlager1,2 & Thomas Clements3 1School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. 2The Lapworth Museum of Geology, Birmingham, UK. 3…
jgeekstudies.org
March 10, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Reposted by Dr João Leite
nature.com
Nature journalists will be at #StandUpForScience protests across the US later today; and in France the actions have already begun. Events will take place in more than 30 French cities, says @standupforscifr.bsky.social
floragraham.bsky.social Flora Graham @floragraham.bsky.social · Mar 7
Scientists in France are choosing to #StandUpForScience alongside their US colleagues. Signatories to a supporting column in @lemonde.fr include two Nobel laureates, economist Esther Duflo and virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. www.lemonde.fr/sciences/art...
March 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM