Dr Keith Lyons
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keithlnotions.bsky.social
Dr Keith Lyons
@keithlnotions.bsky.social
A University of Galway Zoology PhD Graduate (June 2024) with a particular interest in Arachnology, Herpetology and Venomous taxa.

Also have a Twitter (X) account https://x.com/KeithLNotions.
Pinned
Along with our research on spider venom potency published in Biology Letters, we were kindly asked to prepare a seminar discussing the manuscript for @royalsocietypublishing.org/@cassyni.bsky.social's "Ecology and Evolution Seminar Series" doi.org/10.52843/cassyni.slp5xv. It's free to watch! Enjoy!
Cassyni | Science starts with a seminar
Seamlessly organise, run and publish academic research seminars. Get started in minutes.
doi.org
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
Congratulations to our very own University of Galway zoologist, founder of the Venom Lab and creator of The Bug Doctor series, Dr Michel M. Dugon who has been named Galway Science Person of the Year!
November 11, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Big W for habitat management and spider fans! Rediscovering such a cool UK spider after 40 years of absence on the Isle of Wight! Well done @graemelyons.bsky.social and Mark! #spider #IsleofWight #rediscovery t.co/FSD1nv2ina
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg1y66y80ro.amp
t.co
October 31, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
Word of the day is ‘swullocking’, from 19th-century East Anglian dialect: sultry, sweltering, and sudiferous (sweat-inducing).
July 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
#BiologyLetters Spiders use different traits to capture prey, including webs or fangs to restrain prey before delivering their paralytic venom. But is there a trade off between venom potency and body size or silk use in prey capture? royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #ecology #evolution
May 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
Watch Keith Lyons' seminar about his recent #BiologyLetters paper 'Spider venom potency exhibits phylogenetic prey specificity but does not trade-off with body size or silk use in prey capture': cassyni.com/events/Jcwo8... #ecology #evolution
#BiologyLetters Spiders use different traits to capture prey, including webs or fangs to restrain prey before delivering their paralytic venom. But is there a trade off between venom potency and body size or silk use in prey capture? royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #ecology #evolution
June 3, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Big thanks to all media outlets that have covered our recently published work on spider venom potency thus far! I have been blow away by the interest and support everyone has showed. Grateful to @drivetime.bsky.social @wlrfm.bsky.social and
Galway Bay FM for having me on their shows on Thursday.
May 24, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
Relative size matters: eyespots on large insect prey deter small #arthropod predators #ProcB royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #Behaviour #Cognition
May 23, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
As the US government slashes Harvard’s funding, Nature has learnt that researchers at the university have lost nearly 1,000 grants worth more than US$2.4 billion.

https://go.nature.com/4jg8Sxa
Harvard researchers devastated as Trump team cuts nearly 1,000 grants
Nature talks with scientists about an uncertain future as the US government lays siege to their university.
go.nature.com
May 23, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
Absolutely fascinating stuff!!!!
Along with our research on spider venom potency published in Biology Letters, we were kindly asked to prepare a seminar discussing the manuscript for @royalsocietypublishing.org/@cassyni.bsky.social's "Ecology and Evolution Seminar Series" doi.org/10.52843/cassyni.slp5xv. It's free to watch! Enjoy!
Cassyni | Science starts with a seminar
Seamlessly organise, run and publish academic research seminars. Get started in minutes.
doi.org
May 21, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Along with our research on spider venom potency published in Biology Letters, we were kindly asked to prepare a seminar discussing the manuscript for @royalsocietypublishing.org/@cassyni.bsky.social's "Ecology and Evolution Seminar Series" doi.org/10.52843/cassyni.slp5xv. It's free to watch! Enjoy!
Cassyni | Science starts with a seminar
Seamlessly organise, run and publish academic research seminars. Get started in minutes.
doi.org
May 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
Are you looking for a distraction? Do you love natural history and museum specimens? Join @joshlukedavis.com and I for "The 'Perfect' Specimen" - an irreverent look at the natural world through via some of the @nhm-london.bsky.social's 80 million specimens, and increasingly random adjectives...
May 21, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Our latest research on the factors influencing spider venom potency has been published in Biology Letters! doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... Big thank you to my supervisors Dr @healyke.bsky.social and Dr Michel Dugon
along with the media team @uniofgalway.bsky.social
for spreading the word!
Spider venom potency exhibits phylogenetic prey specificity but does not trade-off with body size or silk use in prey capture | Biology Letters
Spiders employ a diverse range of predator traits, including potent venoms, complex silk-hunting strategies and mechanical strength coupled with larger body sizes to capture prey. This trait diversity...
doi.org
May 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
Innovation takes time

US scientists who received renewals from the NIH over the past four decades produced more novel research than those who didn’t
https://go.nature.com/44s6cc5
Renewal of NIH grants linked to more innovative results, study finds
Nature - Survey of hundreds of scientists’ work suggests that cutting off funding disrupts focus and reduces the novelty of research.
go.nature.com
May 10, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
The pointy edges of petals rely on a type of geometric feedback never before seen in nature.

https://go.nature.com/3GuL0bw
Revealed: the unusual mathematics that gives rose petals their shape
The pointy edges of petals rely on a type of geometric feedback never before seen in nature.
go.nature.com
May 1, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Dr Keith Lyons
🚨 Worm tube hermit, people 🦀 🚨
Here she is in great detail. Discorsopagurus schmitti #InverteFest
May 1, 2025 at 6:42 PM
I've finally made the move to Bluesky! Will likely work off both Bluesky and Twitter(X) for now but if you want to see my previous posts (going as far back as Nov 2019!) here is my Twitter(X) account: x.com/KeithLNotions, also with the @KeithLNotions handle. #movetobluesky #betterlatethannever
x.com
April 15, 2025 at 3:28 PM