David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
@davidtledesma.bsky.social
Paleoherpetologist. Assistant Professor, St. Edward's University, Austin, TX. Tweets are my own.
www.davidtledesma.com
www.davidtledesma.com
A day late for National Fossil Day, but here's a new publication on some fossil salamanders! Did you know we used to have TIGER salamanders all across Central Texas? Why did they dissappear? Read on to see what we think happened and what that may mean for future salamanders of Texas.
The late Quaternary fossil record of mole salamanders in central Texas reveals range shifts and responses to environmental change | Quaternary Research | Cambridge Core
The late Quaternary fossil record of mole salamanders in central Texas reveals range shifts and responses to environmental change
www.cambridge.org
October 16, 2025 at 7:42 PM
A day late for National Fossil Day, but here's a new publication on some fossil salamanders! Did you know we used to have TIGER salamanders all across Central Texas? Why did they dissappear? Read on to see what we think happened and what that may mean for future salamanders of Texas.
Happy WORLD LIZARD DAY!
There are over 7,000 species of lizards in the world! Each represents a monument showcasing the magnificent diversity of life on earth. Here are some nice photos I took of two.
There are over 7,000 species of lizards in the world! Each represents a monument showcasing the magnificent diversity of life on earth. Here are some nice photos I took of two.
August 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Happy WORLD LIZARD DAY!
There are over 7,000 species of lizards in the world! Each represents a monument showcasing the magnificent diversity of life on earth. Here are some nice photos I took of two.
There are over 7,000 species of lizards in the world! Each represents a monument showcasing the magnificent diversity of life on earth. Here are some nice photos I took of two.
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Central Texas flooding:
Kerr County has had multiple fatalities. There were a lot of people camping along the Guadalupe River.
Children’s summer camps have been flooded.
They had inadequate warnings, and a warning system was not in place that would let people know ahead of time.
1/2
Kerr County has had multiple fatalities. There were a lot of people camping along the Guadalupe River.
Children’s summer camps have been flooded.
They had inadequate warnings, and a warning system was not in place that would let people know ahead of time.
1/2
July 4, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Central Texas flooding:
Kerr County has had multiple fatalities. There were a lot of people camping along the Guadalupe River.
Children’s summer camps have been flooded.
They had inadequate warnings, and a warning system was not in place that would let people know ahead of time.
1/2
Kerr County has had multiple fatalities. There were a lot of people camping along the Guadalupe River.
Children’s summer camps have been flooded.
They had inadequate warnings, and a warning system was not in place that would let people know ahead of time.
1/2
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Inside me there are two wolves. One of them has a 15 genome edits the other 20 genome edits. Neither of them is a dire wolf.
April 8, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Inside me there are two wolves. One of them has a 15 genome edits the other 20 genome edits. Neither of them is a dire wolf.
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Teachers of #Texas, we're headed your way! We are partnering with Texas A&M College of Education & Human Development to offer a free climate change workshop on April 4-5 in College Station. Please join us! There is still time to register - forms.gle/Axkv8UW7CNNq... #EduSky #TeacherSky #TeachClimate
March 18, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Teachers of #Texas, we're headed your way! We are partnering with Texas A&M College of Education & Human Development to offer a free climate change workshop on April 4-5 in College Station. Please join us! There is still time to register - forms.gle/Axkv8UW7CNNq... #EduSky #TeacherSky #TeachClimate
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
A mammoth circus of macabre fantasy and moral bankruptcy.
I got my views on mammoths down. Enjoy.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I got my views on mammoths down. Enjoy.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reviving the woolly mammoth isn’t just unethical. It’s impossible | Adam Rutherford
At a time when US scientists are under attack from their own government, the illiteracy around these elephantine fantasies is dangerous, says geneticist Adam Rutherford
www.theguardian.com
March 6, 2025 at 2:15 PM
A mammoth circus of macabre fantasy and moral bankruptcy.
I got my views on mammoths down. Enjoy.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I got my views on mammoths down. Enjoy.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Amphibian migration season is coming this spring. Remember to drive slow!
March 6, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Amphibian migration season is coming this spring. Remember to drive slow!
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.”
Absurd we still need to go through this
🧪👩🔬
Absurd we still need to go through this
🧪👩🔬
March 6, 2025 at 4:40 PM
A friend included this anti-acknowledgement section on her PhD thesis. She also added the proposition: “Systematic bullying and undermining of girls and women in STEM starts early on and is the reason why they do not stay in science and related fields.”
Absurd we still need to go through this
🧪👩🔬
Absurd we still need to go through this
🧪👩🔬
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
"Faculty and students are experiencing profound disruption and distress, which starkly contrasts with the arrogant posture and detached demeanor of those perpetrating this harm." www.texasobserver.org/censorship-u... (Dec)
Monopoly Tycoons in a Game of Jenga: The Censorship of Bodies, Protest, and Speech at UT-Austin
Faculty and students are experiencing profound disruption and distress, which starkly contrasts with the arrogant posture and detached demeanor of those perpetrating this harm.
www.texasobserver.org
March 1, 2025 at 6:35 PM
"Faculty and students are experiencing profound disruption and distress, which starkly contrasts with the arrogant posture and detached demeanor of those perpetrating this harm." www.texasobserver.org/censorship-u... (Dec)
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Congrats to my student Rebecca Clemons and UT Post-doc Chase Smith.Here they drill down on aspects of the frog immune system control that we think might be important in the frog-Bd system. More on this to come! 🐸🧬🦠🧫🧪
Primary regulatory T cell activator FOXP3 is present across Amphibia - Immunogenetics
The overall structure of the immune system is highly conserved across jawed vertebrates, but characterization and description of the immune system is heavily biased toward mammals. One arm of the vert...
doi.org
February 15, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Congrats to my student Rebecca Clemons and UT Post-doc Chase Smith.Here they drill down on aspects of the frog immune system control that we think might be important in the frog-Bd system. More on this to come! 🐸🧬🦠🧫🧪
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Last night I found out that the NSF math postdoctoral fellowship I applied for is being deleted because it does not comply with Trump’s executive orders on DEI in the federal government. I’m going to answer some FAQs and share some thoughts about this ordeal in this thread 1/n
February 8, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Last night I found out that the NSF math postdoctoral fellowship I applied for is being deleted because it does not comply with Trump’s executive orders on DEI in the federal government. I’m going to answer some FAQs and share some thoughts about this ordeal in this thread 1/n
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Happy New Year Everyone! ICYMI... Our lab is hiring for two positions, a post-doc to work on immune mechanisms of pathogen resistance and a lab technician Deadline is Feb 1 and descriptions of both positions are below or at zamudiolab.org Please help spread the word!
January 6, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Happy New Year Everyone! ICYMI... Our lab is hiring for two positions, a post-doc to work on immune mechanisms of pathogen resistance and a lab technician Deadline is Feb 1 and descriptions of both positions are below or at zamudiolab.org Please help spread the word!
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Former preprint now reviewed through PCI Palaeo & published at PCJ: peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....
This is a response to Lichtig & Lucas (2017), who proposed two simple shell measurements (doming & plastral width) can differentiate (& predict) aquatic/terrestrial ecologies in turtles.
This is a response to Lichtig & Lucas (2017), who proposed two simple shell measurements (doming & plastral width) can differentiate (& predict) aquatic/terrestrial ecologies in turtles.
Simple shell measurements do not consistently predict habitat in turtles: a reply to Lichtig and Lucas (2017)
peercommunityjournal.org
January 3, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Former preprint now reviewed through PCI Palaeo & published at PCJ: peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....
This is a response to Lichtig & Lucas (2017), who proposed two simple shell measurements (doming & plastral width) can differentiate (& predict) aquatic/terrestrial ecologies in turtles.
This is a response to Lichtig & Lucas (2017), who proposed two simple shell measurements (doming & plastral width) can differentiate (& predict) aquatic/terrestrial ecologies in turtles.
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
doi.org/10.1002/jmor...
New paper! With @markscherz.bsky.social, Alex Hall, and Dr. Frank Glaw. We looked at convergent evolution in boas across Madagascar and South America. Message me for the PDF if you are stuck behind paywall!
New paper! With @markscherz.bsky.social, Alex Hall, and Dr. Frank Glaw. We looked at convergent evolution in boas across Madagascar and South America. Message me for the PDF if you are stuck behind paywall!
Potential Evolutionary Convergence in Trophic Adaptations of Two Booidean Snake Lineages as Evidenced by Skull Morphology
Convergent evolution of key cranial osteological features was described in booidean snakes from the Neotropics and Madagascar. This pattern appears to be related to ecological niche, with terrestrial...
doi.org
December 31, 2024 at 11:19 PM
doi.org/10.1002/jmor...
New paper! With @markscherz.bsky.social, Alex Hall, and Dr. Frank Glaw. We looked at convergent evolution in boas across Madagascar and South America. Message me for the PDF if you are stuck behind paywall!
New paper! With @markscherz.bsky.social, Alex Hall, and Dr. Frank Glaw. We looked at convergent evolution in boas across Madagascar and South America. Message me for the PDF if you are stuck behind paywall!
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Do you teach 2D geometric morphometrics in your undergrad labs? I would be grateful for any materials you are willing to share. I am co-teaching a new course this spring on the evolution of form & function in calcifying marine animals & hope to have students generate an empirical morphospace.
December 17, 2024 at 7:56 PM
Do you teach 2D geometric morphometrics in your undergrad labs? I would be grateful for any materials you are willing to share. I am co-teaching a new course this spring on the evolution of form & function in calcifying marine animals & hope to have students generate an empirical morphospace.
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
#sedaDNA , beavers and their ecological role.
Ancient sedimentary DNA shows more than 5000 years of continuous beaver occupancy in Grand Teton National Park
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ancient sedimentary DNA shows more than 5000 years of continuous beaver occupancy in Grand Teton National Park
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ancient sedimentary DNA shows more than 5000 years of continuous beaver occupancy in Grand Teton National Park
Beaver-based restoration is emerging as a cost-effective conservation and climate adaptation strategy, but efforts are constrained by limited knowledge of pre-colonial beaver distribution and their lo...
www.biorxiv.org
December 11, 2024 at 12:39 PM
#sedaDNA , beavers and their ecological role.
Ancient sedimentary DNA shows more than 5000 years of continuous beaver occupancy in Grand Teton National Park
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Ancient sedimentary DNA shows more than 5000 years of continuous beaver occupancy in Grand Teton National Park
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Hi everyone - just a reminder that when there’s a big earthquake in your region, it is really helpful to earthquake scientists if you fill our the “Did You Feel It” report on the USGS earthquake event page - even if it was just mild shaking or you didn’t feel it all - all the data is helpful! 🧪⚒️
The Earthquake Event Page application supports most recent browsers, view supported browsers. Or, try our Real-time Notifications, Feeds, and Web Services.
earthquake.usgs.gov
December 7, 2024 at 2:53 AM
Hi everyone - just a reminder that when there’s a big earthquake in your region, it is really helpful to earthquake scientists if you fill our the “Did You Feel It” report on the USGS earthquake event page - even if it was just mild shaking or you didn’t feel it all - all the data is helpful! 🧪⚒️
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Earlier this year, we published gatoRs - an R package to streamline occurrence record downloading from iDigBio and GBIF: doi.org/10.1002/aps3...
This work was led by undergrad Natalie Patten - so proud of her and what this paper turned out to be (1/n)
This work was led by undergrad Natalie Patten - so proud of her and what this paper turned out to be (1/n)
Geographic And Taxonomic Occurrence R‐based Scrubbing (gatoRs): An R package and workflow for processing biodiversity data
Premise Digitized biodiversity data offer extensive information; however, obtaining and processing biodiversity data can be daunting. Complexities arise during data cleaning, such as identifying and...
bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 3, 2024 at 2:20 PM
Earlier this year, we published gatoRs - an R package to streamline occurrence record downloading from iDigBio and GBIF: doi.org/10.1002/aps3...
This work was led by undergrad Natalie Patten - so proud of her and what this paper turned out to be (1/n)
This work was led by undergrad Natalie Patten - so proud of her and what this paper turned out to be (1/n)
Eyes bigger than the stomach (or throat). A cautionary tale just in time for Thanksgiving.
November 27, 2024 at 3:08 AM
Eyes bigger than the stomach (or throat). A cautionary tale just in time for Thanksgiving.
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
“…species-level diversity is likely underestimated by both elements, with ~30-40% of species pairs showing no significant differences in shape...”
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Are Modern Cryptic Species Detectable in the Fossil Record? A Case Study on Agamid Lizards
Abstract. Comparisons of extant and extinct biodiversity are often dependent on objective morphology-based identifications of fossils and assume a well-est
academic.oup.com
November 24, 2024 at 2:56 AM
“…species-level diversity is likely underestimated by both elements, with ~30-40% of species pairs showing no significant differences in shape...”
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Do you love talking about tomography as much as I do? I made a starter pack full of people who use CT to do their science!! Let me know if you want to join in on the tomography talk! Other 3D imaging modalities also welcome ☢️🩻👩🔬
go.bsky.app/VjBpAAy
go.bsky.app/VjBpAAy
November 14, 2024 at 12:56 AM
Do you love talking about tomography as much as I do? I made a starter pack full of people who use CT to do their science!! Let me know if you want to join in on the tomography talk! Other 3D imaging modalities also welcome ☢️🩻👩🔬
go.bsky.app/VjBpAAy
go.bsky.app/VjBpAAy
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
My PhD student Guilherme Hermanson & I have a new paper out today in Ecology & Evolution! 🐢🤩
We think the morphologically conservative body plan of turtles can in part be explained by allometric constraints imposed by the shell. Thread 👇 for some highlights
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
We think the morphologically conservative body plan of turtles can in part be explained by allometric constraints imposed by the shell. Thread 👇 for some highlights
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Shell Constraints on Evolutionary Body Size–Limb Size Allometry Can Explain Morphological Conservatism in the Turtle Body Plan
Turtle body size and limb size scale nearly isometrically along the group's evolution, although major deviations are only seen in highly specialized ecological or morphological groups. The evolution ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 13, 2024 at 1:34 PM
My PhD student Guilherme Hermanson & I have a new paper out today in Ecology & Evolution! 🐢🤩
We think the morphologically conservative body plan of turtles can in part be explained by allometric constraints imposed by the shell. Thread 👇 for some highlights
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
We think the morphologically conservative body plan of turtles can in part be explained by allometric constraints imposed by the shell. Thread 👇 for some highlights
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Abstracts for #TAS128 our 2025 Annual Meeting in Waco, Texas, Feb 28-March 2 are due Friday, Nov 15! www.texasacademyofscience.org/2025-meeting Don't miss out!
Current Meeting
www.texasacademyofscience.org
November 12, 2024 at 6:45 PM
Abstracts for #TAS128 our 2025 Annual Meeting in Waco, Texas, Feb 28-March 2 are due Friday, Nov 15! www.texasacademyofscience.org/2025-meeting Don't miss out!
Reposted by David Treviño Ledesma, Ph.D.
Here is a list of labs in #ecology and #evolution who are recruiting graduate students for next year: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
PIs looking to recruit can enter information here: t.co/Fn1LRAA5Ip
I believe this list is thanks to @drcarl.bsky.social
#evosky #ecoevo #evolbio #AcademicJobs
PIs looking to recruit can enter information here: t.co/Fn1LRAA5Ip
I believe this list is thanks to @drcarl.bsky.social
#evosky #ecoevo #evolbio #AcademicJobs
Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2025 (Responses)
docs.google.com
November 11, 2024 at 10:52 PM
Here is a list of labs in #ecology and #evolution who are recruiting graduate students for next year: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
PIs looking to recruit can enter information here: t.co/Fn1LRAA5Ip
I believe this list is thanks to @drcarl.bsky.social
#evosky #ecoevo #evolbio #AcademicJobs
PIs looking to recruit can enter information here: t.co/Fn1LRAA5Ip
I believe this list is thanks to @drcarl.bsky.social
#evosky #ecoevo #evolbio #AcademicJobs