Bruce Taylor
@brucedstaylor.bsky.social
Research Associate at the Canadian Museum of Nature, curator of eensy creatures at iNaturalist. Strangely preoccupied with bog ciliates and arcellinid amoebae. Blogger at www.itcamefromthepond.com. Ancestrally biflagellate.
Weird word of the day: "kleptosquamy." The testate amoeba Awerintzewia cyclostoma steals scales from other amoeboid organisms to build its own shell. This one has robbed Quadrulella, Netzelia, various euglyphids, and even an Acanthocystis. Kleptosquamy! #amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #biology #nature
November 21, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Weird word of the day: "kleptosquamy." The testate amoeba Awerintzewia cyclostoma steals scales from other amoeboid organisms to build its own shell. This one has robbed Quadrulella, Netzelia, various euglyphids, and even an Acanthocystis. Kleptosquamy! #amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #biology #nature
The amoeba Difflugia bacillifera builds its shell from things that contain silica, and it is not particular about the source. These ones have incorporated whole shells from another testate amoeba (Euglypha), along with diatoms, algal cysts and chunks of rock. #Amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #peatlands
November 6, 2025 at 4:16 PM
The amoeba Difflugia bacillifera builds its shell from things that contain silica, and it is not particular about the source. These ones have incorporated whole shells from another testate amoeba (Euglypha), along with diatoms, algal cysts and chunks of rock. #Amoebae #ProtistsOnSky #peatlands
Q. You're going through dishes of bogwater, hunting a certain thing. You find a bloom of a species you were collecting two months ago. You already have enough of those and don't need more. What do you do?
A. Collect them anyway! We wants it, we needs it, must have the precious! #ProtistsOnSky
A. Collect them anyway! We wants it, we needs it, must have the precious! #ProtistsOnSky
September 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Q. You're going through dishes of bogwater, hunting a certain thing. You find a bloom of a species you were collecting two months ago. You already have enough of those and don't need more. What do you do?
A. Collect them anyway! We wants it, we needs it, must have the precious! #ProtistsOnSky
A. Collect them anyway! We wants it, we needs it, must have the precious! #ProtistsOnSky
Should codes of nomenclature be revised to allow DNA barcodes to serve as types for microbial taxa? Should sequence data be more widely used in taxon diagnoses? Here's a practical discussion of the issues. #ProtistsOnSky #taxonomy #systematics #MicrobialGenomics
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Toward DNA-based taxonomy of prokaryotes and microeukaryotes | Request PDF
Request PDF | On Aug 1, 2025, Leho Tedersoo and others published Toward DNA-based taxonomy of prokaryotes and microeukaryotes | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
www.researchgate.net
September 10, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Should codes of nomenclature be revised to allow DNA barcodes to serve as types for microbial taxa? Should sequence data be more widely used in taxon diagnoses? Here's a practical discussion of the issues. #ProtistsOnSky #taxonomy #systematics #MicrobialGenomics
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
I broke some shells of Galeripora artocrea, to look at their algal hostages...and accidentally created Pac-Man amoebae. #amoebae #peatlands #ProtistsOnSky
September 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I broke some shells of Galeripora artocrea, to look at their algal hostages...and accidentally created Pac-Man amoebae. #amoebae #peatlands #ProtistsOnSky
Amoebae in the family Arcellidae make their shells from secreted vesicles of organic material that become hexagonal when pressed together. When a shell is broken, we can see inside the stiff-walled "areoles" that give it strength and durability. #ProtistsOnSky #Amoebae #peatlands
August 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Amoebae in the family Arcellidae make their shells from secreted vesicles of organic material that become hexagonal when pressed together. When a shell is broken, we can see inside the stiff-walled "areoles" that give it strength and durability. #ProtistsOnSky #Amoebae #peatlands
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
Promethea = PROvora + MEteora + HEmimastigophora. The new supergroup, unifying previously “orphan” lineages with gene-rich mitogenomes. Position of #telonemids is still uncertain. #protistsonsky tinyurl.com/yk9xkt49
July 24, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Promethea = PROvora + MEteora + HEmimastigophora. The new supergroup, unifying previously “orphan” lineages with gene-rich mitogenomes. Position of #telonemids is still uncertain. #protistsonsky tinyurl.com/yk9xkt49
Last day in the field...time to wind down, pack up, put my stuff away. Of course, the sneaky shelled amoeba I've been chasing all week SUDDENLY decides to start blooming like crazy. #ProtistsOnSky #amoebae
July 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Last day in the field...time to wind down, pack up, put my stuff away. Of course, the sneaky shelled amoeba I've been chasing all week SUDDENLY decides to start blooming like crazy. #ProtistsOnSky #amoebae
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
In an unconscionable decision, the Smithsonian Institute has decided to no longer support the Biodiversity Heritage Library from 1 Jan 2026. Please someone step up and take it over.
Foundations: please step up and take over the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL). This is an absolutely essential scanned archive of all of the old journals and books from the 1500s to about 1920. Has been indispensable for my research.
about.biodiversitylibrary.org/call-for-sup...
about.biodiversitylibrary.org/call-for-sup...
Call for Support: – About BHL
about.biodiversitylibrary.org
July 2, 2025 at 3:56 PM
In an unconscionable decision, the Smithsonian Institute has decided to no longer support the Biodiversity Heritage Library from 1 Jan 2026. Please someone step up and take it over.
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
BHL contains the foundation of our understanding of biodiversity. 🌱 🌏 🦎 📖 🪱 🧪 🦉 There are countless researchers, educators, policy makers, fields, institutions, databases & species that rely on BHL. Please share our Call for Support as widely as you can: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/06/tran...
June 16, 2025 at 6:21 AM
BHL contains the foundation of our understanding of biodiversity. 🌱 🌏 🦎 📖 🪱 🧪 🦉 There are countless researchers, educators, policy makers, fields, institutions, databases & species that rely on BHL. Please share our Call for Support as widely as you can: blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/06/tran...
But why does an amoeba need horns on its shell? They're quite carefully made, with flat plates neatly glued around them (possibly scales from another organism). The spheres around the mouth are siliceous resting cysts of chrysophyte algae. #ProtistsonSky #MEvoSky #Amoebae #Peatlands
June 11, 2025 at 12:03 PM
But why does an amoeba need horns on its shell? They're quite carefully made, with flat plates neatly glued around them (possibly scales from another organism). The spheres around the mouth are siliceous resting cysts of chrysophyte algae. #ProtistsonSky #MEvoSky #Amoebae #Peatlands
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
iNat getting cozier with generative AI, not sure that's going to play well with everyone.
@inaturalist.bsky.social please explain what is being referred to here? What does "enhance[ing] biodiversity data by converting thousands of identification remarks into natural language explanations" mean. Won't that introduce a lot of nonsense into what is now an imperfect but important tool? 🌿 1/2
June 10, 2025 at 3:49 PM
iNat getting cozier with generative AI, not sure that's going to play well with everyone.
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
Zone of inhibition always makes me feel so excited about science lol
March 28, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Zone of inhibition always makes me feel so excited about science lol
Many amoebae incorporate diatoms in their shells, but Cylindrifflugia bacillariarum is the master. Third and fourth pics are close views of the glue that holds it all together. #ProtistsonSky #Amoebae #Peatlands
June 7, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Many amoebae incorporate diatoms in their shells, but Cylindrifflugia bacillariarum is the master. Third and fourth pics are close views of the glue that holds it all together. #ProtistsonSky #Amoebae #Peatlands
An amoeba with teeth. When building its shell, Netzelia corona selects sharp grains of quartz and positions them around its aperture with the tips pointing inward. I took a few closeups, yesterday. #ProtistsonSky #amoebae #peatlands #MEvoSky
May 31, 2025 at 8:33 PM
An amoeba with teeth. When building its shell, Netzelia corona selects sharp grains of quartz and positions them around its aperture with the tips pointing inward. I took a few closeups, yesterday. #ProtistsonSky #amoebae #peatlands #MEvoSky
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
hey everyone! i made a list of some useful starter packs (primarily biology/earth sciences with a few bonus things thrown in) to share with friends who have joined bsky in the last week and thought it may be useful for some people here too! 🌍🧪 #SciSky #BioSky docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Starter packs
BIOLOGY Ecology Macroecology https://go.bsky.app/GBn9pNZ Global ecology https://go.bsky.app/V6tN4cv Trait based ecology and evolution https://go.bsky.app/PThMXeX Invasion biology https://go.b...
docs.google.com
November 11, 2024 at 5:41 PM
hey everyone! i made a list of some useful starter packs (primarily biology/earth sciences with a few bonus things thrown in) to share with friends who have joined bsky in the last week and thought it may be useful for some people here too! 🌍🧪 #SciSky #BioSky docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Recently, we described a "new" species of amoeba. It's just been found it again, 700 km away. I suspect it's common in eastern N.A., but not noticed until it had a name. One reason to do taxonomy: describing a thing makes it visible! www.inaturalist.org/observations... #taxonomy #systematics
May 10, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Recently, we described a "new" species of amoeba. It's just been found it again, 700 km away. I suspect it's common in eastern N.A., but not noticed until it had a name. One reason to do taxonomy: describing a thing makes it visible! www.inaturalist.org/observations... #taxonomy #systematics
Some specimens of a shelled amoeba called Heleopera sphagni, from a northern fen. The shell is assembled from jagged siliceous plates, but where did they come from? Stolen from a prey organism, or generated by the amoeba itself? I have no idea! #protistsonsky #amoebae #peatlands
May 8, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Some specimens of a shelled amoeba called Heleopera sphagni, from a northern fen. The shell is assembled from jagged siliceous plates, but where did they come from? Stolen from a prey organism, or generated by the amoeba itself? I have no idea! #protistsonsky #amoebae #peatlands
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
in case you're wondering, "what's the harm in claiming an extinct species has been brought back from the dead" when it most certainly has not, our interior secretary is already using it to justify taking animals off the endangered species list
April 8, 2025 at 7:59 PM
in case you're wondering, "what's the harm in claiming an extinct species has been brought back from the dead" when it most certainly has not, our interior secretary is already using it to justify taking animals off the endangered species list
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
🚨New preprint out! We show that Arcella spp., a shell-bearing amoeba, controls the abundance of the filamentous bacterium Ca. Microthrix parvicella, the main culprit behind sludge bulking in wastewater treatment plants. Interested in applicability of protists? Read along! #protistsonsky #microsky
🧵👇
🧵👇
April 2, 2025 at 6:47 PM
🚨New preprint out! We show that Arcella spp., a shell-bearing amoeba, controls the abundance of the filamentous bacterium Ca. Microthrix parvicella, the main culprit behind sludge bulking in wastewater treatment plants. Interested in applicability of protists? Read along! #protistsonsky #microsky
🧵👇
🧵👇
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
Igor FTW, again! Amazing photographer, anatomist, microscopist, artist.
Igor Siwanowicz of @hhmijanelia.bsky.social captured these photos of pollen grains on the sigma of a morning glory flower. This is part of the early stage in creating a seed, it might also be the reason why you can’t stop sneezing!
April 1, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Igor FTW, again! Amazing photographer, anatomist, microscopist, artist.
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
The crush of new grant cancellations hasn't let up.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
Cancelled NIH grant information submission form
Please use this form to submit information identifying specific NIH grants that have been cancelled for any reason after January 20, 2025.
Data from this form will be used to update the Rescinded NIH...
forms.gle
March 21, 2025 at 3:32 AM
The crush of new grant cancellations hasn't let up.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
If your grant was terminated (or your app was pulled) please use this Google Form👇 to submit details for tracking purposes.
Multiple advocacy efforts are moving forward, but we must must must know more about what grants were cancelled and why.
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
🚨 New paper alert! 🚨
A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes sheds light on their deep evolutionary ancestry—suggesting that the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA) may have had an excavate-like cell architecture. 🧵🔬 (1/) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes sheds light on their deep evolutionary ancestry—suggesting that the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA) may have had an excavate-like cell architecture. 🧵🔬 (1/) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes reveals their excavate ancestry - Nature
The root of the eukaryote Tree of Life is estimated from a new, larger dataset of mitochondrial proteins including all known eukaryotic supergroups, showing it lies between two multi-supergroup assemb...
www.nature.com
March 12, 2025 at 4:39 PM
🚨 New paper alert! 🚨
A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes sheds light on their deep evolutionary ancestry—suggesting that the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA) may have had an excavate-like cell architecture. 🧵🔬 (1/) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A robustly rooted tree of eukaryotes sheds light on their deep evolutionary ancestry—suggesting that the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA) may have had an excavate-like cell architecture. 🧵🔬 (1/) www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Bruce Taylor
Do #protistsonsky know that there is a protistology YouTube out there? And almost no subscribers. Meahwile Sina Adl is describing how he wrote a Protistology Book! Which is amazing! youtu.be/QfMxq1Pygcw?...
ISOP member spotlight Adl 2025
YouTube video by Protistologists
youtu.be
February 28, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Do #protistsonsky know that there is a protistology YouTube out there? And almost no subscribers. Meahwile Sina Adl is describing how he wrote a Protistology Book! Which is amazing! youtu.be/QfMxq1Pygcw?...