Tori Herridge
@toriherridge.bsky.social
🏛Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield 🎓PhD Evolutionary Biology🏝Islands 🐘Elephants🦣Mammoths🦷Teeth ⚒️1/4 of TrowelBlazers 📰EiC Open Quaternary 🎥🎙Presenter. Expcet typos.
Pinned
Once upon a time, in the late 1800s, people in Japan got really into breeding mice.
Coloured mice. Patterned mice. Even mice that danced.
They became known as Japanese Fancy Mice, and that caught the attention of researchers in Europe and America, who imported them for study.
2/n
Coloured mice. Patterned mice. Even mice that danced.
They became known as Japanese Fancy Mice, and that caught the attention of researchers in Europe and America, who imported them for study.
2/n
Would you like to hear a story about a woolly mouse…?
🐭🦣🧪
🐭🦣🧪
Reposted by Tori Herridge
I didn't until yesterday when I was lucky enough to visit the Yorkshire Museum archives with curator Sarah King, @toriherridge.bsky.social & @tomsharperocks.bsky.social to see this wonderful sketch (of a sketch) of an Icthyosaur skull by Anne Wickham. Can't wait for its story to be published!
November 16, 2025 at 10:06 AM
I didn't until yesterday when I was lucky enough to visit the Yorkshire Museum archives with curator Sarah King, @toriherridge.bsky.social & @tomsharperocks.bsky.social to see this wonderful sketch (of a sketch) of an Icthyosaur skull by Anne Wickham. Can't wait for its story to be published!
Koala suggested as closest living relative of giant marsupial lion Thylacoleo. Drop bears agogo
November 16, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Koala suggested as closest living relative of giant marsupial lion Thylacoleo. Drop bears agogo
Reposted by Tori Herridge
Great series of talks today at the Yorkshire Museum on Women in geology with @toriherridge.bsky.social kicking things off with a talk on Mary Anning and on networks of women geologists in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
November 15, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Great series of talks today at the Yorkshire Museum on Women in geology with @toriherridge.bsky.social kicking things off with a talk on Mary Anning and on networks of women geologists in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Reposted by Tori Herridge
the paper also identifies Yuka as an XY male, which is really interesting as the anatomy presented as female.
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
November 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
the paper also identifies Yuka as an XY male, which is really interesting as the anatomy presented as female.
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
Hope to see lots of you there!
If you're in York this Saturday, there's a "Women in #Geology" day of lectures at Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum @yorkshire-geol-soc.bsky.social @ypsyork.bsky.social. Will be fascinating - starts 10.45, keynote by @toriherridge.bsky.social, free tickets www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-in-g...
Women in Geology
The stereotypical geologist is a man with beard - this indoor meeting seeks to change this image by celebrating the many women in geoscience
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Hope to see lots of you there!
the paper also identifies Yuka as an XY male, which is really interesting as the anatomy presented as female.
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
November 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
the paper also identifies Yuka as an XY male, which is really interesting as the anatomy presented as female.
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
this is Yuka's genital region (from Maschenko et al 2019 link.springer.com/article/10.1...)
Two mammoths very close to my heart have yielded some of their RNA secrets.
“In this way, we might have glimpsed the final pulses of transcriptional tissue-specific activity from the extinct woolly mammoth.”
💔Yuka
“In this way, we might have glimpsed the final pulses of transcriptional tissue-specific activity from the extinct woolly mammoth.”
💔Yuka
November 14, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Two mammoths very close to my heart have yielded some of their RNA secrets.
“In this way, we might have glimpsed the final pulses of transcriptional tissue-specific activity from the extinct woolly mammoth.”
💔Yuka
“In this way, we might have glimpsed the final pulses of transcriptional tissue-specific activity from the extinct woolly mammoth.”
💔Yuka
Reposted by Tori Herridge
November 14, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Tori Herridge
If you're in York this Saturday, there's a "Women in #Geology" day of lectures at Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum @yorkshire-geol-soc.bsky.social @ypsyork.bsky.social. Will be fascinating - starts 10.45, keynote by @toriherridge.bsky.social, free tickets www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-in-g...
Women in Geology
The stereotypical geologist is a man with beard - this indoor meeting seeks to change this image by celebrating the many women in geoscience
www.eventbrite.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:08 AM
If you're in York this Saturday, there's a "Women in #Geology" day of lectures at Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum @yorkshire-geol-soc.bsky.social @ypsyork.bsky.social. Will be fascinating - starts 10.45, keynote by @toriherridge.bsky.social, free tickets www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-in-g...
Reposted by Tori Herridge
Come and join us in Brighton for Quaternary science and plenty of Geoarchaeology and the Palaeolithic archaeology too. Including an ECR workshop and a field trip to Birling Gap and Black Rock, all in my home city!
🦣🏺
🦣🏺
QRA ADM in Brighton, abstract submission deadline 10th November!!! Submit your abstracts for a talk or a poster @quaternaryra.bsky.social sites.google.com/view/qraadmb...
November 13, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Come and join us in Brighton for Quaternary science and plenty of Geoarchaeology and the Palaeolithic archaeology too. Including an ECR workshop and a field trip to Birling Gap and Black Rock, all in my home city!
🦣🏺
🦣🏺
This is from Crooked Cross by Sally Caroson. First published 1934
Lunch time reading today very on point in reminding is that, just as genes alone do not make the man (or woman), one man (or woman) alone does not make a society do evil things…
November 13, 2025 at 12:52 PM
This is from Crooked Cross by Sally Caroson. First published 1934
Lunch time reading today very on point in reminding is that, just as genes alone do not make the man (or woman), one man (or woman) alone does not make a society do evil things…
November 13, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Lunch time reading today very on point in reminding is that, just as genes alone do not make the man (or woman), one man (or woman) alone does not make a society do evil things…
Reposted by Tori Herridge
Cool paper on rate-time scaling: it’s not just an artifact! We need to re-think underlying evolutionary processes generating (fossil) phenotypic changes! By @vildebruhn.bsky.social @kjetillsj.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Cool paper on rate-time scaling: it’s not just an artifact! We need to re-think underlying evolutionary processes generating (fossil) phenotypic changes! By @vildebruhn.bsky.social @kjetillsj.bsky.social
Reposted by Tori Herridge
With sequencing of Hitler's DNA making headlines, time for a reminder: analysing a polygenic score from a dead historically-significant figure won't give new insights into that person's behaviour. In a brief paper last year, we used Beethoven's genome to directly illustrate the fallacies involved.🧪👇
Notes from Beethoven’s genome
Wesseldijk et al. compare the genomic information collected from Ludwig van Beethoven
with population-based datasets used to quantify musical achievement.
www.cell.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:26 AM
With sequencing of Hitler's DNA making headlines, time for a reminder: analysing a polygenic score from a dead historically-significant figure won't give new insights into that person's behaviour. In a brief paper last year, we used Beethoven's genome to directly illustrate the fallacies involved.🧪👇
in relation to the question: why sequence & interrogate Hitler's genome in the first place?👇
Sequencing Hitler's DNA was always going to be a bad idea, with little upside and plenty of downside, but the way it has been done as part of a TV documentary is particularly bad www.newscientist.com/article/2504...
Sequencing Hitler's genome teaches us nothing useful about his crimes
To understand Adolf Hitler, we need to look at his personal life and the wider societal and historical context - analysing his DNA for a TV gimmick tells us nothing, says Michael Le Page
www.newscientist.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:16 AM
in relation to the question: why sequence & interrogate Hitler's genome in the first place?👇
Cool!
Nature research paper: Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals
go.nature.com/4i0i61w
go.nature.com/4i0i61w
Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals - Nature
Comparisons of 154 genomes from 21 animal phyla and outgroups have been used to reconstruct ancestral adaptation to life on land across 11 distinct terrestrialization events, revealing strong evidence for convergent genomic evolution across the animal kingdom and recurring periods of terrestrial colonization.
go.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Cool!
There is a separate conversation to be had on why bother to look at Hitler’s DNA in the first place, given many (all) of the points in Adam’s thread.
What do we actually learn?
What do we actually learn?
Right. Hitler's DNA. Brace yourselves for a deluge of misinformation and bad science.
I'm in Australia, so do get in touch if you want some expert debunking.
I'm in Australia, so do get in touch if you want some expert debunking.
November 13, 2025 at 9:10 AM
There is a separate conversation to be had on why bother to look at Hitler’s DNA in the first place, given many (all) of the points in Adam’s thread.
What do we actually learn?
What do we actually learn?
Interesting! Cc @neaarlab.bsky.social
U-Pb calcite age dating of fossil eggshell as an accurate deep time geochronometer 🧪⚒️
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
U-Pb calcite age dating of fossil eggshell as an accurate deep time geochronometer - Communications Earth & Environment
Biogenic carbonate of eggshells can be used as a new geochronometer through direct calcite U-Pb dating, producing high accurate ages, as revealed by two tests on dinosaur eggs from North America and M...
www.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Interesting! Cc @neaarlab.bsky.social
Reposted by Tori Herridge
I think that this @natgeosci.nature.com paper—now published in the November issue of this journal—is worth checking out:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
🧪 ⚒️ 🦣 🌊
#PaleoSky
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
🧪 ⚒️ 🦣 🌊
#PaleoSky
Earth system response to Heinrich events explained by a bipolar convection seesaw - Nature Geoscience
The onset of Southern Ocean convection following a slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during Heinrich events can help explain rapid CO2 increases and Antarctic warming during t...
doi.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I think that this @natgeosci.nature.com paper—now published in the November issue of this journal—is worth checking out:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
🧪 ⚒️ 🦣 🌊
#PaleoSky
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
🧪 ⚒️ 🦣 🌊
#PaleoSky
Reposted by Tori Herridge
Unwittingly proving Gibson's 1st Law of BBC Bias: You only think it's biased against the thing that you believe, otherwise you only hear facts
November 9, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Unwittingly proving Gibson's 1st Law of BBC Bias: You only think it's biased against the thing that you believe, otherwise you only hear facts
Reposted by Tori Herridge
Avoid jumping to conclusions about mechanisms behind large-scale genetic shifts in the past! This paper doesn’t prove that small scale migrations of Homo sapiens led to the gradual replacement of Neanderthal DNA but suggests this explanation is as good as any other.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A simple analytical model for Neanderthal disappearance due to genetic dilution by recurrent small-scale immigrations of modern humans - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A simple analytical model for Neanderthal disappearance due to genetic dilution by recurrent small-scale immigrations of modern humans
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Avoid jumping to conclusions about mechanisms behind large-scale genetic shifts in the past! This paper doesn’t prove that small scale migrations of Homo sapiens led to the gradual replacement of Neanderthal DNA but suggests this explanation is as good as any other.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Tori Herridge
oh yeah ok this is super cool
not only did they find a gynandromorph spider, it also turned out to be a new species! 🤯🧪🕷️
not only did they find a gynandromorph spider, it also turned out to be a new species! 🤯🧪🕷️
#Science #Entomology #Arachnids #Spiders
Scientists Found a Half-Male, Half-Female Spider in Thailand and It’s Fascinating www.zmescience.com/science/news...
Scientists Found a Half-Male, Half-Female Spider in Thailand and It’s Fascinating www.zmescience.com/science/news...
Scientists Found a Half-Male, Half-Female Spider in Thailand and It’s Fascinating
Scientists named the half-male, half-female spider after an One Piece anime character who can change sex at will.
www.zmescience.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM
oh yeah ok this is super cool
not only did they find a gynandromorph spider, it also turned out to be a new species! 🤯🧪🕷️
not only did they find a gynandromorph spider, it also turned out to be a new species! 🤯🧪🕷️
Reposted by Tori Herridge
🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄We’re recruiting!!🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
November 8, 2025 at 1:00 PM
🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄We’re recruiting!!🌿🍄🟫🌱🍄
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
I’m looking for two postdocs and a technician to join my group @sheffielduni.bsky.social @sheffieldpps.bsky.social to work with me on my exciting @royalsociety.org Faraday Discovery Fellowship project, details for each post as follows:
Reposted by Tori Herridge
I hosted a great discussion of it all here too:
November 8, 2025 at 11:03 AM
I hosted a great discussion of it all here too: