Krista Koeller

Krista Koeller

@kristalerista.bsky.social

2400

Posts

Researching why legless lizards don't have feet. (She/her) 😷

Interests: convergent evolution, paleontology, ADHD, disability rights, and whatever my hyperfixation is this week.

kkoeller3115.wixsite.com/kristakoeller
https://twitter.com/KristaLerista

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We are seeking equipment donations/loans for our Cool Lizards in the City undergraduate mentored research project! This is a multi-campus effort across southern CA aimed at understanding how lizard ecophysiology is influenced by urbanization and climate change! 🦎🌆🧪 rescue-net.org/projects/mul...

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One under-hyped benefit of still masking at conferences is its additional body space for geek chic fashion. (I wear a KN95 under these)

I hadn’t thought about it before but tears are weird They are made behind our top eyelid, about where an eyeshadow highlight should go, and drain through the tear duct into our noses! That’s why we get a runny nose when we cry! Also why are chopped onions in absolutely everything?

Pupdate (parasite update): Leucochloridium has succeeded in its mission of getting eaten. Someone had an unfortunate snack some time this afternoon and the snail is now dead and headless. Now I can use my grill again. (Picture marked for adults cause of the snail’s gruesome death.)

sexual

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We’ve got a new phylogeny of the ants out as a preprint! It’s been an exciting collaboration with some awesome 🐜 people for the past few years, led by Marek Borowiec and @corriemoreau.bsky.social: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

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With the way that digenean flukes undergo asexual reproduction, all those broodsacs are probably clones originating from a single egg. Those broodsacs are likely attached to a larger parasite mass in the snail's body You can see an example of how that looks here www.researchgate.net/figure/Sporo...

Sporocyst of Leucochloridium paradoxum with three mature broodsacs...www.researchgate.net Download scientific diagram | Sporocyst of Leucochloridium paradoxum with three mature broodsacs differing in their colouration from publication: Genotypic and morphological diversity of trematodes Le...

Nighttime parasite update: Even parasitic flatworms need their beauty rest! These Leucochloridium have retracted back in the snail’s head and are no longer pulsating.

!!! I SAW IT IN REAL LIFE!!!

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My wonderful grad advisor once diagnosed why a lot of my academic writing read as convoluted & dull (he prob didn't use those words): I give too many caveats & scope conditions BEFORE stating the main point; they almost always belong afterward Still today, regularly, I realize this is my problem

Moriarty says it’s nap time.

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If like me you are a #Neurodivergent scientist with #Dyslexia and #dyscalculia that struggles with maths and programming. Check out JASP, a stats package with drag and drop functionality jasp-stats.org/download/ It also has teaching modules, and produces R code for what you are doing.

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The Ever-Upvoted Goldmask

My 9 year old came whimpering into the house the other day because he'd been stung on the finger. I was suspicious because of the odd location, & he fessed up that he was petting a bumblebee. I asked him what else he expected, & he said "I've petted lots of bumblebees & they never stung me". Haha #虫

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Me thriving in chaos that would leave most people in a dire panic: "ADHD is a superpower!" Me on hour 8 of doing a tedious repetitive task that most people would complete in about 30 minutes : "Ah right I do have a federally recognized disability"

People ask me why a species would evolve to live underground. This is one of the main reasons. It’s too hot outside! Usually even at 6 inches underground it can be 20 degrees cooler than the surface. It’s no coincidence Australia is top when it comes to legless lizard diversity.

It’s disability pride month and I just put in a request to transfer departments. Sick of being penalized for my symptoms and of my boss trying to “fix” them with negative reinforcement.

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After telling someone to throw out yet another useless book of advice for neurodivergent people clearly written by someone who isn’t neurodivergent I have one tip re developing a habit w ADHD: make it really easy to implement. Kids dropping wrappers on floor? Put out more trash cans in those areas

I’m not that interested in Greek and Roman history, but I am interested in the history of people being into it. Like our government is the way it is largely because our founding fathers were Classics weebs. Anyone have recs for books to learn more about how this keeps coming back? #archaeology 🏺

I found out recently that one of my ancestors was in the American Revolution…for three whole months.

My favorite thing about Independence Day is that we decided to put it on the day we declared war rather than the day we won it.

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I call the big one Bitey. Fossils found in Namibia show that relatives of our early tetrapod ancestors hung on for tens of millions of years longer than previously thought.

Fossils reveal giant, salamander-like carnivore — Riley Blackrileyblack.net Paleontologists have described the fossils of the 280 million-year-old creature Gaiasia, a salamander-like predator with triangular teeth.

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Evidence of primary feather molting in confuciusornithiforms: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... 🪶🧪 (📷Wang et al.)

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for a sense of scale, the last time this happened plants evolved not a specific species or something. Literally just Plants

wake up babe new* endosymbiotic organelle just dropped. They confirmed it's more than just symbiosis when they saw it absorbing whole proteins from the host! *100 million years old, but that's new compared to billions-years old mitochondria and chloroplasts

Scientists discover first nitrogen-fixing organellenews.ucsc.edu In two recent papers, an international team led by UC Santa Cruz scientists describe the first known nitrogen-fixing organelle within a eukaryotic cell. The organelle is the fourth example in history ...

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nonbinary papa iv

The stop request cord on a city bus has been in place since the earliest days of mass transit (1662!) and was originally tied around the driver's ankle (since they were outside and had no other way of knowing when people wanted to alight)

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It is Disability Pride Month - the perfect time to learn about ALT text and start using it! www.perkins.org/resource/how...

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Happy International Polycheate Day! To celebrate a macro shot of a nereid worm we found nightlighting in the Salish Sea 🪱

Apple notification: hey how long do you think our government will last? Just something to think about. Kbye now get back to work!

Look at the lovely flowers! Why is that fly upside dow— oh hello!

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if snakes had legs they'd probably get more respect in "polite society" like lizards do

I’m reading a book from the 1940s and in it, the narrator visits a guy’s house and thinks “man, it smells weird in here. Why does it smell so weird?” Then he figures out it’s cause the owner doesn’t smoke. I know things are bad right now, but at least normal house air doesn’t cause cancer anymore.

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What a gift to meet this Long-eared Owl family… a watchful parent and 3 healthy Owlets!🥰🪶