Ariel Chipman

Arthropod evo-devo biologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Cambrian fossils, arthropods, evolution, science outreach and occasionally birds.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

The manuscript is currently under review. I would be happy to have feedback from the community on the preprint as well. 5/5
PS - I am moving away from this platform, and this may be my last post here. Find me in the blue butterfly space.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

New preprint just dropped. This is the first of my "sabbatical papers" - conceptual/synthetic papers trying to address broader questions of body-plan evolution. 1/5
https://t.co/eBYZVmYacu

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

This paper is "disruptive" in a number of senses. It questions the validity of long/short-germ distinction, which has been at the center of segmentation research for years. It also forces a rethinking of the role of Hox genes in defining segment identities in arthropods. 4/5

[Eyal Privman @eyalprivman]

Here it is! This incredible result is the product of great work led by @AparnaLajmi with lots of contributions from the rest of the lab. Our best paper ever, by far. The discovery of the antiquity of the social chromosome opens the way for future studies in many other species.

[Eyal Privman @eyalprivman]

On the bus home after publishing the preprint of our best paper ever, by far. Have you ever wondered how complex traits have evolved repeatedly across the tree of life? May be we have some answers...

[Felipe Aguilera @faguilgen.bsky.social @faguilgen]

I´m excited to announce that we have a venue and dates for the next International Congress on Invertebrate Morphology (ICIM-6)! All invertebrate lovers, let's meet in 🇨🇱 next year from August 10th to 14th. 👇👇

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

I am also joining the mass migration to bluer skies. I will continue to lurk here, but mostly for local/current affairs. All of my science activity will move to the other place.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

@iskander Not sure I see the point of your example. The distinction is one that is relevant for comparing animals that exist today. It’s an evolutionary explanation for the intuitive feeling of some animals being primitive.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

In all my various outreach activities I’ve found that one of the most difficult ideas to explain to the general public is the fact that there is no such thing as ancient species and modern species. Many professional biologists fall for that error.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

@iskander Of course there is. I usually make the point that there is no such thing as a primitive organism but there are primitive (or ancestral) characters. Some organisms are more conservative in the sense that they maintain more primitive characters, but that doesn’t make them ancient.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

The first two people to like this post are scientists working on so-called “ancient” animals. They know exactly what I’m talking about.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

@YehuMoran @EvoDevo_BMC @AMBLVit Thanks Yehu.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

New paper in @EvoDevo_BMC, led by @AMBLVit, on the early development of the German cockroach. Cool embryology and weird deviations from most of the well-studied insect models. Note teasers for an upcoming paper on the evolution of arthropod tagmosis.
https://t.co/r1Mp0Q5Rxw

[Marc Halfon @MarcHalfon]

Excited to report the final version of our paper out today:
In @eLife: Regulatory genome annotation of 33 insect species https://t.co/F3Na7OWCUg
Kudos to all involved in this monumental effort that provides a preliminary regulatory annotation of 33 insect genomes. (1/3)

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

@C_Blei @BastianFromm Not to mention polyphyletic Arthropoda.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

@TelfordLab @C_Blei @BastianFromm No other explanation for it.

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

I still have three weeks before the semester starts, and I hope to finish and submit a few papers and proposals by then. Then, it is back to routine, and counting the months until the next sabbatical.
10/10

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

As my six-month sabbatical draws to its end, I want to summarize what I did and achieved in that period. (A summary of the past year in general will be in a separate post, if I can muster the emotional strength).
1/10

[Ariel Chipman @ChipmanLab]

I was free from teaching and admin, but I did not stop editorial and reviewing commitments. I felt that since I was writing papers, it was only fair that I should also review and handle papers. Some of these commitments took up much more of my time than I expected.
9/10