Evolutionary Biomechanics lab Greifswald

One of the remaining larger construction sites in resolving the phylogenetic systematics of spiders has been cleaned up! You find out refined classification system of the marronoid clade of spiders here: doi.org/10.1111/cla.... (Open Access) 1/5

Silk line of the common cellar spider Pholcus phalangioides after immersion in water. Recorded with a Field emission scanning electron miscoscope at 3,400x magnification. Sample and image selection by Siripanyo Promnil from our lab.

A spider that catapults ants into its web! “The snare mechanism seems to have evolved as a highly specialized way of allowing the spider to ‘pick off’ potentially hazardous prey one at a time and transport them a safe distance away from ant trails and nests.” @wolffspider.bsky.social

Three of us @evoimec.bsky.social presented about our research on the behavioural ecology of silk spinning in spiders.

Spider running performance varies enormously. We joined forces with David Labonte's Evolutionary Biomechanics lab in London for the broadest spider speed assay so far: 258 spp / 139 families Preprint: doi.org/10.64898/202... Press coverage by the New Scientist: www.newscientist.com/article/2532...

Wow, our ballista spider study was literally catapulted across the media, e.g. BBC, ABC, CNN, New York Times, New Scientist, Spiegel and a lot of regional newspapers, radio and tv stations. We were also highlighted by Nature: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Very excited to share our discovery of an engineering masterpiece from the Australian rainforest! In our latest paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social we report a hunting strategy in a spider, whose web outperforms every known biological catapult system.

The #Australian ballista #spider (Propostira sp.) uses its silk's elastic energy storage capacity to build the most powerful snare and selective in the #animal kingdom. Read about our discovery here: doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... Video by Ajay Narendra. Recorded with 3,000 fps, playback 100x slowed down!

found this when looking through old excursion photos - can you spot the spider?

Spiders possess multiple types of silk glands, which produce silk materials with contrasting properties. What happens if they combine different silks into a single line - Does this reinforce, even toughen, the silk thread? We got some answers from cellar and cave spiders: doi.org/10.1039/D5SM... 🔓

🕸️ Massive web stretch from our cribellating friend (Asianopis subrufa) recorded in the field. If you’re intrigued by this fabulous #spider #silk read on doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2529200123 by @evoimec.bsky.social et al :) 🕸️

🕸️ The #silk of this gorgeous little cribellator is not your standard silk - read @evoimec.bsky.social new study here: doi.org/10.1073/pnas... 🕸️

@maitryjani.bsky.social from my lab @evoimec.bsky.social talks about her scientific journey and newest paper in @jexpbiol.bsky.social ERC Spotlight: journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

Just back from a productive writing retreat of @evoimec.bsky.social and @multipleye-lab.bsky.social on the remote island of Hiddensee. Look out for new papers coming up from our labs!

We're excited to announce the finalists of the #RSPPhotoComp 2025! 🎉 Starting with #microimaging and overall winner, 'Mesmerizing spider threads' by Dr Martin Ramirez, capturing two exceptional silk threads of the Australian net-caster spider (sample obtained by Dr Jonas Wolff @evoimec.bsky.social).

Very nice visualisation of sexual dimorphism in arthropod jump performance 😎

Check out the beautiful light arts in our little city. Featuring an animation of bird flight that you get going by running inside the installation. #Kinematics / #biomechanics meets arts.

Eight legs to bring a little joy to your timeline (skyline?). Zoropsis spinimana, aka the “Nosferatu spider.” Isn’t she so cute? 🥹 Thank you to @wolffspider.bsky.social and your lab @evoimec.bsky.social for a warm welcome in Greifswald! Please follow them and their amazing work!

We are looking forward to an exciting new year of science. Which fascinating new discoveries will it bring?