@GerbenDebruyn

PhD student at EON group @ugent | he/him

 België
Joined January 2018
  • Tweets295
  • Following279
  • Followers167
70Media
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Matthew Shawkey@mdshawkeySep 1
Congratulations to EON co-founder Liliana D'Alba, who starts her new position as tenure-track prof of Animal Evo-Devo @ugent today! 🥚🪶
1
10
151
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Matthew Shawkey@mdshawkeyAug 24
Melanin protects against UV damage not only by absorbing UV, but also by scavenging free radicals. New research from our group, led by @WanjieX, shows that light triggers this activity in melanin via enhanced absorption following photon excitation 🤯advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley…
1
3
133
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Gary Ritchison@GaryRitchisonJul 25
Disrupted melanization reveals a hidden role of microstructures in green plumage coloration academic.oup.com/icb/advance…

Disrupted Melanization Reveals a Hidden Role of Microstructures in Green Plumage Coloration

Synopsis. Bird plumage colors arise from pigmentary absorption and/or structural scattering of light within feather nanostructures. Yet the relative contri

academic.oup.com
1
2
54
What makes this parrot look green? It's more than just a pigment! We found that the color comes from the interaction of pigments, nano- and even microstructures of the feather itself. @mdshawkey @MichalNicola1 @JesssDob @WybouwLab @SICB_
1
12
1
8
2,591
For those that want the full story. Published in @SICB_ academic.oup.com/icb/advance…

Disrupted Melanization Reveals a Hidden Role of Microstructures in Green Plumage Coloration

Synopsis. Bird plumage colors arise from pigmentary absorption and/or structural scattering of light within feather nanostructures. Yet the relative contri

academic.oup.com
44
We often assume that reflectance is “spectrally well‑behaved.” If an animal is bright or dark in the visible, surely the rest of the spectrum just… follows along? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…

Color and Near‐Infrared Reflectance Covary in Distinct Ways Across Taxa

Solar reflectance across ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths was analyzed in integuments and eggs of 322 species. We found consistent positive correlations between UV and visible...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com
1
3
6
166
Inspiring talk by @h_buscher , talking about the amazing diversity in stick insect eggs!
35
Starting of with @wilderwickie giving us a great talk on how his passion and his brand Phasmedia evolved!
38
Big day today for the stick insect enthousiasts! A day filled with interesting talks and cool bugs 👀
2
35
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Matthew Shawkey@mdshawkeyMar 18
Platypus (Platypi?) hairs have never-before-seen, hollow, meatball-shaped melanosomes that apparently serve no function in color! wild stuff from EON PhD student Jess Dobson royalsocietypublishing.org/r…

A unique hollow melanosome morphology in the hairs of the platypus Ornithorhynchus anatinus

Abstract. Melanin pigments are ubiquitous and serve diverse functions, including UV protection and colour production. In vertebrates, they are housed in or

royalsocietypublishing.org
1
26
3
122
20,429
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Matthew Shawkey@mdshawkeyMar 10
Nice article by @ki_irving (and featuring Jessica Dobson and I) on why mammals are the least colourful vertebrate group: livescience.com/animals/why-… @FWOVlaanderen

Why aren't mammals as colorful as reptiles, birds or fish?

Many mammals have fur the color of brown and black. Why don't they have more exotic colors, like purple and neon pink?

livescience.com
3
6
213
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Simon Baeckens@simonbaeckensFeb 3
Funded 4-year PhD position on Lizard Evolutionary Ecology in our lab at UCLouvain (Belgium)! Apply before 9 March! jobs.uclouvain.be/Personnels…
1
18
1
31
2,803
How does a single cuckoo species evolve eggs that mimic those of many different hosts? In a new Science study, researchers report genomic data that reveal a complex geographic mosaic of cuckoo-host coevolution. Learn more in a new #SciencePerspective: scim.ag/4nQ4pDC
6
31
129
28,917
What looked like a hearing organ on a tiny stinkbug’s leg turned out to be something far stranger: a fungal nursery that mother bugs use to coat their newly laid eggs in protective symbiotic hyphae, shielding their offspring from parasitic wasps, researchers report in Science. Learn more: scim.ag/4qaJ3TF
11
32
3
185
34,968
Predation is one of the most pervasive forces of natural selection. Researchers in Science report a globally replicated experiment that uncovers which factors explain the relative success of warning coloration and camouflage as antipredator color strategies. Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/4gFFrF7
A white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) decides whether to consume a warningly colored white-barred acraea butterfly (Telchinia encedon).

ALT A white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) decides whether to consume a warningly colored white-barred acraea butterfly (Telchinia encedon).

14
105
14
534
271,511
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Jess Dobson@JesssDob11 Sep 2025
The first paper from my PhD is out 🥳✨
Matthew Shawkey@mdshawkey10 Sep 2025
Iridescence is more common in mammals than thought, and always produced by the same mechanism! New from EON, led by PhD student Jessica Dobson royalsocietypublishing.org/d…

Multilayer thin-film produces recurrent evolution of iridescence in mammals

Abstract. Iridescent coloration is a vibrant structural colour that is widespread in nature, but in mammals is thought to be limited. Although multiple rod

royalsocietypublishing.org
3
9
446
My talk at #eseb2025 is over, but do come and find me if you want to talk (bird) colour!
1
3
170
What a week for our SHARKSense project - wrapped up our first field work in Costa Rica and Friday I'll share some colorful insights on sharks at UCR. Pura vida 🦈
1
3
111
Excited to share my first paper using population #genomic analyses! 🧬💻 Here, we explore the potential role of interspecific admixture during the colonisation of a small island by Italian wall #lizards 🦎🏝️ Spoiler alert: they did it all by themselves! link.springer.com/article/10…

Without the locals’ aid: no evidence for a role of admixture in the colonisation success of Italian...

Oecologia - The successful establishment of small founding populations introduced into novel environments often represents a paradox, given the genetic challenges they face. Genetic admixture,...

link.springer.com
2
1
11
429
Debruyn Gerben retweeted
Matthew Shawkey@mdshawkey2 Jul 2025
Reptile eggs, while less colourful than bird eggs, have more diverse morphologies, including keratin nanofibers thought to enable variable H2O absorption. Here we (led by Yana Maudens) test this hypothesis by making biomimetic eggs of electrospun keratin! sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
7
15
831
Load more