Time-calibrated phylogeny of the family Drosophilidae showing major species groups, surrounded by representative adult flies that highlight the remarkable morphological diversity of this model insect group. The composite image was created using Microsoft PowerPoint. Fly photographs were taken by Darren J. Obbard and are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License with permission.

The #fly community aims to achieve a comprehensive genomic study of the Drosophilidae family. @pankajd.bsky.social @bernardkim.bsky.social @petrovadmitri.bsky.social @darrenobbard.bsky.social present a comparative gene annotation for 301 #Drosophilidae species @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4c3pyrI

Diagram showing the evolutionary relationships among tinamous, a group of superficially partridge-like birds more closely related to ostriches and emus.

Phylogeny of tinamous based on whole-genomes and fossils: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... 🪶🧪 (📷Musher et al.)

The Comparative Analysis of Lineage-Pair Traits Abstract. For many questions in ecology and evolution, the most relevant data to consider are attributes of lineage pairs. Comparative tests for causal rel

Now available in Systematic Biology, a new paper (and R package) in which we outline an approach to account for non-independence in comparative analyses of lineage-pair traits academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...

Postdoctoral Scholar – Genomics, Aging, Somatic Mutation, Structural Variation, Evolution , Cancer – Integrative Biology University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!

The Sudmant lab at UC Berkeley is seeking a postdoc to work on a fully funded NIH project to understand differences in DNA repair and somatic mutation across the primate tree of life. Please spread widely to those who may be interested aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05052

A constellation of dysfunctional hybrid phenotypes enforces reproductive isolation between Caenorhabditis nematode species The evolution of complete reproductive isolation hinges on the cumulative action of reproductive isolating barriers that can manifest throughout the life cycle of an organism. Consequently, a comprehe...

New preprint characterizing diverse hybrid dysfunction phenotypes (sperm, gonads, copulatory structures) despite no detectable pre-zygotic isolation, work led by students Maia Dall'Acqua and Amanda Peak (now with @johnstinchcombe.bsky.social ) #celegans www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

When will hybridization bring long-term benefits? Hybridization between distinct populations injects genetic variation, which can bring fitness benefits. However, these benefits often appear as F1 heterosis, and might not persist into later generatio...

Very excited to dive into this work on time-varying outcomes of hybridization & fitness landscapes by Schneemann and Welch www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Simpson's tachytely or bradytely? The importance of quantifying rate uncertainty The spectacular variation in species forms and richness across space and time can be explored using sophisticated and powerful tools recently developed by evolutionary modellers. In this contribut...

Estimating and understanding sources of uncertainty in diversification rates with Rosana Zenil-Ferguson out in an issue in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reproductive interference alters species coexistence in nematodes due to asymmetric sperm-induced harm Species coexistence is shaped by a range of biotic and abiotic factors. Beyond predation, parasitism, and competition, one species may interfere with another's reproduction to induce sexual exclusion ...

Just accepted #EcologyLetters! Exciting work by recent grad Rebecca Schalkowski with @katjakasimatis.bsky.social and Megan Greischar linking 2 species community coexistence to sperm cell mediated reproductive interference! Preprint here www.authorea.com/users/804447...

PhyloPic PhyloPic is an open database of free silhouette images of animals, plants, and other life forms, available for reuse under Creative Commons licenses. Download silhouettes for use in educational materi...

Ok people. I’m drawing silhouettes this afternoon. If you have a paper coming up and you are in need of a #silhouette please let me know and I will have it ready today. As always I upload all my silhouettes to phylopic.org

I also have tutorials on how to put a silhouette in a plot in R.

Hey BlueSkyers, we’re finalizing a #meta-analysis 📚 on comparative studies examining the link between #SexualSelection and #Speciation. If you have unpublished data or know of studies that might not surface in a systematic search, please reach out - we’d love to include them!

Please share!

Quantitative Genetics of Microbiome Mediated Traits www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12....

Read about "Testing the Mating System Model of Parasite Complex Life Cycle Evolution Reveals Demographically Driven Mixed Mating" by Hulke & Criscione here: www.amnat.org/an/newpapers...

Read the article: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Logo of OrthoHMM, a novel software for HMM-based inference of orthologous groups of genes

Benchmarking analysis of OrthoHMM and previously published algorithms. OrthoHMM has better precision, recall, and FMI scores. Benchmarking was conducted against the Orthobench dataset of expertly curated orthogroups

NEW preprint!🥳

Orthogroups are a prerequisite for comparative genomics and Tree of Life inquiries

Introducing #OrthoHMM, software that improves the inference of orthogroups (blue in fig)

OrthoHMM may refine our understanding of genome evolution and the Tree of Life

🔗 tinyurl.com/4s9mwxz6

🧵 1/8

Does metabolic rate influence genome-wide amino acid composition in the course of animal evolution? Abstract. Natural selection is believed to shape amino acid usage of the proteome by minimizing the energy cost of protein biosynthesis. Although this hypo

Does metabolic rate influence genome-wide amino acid composition in the course of animal evolution?
doi.org/10.1093/evle...

Now in @evolletters.bsky.social by Wei Wang and De-Xing Zhang.

Poem “Academic Indian Job Description: Have To Know,”
by Dr. Cash Ahenakew (Cree)

blogs.ubc.ca/edst/2020/06...

#DisabledinSTEM #BlackInSTEM #LatinxInSTEM
#IndigenousInSTEM #NATIVESINSTEM

The next era of crop domestication starts now | PNAS Current food systems are challenged by relying on a few input-intensive, staple crops. The prioritization of yield and the loss of diversity during...

Increasing crop diversity is likely to be crucial for future food security. Domesticating more types of crops might be one way of achieving that. 🧪
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Achieving that will call for more collaboration, exchange, and a bit of opening to new things.

Slartibartfast meeting Arthur Dent, as depicted in the BBC television adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

How I landed on Bluesky