New paper out in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: we apply linguistic tools to sperm whale vowels. The result: sperm whale vowels do not just look like human vowels. They also behave like them. We found several parallels. Like in Latin, whales have short and long vowels.

From Pisani et al: CAT-GTR is one of the most flexible models in the phylogenomic arsenal. Phylogenomic mixture models outperform homogeneous and partitioned models academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...

Very nice and timely paper on phylogenomic model choice. Strong evidence that mixture models outperform homogeneous and partitioned approaches, with CAT-GTR showing robust performance across conditions. Highly relevant for difficult phylogenetic problems. academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...

Pisani et al. (2026-04, Molecular Biology and Evolution)（オープンアクセス open access） 「ゲノム系統学的混合モデルは，均質モデルと分割モデルよりも優れている」 Phylogenomic mixture models outperform homogeneous and partitioned models academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...

🚨 Why can’t mammals regenerate limbs like frog tadpoles or salamanders? In our new paper in @science.org , we show that species-specific oxygen sensing acts as a gatekeeper for initiating limb regeneration 🐭🐸 🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... #EvoDevo

Apply now to join us in December for our workshop "Rethinking Cell Differentiation and Development: A Unicellular Perspective". This will be an intimate meeting (30 people total) and we hope will be a great place to discuss this topic.

Chromatin plays a central role in gene regulation, but chromatin systems are only known for a few model species. This study analyses chromatin regulatory landscapes in brown algal lineages to elucidate their structural organization and evolution 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Becoming a parent is much more detrimental to women’s academic careers than it is to men’s Read the full story: go.nature.com/4v4rxmQ

🚨New course alert! Registrations are now open for the course: Big Data Phylogeny and Comparative Methods: From Theory to Practice with @martaalvarez.bsky.social & Maria Eleonora Rossi www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...

📣 Call for Abstracts! Working on sex chromosomes? Join us at SMBE 2026 in Copenhagen (28 June–2 July). All taxa, systems, and approaches welcome! ⏰ Deadline: 3 Feb 2026 👉 smbe2026.org/abstracts/

Did you know sponges are among the oldest animals on Earth? They're over half a billion years old! New research has helped to narrow down when they first evolved - and it could reveal more about the first ever animals! Find out more about these marine marvels 👇 www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...

Sponges are notoriously difficult to understand in evolutionary biology terms. I think this paper is a big step forward : www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our work on the evolution of the regulatory genome of echinoderms is now out in @natecoevo.nature.com. Led by my former PhD Marta Magri, Danila Voronov & Saoirse Foley. Great collaboration of Arnone, Hinman & Maeso labs, started long time ago with our missed José Luis Gomez-Skarmeta: rdcu.be/eXX8l

Our latest: Independent origins of spicules reconcile paleontological and molecular evidence of sponge evolutionary history, led by @meleonora-rossi.bsky.social with help from friends @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social including @anariesgo.bsky.social @evopalaeo.bsky.social Davide Pisani and many others

Early sponges lacked [mineralised] skeletons. New paper led by M. Eleonora Rossi. Great to have contributed alongside colleagues from @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social , @nhm-london.bsky.social and @mncn-csic.bsky.social. Read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...