@kztwyman.bsky.social & @andygardner.bsky.social mathematically connect the dynamics of natural selection to optimisation to provide formal justification for viewing obligately eusocial colonies as adaptive individuals in their own right—that is, superorganism: doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

Parent-offspring conflict over sex determination in non-Mendelian systems https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.26.690632v1

Two other members of the research group have successfully made it to @eseb2025.bsky.social ahead of me. Look out for @kztwyman.bsky.social, whose poster "A formal theory of group-level adaptation for obligate eusociality" (P01.068) is in this evening's session.

Our latest preprint explores the evolution of the primate amylase locus, uncovering structural innovations, regulatory shifts and molecular convergence. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Mrnjavac et al. reevaluate arguments against Muller's hypothesis, and find that they do not conclusively exclude a role for sheltering in sex chromosome evolution. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf177 #evobio #molbio

Happy to share our latest article, led by Tee Muirhead, now out in PNAS! We report the evolutionary genomics of the newly discovered neo-sex chromosomes in Myzomela — involving translocation, inversions & degeneration on the neo-W. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Outreach volunteers sought! @imprintedgene.bsky.social and I will host “Breaking Bread: Exploring the Evolution of Amylase in humans” at Festa Major de Gràcia, Barcelona (16 Aug, 19:00). We need 1-2 volunteers (ES/EN) for visitor guidance and on-site translation. Please DM or email me if interested.

New paper: "Faster adaptation but slower divergence of X chromosomes under paternal genome elimination" (Open Access) w/ Robert Baird, @imprintedgene.bsky.social‬, Jan Ševčík, Katy Monteith, @laurarossevo.bsky.social‬ & @ajmongue.bsky.social‬ www.nature.com/articles/s41... ‪@natcomms.nature.com‬

Talks by: @tatianagiraud.bsky.social‬ Bo Xu @vincentcastric.bsky.social @wenjuanma84.bsky.social‬ Sha Sun Pengfei Wu Robert Baird Jing Liu @imprintedgene.bsky.social‬ Deborah Charlesworth

Abstracts for @eseb2025.bsky.social due next week! Milk, ejaculates, skin secretions, regurgitate, microbes ...our symposium will have it all, with invited speakers @berasymbionts.bsky.social and @jennyperry.bsky.social ...and you? Organised w/ @joriskoene.bsky.social and @wolfnerlab.bsky.social

Now available for preorder! The Paradox of the Organism: Adaptation and Internal Conflict, edited by me and Manus Patten, will be published by @harvardpress.bsky.social this fall. Cover coming soon.

The man who sent Japan's cherry blossoms out to the world: "If my cherries can help spread some happiness and avoid war, then it’s all worthwhile, and I can sleep soundly."

Registration is open for the Internal Conflicts STN Workshop at ESEB 2025 on August 17 in Barcelona. Free registration includes lunch. More info: https://internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/workshop-ii/ #workshop

Ever wondered why you too should publish in @jevbio.bsky.social? Wonder no more, we have the answers for you (in case you didn’t know already):

Octo-squid-nautiloid sex chromosomes! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

1/7 Very happy to share our latest paper on the joint evolution of separate sexes and sexual dimorphism in @jevbio.bsky.social, led by @thomaslesaffre.bsky.social and in collaboration with John Pannell at @dee-unil.bsky.social 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voae136

Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution provides full support— registration, travel, lodging, meals— and mentoring for students to attend the Evolution 2025 meeting in Athens, Georgia this summer! Applications are due Monday, submit yours here:

New paper: "Kin competition drives the evolution of earlier metamorphosis", with @bingdongevo.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

*Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation* Join us on Thursday, 9am Eastern, for a history special in our STN lecture series! Jack Werren and Bengt Olle Bengtsson will reflect on their many years of working on genetic conflicts.

New paper on "Patterns of paternity: insights into mating competition and gene flow in a recovering population of humpback whales." 🐋🧬 royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @emma-carroll.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social 1/8

Tie that binds - Hill-Robertson Interference can produce signals of sexual antagonism even in the absence of sexually antagonistic selection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.08.632022v1

My second paper, written with @geoffwild.bsky.social, has been published in @journal-evo.bsky.social ! Title: Selective advantage of redirected helping in a viscous population: doi.org/10.1093/evol....

🚨JOB 🚨Would a title "Professor of Life History Evolution" suit you? If yes... Become a colleague of us here in Mainz! I am happy to provide more information if this intrigues you. cms.zdv.uni-mainz.de/karriere/wp-...

Temporal Dynamics of Faster Neo-Z Evolution in Butterflies https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.19.572367v1

One-week international workshop on evolution June 22-29 in the Swiss Alps for Master's & early PhD students. Application due 28 January 2024. I've co-taught the course several times (but not this time), and it's a terrific format and beautiful location. www.evolution.unibas.ch/teaching/gua...

Do deleterious mutations promote the evolution of recombination suppression between X and Y chromosomes? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Our new paper on sexual antagonism in sequential hermaphrodites has now been published! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....

Hi all, The annual (57th) Population Genetics group conference will be hosted in St Andrews this year (8-10th of Jan 24) General info, plenary speakers, registration and abstract submission can be found here: www.populationgeneticsgroup.org.uk We hope to see you there in the new year! :)

It's online y'all! Let the discussions, arguments, and criticism commence (well, really, "continue" - I am already getting emails!) @AIBSbiology academic.oup.com/bioscience/a... Contact me if you don't have access through your institution.

If anyone fancies doing a PhD in Scotland, I'm recruiting! Open to international applicants, deadline Nov 27. One project on mammal morphology macroevolution: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... One project on nest building (led by Sue Healy, St Andrews): www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

bioRxiv goes big on Bluesky: accounts for all subject categories now available (Please Reskeet) connect.biorxiv.org/news/2023/09...