The genomes of Roots and Relicts help understand the evolution of sibling lineages. Wang et al 2016 looked at gene expression for ovules and leaves in Ginkgo and find common mechanisms in genes expressed in the ovule related to flowering genes in angiosperms #RIP #2025MMM doi.org/10.1007/s112...

Polar bears and brown bears are close relatives but have very different diets! Polar bears (which eat mostly seals) have fewer copies of the gene AMY1B (important in starch digestion!) relative to brown bears (which consume plants for >70% of their diet). #2025MMM doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1901093116

Guo et al 2016 sequenced the ginkgo mitochondrial genomes to look at common features of gymnosperms. The Ginkgo mitogenome is relatively small, have low substitution rates, and possess numerous genes, introns, and edit sites; all present in the ancestral seed plant. doi.org/10.1093/molb... #2025MMM

Should geladas be divided into 2 species? Chiou et al. found that Northern geladas (2n = 44) have a fission of chromosome 7 compared with Central geladas (2n = 42) & all other papionins! This may affect gene flow within geladas! #2025MMM #RIP doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Caldon et al. (2024) sequenced genomes from the 3 major gelada pops (north, central & south) & found S pops have + pancreatic amylase gene copy #. More tuber consumption when grass is scarce may serve selection pressure for more efficient processing of starchy food! #2025MMM doi.org/10.1111/mec....

Genome sequencing confirms that pumas colonized N. America from S. America ~100-300mya. However, fragmentation has left many N. American pops w/ low diversity and long ROH (signature of recent and severe inbreeding). #2025MMM www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Tonight I'll be skeeting cool genetics & evolution facts about our amazing final combatants of #2025MMM! Skeets written by @elliecat.bsky.social @afogel29.bsky.social @acstone.bsky.social and @fervillanea.bsky.social

Great White Pelicans have high effective population sizes and gene flow, buffering against genetic erosion. Their high heterozygosity suggests that, at least in Africa, they retain robust genetic variation crucial for adaptability. #2025MMM #RIP doi.org/10.1093/jher...

Horseshoe crabs had 3 whole-genome duplications ~135 Mya, but their ties to arachnids remain unclear. Genomes of C. rotundicauda & T. tridentatus show syntenic Hox links to spiders & scorpions, fueling debate on whether they’re marine arachnids or an old sister taxa #2025MMM doi.org/10.1038/s420...

Fossils show pelicans have existed since at least the early Oligocene; the oldest Pelecanus fossil is ~30 Mya, supporting deep genetic divergences among modern species. Despite spanning Africa, Europe & Asia, their DNA shows little population structure. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1016/j.ym...

Martin et al 2018 whole genome data found four distinct and well-structured populations of Platypus. They find population trajectories at their lowest numbers at the most recent time. This is consistent with a decline in platypus numbers across Australia #2025MMM #RIP doi.org/10.1093/molb...

Zhou et al 2021 sequenced the complete genome of the Platypus and Echidna and find a surprise. Monotremes have 5 pairs of sex chromosomes which have a different origin from the other mammal sex chromosomes, instead being closely related to bird autosomes doi.org/10.1038/s415... #2025MMM

Plastron shape and color suggest three lineages of Forest Tortoise, but Kundu et al 2018 found that mitochondrial lineages are shallow, that is, there is no evidence of deep lineages within the species despite the morphological differences #2025MMM doi.org/10.1080/2380...

Vörös et al 2019 find that genetic diversity for 4 cave populations of Olm in Croatia is low, but genetic differentiation between the 4 populations was very high, implying these might be separate species that have not admixed in millions of years #2025MMM #RIP doi.org/10.1093/jher...

The Olm genome is of great interest but it remains unsequenced due to its large size. Kostanjšek et al 2021 estimate a size of ~50 Giga base pairs, comparable to the largest sequenced animal genomes so far: lungfishes and axolotl. The human genome is only 3.2 Gpb. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1111/nyas...

Assembling a new genome is difficult, normally we use the genome of a close species as a template, but relicts don't have close species. Olsen et al 2011 find a workaround to get some genetic data for the ringed seal until we have a complete genome #2025MMM doi.org/10.1111/j.17...

The core proteins of PSII predated the Great Oxygenation Event (~2.3 Ga). Most cyanobacterial lineages, including chloroplast ancestors, diversified later, with planktonic cyanobacteria rising to dominance by the Precambrian’s end, shaping Earth's carbon cycle #2025MMM #RIP 10.1016/j.tim.2021.05.008

Polar lakes are dominated by Cyanobacteria, yet few polar genomes have been sequenced. Using genome-resolved metagenomics, 37 MAGs were recovered from Arctic, sub-Antarctic, and Antarctic mats, revealing 17 species, including a novel cold-adapted lineage. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1099/mgen...

Evolutionary stasis occurs when lineages show little phenotypic change. Gars were found to have one of the lowest substitution rates among jawed vertebrates. Two gar species, diverged for over 100 my, were shown to hybridize—the oldest known case in eukaryotes #2025MMM doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Mudskippers famously “walk” on land using their front fins. Genome scans identified changes in certain Hox genes and show unique indels in a limb-related transcription factor gene (Tbx2) as well as modifications in genes involved in fin ray formation. #2025MMM #RIP

Mudskippers have evolved visual adaptations for seeing in air. Comparative genomics showed that certain vision-related genes, like aanat1a, LWS1 and LWS2, are lost or altered in P. schlosseri, aligning with its need for aerial vision #2025MMM​ doi.org/10.3390/ani8...

Despite being members of the same species, two populations of Coelocanths in eastern Indonesia (Latimeria menadoensis) were 13 million years diverged. Isolation of these two populations is likely biogeographical in response to oceanic currents. #2025MMM doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Tonight I'll be posting fun genetic facts about our awesome competitors in #2025MMM

People keep saying "I can easily tell when students use LLMs". People are wrong.

AI's ability to have personalized and dialogue based conversation might be more effective than other methods to counter misinformation. Very exciting work and related to the ideas being tested by @ismaharif.bsky.social at @mediamosaiclab.bsky.social

OK folks this is my first announcement of a lab publication on Bluesky: Congrats to PhD Candidate Rashika Ranasinghe on today's publication of her paper "Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three-Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island." Happy holidays! doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

I'm very happy to announce I just published a paper from my post doc with Gavin Thomas in @natureecoevo.bsky.social! So if you're interested in #macroevolution, #phylogenetics and sexual size dimorphism (SSD), strap in doi.org/10.1038/s415...

the feds: stop trying to turn this guy into some cool antihero with a badass public image also the feds: *treat him like they’ve captured the joker*

Decades after her mother became the first Brazilian actress to be nominated for an Academy Award and lost, Fernanda Torres may have a chance to win for her role in “I’m Still Here.” nyti.ms/3DqTf6E