We are delighted to announce that this year's Founders' Lecture will be delivered by Prof. @emmateeling.bsky.social, University College Dublin! TITLE: Bats: Genomes, phylogenies, fossils and cures? WHEN: Friday, October 24th at 6PM WHERE: Burlington House, London JOIN US: tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8

Always nice to see an old friend. Now to find what shenanigans are afoot this time. 🤓

Last chance to join us next month for the #Biodiversity25 conference. A fantastic set of speakers, mix of talks & focused workshops, and the chance to meet others in the field of biodiversity genomics 🧬 In-person registration closes next Monday 29th September! Registration 🔗: bit.ly/4j3vAZ9

We are nearly ready to announce this year's Founders' Lecture speaker! In the meantime time check out @maxjtelford.bsky.social's 2024 lecture: 'Are we really more closely related to starfish than to earthworms?' www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSR5...

Oh look, they're at it again... www.theportugalnews.com/news/2025-09...

My review of the evidence (morphological, embryological and molecular) for the deuterostomes clade is now available. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Keep your eyes peeled, this year's edition of the Young Systematists' Forum approaches! When: Nov 14 2025 Where: Online! We will open registration and abstract submission soon! Stay up to date here: systass.org/young-system...

Not sure I like the look of these clouds...

Ah, the one time I want a delivery to be late, it is on track to arrive ahead of time... Guess I'll be starring at the box for the better part of a month 🛥️

Ooof, this hurts! ⛵ cdn.theoceanrace.com/images/m1825...

I'm disappointed it took me so long to notice something rather apt... So, I abbreviated Bos taurus to BOSTA (phylip format and all), which in my first language just so happens to mean cowpat... Not that anyone uses its literal meaning, we mostly use it as the mildest faeces-related swear word 😂

Fresh off the presses in @currentbiology.bsky.social : Is the deuterostome clade an artefact? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... We (yours truly, Paschalis Natsidis, Laura Piovani and co-leads Paschalia Kapli and @maxjtelford.bsky.social) set out to try to answer this question. Why? (1/12)

Summary thread coming later today!

It's official! All thesis chapters are individually citable! (One still needs to go through peer-review though 😅) Dealing with systematic errors arising from missing data, this is fresh off the press: doi.org/10.1093/sysb... Psst, we also have a new comprehensive caecilian phylogeny! 1/4 🧵

Tons of reading + nice weather + no wind = working outside! Haven't done this in a while...

Dear predatory journals, conferences, etc., Please stop sending me 'invites' for forestry and silviculture things! Despite my last name, those ain't the trees I work with! (At least these 'invites' make more sense than the hepatology ones...) Sincerely, Someone with far too many email accounts!

OOH, sudden influx of new followers! 👋 Where did you lot come from?

Final days to register join us, the @linneansociety.bsky.social and our wonderful panelists for a discussion on how increasingly politicised media is affecting biodiversity conservation! Thursday, June 12 at 18:00 BST, Burlington House, London Register: tinyurl.com/e8e4p5zt

Tired of politicised media discourse? Unsure of how it is affecting boots on the ground science? Then join us and the @linneansociety.bsky.social at Burlington House NEXT THURSDAY JUNE 12 AT 6PM for an in-person evening debate on misinformation and conservation! Register! tinyurl.com/e8e4p5zt

Just over a week left to register to join us (@systassn.bsky.social and @linneansociety.bsky.social) for an in-person evening debate on the effects of misinformation on conservation efforts! When: Thurs, June 12 at 18:00 BST Where: Burlington House, London How: tinyurl.com/e8e4p5zt

Bando de míopes ressabiados, irra!

Amazing how saying you've owned an item for almost a quarter century immediately stymies any attempts at dissuasion. I don't care that I can get a new hat for less than it costs to reline my old one! That hat's given me a dozen winters of a dry and warm head! Humph! Now to await the repairs...

In a time of increasingly polarised discourse, join us (@systassn.bsky.social and @linneansociety.bsky.social) for an in-person evening debate on the effects of misinformation on conservation efforts! When: Thurs, June 12 at 18:00 BST Where: Burlington House, London How: tinyurl.com/e8e4p5zt

How is misinformation threatening efforts to preserve biodiversity? Join us (@linneansociety.bsky.social and @systassn.bsky.social) on Thursday, June 12th 6PM at Burlington House, London for a panel discussion on the effects of polarised mass communication on conservation. tinyurl.com/e8e4p5zt

Some days I hate taxonomy... Apparently, Polyzoa is both a superphyletic named clade containing Bryozoa and Entoprocta (maybe Cycliophora too) AND a valid tunicate genus...

FYI for some of the more recent followers, if the follow wasn't a mistake 👋 But if, as suspected, you're looking for the Ana Silva working on epidemiology that ain't me! And, while I'm here, only 🇵🇹 and 🇬🇧 politics might be snarked at on record... I can actually vote in these two...

Yes, I can finally read Part III! And, based on Parts I and II alone, it is certainly worth the read.

Dropping something at the Post Office means having this running on a loop (and humming it, apologies!) for the whole day ⬇️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU5x...

Anyone know of a good 'Mind Reading 101' programme? Seems I missed the memo that it is a required skill for workshop organising...

My first view of the finished book. The Tree of Life. #treeoflife @johnmurrays.bsky.social. Out 24th April. Can preorder now from all good bookshops. And please feel free to Repost!! (Sound up to hear me make a weird high pitched wookie growl.)

If I read 'monophyletic clade' one more time today, I might just blow a gasket...

Nothing quite like having to use prior work for a different project to get one's a*** in gear and make it citable! If anyone wants to explore topological heterogeneity in the supertree context, please go on ahead.

Oooh! There's a decision on a paper I was be third reviewer on.

Final day! You have until 23:59 GMT+0 March 10 to apply yo the LinneSys scheme. We (@systassn.bsky.social and @linneansociety.bsky.social) provide up to 1500GBP for taxonomy and/or systematics projects. You just need to be a member to apply. Apply TODAY: systass.org/linnesys/

Seriously considering the benefits of a human-sized hamster ball... Three bloody pigeons flew into me today! Three! Separately!

📢4 DAYS LEFT TO APPLY TO THE LINNESYS SCHEME Deadline 10th at 23:59 GMT+0 We (@systassn.bsky.social and @linneansociety.bsky.social) provide up to 1500GBP for taxonomy and systematics projects. All you need is to be a member of either society and write an A4 page proposal! systass.org/linnesys/

THERE'S STILL TIME TO APPLY TO THE LINNESYS SCHEME! YOU HAVE 6 DAYS, GET TYPING! We offer up to 1500GBP for systematics/taxonomy-based projects. Join the @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social and apply! systass.org/linnesys/

Anyone know if, name aside, there is any connection between Sabina's 'El Boulevard de los suenos rotos' (no diacritics in keyboard) and Green Day's 'Boulevard of broken dreams'? Should probably switch to instrumentals, this was so not the plan when I sat down to write...

Looking for funds for a small systematics-focused project? You have until 23:59 GMT+0 MONDAY, MARCH 10TH to apply to the LinneSys scheme! You can apply for up to 1500GBP, you just need to be a member of @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social! Details here: systass.org/linnesys/

Are you a student interested in Bayesian phylogenetics? Student travel bursary applications to attend our (@systassn.bsky.social, SRUK/CERU) in-person workshop are open till 5PM GMT+0 MONDAY, MARCH 3RD!!! Everyone else has until Friday, March 14th to register. systass.org/workshop-bay...

Applications open! The LinneSys grant supports small-scale research and education projects in the fields of taxonomy and systematics on any organism group with grants of up to £1,500. Follow the link below! www.linnean.org/the-... @systassn.bsky.social

We are organising an in-person Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop, in partnership with SRUK/CERU. When: April 29-30, 2025 Where: University College London There are limited places, so please pre-register by March 14th!!! Find more details here: systass.org/workshop-bay...

The LinneSys call is open! Deadline: March 10th, 23:59PM GMT+0 All you need is a systematics-based proposal and to be a member of the @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social! Don't leave membership applications to the last minute! Apply: systass.org/linnesys/

🥳 After spending years looking for a copy of the 1st or 2nd editions of 'Cladistics' in reasonable condition (and price...), I've completed the set of both 'Cladistics' and 'Biological Systematics' 🤓 (And now I know what the 'removed from stock' stamps of two London libraries look like!)

The 2025 LinneSys call is open! Need funding for a systematics-based project? Details on eligibity and how to apply here: systass.org/linnesys/ You need an active @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social membership to apply! Applications close Monday, 10th March at 23:59 GMT+0

Not sure whether it is a good sign that it took me the whole day to figure out that the occasional dripping sounds I was hearing were from 'Hotel California' playing on loop...

Aos compinchas do Norte, se eu quiser uma cerveja de pressão com 30cL o que é que eu peço? Já é a segunda vez que peço uma tulipa e acabo a ter de pedir um fino...

That's a nice view from the train. And now back to houses in need of a serious coat of paint.

Fingertips gone but definitely worth it. 🤓

Have you registered for tomorrow's online President's Lecture? From 3PM GMT+0 we will announce the YSF winners and our outgoing president, Pablo Muñoz-Rodríguez, will talk on 'Systematics in Transition: Reflections and Ideas for the Future' Register: forms.gle/RB4MKZLzJcZk...