A legend has left us. RiP Brian. Thank you for creating the soundtrack to my formative years. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/a...

I'm sure you've all seen this already but it's too good not to share. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/o...

Hello graduate students! Volunteer travel award applications are due March 21, 2025. In return for working two ~4h shifts, graduate student members of one or more of our societies can receive a rebate equal to 100% of the regular early student member registration fee.

The only small silver lining - quitting Amazon has already been good for my bank balance, and quitting twitter and facebook has been good for my brain.

New, NSF-supported research: Emergent network properties link phenotypic modules to ecomorphological divergence in carnivoran mammals doi.org/10.1016/j.is... Also, check out the beautiful original artwork made by one of the co-authors for this study:

A reminder that we have two open PhD projects on Bayesian phylogenetics in the lab: One with the new TREE Doctoral Landscape Awards: www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/int... (deadline 20th Jan) And another with CSC: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... (deadline 29th Jan)

#SICB2025 isn't over yet, right. #UChicago grad student Menna Jones will be talking about her work exploring modes of habitat dependent functional trait evolution in frogs on Tues morning at 8am in International Salon 5 🐸

I'm so excited to share our range-wide paper on #snowleopard phylogeography & population structure! Representing my PhD work & using the largest sample size & geographic coverage to date, our work fills important knowledge gaps on snow leopard gene flow: rdcu.be/dWNKj 🦊 🧬🧪

Tomorrow means Monday at 10.45am btw

I'm not at #SICB2025, but lab members are. Check out Mags Mercado, talking about "Intraspecific variability in vertebral formulae in marsupials and monotremes" in A601 at 10.45am tomorrow! Mags is defending her proposal this spring and is excited to get feedback!

So excited to see this paper finally published! 🥳 This was the main focus of my PhD and demonstrates the application of model adequacy for models of morphological evolution. 1/n academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...

Huge congratulations to @pollardmd.bsky.social on the publication of his first 1st author paper! Our paper with @sorrywm.bsky.social is out at @genomeresearch.bsky.social I'll do a thread of the main results. 🧪🧬 #evolution #evosky 1/n www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1...

Thinking of starting a PhD on Bayesian phylogenetics next October 2025 in London? 🎓 You may want to check the TREES project led by the dos Reis Lab on integrating morphology and genomes for timetree inference! 🦴🧬💻Project supervisors: @mariodosreis.bsky.social & Ziheng Yang. More info in link 🔽

New pre-print from recent Slater lab graduate Dr David Černý and me, from David's dissertation work - a bayesian least squares supertree method for inference of time-calibrated phylogenies. Feedback much appreciated but here's the motivation.... 🧵

It's graduate school application season, so here's your reminder that nobody should pay for a graduate degree in #ecoevo ! Here's a list of fully funded ecology, evolution, & organismal biology Masters' programs (please share!)! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

For anyone looking for PhDs in the UK starting October 2025 in ecology, evolution, environment etc. The new Doctoral Landscape Awards (DLAs) recently got announced so lots of people will be adverting PhDs with January deadlines. Check out findaphd.com to search for ones that interest you!

New paper from my dissertation! What forelimb traits are actually associated with suspension in primates (fewer than you'd think)? Does it matter how much suspension is used (yes)? How good are we at figuring out function from comparative analyses (not very)? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The Paleobiology Database has landed on Bluesky! ✨ Here we'll be posting database updates, new publications and all things fossil-data-related 🌍🐚 Be sure to check out our website for more info on how to contribute to and use PBDB data as well as loads of other resources! 🦕📊 paleobiodb.org

Bears, for those who care.... a new paper. www.sekj.org/PDF/anz61-fr... Bear Feet with Björn: tarsal evolution in the origin of polar bears. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 61: 357–376.

I'm giving an online talk on "Comparing the age selectivity of modern extinctions with Phanerozoic background and mass extinctions" today for the Mathematics of Mass Extinctions Research Network (Ma(th)ssX). Today 11am EST, 4pm GMT. More info & link here: sites.google.com/view/mathssx... 🧪⚒️ #paleo

I started a #NativesinSTEM starter pack. If you want to be added, tell me a little bit about yourself, including who your people are and what you study go.bsky.app/4hoZMPV @taramcallister.bsky.social I'll try to figure out how to turn this into a feed too.

For those who missed it this week ... A mummified sabertooth cat kitten (Homotherium latidens) from Siberian permafrost. An amazing find!! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

OMG, i f'in love this place and these starter packs! So great for building a community of people with whom you want to interact about things you care about.

Seemed like we need a paleobiology starter pack too (sorry if I missed one), so here's an attempt. Please let me know if I'm missing anyone already on here, or as they show up! All taxa and all time periods/scales welcome

This is a great paper and a really elegant way to explore the "what ifs" of the fossil record. Exciter to see it out!

Today is the 40th anniversary of the first #ancientDNA paper, ever! "DNA sequences from the quagga, an extinct member of the horse family" www.nature.com/articles/312.... The quagga was a subspecies of plains zebra endemic to #SouthAfrica (where I'm from)! #SciSky @aarc-community.bsky.social

Slowly making the switch from egon's shithole to this place. Tips on macroevo, paleo, phylo folks to follow who are already here would be much appreciated!