Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 2d

Glad to see a study like this! I feel like we've been wondering about this for years haha The results don't really surprise me...but it'd be a cool to see a version with trait evolution dynamics.

bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 2d

Tip rate estimates can predict future diversification, but are unreliable and context dependent https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.06.680809v1

Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Josef Uyeda @pseudacris.bsky.social · 7d

Master's degree position at Towson University with Daniel Caetano on macroevolutionary and phylogenetic comparative methods! Daniel is an awesome human and a great mentor, share with your students!
caetanods.weebly.com/join-the-lab...

Join the lab

The Caetano lab at Towson University (Maryland, USA) is seeking a Master's degree student to start in Fall 2026. A Research Assistant (RA) position is available to the student during part (or all) of....

caetanods.weebly.com

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Michael Paarlberg @mpaarlberg.bsky.social · 10d

I think the Trump admin assumed no one would try to find out who the people on the boats they blew up really were

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 13d

Oh God, am I in the minority for getting into it in the last 5 years? Cumbersome as hell sometimes, but I've just found it so useful for math typesetting and more "programmatic" formatting/generation of figures, tables, etc.

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Dr. Elizabeth Santos @lizmillermacroevo.bsky.social · 13d

2nd year grad students are no longer eligible to apply. Currently enrolled grad students must be in their first year, whether in a MS, BS-MS, or Ph.D.

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 13d

Damn, that would've been devastating to me at that stage. 😢

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 19d

Probably better if I had to pick, but it's a loooooow bar!

Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 19d

I am irrationally bothered by "ICE law enforcement". I guess, first off, because it feels like a feeble attempt to further blur the line between ICE and actual police. But also just because "immigration customs and enforcement law enforcement" is like the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 23d

Today, the UN officially designated Israel’s assault on Gaza as a genocide.

As a party to the Genocide Convention, the U.S. has a legal obligation to obey our own laws, stop weapons sales to Israel, and demand a permanent ceasefire.

End the genocide. Ceasefire now.

257. The Commission recommends that all Member States:
(a) Employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent the commission of genocide in the Gaza Strip;
(b) Cease the transfer of arms and other equipment or items, including jet fuel, to the State of Israel or third States where there is reason to suspect their use in military operations that have involved or could involve the commission of genocide;
(c) Ensure individuals and corporations in their territories and within their jurisdiction are not involved in the commission of genocide, aiding and assisting the commission of genocide or incitement to commit genocide and investigate and prosecute those who may be implicated in these crimes under international law;
(d) Facilitate the investigations and domestic proceedings and take action (including imposing sanctions) against the State of Israel and against individuals or corporations that are involved in or facilitating the commission of genocide or incitement to commit genocide;
(e) Cooperate with the investigation of the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
258. The Commission recommends that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court:
(a) Examine, within its continuing investigation in the Situation in the State of Palestine, the crime of genocide for amendment to existing arrest warrants and addition to future application for arrest warrants;
(b) Examine the involvement of officials mentioned in this report for inclusion as those most responsible for international crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory.

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

jenn m. jackson @jennmjacksonphd.bsky.social · 24d

When I was placed on the Professor Watchlist in 2021, people sent death threats about my children. I had security officers monitor my 8yo at school.

Where is all the outrage for those of us who have been targeted for years? Where is the outrage for our families?

My own colleagues are silent.

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 25d

Ha! Confirmation bias can be a bitch sometimes, eh? :)

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 25d

The whole nature vs nurture, innate vs acquired framework is so oversimplified and really breaks down under scrutiny, in my opinion. There's so much cultural baggage around these topics that I get why folks might be hesitant to discuss the full nuance of it all, though...

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 25d

That's fascinating! I'm a lefty with a lefty father, so I always just accepted the "genetically controlled, culturally suppressed until recently" narrative without skepticism. The dangerous allure of annecdotal evidence, I guess...

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

tomomi parins-fukuchi @tomopfuku.bsky.social · 27d

I am recruiting a PhD student this application cycle to explore questions on the evolution of morphological variation and phylogenetics. I'm especially seeking folks interested in fossil marine inverts. Please reach out to me if interested! Portal opens Nov. 1 eeb.utoronto.ca/education/gr...

Admissions - Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Resources For More Information Please contact: [email protected]

eeb.utoronto.ca

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Camille Roux @crouxevo.bsky.social · 28d

Hybridization and introgression are major evolutionary processes. Since the 1940s, the prevailing view has been that they shape plants far more than animals. In our new study (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
), we find the opposite: animals exchange genes more, and for longer, than plants

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · 28d

Well that seems useful!

Patrick McKenzie @patrickmckenzie.bsky.social · 28d

super excited to share this big project with @daeaton.bsky.social out now in Systematic Biology! We derived distributions for -- given an arbitrary species tree model -- how far you have to move along a genome before observing a change in the underlying genealogy: doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

Estimating waiting distances between genealogy changes under a Multi-Species Extension of the Sequentially Markov Coalescent

Abstract. Genomes are composed of a mosaic of segments inherited from different ancestors, each separated by past recombination events. Consequently, genea

doi.org

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Jim Leebens-Mack @jleebensmack.bsky.social · 28d

Analyses of a new genomes for garden asparagus and a Mediterranean basin congener reveal independent origins of dioecy and XY sex chromosomes. The work led by Phil Bentz @pbentz.bsky.social finds no overlap in the two Y-linked sex-determination genes - www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... .

Two independent origins of XY sex chromosomes in Asparagus

The relatively young and repeated evolutionary origins of dioecy (separate sexes) in flowering plants enable investigation of molecular dynamics occurring at the earliest stages of sex chromosome evol...

www.biorxiv.org

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · Sep 8

Well that's some of the coolest wildlife footage I've seen in a while

Jean-François Cudennec @jfcudennec.bsky.social · Sep 8

Just wow 😵‍💫

#MolluscMonday

Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

tomomi parins-fukuchi @tomopfuku.bsky.social · Sep 5

Excited to share a new paper! "Sorting of ancestral polymorphism and its impact on morphological phylogenetics and macroevolution". Part of some work I've been doing on modelling the evolution of polymorphic traits in fossil echinoderms.

academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...

Sorting of ancestral polymorphism and its impact on morphological phylogenetics and macroevolution

Abstract. Intraspecific phenotypic variation provides the basic substrate upon which the evolutionary processes that give rise to morphological innovation,

academic.oup.com

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

James Balamuta @coatless.bsky.social · Sep 4

Prototyping #rshiny apps to native #electron desktop apps:

shinyelectron::export() → #rshinylive conversion → .dmg → Native Mac app

Zero #rstats dependencies for end users! Early days but promising 👀

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Bruce Stagg Martin @bstaggmartin.bsky.social · Sep 2

Looks like a goodie!

Jesús Martínez-Gómez @jesusgm.bsky.social · Sep 2

Almost 10 years ago Smith and Baum's textbook introduced me to Phylogenetic Comparative Methods.

We now have our own review on PCM! Come for history, traits and spicy takes!

We welcome any comments/ concerns/ jokes!

@tribblelab.bsky.social @crothfels.bsky.social and MRM!

doi.org/10.32942/X28...

doi.org

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Tanja Slotte @tanjaslotte.bsky.social · Sep 2

*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University*
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5

su.varbi.com/what:job/job...

Purple pollen visible in a dissected flower of Linum grandiflorum, flowering flax, an insect-pollinated species.

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Tom Radomski @tomradomski.bsky.social · Sep 2

Excited to have this paper out!
Ecological models of geographic range limits, thoughts on testing them, and sorting out some ideas that might have actually been confusing us for a while.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

The ecology of geographic range limits

Identifying processes underlying species' geographic range limits is currently at the forefront of ecological research, in part due to increasing attention to climate change effects on the distributi...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Bruce Stagg Martin

Emily Troyer @fishfetisher.bsky.social · Sep 1

Excited to announce that the 1st paper from my postdoc is now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social ! Using a large dataset of 3D preserved fossils, we explore the diversification of jaws in early bony fishes. 1/15
www.cell.com/current-biol...

Macroevolutionary role reversals in the earliest radiation of bony fishes

Troyer et al. examine lower jaw evolution in Silurian-Devonian bony fishes and find substantial differences in patterns of morphological disparity, rates of shape evolution, and functional diversity b...

www.cell.com

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