Carlota Galán-Plana
@carlotagalanplana.bsky.social
Behavior, evolution and genomes of social mammals🐒🧬
PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Come and join our lab! We have TWO fully funded PhD positions AND a paid field assistant opportunity in our Behavioral Ecology group @uni-goettingen.de & @primatenzentrum.bsky.social. Projects will be part of @rtg2906-curiosity.bsky.social & @sfb1528.bsky.social!!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
November 25, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Come and join our lab! We have TWO fully funded PhD positions AND a paid field assistant opportunity in our Behavioral Ecology group @uni-goettingen.de & @primatenzentrum.bsky.social. Projects will be part of @rtg2906-curiosity.bsky.social & @sfb1528.bsky.social!!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
Details in thread. Please re-post!
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
November 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Two weeks ago now @jennytung.bsky.social and I published a new review in Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, entitled “Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems.” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A thread below...
A thread below...
Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems
Immune genes show remarkably consistent evidence of selection, modification, and diversification across the tree of life. Parasites are a key force in…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Two weeks ago now @jennytung.bsky.social and I published a new review in Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, entitled “Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems.” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A thread below...
A thread below...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Paper out now: A curated dataset of the great ape genome diversity!
rdcu.be/eQLCi
rdcu.be/eQLCi
A curated dataset of great ape genome diversity
Scientific Data - A curated dataset of great ape genome diversity
rdcu.be
November 19, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Paper out now: A curated dataset of the great ape genome diversity!
rdcu.be/eQLCi
rdcu.be/eQLCi
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Microevolutionary consequences of social structure in wild spotted hyenas
doi.org/10.32942/X2Z...
doi.org/10.32942/X2Z...
November 15, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Microevolutionary consequences of social structure in wild spotted hyenas
doi.org/10.32942/X2Z...
doi.org/10.32942/X2Z...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
www.eva.mpg.de
November 13, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.
All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
🧵🚀 A rewarding Ph.D. chapter at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology! I've been here for the ARTEMIS Mentorship Fellowship, a Max Planck Society program supporting African doctoral candidates.
November 3, 2025 at 12:04 PM
🧵🚀 A rewarding Ph.D. chapter at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology! I've been here for the ARTEMIS Mentorship Fellowship, a Max Planck Society program supporting African doctoral candidates.
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito
Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...
www.science.org
October 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.
🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Low-coverage sequencing (LCS) + genotype imputation is a cost-effective approach to genotype hundreds of samples at a full-genome level. But how do different imputation tools perform across populations with varying relatedness and inbreeding?
October 4, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Low-coverage sequencing (LCS) + genotype imputation is a cost-effective approach to genotype hundreds of samples at a full-genome level. But how do different imputation tools perform across populations with varying relatedness and inbreeding?
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
As a primatologist, Jane Goodall was a huge inspiration to me. I admired the way she describes chimpanzee behavior with such detail and empathy, and she’s inspired so many people and advocated for chimpanzee conservation and welfare.
However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)
However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)
October 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM
As a primatologist, Jane Goodall was a huge inspiration to me. I admired the way she describes chimpanzee behavior with such detail and empathy, and she’s inspired so many people and advocated for chimpanzee conservation and welfare.
However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)
However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
There is a very nice documentary about the ancient Saxons on Arte and YouTube available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzwMzEEnKEE
It features our genetic study from 2022 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05247-2), with prominent interviews of lead authors Joscha Gretzinger and […]
It features our genetic study from 2022 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05247-2), with prominent interviews of lead authors Joscha Gretzinger and […]
Original post on ecoevo.social
ecoevo.social
September 9, 2025 at 7:20 AM
There is a very nice documentary about the ancient Saxons on Arte and YouTube available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzwMzEEnKEE
It features our genetic study from 2022 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05247-2), with prominent interviews of lead authors Joscha Gretzinger and […]
It features our genetic study from 2022 (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05247-2), with prominent interviews of lead authors Joscha Gretzinger and […]
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Daughters who have strong relationships with their fathers live longer in adulthood! Check out the latest paper from the Amboseli Baboon Project: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Early-life paternal relationships predict adult female survival in wild baboons | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Parent–offspring relationships can have profound effects on offspring behaviour, health
and fitness in adulthood. These effects are strong when parents make heavy investments
in offspring care. Howeve...
royalsocietypublishing.org
June 18, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Daughters who have strong relationships with their fathers live longer in adulthood! Check out the latest paper from the Amboseli Baboon Project: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
I'm happy to (finally) share the last chapter of my dissertation work. Focusing on DNA methylation levels, we show that admixture increases gene regulatory variation within the Amboseli baboon population.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
August 15, 2025 at 4:23 PM
I'm happy to (finally) share the last chapter of my dissertation work. Focusing on DNA methylation levels, we show that admixture increases gene regulatory variation within the Amboseli baboon population.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
We are excited for the interdisciplinary workshop at the University of Ghana starting next week! Supported by the Bridging Minds Program @maxplanck.de, organized by researchers from MPI-EVA, including @hannahrausch.bsky.social and @mariepadberg.bsky.social. More info:
www.eva.mpg.de/events/2025-...
www.eva.mpg.de/events/2025-...
2025-Bridging Minds - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
www.eva.mpg.de
September 8, 2025 at 9:12 AM
We are excited for the interdisciplinary workshop at the University of Ghana starting next week! Supported by the Bridging Minds Program @maxplanck.de, organized by researchers from MPI-EVA, including @hannahrausch.bsky.social and @mariepadberg.bsky.social. More info:
www.eva.mpg.de/events/2025-...
www.eva.mpg.de/events/2025-...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
We’re offering a fully funded 4 yr PhD position to work on Sexual selection in complex environments at the @uv.es. Co-supervised by @dbergerbiol.bsky.social. Find details below 👇
September 1, 2025 at 1:25 PM
We’re offering a fully funded 4 yr PhD position to work on Sexual selection in complex environments at the @uv.es. Co-supervised by @dbergerbiol.bsky.social. Find details below 👇
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Immune genetic and disease surveillance of a wild meerkat population over 20 years shows that tuberculosis imposes strong pathogen-mediated balancing selection on major histocompatibility complex and identifies underlying mechanisms
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Twenty years of tuberculosis-driven selection shaped the evolution of the meerkat major histocompatibility complex - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Immune genetic and disease surveillance of a wild meerkat population over 20 years shows that tuberculosis imposes strong pathogen-mediated balancing selection on the meerkats’ major histocompatibilit...
www.nature.com
August 25, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Immune genetic and disease surveillance of a wild meerkat population over 20 years shows that tuberculosis imposes strong pathogen-mediated balancing selection on major histocompatibility complex and identifies underlying mechanisms
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Pre-print now out on bioRxiv! If you saw my talk at #eseb and want more info, here it is:
Growth effects and the underlying genetic architecture of inbreeding depression in a wild raptor https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.17.670740v1
August 25, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Pre-print now out on bioRxiv! If you saw my talk at #eseb and want more info, here it is:
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Navigating #motherhood and academia:
Attending our 1st conference #ESEB2025 as a family with our 10mo baby.
I am disappointed with the organization for not providing childcare for <3yo babies.
Academia should do better for the ✨inclusivity✨ of (lactant) mothers.
See you in P03.148 on thursday!
Attending our 1st conference #ESEB2025 as a family with our 10mo baby.
I am disappointed with the organization for not providing childcare for <3yo babies.
Academia should do better for the ✨inclusivity✨ of (lactant) mothers.
See you in P03.148 on thursday!
📌 Museomics symposium
Claudia Fontsere — Poster P03.148 (Thu)
From almost extinct to rescued? Temporal dynamics of genomic erosion after demographic recovery
Claudia Fontsere — Poster P03.148 (Thu)
From almost extinct to rescued? Temporal dynamics of genomic erosion after demographic recovery
August 18, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Navigating #motherhood and academia:
Attending our 1st conference #ESEB2025 as a family with our 10mo baby.
I am disappointed with the organization for not providing childcare for <3yo babies.
Academia should do better for the ✨inclusivity✨ of (lactant) mothers.
See you in P03.148 on thursday!
Attending our 1st conference #ESEB2025 as a family with our 10mo baby.
I am disappointed with the organization for not providing childcare for <3yo babies.
Academia should do better for the ✨inclusivity✨ of (lactant) mothers.
See you in P03.148 on thursday!
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Our aDNA time transect centered on modern Georgia is out! 🧬
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
The genetic history of the Southern Caucasus from the Bronze Age to the Early Middle Ages: 5,000 years of genetic continuity despite high mobility
Ancient DNA from the Southern Caucasus reveals remarkable genetic continuity, with
some mixing from Anatolia/Iran and the Eurasian Steppe, and shows that even periods
of urbanization and increased mob...
www.cell.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Our aDNA time transect centered on modern Georgia is out! 🧬
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Genetic continuity over 5000 years, but some Bronze Age gene flow and urban outliers since Antiquity - including some with artificially deformed skulls 💀 linked by IBD segments to Asian nomads.
#aDNA #PopGen
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Female mountain gorillas can outrank males twice their size...
...and exhibit priority of access to resources over these males
Article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225008723
Press release:
https://www.mpg.de/25119311/0730-evan-it-s-not-just-about-size-150495-x
...and exhibit priority of access to resources over these males
Article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225008723
Press release:
https://www.mpg.de/25119311/0730-evan-it-s-not-just-about-size-150495-x
August 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Female mountain gorillas can outrank males twice their size...
...and exhibit priority of access to resources over these males
Article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225008723
Press release:
https://www.mpg.de/25119311/0730-evan-it-s-not-just-about-size-150495-x
...and exhibit priority of access to resources over these males
Article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982225008723
Press release:
https://www.mpg.de/25119311/0730-evan-it-s-not-just-about-size-150495-x
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
It's not all about size. New research on female #gorillas challenges the male power narrative. Study by @nikos.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy & Martha Robbins now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social. #primates @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @utu.fi More: tinyurl.com/y778faw2 & www.cell.com/current-biol...
It's not all about size
Female gorillas challenge the male power narrative
tinyurl.com
August 8, 2025 at 7:08 AM
It's not all about size. New research on female #gorillas challenges the male power narrative. Study by @nikos.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy & Martha Robbins now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social. #primates @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social @utu.fi More: tinyurl.com/y778faw2 & www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Al 30th Internacional Primatological Society Congress a Antananarivo 😬
🐒🦧🦍
#ips2025 #ipsmadagascar #ipsmadagascar2025
@psicologiaub.bsky.social @ub.edu @ubneuro.bsky.social @janegoodallespana.bsky.social #unibarcelona
🐒🦧🦍
#ips2025 #ipsmadagascar #ipsmadagascar2025
@psicologiaub.bsky.social @ub.edu @ubneuro.bsky.social @janegoodallespana.bsky.social #unibarcelona
July 21, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Al 30th Internacional Primatological Society Congress a Antananarivo 😬
🐒🦧🦍
#ips2025 #ipsmadagascar #ipsmadagascar2025
@psicologiaub.bsky.social @ub.edu @ubneuro.bsky.social @janegoodallespana.bsky.social #unibarcelona
🐒🦧🦍
#ips2025 #ipsmadagascar #ipsmadagascar2025
@psicologiaub.bsky.social @ub.edu @ubneuro.bsky.social @janegoodallespana.bsky.social #unibarcelona
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
Our latest superb starling work in @nature.com. We observe long-term reciprocal helping relationships, and suggest reciprocity is an underappreciated mechanism promoting the stability of cooperatively breeding societies. Led by Alexis Earl and @gerrycarter.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A cryptic role for reciprocal helping in a cooperatively breeding bird - Nature
A study of the cooperative breeding behaviour of superb starlings during 40 consecutive breeding seasons over 20 years reveals long-term reciprocal helping between both related and unrelated individua...
www.nature.com
May 7, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Our latest superb starling work in @nature.com. We observe long-term reciprocal helping relationships, and suggest reciprocity is an underappreciated mechanism promoting the stability of cooperatively breeding societies. Led by Alexis Earl and @gerrycarter.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Carlota Galán-Plana
1/9 Excited to share the preprint for the second half of my PhD with @mollyschumer.bsky.social: Connecting human environmental impacts to hybridization in swordtail fish through genomics, GIS, water chemistry, and histology. Thread below!
#SciSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#SciSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Increased rates of hybridization in swordtail fish are associated with water pollution
Biodiversity loss can occur when disturbance compromises the reproductive barriers between species, causing them to collapse into a single population through hybridization. Recent research has documen...
www.biorxiv.org
May 1, 2025 at 1:15 PM
1/9 Excited to share the preprint for the second half of my PhD with @mollyschumer.bsky.social: Connecting human environmental impacts to hybridization in swordtail fish through genomics, GIS, water chemistry, and histology. Thread below!
#SciSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
#SciSky
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...