Keith Barker
@fkbarker.bsky.social
Associate Professor, EEB; Curator of Genetic Resources, Bell Museum. Mostly posting about birds and science; all content my own. He/him.
https://barkerlab.weebly.com/
https://barkerlab.weebly.com/
Reposted by Keith Barker
@phylieu.bsky.social & I have a new preprint out: "Statistical and structural bias in birth-death models" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
It's NOT a "the sky is falling in div methods again" but estimates can be biased, and that can happen in small clades even on big trees (MiSSE, Clads, BAMM)
1/2
It's NOT a "the sky is falling in div methods again" but estimates can be biased, and that can happen in small clades even on big trees (MiSSE, Clads, BAMM)
1/2
December 4, 2025 at 5:59 PM
@phylieu.bsky.social & I have a new preprint out: "Statistical and structural bias in birth-death models" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
It's NOT a "the sky is falling in div methods again" but estimates can be biased, and that can happen in small clades even on big trees (MiSSE, Clads, BAMM)
1/2
It's NOT a "the sky is falling in div methods again" but estimates can be biased, and that can happen in small clades even on big trees (MiSSE, Clads, BAMM)
1/2
Reposted by Keith Barker
Blueberry species (genus Vaccinium) circled the Northern Hemisphere to travel from North America to Hawai'i— and then closed the loop to hybridize with a North American species 🌿
buff.ly/3mu6eqJ
buff.ly/3mu6eqJ
December 2, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Blueberry species (genus Vaccinium) circled the Northern Hemisphere to travel from North America to Hawai'i— and then closed the loop to hybridize with a North American species 🌿
buff.ly/3mu6eqJ
buff.ly/3mu6eqJ
Reposted by Keith Barker
I have a new preprint demonstrating a genome-architecture-aware approach to inferring species trees and introgression landscapes from a small number of genomes. If you are interested in phylogenomics, birds, or hybridization, this is for you! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
December 1, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I have a new preprint demonstrating a genome-architecture-aware approach to inferring species trees and introgression landscapes from a small number of genomes. If you are interested in phylogenomics, birds, or hybridization, this is for you! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Keith Barker
"Here we show substantial declines in the rates of collection of specimen data over recent decades, from analysis of over 150 million records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) spanning more than two centuries"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 #Macroecology #EvoBio #Paleobio
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 #Macroecology #EvoBio #Paleobio
November 25, 2025 at 11:04 PM
"Here we show substantial declines in the rates of collection of specimen data over recent decades, from analysis of over 150 million records from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) spanning more than two centuries"
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 #Macroecology #EvoBio #Paleobio
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 #Macroecology #EvoBio #Paleobio
Reposted by Keith Barker
Check out our short warbler hybrid paper out today, including a new unofficial common name. Carotenoid people will find some little tidbits of discussion about how these hybrids can help us understand regulation of yellow feathers.
I mean, the title says it all: Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia × G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler. Fun stuff with @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social and Kurt Gielow, OA in @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social!
🦉 🧪
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🦉 🧪
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
November 21, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Check out our short warbler hybrid paper out today, including a new unofficial common name. Carotenoid people will find some little tidbits of discussion about how these hybrids can help us understand regulation of yellow feathers.
Reposted by Keith Barker
Just out in Systematic Biology, we explore the role of gene flow in island phylogeography of the Solomons Black-and-white Monarch complex. doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)
Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)
November 21, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Just out in Systematic Biology, we explore the role of gene flow in island phylogeography of the Solomons Black-and-white Monarch complex. doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)
Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)
Reposted by Keith Barker
Interesting update on avian magnetoreception. This is neat, but given the existing evidence I would be a bit surprised (sotto voce: and disappointed) if the cryptochrome mechanism with its elegant quantum biology turned out to be for naught.
Pigeons sense Earth’s magnetic field in an entirely new way
Specialized hair cells pick electric currents induced by magnetism
www.science.org
November 21, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Interesting update on avian magnetoreception. This is neat, but given the existing evidence I would be a bit surprised (sotto voce: and disappointed) if the cryptochrome mechanism with its elegant quantum biology turned out to be for naught.
Reposted by Keith Barker
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Keith Barker
Cool new work by Storch, Ridder, and Okie - Cradles, museums, and disequilibria: reconciling biodiversity dynamics using equilibrium theory #macroecology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪🌐
Cradles, museums, and disequilibria: reconciling biodiversity dynamics using equilibrium theory
Historical nonequilibrium processes are often considered the main drivers of global biodiversity patterns. We argue that while biodiversity is often o…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:23 PM
Cool new work by Storch, Ridder, and Okie - Cradles, museums, and disequilibria: reconciling biodiversity dynamics using equilibrium theory #macroecology www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🧪🌐
Reposted by Keith Barker
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
November 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
How are Pacific NW mountain birds responding to climate change?
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
I got up at 4:00 am for a month to find out.
but first the backstory, or "how I spent seven years telling everyone this project wasn't possible"
new paper here:
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Keith Barker
Our paper on tinamou evolution is finally out in @systbiol.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
November 9, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Our paper on tinamou evolution is finally out in @systbiol.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Reposted by Keith Barker
Hey Yaniv Brandvain is not on Bluesky but his most recent biostats ebook is live ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/. His stats resources have been so helpful to me as I develop my own stats course, so check it out. Github repo here: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
Applied Biostatistics
ybrandvain.github.io
October 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Hey Yaniv Brandvain is not on Bluesky but his most recent biostats ebook is live ybrandvain.github.io/biostats/. His stats resources have been so helpful to me as I develop my own stats course, so check it out. Github repo here: github.com/ybrandvain/b...
Reposted by Keith Barker
My lab is hiring a 2-yr hummingbird evolution and genomics postdoc and a 1-yr salaried research and lab tech. Both with full U. Wyoming benefits. Please spread the word! Info below. Best consideration date Nov 1, start dates early Spring 2026.
October 14, 2025 at 8:08 PM
My lab is hiring a 2-yr hummingbird evolution and genomics postdoc and a 1-yr salaried research and lab tech. Both with full U. Wyoming benefits. Please spread the word! Info below. Best consideration date Nov 1, start dates early Spring 2026.
Reposted by Keith Barker
A reflection on the extinction, and museums, and the simultaneous excitement and sadness of getting to hold an ivory-billed woodpecker.
Close encounters of the extinct kind
I’m a huge museum nerd. When I travel, museums are top of my list – and it doesn’t matter a whole lot what they’re museums of.* But what’s even better than a day at a museum is a chance to tour a m…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
October 14, 2025 at 12:17 PM
A reflection on the extinction, and museums, and the simultaneous excitement and sadness of getting to hold an ivory-billed woodpecker.
Reposted by Keith Barker
🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
September 17, 2025 at 11:57 AM
🚨 NEW: Climate change is already causing 30,000 deaths per year - a global annual economic loss of $100-350B USD - but the true damage is probably 10x higher. Out TODAY in Nature Climate Change: the first systematic look at the science of "health impact attribution" 🔓 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Keith Barker
Calling all natural history/museum collections folxs
The theme of the @systbiol.bsky.social breakout meeting in Baton Rouge is 'The Importance of Natural History Collections'
The LSU Museum of Natural Science will host some events. Hope to see you there, Jan 9-11, 2026.
ssb2026.github.io
The theme of the @systbiol.bsky.social breakout meeting in Baton Rouge is 'The Importance of Natural History Collections'
The LSU Museum of Natural Science will host some events. Hope to see you there, Jan 9-11, 2026.
ssb2026.github.io
2026 SSB Breakout Meeting
ssb2026.github.io
August 19, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Calling all natural history/museum collections folxs
The theme of the @systbiol.bsky.social breakout meeting in Baton Rouge is 'The Importance of Natural History Collections'
The LSU Museum of Natural Science will host some events. Hope to see you there, Jan 9-11, 2026.
ssb2026.github.io
The theme of the @systbiol.bsky.social breakout meeting in Baton Rouge is 'The Importance of Natural History Collections'
The LSU Museum of Natural Science will host some events. Hope to see you there, Jan 9-11, 2026.
ssb2026.github.io
Reposted by Keith Barker
5. The right-wing enthusiasm for AI science is not about doing better science faster. It’s about eliminating one of the most effective forms of societal resistance to authoritarian control.
July 21, 2025 at 2:32 PM
5. The right-wing enthusiasm for AI science is not about doing better science faster. It’s about eliminating one of the most effective forms of societal resistance to authoritarian control.
Reposted by Keith Barker
This plan is utterly insane and would cause catastrophic environmental degradation and loss of outdoor opportunities throughout the west — it would accelerate the decline of forests and wildlife, and seriously restrict hiking, camping, fishing, birding, hunting, etc.
June 16, 2025 at 3:25 AM
This plan is utterly insane and would cause catastrophic environmental degradation and loss of outdoor opportunities throughout the west — it would accelerate the decline of forests and wildlife, and seriously restrict hiking, camping, fishing, birding, hunting, etc.
My son and I can confirm that the protest went on as planned, though with a memorial slant due to recent events. Sorry no pics of our own, we decided to leave electronic devices home today.
NEW: In the last few hours, Minnesota authorities warned people against attending protests, with a killer on the loose.
This is the current view of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.
DEFIANCE. 👏
#NoKings #50501Movement
(📸 Daviss)
This is the current view of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.
DEFIANCE. 👏
#NoKings #50501Movement
(📸 Daviss)
June 14, 2025 at 7:26 PM
My son and I can confirm that the protest went on as planned, though with a memorial slant due to recent events. Sorry no pics of our own, we decided to leave electronic devices home today.
Reposted by Keith Barker
Can we keep the boat if we name it Harvey Raw Milk
June 4, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Can we keep the boat if we name it Harvey Raw Milk
Reposted by Keith Barker
For the past 5 months I’ve been privileged to live surrounded by incredibly biodiverse Panamanian rainforest, & it’s been a wonderful experience. But the relative rarity of some insects is deeply disturbing. There is no more important story in the world right now. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides
www.theguardian.com
June 3, 2025 at 10:25 PM
For the past 5 months I’ve been privileged to live surrounded by incredibly biodiverse Panamanian rainforest, & it’s been a wonderful experience. But the relative rarity of some insects is deeply disturbing. There is no more important story in the world right now. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Keith Barker
The 2026 federal budget proposes eliminating the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, threatening bird banding, research, and conservation nationwide, endangering 100+ years of vital ecological data. www.aba.org/proposed-bir...
May 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
The 2026 federal budget proposes eliminating the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area, threatening bird banding, research, and conservation nationwide, endangering 100+ years of vital ecological data. www.aba.org/proposed-bir...
Reposted by Keith Barker
Pls share: I'm seeking ornithologists willing to comment about how the Bird Banding Lab &/or Breeding Bird Survey are crucial to their research & conservation efforts, for a piece for @therevelator.org defending these programs. Reply, DM, or email me at rebecca dot heisman at gmail. #ornithology
May 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Pls share: I'm seeking ornithologists willing to comment about how the Bird Banding Lab &/or Breeding Bird Survey are crucial to their research & conservation efforts, for a piece for @therevelator.org defending these programs. Reply, DM, or email me at rebecca dot heisman at gmail. #ornithology
Reposted by Keith Barker
🚨Hiding under 6 sections of science sounding rhetoric is an edict to appoint officers at each agency that will be responsible for detecting research that isn't "Gold Standard Science" as defined by the White House🚨
Stay tuned for rapid response action!
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Stay tuned for rapid response action!
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Restoring Gold Standard Science
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United
www.whitehouse.gov
May 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
🚨Hiding under 6 sections of science sounding rhetoric is an edict to appoint officers at each agency that will be responsible for detecting research that isn't "Gold Standard Science" as defined by the White House🚨
Stay tuned for rapid response action!
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Stay tuned for rapid response action!
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...