I started today my new position as Ramon y Cajal fellow at @biologiaub.bsky.social #Zoology section at the #BEECA department will be my home for the next 5 years. The InvAdapt Lab is starting, be prepared!

A third paper comes out. I want to stress that sequencing and annnotating the complete genome of the Balearic shearwater, under the umbrella of the @catbiogenoma.bsky.social, has been key to develope this work. Showing how the efforts of the @ebpgenome.bsky.social will help biodiversity conservation

10/10 None of this would have been possible without the contribution of all our great collaborators: Cristian Cuevas-Caballé, Francesco Giannelli, @josieparis.bsky.social, Karen Bourgeois, @emitruc.bsky.social, Jacob González-Solís, Marta Riutort, @joanferrerobiol.bsky.social & @jrozasub.bsky.social

9/10 Overall, our research underscores the need to incorporate hybridization and its contribution to evolutionary resilience in future conservation plans for endangered taxa.

(Photo by Víctor París)

8/10 Through forward simulations we show that the protection of hybrid colonies will safeguard the genetic diversity of the Balearic shearwater under potential bottlenecks in the long run. Nevertheless, mitigating bycatch-linked mortality should still be the nº1 conservation priority.

7/10 We observe a lack of differences in genetic diversity and genetic load among shearwater populations, which we attribute to the pervasiveness of gene flow between them. Hybridization has prevented #inbreeding in the collapsing populations of Balearic shearwaters.

6/10 Hybridization has enabled the exchange of adaptive haplotypes between shearwater taxa in regions that host candidate genes underlying differences in migratory strategies. This process might enhance the adaptive potential of shearwaters in the face of climate change.

5/10 We show that Balearic-Yelkouan introgression permeates throughout both species’ ranges. Nevertheless, it is most prominent in the islands where the ranges of both species meet: Menorca and Cabrera.

4/10 We uncover a complex demographic history shaped by periods of isolation during glacial maxima and widespread hybridization during interglacial periods. The latter explains the near lack of differentiation between these 2 shearwater taxa at the genomic level!

3/10 Five years ago we set out to explore the role of hybridization between the Critically Endangered Balearic shearwater and the Yelkouan shearwater using whole-genome resequencing data. After years of intense work, we’re glad to share our results in this thread!

2/10 #Hybridization has been traditionally viewed as a negative evolutionary force in many conservation contexts. Recent work is starting to challenge this idea, highlighting how introgression can increase a species’ genetic diversity and adaptive potential.

1/10 We are thrilled to announce that our new paper on conservation genomics of the Balearic shearwater has just been published online at @pnas.org! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The second shows the first case of interspecific hybridisation of freshwater planarians using genomic data. The diversity of species on the island of Corsica is also shown to be higher than previously thought.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@geneticsub.bsky.social

@irbio-ub.bsky.social

We are eagerly waiting to see you back home at the @biologiaub.bsky.social faculty @ub.edu ! 🎉🎊

Genome Size Reduction Under Non-Adaptive Evolution: How Evolution Halved Genome Size During an Oceanic Island Radiation. Today talk by Sara Guirao-Rico in @eseb2025.bsky.social congress, and accepted ms. in MBE academic.oup.com/mbe/advance-...