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Mats Ittonen

@matsittonen.bsky.social

120 followers 200 following 46 posts

Evolutionary ecologist, entomologist, and environmentalist. Macroecology postdoc at the University of Tartu (@macroecologyut.bsky.social)‬, now also meandering into soil ecology. Bird and butterfly watcher. https://matsittonen.com

matsittonen.com

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jun 24

New paper in @pnas.org — and this is my favourite one out of my PhD thesis! Field transplants of wall brown butterflies show life history evolution during climate change-driven range expansion, BUT non-evolving winter tolerance still sets the range limit.🧵1/12. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

PNAS

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

doi.org

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · 18d

German minister of culture criticized countries that boycott the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel participates for "cancel culture". The willingness of leading German politicians to approve genocide is quite baffling. I mean, they were supposed to have learned something from their country's past...

Adrian Daub @adriandaub.bsky.social · 18d

It’s downright poignant to have one (1) idea in your life and for that idea to be wrong

Boycott threats due to Israel
Minister of State Weimer rails against "cancel culture" at the
Eurovision Song Contest
Several countries do not want to participate in the next Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is included. German Minister of State for Culture Weimer shares his thoughts on such threats.

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · 24d

I don't know what to really think of this, but it was an interesting late-night read for sure!

Michael Hochberg @mkhochb.bsky.social · 27d

What future does AI hold? With @paulbrainey.bsky.social, we hypothesize that human-AI coevolution is leading to the emergence of a new evolutionary unit of selection. Science fiction or looming fact? Read our paper and judge for yourself. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Reposted by Mats Ittonen

Kári Tulinius @kattullus.bsky.social · 26d

News from Finland. A 9-year-old lost an especially good stick he’d had since he was 2. He hung up 20 posters. A few days later it was returned. It had been found by a 2-year-old, who wanted to keep it for herself, but her mother made her return it. She got toys, flowers and candy as a reward.

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Reposted by Mats Ittonen

Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 27d

🚨🚨🚨
In the worst tradition of the McCarthy-era anti-communist House Un-American Activities Committee, the GOP House Oversight Committee has just launch a massive, grotesque, ad hominem, partisan assault on the US National Academy of Sciences.

oversight.house.gov/wp-content/u...

oversight.house.gov

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Sep 1

It took me some thinking to even understand the somewhat subtle difference in meaning between "none is" and "none are"... And then I realised that my native languages (Finnish & Swedish) both use different word forms (in place of "none") for the two meanings; very practical! 😊

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Sep 1

I would've written "are", and "is" sounds weird. So I had to google what @grammargirl.bsky.social has to say: www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/non.... Turns out Word (and my instinct) weren't that wrong!

‘None Is’ or ‘None Are’?

When you’re thinking about singulars and plurals, you often consider whether you have one or many of something, but the word “none” is tricky because it’s nothing—it’s not one or many of something. Th...

www.quickanddirtytips.com

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Aug 30

Pölytysmielessä siitä voisi olla hyötyä, jos vaikka haluaa houkutella kotipuutarhaansa perhosia ja muita hyönteisiä, jotka sitten samalla voivat tulla käyneeksi kukillakin.

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Aug 30

Enpä osaa kuvitella mitään oikeaa haittaa, ellette sitten tehtaile niitä sadoittain samalle alueelle. :) Teoriassa se on pois nälästä ja siten pölytyksestä, mutta käytännön merkitys lienee olematon. Ja kyllä ne perhoset käsittääkseni pärjäävät millä tahansa sokerilitkulla, mitä onnistuvat löytämään.

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Aug 28

Data citation:
GBIF.org (26 August 2025) GBIF Occurrence Download doi.org/10.15468/dl..... (3/3)

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Aug 28

Germany is probably hiding millions of observations in paper archives. ;) It's also interesting to see how Lithuania and Estonia are much better covered than Latvia. I wonder if this has something to do with different traditions in ecological research. (2/3)

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Aug 28

Map of areas meeting thresholds for butterfly observation count & species sampling coverage in 2001–2010. I find this fascinating. I expected the good coverage in western and parts of northern Europe, but, knowing little about south-eastern Europe, I didn't expect Serbia to be a data hotspot. (1/3)

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Aug 21

Note to @eseb.bsky.social: I can't change her birthday (anymore), but you could organize the conference a week later. 😉

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Aug 21

Enviously peeking in on all the #ESEB2025 content posted here. I've always wanted to go, but never did because ESEB always overlaps with my daughter's birthday! 🙁Well, I currently don't do much evolution anyway, but this year I was at least lucky to have Matthew Nielsen present our recent paper!

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Reposted by Mats Ittonen

Richard Fox @richardfoxbc.bsky.social · Aug 14

Interesting paper using @ukbms.bsky.social data to examine extreme weather impacts on butterfly populations. Winter heatwaves and periods of high rainfall appear bad for many species. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌍

Butterfly abundance changes in England are well associated with extreme climate events

Climate change exerts significant impacts on ecosystems through extreme climate events (ECEs), which are linked to various climate variables and can o…

www.sciencedirect.com

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Reposted by Mats Ittonen

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · Aug 10

Barely an hour ago, Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif warned us all:

“If this madness doesn’t end, Gaza will be reduced to ruins, its people’s voices silenced, their faces erased — and history will remember you as silent witnesses to a genocide you chose not to stop.”

Israel just killed him.

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jul 28

Oli!

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jul 26

Major achievement! 😄

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jul 26

Finns are proudly rule-abiding, but living abroad has taught me that we really could sometimes relax a bit. A popular train route can't be run with longer trains because some platforms are too short. In Sweden, they do use the long trains; you just can't exit from the last few cars – problem solved.

VR | Junat Riihimäeltä Hankoon tulivat tupaten täyteen, osa joutunut matkustamaan seisten

Uusi junayhteys on osoittautunut erittäin suosituksi.

www.hs.fi

Reposted by Mats Ittonen

Mikael A. Manninen @mamanninen.bsky.social · Jul 22

Meet the new seal species: Pusa saimensis!

yle.fi/a/74-20173801

Saimaa ringed seal recognised as distinct species

The seals native to Lake Saimaa were found to be genetically distinct from other ringed seals, according to a recent study by Finnish and international researchers.

yle.fi

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Reposted by Mats Ittonen

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · Jul 11

As the climate warms, species are heading uphill and poleward, but such moves may require evolutionary adaptations. A study of butterflies finds evolution for the timing of life events, but winter cold still limits range expansion. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

A wall brown butterfly (Lasiommata megera).
CREDIT: Mats Ittonen

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jul 11

Fröetablering? 🤔

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jul 9

Jag har för mig att "Tack" är standard i svenskspråkiga avhandlingar, men jag har nog inte sett många. "Tillkännage" har inte samma tackbetydelse som engelska "acknowledge" har. "Erkännande" (recognition) kan innebära något i den stilen, men jag tycker nog att det skulle låta konstigt.

Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jul 9

Varför inte bara "Tack"?

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Mats Ittonen @matsittonen.bsky.social · Jun 30

Outoa tosiaankin. Myös "avoimesti saatavissa olevien julkaisujen osuus" laatuindikaattorina pistää silmään, kun olen ymmärtänyt että hallitus haluaisi säästää rahaa; indikaattorihan kuvaa pitkälti sitä, kuinka paljon rahaa syydetään kankkulan kaivoon maksamalla julkaisijoille tuplana.

Pekka Mäntyselkä @manpekkis.bsky.social · Jun 29

Hyvin outoa on tämä.

Tapio Määttä: Ministeriö asetti yliopistot paremmuusjärjestykseen – yksi peruste on, kuinka suuri osa valmistuneista sijoittuu Uudellemaalle

suomenkuvalehti.fi/mielipide/ta...

Tapio Määttä: Ministeriö asetti yliopistot paremmuusjärjestykseen – yksi peruste on, kuinka suuri osa valmistuneista sijoittuu Uudellemaalle

Indikaattoreilla johtamisen keskeinen ongelma on, että sitä saa, mitä mitataan, kirjoittaa kolumnisti.

suomenkuvalehti.fi

Reposted by Mats Ittonen

Christopher Wheat @chriswheat.bsky.social · Jun 22

🚨Postdoc opportunity🚨: LepEU postdoc: comparative population genomics of European scale adaptation in butterflies

2 year, full-time PD in my group, Stockholm Univ.

Applications assed on rolling basis, deadline: 23 August 2025. Planned start 1 Oct.

Details:
christopherwheatlab.wordpress.com

The aim of this proposal is to place population genomic insights into a comparative framework to gain fundamental insights into the determinants of evolutionary outcomes. The project will work within LepEU, the European Lepidopteran Population Genomics Consortium (https://lepeu.github.io/). LepEU provides access to field samples from European populations of diverse species. Chromosome-scale reference genomes are provided by Project Psyche (https://www.projectpsyche.org/). Networking during the postdoc will be facilitated by participation in the 10kLepGenomes COST Action (https://10klepgenomes.eu/). Existing datasets await analysis, while additional samples need DNA extraction and submission for sequencing. Functional validation capability (CRISPR/Cas9 gene manipulations) is also available to test emergent hypotheses of allele-to-phenotype impacts. Personal research interests of the postdoc will be important to determine the exact project, as the project has a generous sequencing budget.

The successful applicant should have a PhD (obtained within 6 years of the application deadline) in a suitable subject area, such as evolutionary biology or population genomics. A strong interest in population genomics, local adaptation, comparative analyses, and experience working with genomic-scale data is essential. The candidate must have a documented publication record demonstrating relevant skills. Experience working with bioinformatic pipelines (e.g., Snakemake), or working with butterflies is welcome but not essential. The net salary is 28,000 SEK/month (~2,430 Euro, not subject to Swedish income tax) and comes directly from the Carl-Trygger Foundation stipend, which is paid out directly to the postdoc. Only PhD candidates acquired outside of the host department can apply. Currently, the lab of Prof. Wheat consists of 3 postdoctoral researchers, while the Dept. of Zoology provides a vibrant and excellent research environment of active, dynamic researchers.

Applications should include: i) a succinct description of research interests and experience, detailing your contribution to any relevant publications (max 1 page), ii) why you are the ideal candidate for this position in the lab (max 1 page); iii) a CV including a list of publications, and iv) the name and contact information of two personal references.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with a deadline of 23 August 2025. The project is planned to start on 1 October, but flexibility in the starting date can be provided for a suitable candidate. Please contact Prof. Wheat for additional information.

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