Daohan "Rex" Jiang
@rexjiang.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist; postdoc @oistedu.bsky.social; evolutionary theories | complex traits | evolutionary novelties
Views are my own.
https://rexjiang385518549.wordpress.com/
Views are my own.
https://rexjiang385518549.wordpress.com/
Ep 5:
The sea cow was Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), I suppose? The bear that tried to attack it should be Arctodus simus (skeleton in the photo👇).
Homotherium again! This time hunting mammoth.
At last, the North American saber-tooth had to be Smilodon fatalis.
The sea cow was Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), I suppose? The bear that tried to attack it should be Arctodus simus (skeleton in the photo👇).
Homotherium again! This time hunting mammoth.
At last, the North American saber-tooth had to be Smilodon fatalis.
November 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Ep 5:
The sea cow was Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), I suppose? The bear that tried to attack it should be Arctodus simus (skeleton in the photo👇).
Homotherium again! This time hunting mammoth.
At last, the North American saber-tooth had to be Smilodon fatalis.
The sea cow was Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), I suppose? The bear that tried to attack it should be Arctodus simus (skeleton in the photo👇).
Homotherium again! This time hunting mammoth.
At last, the North American saber-tooth had to be Smilodon fatalis.
Ep 2:
IDK what the South American canines were.
The giant sloth, I assume, was Megatherium.
The giant armadillos seem to be Glyptodon (photo).
The giant stork should be Leptoptilos robustus (in the photo, behind Glyptodon).
S. populator again.
No confidence in the terror birds.
IDK what the South American canines were.
The giant sloth, I assume, was Megatherium.
The giant armadillos seem to be Glyptodon (photo).
The giant stork should be Leptoptilos robustus (in the photo, behind Glyptodon).
S. populator again.
No confidence in the terror birds.
November 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Ep 2:
IDK what the South American canines were.
The giant sloth, I assume, was Megatherium.
The giant armadillos seem to be Glyptodon (photo).
The giant stork should be Leptoptilos robustus (in the photo, behind Glyptodon).
S. populator again.
No confidence in the terror birds.
IDK what the South American canines were.
The giant sloth, I assume, was Megatherium.
The giant armadillos seem to be Glyptodon (photo).
The giant stork should be Leptoptilos robustus (in the photo, behind Glyptodon).
S. populator again.
No confidence in the terror birds.
Ep 1: The sloth was probably Megalonyx (genus of Sid from Ice Age). The saber-toothed cats going after wooly rhinos were Homotherium, and those after Macrauchenia were Smilodon populator. Life-sized models in the photos👇
November 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Ep 1: The sloth was probably Megalonyx (genus of Sid from Ice Age). The saber-toothed cats going after wooly rhinos were Homotherium, and those after Macrauchenia were Smilodon populator. Life-sized models in the photos👇
My only complaint about #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge is the "minus 50 degrees" at the beginning. It's Fahrenheit but not explicitly said to be. Only later I realized they aren't using metric. Traditional CN & JP sub converted to roughly correct Celsius (-45), but simplified CN weirdly gave -10. 1/2
November 26, 2025 at 3:18 PM
My only complaint about #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge is the "minus 50 degrees" at the beginning. It's Fahrenheit but not explicitly said to be. Only later I realized they aren't using metric. Traditional CN & JP sub converted to roughly correct Celsius (-45), but simplified CN weirdly gave -10. 1/2
The Nanotyrannus of phylogenomics 😂 but apparently less attractive to ‘netizen scientists’ due to theological/technical barrier.
(Attaching a comb jelly photo I took—they’re amazing!)
(Attaching a comb jelly photo I took—they’re amazing!)
November 14, 2025 at 1:23 AM
The Nanotyrannus of phylogenomics 😂 but apparently less attractive to ‘netizen scientists’ due to theological/technical barrier.
(Attaching a comb jelly photo I took—they’re amazing!)
(Attaching a comb jelly photo I took—they’re amazing!)
Agreed! Though my backyard is on an arguably far-off land (which, nevertheless, does share some fauna/flora with less far-off lands).
November 5, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Agreed! Though my backyard is on an arguably far-off land (which, nevertheless, does share some fauna/flora with less far-off lands).
I can’t help finding the common names “zebra shark” & “leopard shark” annoying, even though I know what they’re referring to… IDK about other languages, but zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum)’s Chinese name literally translates to “leopard-patterned shark”.
November 5, 2025 at 1:05 PM
I can’t help finding the common names “zebra shark” & “leopard shark” annoying, even though I know what they’re referring to… IDK about other languages, but zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum)’s Chinese name literally translates to “leopard-patterned shark”.
It’s once again time to re-share the most horrifying #Halloween setup I know, which I saw in 2020.
![In front of a house, a “political graveyard” was set up, with cardboard-made tombs. Written on the tombs are “TRUTH”, “RESPECT”, “FACTS”, and “Justice/RIP RBG [Ruth Bader Ginsburg]”.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:w2uaft3agjpqjw6d7d7vfmj6/bafkreier4fx5o2xzzyfl6rfhhes4polx6rxe5qkdsnosfhkplmytkhy4ga@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 5:59 PM
It’s once again time to re-share the most horrifying #Halloween setup I know, which I saw in 2020.
Here it comes: Chinese influencer bragging his "prediction" about #Nanotyrannus was right (translation of his statement in screenshot)...
www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Hn1...
www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Hn1...
October 31, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Here it comes: Chinese influencer bragging his "prediction" about #Nanotyrannus was right (translation of his statement in screenshot)...
www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Hn1...
www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Hn1...
When I lived in LA, I visited @nhm.org quite regularly. There's a 'T. rex growth series' display including specimens representing juvenile, subadult, and adult T. rex 🦖. I wonder how this interpretation would be affected by recent 'revival' of Nanotyrannus... 🧵
October 31, 2025 at 10:50 AM
When I lived in LA, I visited @nhm.org quite regularly. There's a 'T. rex growth series' display including specimens representing juvenile, subadult, and adult T. rex 🦖. I wonder how this interpretation would be affected by recent 'revival' of Nanotyrannus... 🧵
We reveal a non-monotonic relationship between expression divergence & complexity. As predicted, expression divergence is lowest for the most complex innovations. Lineages ended up w/ similar solutions in terms of regulator expression--a phenomenon aka deep homology. 9/11
October 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
We reveal a non-monotonic relationship between expression divergence & complexity. As predicted, expression divergence is lowest for the most complex innovations. Lineages ended up w/ similar solutions in terms of regulator expression--a phenomenon aka deep homology. 9/11
Our model predicts the solution space (in terms of regulator expression) is smaller when the new phenotype to evolve is complex. To confirm it, we simulated lineages evolving toward the same optimal phenotype & checked how complexity (dimensionality) of the optimum affects expression evolution. 8/11
October 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Our model predicts the solution space (in terms of regulator expression) is smaller when the new phenotype to evolve is complex. To confirm it, we simulated lineages evolving toward the same optimal phenotype & checked how complexity (dimensionality) of the optimum affects expression evolution. 8/11
The 3rd type of evolutionary change is the origin of a novel character identity via assembling a novel regulator expression program (sequentially have multiple regulators' local expression levels altered). e.g., the origin of a new cell type. This part is added in this new version. 7/11
October 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The 3rd type of evolutionary change is the origin of a novel character identity via assembling a novel regulator expression program (sequentially have multiple regulators' local expression levels altered). e.g., the origin of a new cell type. This part is added in this new version. 7/11
The second is switching between pre-existing identities by turning on/off upstream regulator(s), which is compensated by changes in regulator-effector interactions. The putative example shown here is the back-and-forth change between feathered & scaled states in theropods. 🦖 5/11
October 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The second is switching between pre-existing identities by turning on/off upstream regulator(s), which is compensated by changes in regulator-effector interactions. The putative example shown here is the back-and-forth change between feathered & scaled states in theropods. 🦖 5/11
Under this general modeling framework, we examined 3 types of evolutionary changes, the first being state divergence between body parts w/ conserved identities (e.g., morphological divergence between tetrapod limbs or insect wings), which results from changes in regulator-effector interactions. 4/11
October 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Under this general modeling framework, we examined 3 types of evolutionary changes, the first being state divergence between body parts w/ conserved identities (e.g., morphological divergence between tetrapod limbs or insect wings), which results from changes in regulator-effector interactions. 4/11
Literally forgot it was Mid Autumn Festival (lunar calendar Aug 15) yesterday and did take a photo of the moon 🌕
But today’s moon is nice too.
But today’s moon is nice too.
October 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Literally forgot it was Mid Autumn Festival (lunar calendar Aug 15) yesterday and did take a photo of the moon 🌕
But today’s moon is nice too.
But today’s moon is nice too.
So here’s my (1st) #arachtober post: a pair of oval St Andrew's cross spider (Argiope aemula), along with a prey.
October 2, 2025 at 2:15 AM
So here’s my (1st) #arachtober post: a pair of oval St Andrew's cross spider (Argiope aemula), along with a prey.
Visited the Okinawa Zoo today and saw the two giant anteaters “kissing” each other like this. It’s the first time I saw such behavior… #anteater
September 27, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Visited the Okinawa Zoo today and saw the two giant anteaters “kissing” each other like this. It’s the first time I saw such behavior… #anteater
Two bugs (probably of genus Cletus) are mating, while a third one is watching beside…I’ve never felt so sorry for a bug.
(I’m assuming the third bug is the “loser”, but I’m unfamiliar with this group and don’t know what exactly is going on.)
(I’m assuming the third bug is the “loser”, but I’m unfamiliar with this group and don’t know what exactly is going on.)
September 25, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Two bugs (probably of genus Cletus) are mating, while a third one is watching beside…I’ve never felt so sorry for a bug.
(I’m assuming the third bug is the “loser”, but I’m unfamiliar with this group and don’t know what exactly is going on.)
(I’m assuming the third bug is the “loser”, but I’m unfamiliar with this group and don’t know what exactly is going on.)
Saw this caterpillar crawling on water surface today! Apparently it fell into water and was trying to find its way to survival. I suppose it isn't that common a scene to see, is it?
September 19, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Saw this caterpillar crawling on water surface today! Apparently it fell into water and was trying to find its way to survival. I suppose it isn't that common a scene to see, is it?
I’ve seen lots of Coenobita land hermit crabs here in #Okinawa, but this time it’s a different one! Saw this ribbed hermit crab (Clibanarius striolatus) in a little pool when tide was low. #HermitCrab #crustacean
September 16, 2025 at 2:48 AM
I’ve seen lots of Coenobita land hermit crabs here in #Okinawa, but this time it’s a different one! Saw this ribbed hermit crab (Clibanarius striolatus) in a little pool when tide was low. #HermitCrab #crustacean
Encountered this Scylla serrata 🦀 today. Most of them promptly swam away as approached. This one apparently lost its way, allowing me to take the photos (before releasing it).
September 6, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Encountered this Scylla serrata 🦀 today. Most of them promptly swam away as approached. This one apparently lost its way, allowing me to take the photos (before releasing it).
Some beautiful #arthropods 🦀🦋🕷️ seen today in #Okinawa
August 31, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Some beautiful #arthropods 🦀🦋🕷️ seen today in #Okinawa
I doubt if those in the 4th photo, apparently by Chinese paleoartist Chuang Zhao (a source image shown below), were used with permission. Many Chinese museums don't take paleoarts seriously, thus often steal artworks & misuse them for wrong taxa. Lame AI drawing could be their future...
August 28, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I doubt if those in the 4th photo, apparently by Chinese paleoartist Chuang Zhao (a source image shown below), were used with permission. Many Chinese museums don't take paleoarts seriously, thus often steal artworks & misuse them for wrong taxa. Lame AI drawing could be their future...
Also quite close to the conference venue of #ESEB2025 is Parc de Diagonal Mar. There are a lot of birds (and bugs) here. Very enjoyable to walk around here.
August 24, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Also quite close to the conference venue of #ESEB2025 is Parc de Diagonal Mar. There are a lot of birds (and bugs) here. Very enjoyable to walk around here.