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Alessio Capobianco

@acapomorphic.bsky.social
236 followers 255 following 34 posts

Vertebrate paleontologist and evolutionary biologist, currently postdoc at LMU Munich. In a love-hate relationship with phylogenies :D

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Reposted by Alessio Capobianco
Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Just learned this masterpiece got published today and couldn’t be more excited about it!! During my first PhD semester at UMich back in 2019 Willy gave an amazing talk about this project, setting the bauplan of the kind of research I have tried to do since! scholarlypress.si.edu/store/all/co...
scholarlypress.si.edu
Comparative Anatomy of Ocean Sunfishes (Tetraodontiformes: Molidae) | Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press
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Laura Mulvey @lauramulvey.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
📣 Introducing MorphSim: an R package for simulating discrete morphological data along phylogenetic trees, built for fossil-inclusive phylogenetics, with all the complexity of real morphological data baked in 🪨🌿 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
MorphSim: An R package for simulating discrete morphological data
Morphological data are essential for reconstructing evolutionary histories, particularly for fossil taxa, as they represent the primary source of information for integrating extinct lineages into ...
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April Wright @wrightam.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Oh, this looks quite convenient, especially the filtering and mimicking empirical matrices.
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Rodrigo Figueroa @rodrigoichthys.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Very well-timed publication of my most recent work at @royalsociety.org Proc B showcasing the backbone of my future research at @stonybrooku.bsky.social! There is still much to learn about ray-finned fish neurocranial evolution and the diversity of ways brain and endocasts interact in this lineage!
royalsocietypublishing.org
The ray-finned fish blackbox: unprecedented morphological diversity and the interplay between brain and endocast
Abstract. Vertebrates are unique among animals as they bear a neurocranium, which almost completely encapsulates the brain. Thus, within vertebrates, the e
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gdarlim.bsky.social @gdarlim.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Check out our new paper comparing node calibrations and unresolved FBD for dating molecular phylogenies using crocs and firefly datasets as case studies 🐊
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
My new paper with @gdarlim.bsky.social and @hoehna.bsky.social is now out in Proceedings B! We set out to compare two different approaches to time-calibrate a molecular phylogeny: traditional node calibrations, and unresolved FBD... @royalsocietypublishing.org doi.org/10.1098/rspb...
doi.org
How to date a molecular phylogeny: comparison of effective priors between node calibration and fossilized birth–death
Abstract. Time-calibrating a phylogenetic tree is a fundamental step in phylogenetic inference, as it allows the study of macroevolutionary processes such
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Evolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Diversification rate shifts are everywhere. Analyses of phylogenies covering >300k species reveal widespread changes in speciation dynamics across the Tree of Life. @bjorntko.bsky.social @hoehna.bsky.social @acapomorphic.bsky.social ‬ academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Out now in Contributions from me and @gilespalaeo.bsky.social, a deep dive into an early member of the sturgeon and paddlefish lineage. Bear with me, but there’s a long backstory highlighting uncertainty about the anatomy of living species and how well-studied fossils can still yield new insights.
Photograph of a fossil fish skull in right lateral view. The bone is dark brown/black against a gray matrix.
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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Osteichthyans--the bony fishes--are by far the most diverse group of living jawed vertebrates. Two papers out today in @nature.com feature remarkable new Chinese fossils that paint a picture of substantial morphological diversity among stem osteichthyans.
Cover of the journal Nature, featuring the head of a large fish with its mouth open.  A smaller fish is swimming into its mouth. The cover reads "Caught in Time: Early fossils shed light on the origins of bony fish."
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Dr John Clarke @jclarkepaleo.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Our new paper revealing major patterns of diversification across the Tree of Life is here! doi.org/10.1093/evle... Congratulations to @bjorntko.bsky.social for leading this ambitious effort, it was a pleasure to contribute alongside @acapomorphic.bsky.social, @hoehna.bsky.social & Luis Palazzesi.
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
New paper out from @hoehna.bsky.social Lab, led by the brilliant @bjorntko.bsky.social! We applied the Pesto software (Kopperud & Höhna, 2025) to look at lineage-specific shifts in diversification rate on large, densely-sampled phylogenies across the Tree of Life doi.org/10.1093/evle...
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𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻 @basantakhakurel.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Our new paper 'A covarion model for phylogenetic estimation using discrete morphological datasets,' is out in SysBio! We introduce the "covariomorph" model in RevBayes to capture character and lineage specific rates of morphological traits. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
doi.org
A covarion model for phylogenetic estimation using discrete morphological datasets
Abstract. The rate of evolution of a single morphological character is not homogeneous across the phylogeny and this rate heterogeneity varies between morp
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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Michigan paleontology family portrait, Birmingham edition #2025SVP
A group of smiling paleontologists standing in front of signs reading "REGISTRATION" and "SVP 2025." Photo credit: Sam Giles.
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
#2025SVP #SVP2025 Final Banquet loading... ⏳⏳⌛
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
I'll be presenting a poster at #2025SVP #SVP2025 about my recently published work on how many characters are needed to reconstruct a phylogeny. Come by at the poster session this Thursday if you want to chat about it! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1...
royalsocietypublishing.org
How many characters are needed to reconstruct a phylogeny? | Biology Letters
Despite increased recent attention towards Bayesian phylogenetics and its applications in understanding macroevolutionary processes, it remains unclear how many discrete characters are needed to accur...
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Out now in Biology Letters, my latest paper tackles an apparently simple question: how many characters are needed to reconstruct a phylogeny? TL;DR: in most cases between 100 and 500, more than a substantial portion of morphological datasets, but the story is more complex... doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Just in time for #FossilFriday 🦖 What are the big questions in #paleontology today? dx.doi.org/10.1017/pab.2025.10042 Nearly 200 scientists worldwide came together to map where our field is headed. Here’s the story 👇
dx.doi.org
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project
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Alessandro Chiarenza @macroecoevoale.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
What are the biggest questions in #paleontology? New paper out today in Paleobiology led by Smith & Kiessling with ~200 coauthors on the relevance of our field, methods, & museum collections to climate & biodiversity research🦖 #FossilFriday @paleosoc.bsky.social 🔗: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
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𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻 @basantakhakurel.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Ever wondered how to incorporate fossils as tips in a phylogenetic tree? Our new paper provides a comprehensive guide! #EarlyFossilFriday #FossilFriday #TipDating #Phylogeny #EvolutionaryBiology
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
I am extremely happy to see that our review on fossil tip-dating is out in early view in Systematic Biology! A huge thanks to all the authors of this massive project (@heckeberg.bsky.social, @basantakhakurel.bsky.social, Gustavo Darlim, and @hoehna.bsky.social)! academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
We (me, @barankarapunar.bsky.social, @sinjinis.bsky.social and @harriedrage.bsky.social) organized a symposium for the next IPC (Cape Town 2026!) on evolution, diversity and ecology in marine ecosystems throughout the Phanerozoic. Contact us if you would like to participate or to know more about it!
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Catalina Pimiento 🆓🇵🇸 @pimientoc.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
No, it is not a dream. This actually happened!!! We had a *fantastic* #CPEGCPB26 meeting and I cannot articulate any other adjective to describe it until I recover from it. Thanks to everyone who attended and everyone who helped making this happen. @kristinakocakova.bsky.social
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CPEG & CPB Symposium 2025 @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
The CPEG & CPB meeting is officially underway! 🎉 We kicked things off with two fantastic workshop sessions: 📊 R-based open data science in palaeobiology and ecology 🧠 Deep learning for macroevolutionary analyses Big thanks to all our speakers and participants - spot yourself below! #CPEGCPB25
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Alessio Capobianco @acapomorphic.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
We now have protein sequences from rhino enamel that are >20 million years old! I am extremely excited and grateful to have been part of this project. The incredible thing: these sequences are informative enough to place this ancient species in the rhino tree! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Phylogenetically informative proteins from an Early Miocene rhinocerotid - Nature
Protein sequences from fossil tooth enamel of a rhinocerotid from Canada’s High Arctic are used to develop phylogenetic frameworks from a specimen too old to preserve ancient DNA.
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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
Moderate extinctions and slow recovery of non-marine teleost fishes across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, with a systematic appraisal of early Paleocene teleost fishes from Saskatchewan, Canada, and Montana, USA. Palaeontologia Electronica, 28(2):a28. 🐟🧪 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...
Higher-level taxonomic patterns of relative abundances of teleosts through the Hell Creek Formation and lower half of the Tullock Member of the Fort Union Formation, Garfield County, Montana, USA. Data from the Pine Cree Park (PCP) locality of the Ravenscrag Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada was included to fill the temporal gap (Puercan 2 NALMA substage or Pu2) in the Montana record. Percent relative abundances are based on centra per locality (vertical stacked columns; see Table 1 and Brinkman et al. [2021, table 2 and figure 20] for details), with each locality identified at the top of the figure and their total sample size (N) indicated in parentheses. Taxa are listed at the bottom of the figure, with their total sample sizes (N) per geologic unit indicated in parentheses; the first value (to the left of the first forward slash) is the total sample size from the Hell Creek Formation, the middle value is from the Tullock Member, and the last value is from the PCP locality of the Ravenscrag Formation. The colorized box next to each taxon name corresponds to the colorized portions in the vertical stacked columns. See the caption for Figure 22 for an explanation of the chronostratigraphic framework. Figure modified from Brinkman et al. (2021, figure 20). Abbreviations: FH, Fox Hills Formation; K-Pg, Cretaceous-Paleogene; Ma, million years; Mbr./Fm., member or formation; NALMA, North American Land Mammal “age”; Pmag., geomagnetic polarity chron; Pu1, Pu2 (gray because Pu2 fauna has not been found in the local area), Pu3, Puercan 1, 2, 3; Strat. (m), stratigraphic position in meters relative to the K-Pg boundary; To1, Torrejonian 1.
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