iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

#Evol2026 Want to know what's going with this biparental pair of Julidochromis? What gene expression and hormonal patterns drive changes in behavior? Come to my talk Monday at 2:45 in the Behavior session. Want to talk Cross-sexual Transfer in any system or fishes in general? Just message me!

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Somewhere in Minnesota, some graphic designer is either sad their work is already no longer reflective of current knowledge or happy at another payday.

Panel showing phylogeny of sharks and their relatives. Found in the SEA LIFE Aquarium at the Mall of America

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

-20 in Saint Paul and this bird shows it. Whole bunch of em on our roof and having birdie snow cones.

Bird (robin?) Puffed up against cold on roof.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Anytime someone tries to convince me to put my son in a non-inclusive setting, I'm showing this picture. It's the 2nd time his former class (we moved states in Oct) has sent him letters. He loves it, and he had made meaningful connections. It sucked to take that from him, we hope to rebuild that.

Table covered with letters with drawings and notes from 1st graders.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

One guy really was wanting to sing out

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

After some training. This 🐟🐠 guy is ready to collect some some 🦗 songs on his own🧪

Cups with crickets under red light. Foreground with lap with microphone and recorder.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

2nd day at new job. Here's what's next to my parking spot. Taking me back to my PhD days. Definitely at a land grant institution. 🙂

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

If you've been thinking about the Challenge Hypothesis, you're not alone. This is complementary. It turns out partner behavior influences observed behavior which correlates with androgens. Thus our evo framework works alongside the environmental one...

Correlations of partner behavior with targeted behaviors.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

For the female larger species we expect that the behavior is already linked to androgens, so they should likewise have androgen correlation (instead of say estrogen). Turns out we're correct for plastic transfer in male larger species, but kind of right in evo transfer female larger species...

11kt and t reaction norms for two species.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

We leveraged the evolutionary history of these fishes to infer that the territorial behavior evolved from male-biased behaviors. Thus we expect the behaviors should correlate with androgens (11KT) in the male larger species and females should increase androgens when they become the larger partner..

Graphical representation of the Ancestral Modulation Hypothesis

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

We know members of Julidochromis have varying preferred partner size relationships (e.g. Male larger than female), but if put in a situation where they can't do that they will switch roles in nesting behavior. This study confirmed that for our target species...

Figure from paper showing J. transcriptus and J. marlieri shifting behaviors in both sexes based on size.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

Debate rages in my house. Is this a spork?

Utensil with spoon on one end and fork on the other.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Loved having these fish for awhile.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

So this happened today while my wife was driving... 20 minutes to get it out as it behind the glass.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

🧪 Artwork by my bio-art undergrad thesis student, Adela Reuter. I saw it and burst out laughing, none of her art advisors got it. Have to share with other evo folks!

Line drawing of a naked human body from behind with a finch head turning towards observer. Written on drawing is the phrase, "The female is coy"

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

🐠🐟 That moment when you realize you're the smallest fish in the tank.

Small Julidochromis marlieri with apparent look of terror (from our perspective) as a blur from a larger fish moved in to bite.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Alright #TeamFish 🧪🐠🐟 I'm game. Search photos for fish and share. #ichthyology

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

The sister family, Solenostomids, has just a few members, but they are characterized by females (not males) having a "broodpouch" that evolved from fusing pelvic fins. Two groups, same solution but different sex and different body part!

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

The distinctive broodpouch in syngnathids (seahorses, sea dragons, pipefish) has independently evolved in the family at least 2 times.

Pregnant male Gulf pipefish (Syngnathus scovelli). He's VERY pregnant.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

🧪 I called these white crowned sparrows during a job talk (example of ER expression and aggression). The bird folks politely corrected me, but I feel the need to apologize to #BirdSky Hope they accept that I'm a 🐟 🐠 guy.

White throated sparrow white crowned morph perched on a branch

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 09/09/2024

Secret of NIHM. That owl. Nicodemus getting crushed. Any Don Bluth film from 80s had some terrifying scenes. (All dogs go to heaven, American tail, land before time).

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 26/08/2024

🧪🐠🐟 Today marks my official change in role at Reed College. I'm no longer teaching and instead am a visiting scholar. I will miss working closely with students and seeing the wonderful ideas they have. Plus side is I can crank on my own project which has a lot data from 2 years of student efforts.

Drawing on whiteboard of a smiling fish. Written above fish is "Best fish (and lab) in the world!" with hearts on other side.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 28/07/2024

🧪🐟🐠 Excited to talk about hormone correlates of a cross-sexual transfer of behavior in a cichlid at #Evol2024 in Room 524C at 4:30. Come on by!

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 19/07/2024

🐠🐟🧪 Got a few of these. Haven't seen them in over seven years! PhD was so long ago! UG with me could see my excitement. Hope the samples work out because I really hope to work with these gals again

Female Syngnathus scovelli, Gulf piepfish.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 09/07/2024

🐟🐠 Meanwhile, here's his tankmate. Every group project has one.

An Otocinclus sp on a branch. Demonstrably less chunky than the previous one.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 09/07/2024

🐠🐟 Enjoy this pudgy Oto. He may be losing the fight with algae in my tank, but he's giving it his best.

An otocinclus sp. on the glass of an aquarium. It is quite chonky.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 07/05/2024

🧪 Lastly, students really engaged with Roughgarden's call to challenge our paradigms and consider how we put our own suppositions on to what we observe. This comic captured this idea in how female mimics are considered under two different frameworks.

Meme with two people on a bus. One facing a cliff face and is sad, above him is written "that female mimic has small gametes". The other is facing the open sky and is happy, above him is written, "yippee that signal means mating time."

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 07/05/2024

🧪 Shifting sexual selection pressures was also a big part of our discussions, along with some great examples like katydids and the two-spotted goby.

Meme of woman passing man and girlfriend cause man to turn and look and girlfriend to be angry at man. All faces have been replaced with a two spotted goby. Passing woman is ornamented female. Man is a male. Girlfriend is an unornamented female.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 07/05/2024

🧪 Students caught on to using more precise language in research and avoiding overly generalized and culturally loaded terms such as feminized.

Meme with man checking out passing woman while his girlfriend looks at him in disgust. Passing woman labeled "Feminise". Man labeled "Scientists". Girlfriend labeled "Literally any other more appropriate term"

Simpsons meme with Homer in bath with back turned to Bart who is about to hit him with a chair. Above Homer is written, "Carefully crafted, well supported research paper". Above Bart is written, "The word 'feminized'".

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 07/05/2024

🧪 Parthenogenic lizards were a hot subject.

Drake meme: First panel with Drake turning away: "Lesbian lizards having sex should be described as them participating in "male-like behavior" as homosexuality is unique to their species". Second panel with Drake pointing happily: "Lesbian lizards having sex should not be viewed through a gender-role biased lens as homosexuality is observed in many species"

4 panel Gru meme: 1st panel with Gru holding a finger up in the air confidently with writing on a noteboard: "evolve a way to reproduce without sperm (no more males)". 2nd panel Gru holding up index finger and thumb close together to show brilliant detail: "co-opt hormone cycle so females can induce ovulation (leading to eggs)". 3rd panel: Gru with hands down in smug conclusion: "we are now sequential hermaphrodites (but with less genetic diversity)". 4th panel: Gru reads the same wording from panel three realizing the problem he created.

Drake meme: First panel with Drake turning away: "Losing sexual behavior because I'm a parthenogenic species". Second panel with Drake pointing happily: "Humping the hot lady lizards"

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 07/05/2024

🧪 My Evolution's Rainbow Class has submitted their products from the course and there are some banger memes done by the students. First up is the recent push to include female rats in research.

6 panel comic. 1st panel: one scientist says to the other "I got the rat". 2nd panel: The other scientist looks at the rat and asks "Is it male?" 3rd panel: First scientist hangs her head in shame and responds, "No." 4th panel: Text saying "Too Much Hormones!" 5th panel: Second scientist pulls her hair and cries. 6th panel: Picture of rat looking confused

Meme showing road sign above an off-ramp. Staying on highway says, "Testing base hormone levels in both rat sexes". Taking off-ramp says, "Saying 'women are hormonal and so are female rats' with no proof". Below sign is a car veering wildly to get on off-ramp labeled "rat behavior researchers."

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 23/04/2024

🧪🐟 A student product from my seminar on Evolution’s Rainbow. A topic that frequently came up was precision in language and they made an excellent comic on it.

4 panel comic. 1st panel is a old man in a lab coat using a pointer to point at a clownfish in a bowl. He is saying "As you can observe, this fish has a feminized phenotype".
2nd panel is just the fish in the bowl say "okay... but what gonads do I have?"
3rd panel has just the scientist and written above him is "Phenotype: Masculinized or feminized". "Feminized" is circled in Red and the scientist is pointing to it.
4th panel is fish's face only with a panicked look saying, "doc-- WHAT GONADS DO I HAVE?!?

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 08/03/2024

Gearing up for an on campus interview. Getting lots of help from my current institucion, but this process still feels like a hail mary.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 30/01/2024

One of my students gave me some artwork they did related to their experience in my lab. One panel is is honor of their sacrifice the other is our Julidochromis marlieri. 🧪🐟

Drawing of scissors with the quote "And under the Almighty fin, thr littlest fish is welcome in." from "Heaven" by Rupert Brooke

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 30/01/2024

Here's how my Sexual Selection timeline came out for our undergrad seminar. Yes, it's missing some things (MHC matching for sure), but hopefully a good jumping off point. 🧪

Time line of sexual selection research. Apologies to alt texters but the picture has a lot of words that I cannot fit into this box. I will gladly provide my notes if readers are interested.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 17/01/2024

Prepping a fun seminar with undergrads. Did not expect to encounter this line from Roughgarden in her book. Especially since she rightly criticizes Evo Psych in the next chapter.

Quote from Evolution's Rainbow by Joan Roughgarden
"I don't buy this neutralist position, at least not yet. I'm from the other school, the adaptationist school, which holds that nearly all behaviors and traits benefit organisms, and our task is to figure out how."
(Chpt 8, p145).

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 31/12/2023

Excited to be at #SICB2024 My visiting lab even has a fun logo thanks to one of my students

Teal circle with blue border with two Julidochromis cichlids circling the words "Anderson Lab" and QR code for lab.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 10/10/2023

Alright! Male is holding eggs again. Let's see if he makes it the whole way!

Male Sphaerichthys vaillanti with swollen mouth indicating he's holding eggs.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

She colored back up and started hanging around this dude. We've given them their own personal tank for some privacy, so we'll see if she lays again and if this new beau will keep the eggs. After taking her out, the other female has starting coloring up too! 🐠

Sphaerichthys vaillanti pair with red body and black bands female and non ornamented male.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 02/10/2023

I guess I should've gotten on this train earlier... Howdy! I'm Drew. I study sexual selection, sex diversity, and sex-bias regulation mostly in fishes. I've mostly worked with pipefishes, cichilds, and gourami. I'm an NSF PRFB/ VAP at Reed College, but on the market for a permanent home.

Three Syngnathus scovelli females in three different color patterns

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 29/09/2023

Kids these days. Someone took the dedicated computer to a machine. Me: is machine connected to other comp. St: No internet. Me: Doesn't matter. St: Program can't find machine Me: Can you send pick? St: Me: oh! Yeah, it's not wireless

Room with machine and cpu on opposite sides

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 28/09/2023

New toy for my work! Those fish brains won't know what punched them (literally)!

Brain punch kit sitting on top of box it came in.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 26/09/2023

List now at 20. Feel better. If you're on a committee and want someone experienced running a lab as a PI, winning an NSF grant, loads of teaching experience, and brings awesome fish behavior, genetics, and evo please give my app a chance! Shameless, but c'mon these fish could be in your program!

Female Vaillant Gourami with red nuptial colors with male

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 02/09/2023

Succesful poster session for summer research at Reed College . Proud of the work these four Reedies did in my lab.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 31/08/2023

🎶Look at these fish 🎶Aren't they neat? 🎶My Sphaerichthys collection's complete 🎶Wouldn't you think I'm the biologist 🎶The biologist who has acrostoma!

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 25/08/2023

I had sworn off trying to keep these guys in the lab, but my postbac convinced me to try one last time. These jerks did this! Male holding eggs with female in background. Sphaerichthys vaillanti.

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Drew Anderson @andersonevolve.bsky.social · 03/08/2023

🧪🦖 Visiting my parents and found this old dinosaur-themed trivial pursuit-esque game I had as a kid. Wonder how much is still accurate now?

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