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Brent Emerson

@brentcemerson.bsky.social
182 followers 146 following 69 posts

Evolutionary biologist, sometimes faking it as an ecologist. Likes things with 6 or more legs. Professor @IPNA_CSIC. NZer in the Canary Islands.

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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is a good read, provides a useful summary of the mechanisms that limit introgression, and offers new insights as to how hybrid speciation might be facilitated: Stabilizing selection generates selection against introgressed DNA www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
journals.uchicago.edu
Stabilizing selection generates selection against introgressed DNA | The American Naturalist: Vol 0, No ja
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José Cerca @naturalselection.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
V happy about this one (@brentcemerson.bsky.social @biodiversitysmns.bsky.social @hernmoral.bsky.social)et al Species have survived on oceanic islands for Mya despite occupying small geographic areas, facing environmental calamities and having low Ne. We discuss this w/ a focus on conservation. 1/2
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Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · 14/09/2026
Obituary: Robert Ricklefs (1943–2026) www.nature.com/articles/s41... Polymath ecologist whose research and textbooks integrating ecology and evolution have inspired generations of students. Free to read: rdcu.be/D33fLgYcv4Ba
nature.com
Robert Ricklefs (1943–2026) - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Polymath ecologist whose research and textbooks integrating ecology and evolution have inspired generations of students.
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Tarentola delalandii from Tenerife emerging from behind a species of green gecko from New Zealand
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
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Bea Leiderman @bealeiderman.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Bertholdia. One of my favorite moths. Every single one in the genus is a stunner. Those translucent bits! 🌿😜
A moth on a leaf. The wings are mostly brown with a big area lacking scales so it is translucent and the leaf shows through. The thorax has a red crest. There are four yellow spots along the thorax and black and yellow dashed lines along the posterior edge of the forewings.
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lourdeschamorro.bsky.social @lourdeschamorro.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Weevils, weevils, weevils ... again this year! Online, free, and always exciting and illuminating :)
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Matt Bertone @bertonemyia.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
That's not excessive. THIS is excessive:
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Well this just got bumped up to the top of the reading list: "Chromosomal inversions accelerate genetic evolution and drive ecological speciation across an island gradient" doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org
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...
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Yet another reason why I will always love the UK www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Count Binface receives over a quarter of votes in Clacton by-election
The dustbin themed candidate got 9,455 votes and came second to Nigel Farage
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Harmit Singh Malik @harmitmalik.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
😮 @danielgorelick.bsky.social @biologyopen.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Why paying peer reviewers works, according to a journal’s editor-in-chief
A biology journal that paid peer reviewers found that the approach cut the time to a first editorial decision by 85% and maintained high-quality reviews.
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Neil Gemmell @profgemmell.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Want to join our team? Check out this opportunity. Closes 30 June NZT.
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Miguel A Gómez Serrano @gomezserrano-ma.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Durante las olas de calor las aves soportan mucho estrés. Esta hembra de Chorlitejo patinegro se moja el pecho para disipar su temperatura corporal y refrescar sus huevos, evitando así que alcancen una Tª letal para el embrión. Los moja y se levanta para dejar correr el aire.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Dylan, on life in your 80’s, is incredible. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/o...
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
www.ipna.csic.es/noticia/2026...
ipna.csic.es
En memoria de Heriberto López Hernández | Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología
Dicen que lo que no se nombra no existe y, de ser así, Heriberto tenía un poder casi sobrenatural, porque la biodiversidad canaria está llena de seres vivos que hoy conocemos (y nombramos) gracias a s...
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Abejas de Canarias @abejasdecanarias.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Frente a las palmeras washingtonias del Padre Anchieta, otro modelo de jardinería canaria es posible. Es hora de cambiar el jardín ornamental por verdaderos ecosistemas urbanos que protejan nuestra biodiversidad polinizadoresdecanarias.org/hacia-un-nue...
Una toma de ángulo bajo mirando a través de un denso campo de flores de cabezón hacia un árbol drago (Dracaena draco) y varias palmeras canarias bajo un cielo azul despejado
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
It’s like finding out that one of your favourite singers has been lip syncing .
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Drhoz @drhoz.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
drhoz.tumblr.com/post/8174720... #3735 - Feijoa sellowiana - Feijoa An iconic tree in New Zealand gardens, beloved for its fruit. Which is ironic, since it’s native to the highlands of Columbia, Brazil & Uraguay, & reached New Zealand via France then California. The flowers are pretty amazing too.
drhoz.tumblr.com
#3735 - Feijoa sellowiana - Feijoa
An iconic tree in New Zealand gardens, beloved for its fruit. Which is a bit ironic, since it's native to the highlands of Columbia, Brazil and Uraguay, and reached New Zealand via France then...
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Dr Conrad P.D.T. Gillett 🇪🇺 @coleopteriste.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Join the Name It To Save It campaign to bring taxonomy into the spotlight on Taxonomy Recognition Day on the 23rd of May! 1) Take a photo of any organism 2) Find its scientific name 3) Post the photo & name together with the hashtag #NameItToSaveIt
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José Cerca @naturalselection.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Change my mind? (:
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𝔸𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕒𝕨𝕟 @amberdawn1116.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
BREAKING: Huge win for the Endangered Species Act! Today’s ruling restores the Endangered Species Act to the status it held for decades before the *first* Trump administration attacked the ESA.
earthjustice.org
Federal Court Strikes Down President Trump’s Attacks Against Endangered Species Act, Restores Bedrock Environmental Law to Pre-Trump Status
Ruling derails future attempts to weaken law
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Lars Chittka @larschittka.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
The new James Cameron-produced NatGeo documentary "Secrets of the Bees" is out tomorrow. I hope it's good - our bees and team members are in it, but I haven't seen the final product yet. Here's a trailer.
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lourdeschamorro.bsky.social @lourdeschamorro.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Very proud of this one: hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pubs-online/...
Cover of Annotated Catalog of Hawaiian Weevils
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Harry McKillen @harrymckillen.com · 22/02/2026
When I hear lovely birdsong in the morning, I remember this comic and laugh
A comic of a bird singing about somebody eating their babies, and a crow responding that they did and they'd do it again.

And below them, it is a man listening to a cd of their conversation entitled "relaxing bird sounds"
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Some good advice for everyone, not just guys. No need to read the article, just listen to what William has to offer in the clip: bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Prince William shares personal message on mental health and male suicide
Prince William has offered his advice to those struggling with their mental health, in a special Radio 1 panel discussion.
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Javier Martín @txaverius.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Las diminutas semillas de un dragoncillo Antirrhinum miden apenas medio mm, pero a 20x muestran valles y cordilleras. Los detalles son unas 20 milésimas de milímetro. No deja de sorprenderme que algo tan diminuto lleve un embrión latente. Para enfocarlo todo tuve que apilar unas 300 imágenes.
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Rafael Marcondes @rafamarcondes.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Woah @davetoews.bsky.social this has got to be the coolest and (IMHO) most important ornithology paper I've read in a good while. Already added it to my class this semester! doi.org/10.1093/orni...
doi.org
Syntopic diet divergence inferred from metabarcoding in a pair of parulid warblers: Setophaga virens (Black-throated Green Warbler) and Seiurus aurocapilla (Ovenbird)
Abstract. The role of diet in driving ecological differences across the radiation of parulid wood warblers has been a topic of substantial debate. The infe
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
Without the last three words this would be a more interesting, albeit troubling, news item www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Julie Inman Grant: The woman tasked with kicking Australian kids off social media
After decades working in the private tech industry, Julia Inman Grant now finds herself on the other side.
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Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
A guide for Aucklanders keeping watch for yellow-legged hornets: 1. “Hmm, is this stripy waspy thing a hornet?” = not a hornet 2. “JESUS EFFING C what the F is that MONSTER, that’s he biggest wasp I’ve ever SEEN, NO Jaden KEEP AWAY, shit I think it has yellow legs” = hornet
Absolute UNIT of a hornet beside an array of puny common wasps.
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Carlos M Herrera @cmhmaliani.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
I've been working on this for >20 years. It was about time to write it and stop playing dice against time (far too old for that) "On commonness and rarity of insect pollinators: patterns of species abundance and diversity in a hyperdiverse Mediterranean assemblage" www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...
biorxiv.org
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
One could think the comment might mean that DNA was the key to the revision, but no, this is about being good and thorough with morphology-based taxonomy
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Plasmid mutation rates scale with copy number | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
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...
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Windsor Aguirre @windsor-aguirre.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Some science for some sanity: A Beginner's Guide to Structural Variants in Eco-Evolutionary Population Genomics onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
A Beginner's Guide to Structural Variants in Eco‐Evolutionary Population Genomics
Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has greatly expanded researchers' ability to study structural variants (SVs), that is, the variation in the presence, number, orientation or position of a DNA sequence. ...
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Brian J. Enquist @bjenquist.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Born on this day - Alfred Russel Wallace en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_... 🧪🌐
en.wikipedia.org
Alfred Russel Wallace - Wikipedia
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Alexis Stamatakis @stamatak.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Permanent Research Group Leader Position, Crete, Greece: Interested to assume long-term responsibilities for the Biodiversity Computing Group www.biocomp.gr I have set up in Crete? Apply now via apella.minedu.gov.gr/en/node/5998 (PDF also in English) - for questions email to stamatak@ics.forth.gr
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
One of my favourite beetle groups, even if I have never had the opportunity to work with them . . .
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Breaking News - United States of America to be renamed Trumpertonia. Or Trumpeldom. Or Trumpelonia. Exact details being discussed as you read this. Unnamed sources hint that renaming of Earth may be next. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Kennedy Center to be renamed Trump-Kennedy Center, White House says
The board of the performing arts centre voted to name it after President Donald Trump, rebranding it the 'Trump-Kennedy Center', press secretary Karoline Leavitt says.
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
Neat discovery. I've seen a few footprints along the Asturian coast, and that alone was mind blowing . . . bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Stelvio national park: Thousands of dinosaur footprints found on Italian mountain
The footprints date back some 210 million years and show traces of toes and claws.
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
I also wrote about this work in a piece for The Conversation: theconversation.com/songbirds-sw... 🦉🧪
theconversation.com
Songbirds swap colorful plumage genes across species lines among their evolutionary neighbors
Interbreeding across species lines is one way helpful genes can spread into a bird population.
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David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
BIG day for warbler genomes, with work led by @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social! Whole genomes nearly *every species* of warbler. Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ... www.psu.edu/news/eberly-... 🦉🧪
psu.edu
Warblers borrow color-related genes from evolutionary neighbors, study finds | Penn State University
A new study has uncovered several instances of wood warblers — some of the most colorful birds in North America — passing color-related genes to other wood warbler species, including those that are no...
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Journal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Delighted to publish Forum Article by @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social et al: "Journals run by learned societies or universities have more ethical policies while being cheaper and similarly cited" doi.org/10.1093/jeb/... Thank you for choosing JEB - we encourage the support of #societyjournals
doi.org
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology
Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
I have only read the abstract so far, but that is enough to see that this should be a useful paper for those whose work confronts the "hideously complex concept of effective population size" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
The Idiot's Guide to Effective Population Size
This is a reference manual for the elegant, yet hideously complex concept of effective population size (Ne), inspired by a classic, self-published manual of automotive repair ‘for the compleat idiot’...
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Nicolas Galtier @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Happy to hare that the preprint I was advertising below has been published by the Journal of Evolutionary Biology: academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-... Thanks @jevbio.bsky.social for supporting responsible publishing!
academic.oup.com
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology
Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
A golden opportunity for a motivated LMIC undergraduate. Please forward if you know someone relevant
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Ever tried explaining to anyone who isn’t a biologist how we biologists fit into this business model? I just can’t . . . they will forever see us as complete mugs.
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José Cerca @naturalselection.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
💥 We highlight the problem (elephant in the room) of using a single reference genome. ➡️ We put forth a set of hypotheses on how variable genomes contribute to adaptation and diversification
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EvolDir @evoldir.bsky.social · 06/12/2025
Postdoc position available in speciation genomics studying temporal isolation in Alpine butterflies at University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Application deadline: Jan 15, 2026. More info: kay.lucek@unine.ch. #postdoc
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Brent Emerson @brentcemerson.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Remarkable.
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Royal Entomological Society @royentsoc.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
🎄 It's time for #InsectAdvent, and for Day 1, we're celebrating the world of beetles 🪲 With around 350k known species worldwide (4k in the UK), #Coleoptera is the largest order of insects & one of the most diverse on Earth - Some glow, some dive, some fly, some roll dung!
buff.ly
Coleoptera
📸 Wallace’s Cyriopalus beetle (Cyriopalus wallacei) (c) Dr Tim Cockerill 2014
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Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society @zoojlinnsoc.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Weevil, weevil, rock you! Not quite as catchy as the Queen hit, the phylogeny of broad-nosed weevils was explored using mitochondrial genomes of 130 species, helping to classify the subfamily & uncover their biogeography! 🌍👇🧪 doi.org/10.1093/zool... @linneansociety.bsky.social
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