Sign in

Else Mikkelsen

@elsemikkelsen.bsky.social
548 followers 165 following 38 posts

PhD candidate at the University of Toronto studying the genomics of speciation. Currently studying skuas, manakins, and rates of sequence evolution.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
David Toews @davetoews.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
I mean, the title says it all: Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia  ×  G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler. Fun stuff with @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social and Kurt Gielow, OA in @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social! 🦉 🧪 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
A five panel figure, with four showing photographs of a putative hybrid warbler between a mourning warbler and a common yellowthroat. The final panel shows an illustration of the bird by David Sibley A three panel figure showing the genetic composition of the hybrid and the putative parental species. Two panels show points on a principal components analysis, with the hybrid falling intermediate. The final panel shows bars illustrating genome-wide admixture, with the hybrid having intermediate ancestry between the two.
15020
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Ethan Gyllenhaal @ethanofthegulls.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Just out in Systematic Biology, we explore the role of gene flow in island phylogeography of the Solomons Black-and-white Monarch complex. doi.org/10.1093/sysb... Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)
Figure with a photo of a member of then Solomons Monarch complex, a map of the Solomon Islands (divided into four island groups, Makira being the most isolated), and a principal component analysis highlighting the distinct between-island-group structure, with moderate structure within the New Georgia Group and weaker structure within the Bukida group (highlighted in an inset).
14516
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
The overconfidence of the Google AI overview is so frustrating. My worst was googling my own papers and then seeing my carefully-worded suggestions regurgitated as facts
140
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Thanks!
010
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Exit seminar done! The recording is now available at this link: www.youtube.com/live/plSnpuK... (you'll have to skip to around 29:30 as the livestream started 30 mins early)
youtube.com
CSB/EEB seminars
YouTube video by CSB&EEB-Seminars
151
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Thanks!
010
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
If anyone wants to learn about the evolutionary role of hybridization in skuas and manakins, my exit seminar will be livestreamed on Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC38... (starts at 9:30 EST, but the recording should remain available for a while at that link)
130
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Almost PhDone! I'll be giving my PhD exit seminar in the morning (Thursday), and defending on Friday.
A poster for Else's exit seminar titled "The Role of Hybridization in the Speciation of Birds". The poster shows illustrations of several bird species (skuas and manakins) above a background of a subarctic coastline and a tropical rainforest river.
2496
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
Ooh, those are lovely! I'm definitely due for a visit, haven't been since I was a preteen. Hopefully some time in the next few years I can make the trip!
010
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Wilson Ornithological Society @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Something cool to start your weekend: a Blue Jay x Green Jay hybrid from Texas! #ornithology
livescience.com
Rare blue-and-green hybrid jay spotted in Texas is offspring of birds whose lineages split 7 million years ago
The hybrid bird is the product of two species whose habitat ranges began to overlap a few decades ago, potentially due to climate change, researchers said.
1176
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Dr Sjúrður Hammer @sjurdur.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Join this trans-hemospheric collaboration to get skuas elected as bird of the year in New Zealand #teamskua Loud, Proud #seabirds
badge showing displaying skua and a QR code
0143
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Hākoakoa/Skua BOTY @hakoakoa-boty.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
It's family values day here at Team Hākoakoa. You'll struggle to find a bird more devoted to its chicks than Skua. Just look at that fuzzy brown face. How could you not vote Skua for #birdoftheyear2025? #Skua @forestandbird.bsky.social
A photograph of a Hākoakoa parent with its fuzzy brown chick. The parent is displaying loudly while the chick is looking at you, already planning its next move. Text on the image says "More than a pretty (aggressive) vace, Skua are devoted parents who often form polyandrous family units. Chicks venture out to explore their world quickly." Photo credit Penny Pascoe via Australian Antarctic programme.
04015
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Camille Roux @crouxevo.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
Hybridization and introgression are major evolutionary processes. Since the 1940s, the prevailing view has been that they shape plants far more than animals. In our new study (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... ), we find the opposite: animals exchange genes more, and for longer, than plants
3207120
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Patrick McKenzie @patrickmckenzie.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
super excited to share this big project with @daeaton.bsky.social out now in Systematic Biology! We derived distributions for -- given an arbitrary species tree model -- how far you have to move along a genome before observing a change in the underlying genealogy: doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
doi.org
Estimating waiting distances between genealogy changes under a Multi-Species Extension of the Sequentially Markov Coalescent
Abstract. Genomes are composed of a mosaic of segments inherited from different ancestors, each separated by past recombination events. Consequently, genea
13817
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
There's a bunch of weird reproductive modes - gynogenesis, androgenesis, hybridogenesis, and kleptogenesis that mostly occur in weird hybrid lineages (but sometimes within non-hybrids too) that often parasitize the genomes of related species (or one of the parental species of a hybrid)
000
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Sam England @samjakeengland.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org
Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity | PNAS
The link between form and function of an organism’s morphology is usually apparent or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable ...
13421166
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Darren Irwin (he / him) @darrenirwin.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Hi y'all. In the midst of [gestures all around], I managed to write a thing. If you work with mitochondrial DNA sequences in groups such as birds, butterflies, or snakes, you might find it interesting. Feedback welcome. The "Driving W Hypothesis" for low mtDNA diversity: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org
The Driving W Hypothesis for Low Within-Population Mitochondrial DNA Diversity and Between-Population Mitochondrial Capture
The fields of evolutionary biology, molecular ecology, genetics, and taxonomy have been profoundly influenced by studies of variation in mitochondrial DNA. Here I propose a hypothesis that will likely...
2285
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Sadly not theconversation.com/we-composted...
theconversation.com
We composted ‘biodegradable’ balloons. Here’s what we found after 16 weeks
Since 1989, the balloon industry has relied on a problematic study that claimed balloons degraded “at about the same rate as oak tree leaves” after six weeks. We put it to the test.
141
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Wow!!
010
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Uriel Garcilazo @urielgc.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Meet the Bridge Orbweaver — reconstructed in full detail from a male specimen collected in Scarborough, Ontario (2025). skfb.ly/pxLos #3DModeling #ScientificVisualization #Arachnology #Biodiversity #DigitalTaxonomy #Larinioides #RaspberryPi #Zoology #UrbanWildlife
skfb.ly
Larinioides sclopetarius - 3D model by Urielgc
Larinioides sclopetarius (Clerck, 1757) — Bridge Orbweaver This 3D model depicts a male Larinioides sclopetarius specimen, collected in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in 2025. It was reconstructed from...
012
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Benjamin Freeman @benjaminfreeman.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
you might think N American species are getting common at their north range limit and rare at their south range limit as temps get warmer but you would be wrong new paper in GEB w/ @eliotmiller.bsky.social & Matt Strimas-Mackey, eBird Status & Trends ftw onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
25322
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
Ooh nice! I wonder if any of my family saw it
110
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
Very cool!
020
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Darren Irwin (he / him) @darrenirwin.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
OK who's ready for some science? Do you like speciation? Genomics? Hybridization? Bioinformatics? Then this is for you: Published today: "The Distribution & Dispersal of Large Haploblocks in a Superspecies" Bonus interest if you like ring species and cute greenish birds: doi.org/10.1111/mec....
Four figure panels from the paper. At upper left, a map of Asia showing the breeding ranges of six subspecies of greenish warblers, five of which are in the main ring: viridanus in blue in west Siberia, ludlowi in green in the western Himalayas, trochiloides in yellow in the central and eastern Himalayas, obscuratus in orange in central China, plumbeitarsus in red in eastern Siberia. The western form nitidus in grey, is also shown. In the lower left panel is a plot of genomic PC1 vs. PC2, with each little diamond symbol representing a single bird. This shows viridanus and plumbeitarsus as very distinct, while being connected by gradual or stepwise change through the populations around the southern ring. This is also shown in the lower central panel, which plots location around the ring vs. PC1. In the right panel, genotypes at 12 different Large Haploblock Regions are shown for 257 individuals arranged in order around the ring. Distinct differences between viridanus (in blue) and plumbeitarsus (in red) are seen, with more gradual variation through the ring connecting them. A single backcross of an F1 and a plumbeitarsus is seen in the lower row of this panel.
29337
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 15/02/2025
This excellent interactive tutorial on misleading data visualizations explores the idea of a "counter chart" — the graph you draw in response to refute a misleading claims flowingdata.com/projects/dis...
flowingdata.com
Defense Against Dishonest Charts
This is a guide to protect ourselves and to preserve what is good about turning data into visual things.
531211441
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
I'd vote landbird - to me shorebirds are terrestrial but aren't landbirds
110
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Greg Owens @gregowens.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Excited to announce our work on kelp genomics is now out at Current Biology. Lead by Postdoc extraordinaire Jordan Bemmels, we sequence WGS for 600+ bull and giant kelp across BC and Washington. authors.elsevier.com/a/1kSP93QW8S...
Visual abstract for Kelp paper
26027
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Ah ok - I guess bird genomes are nice and simple in comparison!
120
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
The example in your post is a fairly old study with only 3 loci, so maybe not too surprising that there wasn't enough signal for a nice network.
110
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
I think scale and data type have a lot to do with it - I usually work with shallow phylogenetic scales and genomic-scale datasets where you get a lot of phylogenetic signal, and the networks tend to look quite nice as long as heterozygous sites are properly dealt with.
140
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
I definitely don't think they're suitable for all datasets but they can have their place - I like using them as a form of early QC to flag suspicious samples (branches too long/short, biologically implausible connection, etc)
020
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Oh man I love making Splitstree graphs at an early stage of analysis - they run so quickly and can give a nice quick overview of signals in your data: which clades come out as distinct, which are a a polytomy-like tangle, and any samples that might by hybrids.
A Splitstree graph showing three clusters labelled "Pacific Wren", "Hybrid", and "Winter Wren". The "Hybrid" cluster has branches connecting it to both "Pacific Wren" and "Winter Wren". There is not much phylogenetic structure within the clusters.
220
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Darren Irwin (he / him) @darrenirwin.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
OK folks this is my first announcement of a lab publication on Bluesky: Congrats to PhD Candidate Rashika Ranasinghe on today's publication of her paper "Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three-Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island." Happy holidays! doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
doi.org
Cryptic Hybridization Dynamics in a Three‐Way Hybrid Zone of Dinopium Flamebacks on a Tropical Island
This study explores population divergence and hybridization dynamics across the golden-backed (Dinopium benghalense) and red-backed (D. psarodes) flameback woodpecker hybrid zone in Sri Lanka. The ge...
44616
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
New preprint by butterfly wizard @lucalivraghi.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... We mapped optix (again?!) as the switch gene of a natural polymorphism, this time controlling silver patches of a mountain butterfly. Gorgeous RNAi validation, evidence of selective sweeps, introgression
110754
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Oof, surprised how fast it changed :(
000
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Very sad to hear. The peak was before my time but I've heard stories of how it used to be bustling in the collections. I was just in the ROM collections a week ago, feels like a ghost town.
100
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
I'd be interested to hear an "outside" opinion. I don't work in a museum but my understanding is that the funding situation for ornithology collections here is... not so good. Would be interested to know if that's different from how it is elsewhere.
110
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Michael Bertram @michaelgbertram.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Earlier this year, I received news that fake peer reviews were allegedly being submitted impersonating me and approximately six others I shared my story with Science to, hopefully, reduce the chance of this kind of breach happening again www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
‘It felt very icky’: This scientist’s name was used to write fake peer reviews
Elsevier retracts dozens of journal articles that were published based on “fictitious” reviews
26436195
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Nice! Looks like an Acorn Woodpecker
010
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
So wild. I wonder how long they've been the only one in the Americas, and what American Eurylaimides diversity was like at its peak.
010
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Santiago Claramunt @sclaramunt.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
I'm recruiting a PhD student to join my lab at the University of New Orleans starting in Fall 2025. Research topics will focus on building and using phylogenies to study the diversification of birds, with an emphasis on Neotropical bird radiations. Contact me if interested.
16658
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
One reason ticks are often not removed in my experience is that one of the most common (or at least most commonly noticed) places they attach is the delicate skin of the face, especially around the eye. They are usually attached quite firmly, so trying to pull them off might cause damage to the bird
110
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 06/11/2024
Ah darn. That's super frustrating! I remember getting access to Birds of North America in my undergrad ornithology class, it was such a game-changer
020
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 06/11/2024
That's frustrating. Maybe you already knew this, but you can get free access to Birds of the World with an AOS membership. (Or maybe you meant for you students, in which case I guess that wouldn't help)
120
Reposted by Else Mikkelsen
Will Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 26/10/2024
New preprint up! We sequenced hundreds of samples from across one of Earth's oldest living organisms - the Pando aspen clone - to understand how mutations accumulate and spread in long-lived clonal organisms. Our results were…surprising. 1/30
27682324
Else Mikkelsen @elsemikkelsen.bsky.social · 01/04/2024
But then it might get a little silly with the daffodils - if they're clones that have been spreading by underground bulbs, should they be considered the same individual as the potentially cultivated bulb that was first planted (if that's how it got there)?
020