iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Jiménez S., Moreno-Cerdá A., Moreno-Bravo J.-A., Moreno N. y García-Moreno F. (2026). Divergent structural trajectories for pallial regionalization within reptiles reveal conserved evolutionary blueprints. Cerebral Cortex 36(9): bhag131 🫶🏻 👉🏽 t.co/RtU0ninn3H

t.co

https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag131

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

So, what distinguishes one reptilian pallium from another may be the lineage-specific modulation of a conserved transcriptional program. Building a neocortex may therefore have had more to do with re-using an ancient blueprint.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Result 5. In both species, we found apical and basal progenitors, but no detectable Eomes+ intermediate progenitors 🕵🏼‍♀️ , the cell type associated with cortical expansion in mammals 🐁🧠.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Result 4. Beneath all this divergence, the medial and lateral cortices retain the same organization. The most parsimonious interpretation is therefore that these regions were already present in the last common ancestor of amniotes.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Result 3. Geckos 🦎 have a spherical nucleus 🌀 that turtles simply do not possess. It may correspond to the pallial amygdala described in chelonians: the same ancestral territory, but organized differently.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Result 2. Only turtles possess a nucleus known as the pallial thickening 🐢, which may correspond to the medial anterior DVR of lepidosaurs 🦎, and both may be homologous to the mammalian claustrum 👩🏽‍🤝‍👨🏽. A shared neuronal identity 🧠 in anatomically different structures.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Result 1. The dorsal cortex is not uniform. Satb1 and Satb2 subdivide it into two distinct regions in both species, consistent with what has been described in other sauropsids…🐊

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

For the first time in these species, we used in situ Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR) (@molecularinstruments) to map gene expression 🧬, together with 3D light-sheet microscopy 😯

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Why reptiles? Not because they are “primitive”, they have been evolving for exactly as long as we have. But they never developed a six-layered cortex. So, the features they still share with us are more likely to have been inherited than independently reinvented.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The pallium is the region of the forebrain that ultimately gave rise to our neocortex. All amniotes have one: mammals 🐁, birds 🐥, and reptiles 🦎. But how it is subdivided, and which cell types build it, is still a matter of debate.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

FANTASTIC WORK led from beginning to end by social-netowrkless Dr. Sara Jiménez! And with our lovely collaborators in Madrid and Alicante: Ana Moreno-Cerdá, Juan Antonio Moreno-Bravo and Nerea Moreno. 🫶🏻 👉🏽 academic.oup.com/cercor/artic...

academic.oup.com

Divergent structural trajectories for pallial regionalization within reptiles reveal conserved evolutionary blueprints

Abstract. The pallium is the evolutionary precursor of the neocortex and a central brain region underlying learning or social behavior, yet its histogeneti

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

The cerebral cortex that is reading this sentence (yours, to be explicit) did not come out of nowhere. It has evolved over hundreds of millions of years... To study this evolutionary process, we decided to focus on non-avian reptiles for our new paper in Cerebral Cortex 🐢🦎🧠 🧵

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

reptiles in the BDE-lab are in full bloom! 🦎🐢🦖

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Reposted by Fernando Garcia-Moreno

SEBD @sebioldev.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

The 2026 call for the José Luis Gomez-Skarmeta award of excellence in #DevBio is now open! If you’d like to join the previous awardees @dariloops.bsky.social 2024 and @mirimiam.bsky.social and @radaiglesiaslab.bsky.social 2022, please don’t hesitate to apply to #JLGS2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

📢 Abstract submission for #CorticalEvolution2026 open until April 2nd! We’ll be selecting many short talks from submitted abstracts 🗣️ and we’ve set aside extra time for poster discussions🧠💬 A great chance to share your work and connect with the community — don’t miss it!

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Reposted by Fernando Garcia-Moreno

Centro de Neurociencias Cajal @cncajal-csic.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Hoy nos despedimos del #InstitutoCajal Han sido años de ciencia, aprendizaje y, sobre todo, de personas que han dado vida a cada pasillo, cada laboratorio y cada idea. Nos llevamos todo eso con nosotros. Vamos con ilusión hacia lo que viene con el #CentroDeNeurocienciasCajal 🫶

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗿𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 for Cortical Evolution 2026 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟲𝘁𝗵. If you're planning to join us in Bilbao (June 15–17), this is the moment. Don’t miss the reduced fee — and don’t miss the conversation. ventricular.org/corticalevol...

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Reposted by Fernando Garcia-Moreno

Margarida Cardoso Moreira @margaridamcm.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Our internal organs are evolutionary marvels. New technologies are transforming our understanding of the evolution of vertebrate organs. You can find more by reading here: rdcu.be/e5EgU #EvoBio #EvoDevo 🐟🦎🐢🦇🐊🦜

rdcu.be

The molecular evolution of vertebrate organs

Nature Ecology & Evolution - This Review discusses recent advances in the molecular evolution of vertebrate organs, including rates of evolution of organs and cell types, molecular mechanisms...

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Reposted by Fernando Garcia-Moreno

Cajal Club @cajalclub.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Cortical Evolution Symposium: international gathering advancing research on cortical development, evolution, cellular diversity, behavior & paleoanthropology. International scholars, Invited talks + posters. Follow the link for more info: www.cajalclub.org/upcoming-mee... #Neuroscience #Evolution

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Looking back at Toledo reminds us how far the field has progressed — and why 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 #𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

One memorable highlight was an open roundtable on the complexity of neural progenitor classification — 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and diversity across lineages. ventricular.org/vmclab/wp-co...

ventricular.org

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Participants spanned diverse approaches — from developmental neurobiology to comparative anatomy — creating a truly cross-disciplinary conversation. 𝗧𝗮𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳! www.ventricular.org/Conference_P...

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

The meeting was structured around core themes: cellular and genetic evolution, comparative evo-devo, and the role of progenitor proliferation in shaping cortex form and complexity. www.ventricular.org/corticalevol...

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

In 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟱, 𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝗘𝗷é𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗼, 𝗧𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗼, 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻. It brought together international researchers to compare how the mammalian cerebral cortex varies across species and evolves at molecular, cellular, and anatomical levels

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

If you work in one species, this meeting will widen your perspective. If you already work comparatively, this is your community. Bilbao · June 15–17 Join the conversation! #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

🧬 Developmental neurobiologists 🧠 Systems & circuit researchers 💻 Computational neuroscientists 🧫 Organoid and stem cell labs 🧑‍⚕️ Clinicians thinking about cortical disorders If cortex shapes your questions, you belong in the room. #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Who is #CorticalEvolution2026 for? 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀! If you work on cortex, development, circuits, computation, disease, this meeting is for you!

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Comparative neuroscience is not about abandoning models. It is about putting them back into evolutionary context. That conversation will be central at 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲. 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗼 · 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝟭𝟱–𝟭𝟳 #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

By focusing mostly on rodents, we risk redefining complexity as noise — and overlooking developmental constraints, scaling problems, and circuit specializations that only appear in other lineages. To see principles, we need evolutionary distance. #CorticalEvolution2026

media.tenor.com

an aerial view of a coastline with a large body of water in the background

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Rodents are extraordinary experimental systems. But they are not heavy users of the cortex. Their cortex is small, smooth, and solves a different computational problem than in many other mammals. Sometimes simplicity hides biology rather than revealing it. #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

A comment on my previous thread jokingly noted that our “diverse” mammalian models mostly belong to the same branch: 𝘌𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴. Mouse, rat… and primates are closer relatives than we often like to admit. So — 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲-𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰? #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Cortical evolution is hard because it sits at the intersection of: developmental biology systems neuroscience genomics comparative anatomy 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 #𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 Come join our conference! Bilbao, June 15-17 2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Third, 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀. Much of what we call “fundamental” may simply reflect rodent biology. Comparative neurobiology forces us to re-evaluate what is truly conserved, 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭. #CorticalEvolution2026

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a hamster is standing on its hind legs and looking at the camera .

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Second, ᴅᴇᴠᴇʟᴏᴘᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴠᴏʟᴜᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀʀᴇ ɪɴꜱᴇᴘᴀʀᴀʙʟᴇ ⛓️. Small changes in progenitor behavior, timing, or lineage relationships can scale into large architectural differences. The difficulty is linking molecular changes to macroscopic structure.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

First, the cortex changes along multiple axes at once: size, folding, cell-type diversity, connectivity, developmental timing. 𝙉𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨. Expansion alone is not the answer. #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 sounds straightforward: compare species, identify differences, explain them. In reality, it 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝘞𝘩𝘺? #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Ready to see the big picture of how the vertebrate brain balances stability with change? 📖 Check out the full chapter in Evolution of Nervous Systems here :https://shop.elsevier.com/books/evolution-of-nervous-systems/kaas/978-0-443-27380-3

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

This deep dive was a huge team effort! ✍️ Huge congrats to co-authors: Sᴀʀᴀ Jɪᴍéɴᴇᴢ and Tᴀᴛɪᴀɴᴀ Gᴀʟʟᴇɢᴏ-Fʟᴏʀᴇꜱ @AchucarroGlia 👏👏

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a drawing of a lizard with green spots on its body

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝟯𝟬𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼? 🕵️‍♂️ Molecular detective work! We discuss the use of scRNA-seq (reading single-cell genetic diaries) to see how similar neurons hide under different disguises across species. 🧬🔬

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

But it’s not just the tectum! We explore how the 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗺𝘂𝘀 and 𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝘂𝗺 (the precursor to the cortex) talk to each other. Even in "simpler" brains, these connections are incredibly sophisticated, proving that complex vision isn't just a mammal thing. 🧠🔗

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

The 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗺 is the star of the show for many vertebrates. 🌟 In reptiles and birds, it’s a complex, layered processing hub. We break down the developmental mechanisms that build this structure and why it's so vital for survival in the wild. 🐍🦅

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Evolution loves a good remix. While the core visual territories are the same, different animals prioritize different visual routes. Mammals went all-in on the lemnothalamic route for high-def detail, while reptiles and birds doubled down on the collothalamic pathway for speed. ⚡️

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Ever heard of the 𝙥𝙝𝙮𝙡𝙤𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙘 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣? 🧬 Basically, all vertebrates start with a shared embryonic blueprint that hasn’t changed in millions of years. We look at how early-born neurons act as the "foundational crew" before species-specific features even show up. 🏗️🧱

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Hᴏᴡ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴜɪʟᴅ ᴀ ʙʀᴀɪɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴqᴜᴇʀ ʟᴀɴᴅ, ᴀɪʀ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴇᴀ? 🧠 It’s not just about adding new parts; it’s about "tinkering" with what’s already there! Our new review dives into Evo-Devo and how small developmental tweaks create many brain forms🦎🐦

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗯𝗮𝗼. To bring together evolutionary, developmental and systems perspectives and to rethink where the field is going next. June 15–17, 2026 Spain #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Importantly, cortical evolution is not just about the past. Many vulnerabilities of the human brain, from developmental disorders to psychiatric disease, may be inseparable from the evolutionary trajectories that shaped cortical expansion and complexity.

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

𝗘𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. Only by comparing species can we distinguish what is conserved from what is derived, what is fundamental from what is contingent, and which features come with hidden costs. #CorticalEvolution2026

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Fernando Garcia-Moreno @phylobrain.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

We now describe the cortex in extraordinary detail: cell types, layers, gene expression, developmental programs. Yet description alone doesn’t explain why the cortex is built the way it is — or why evolution took such different paths in different lineages. #CorticalEvolution2026

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