1/ Deep-time phylogenetics is hard: overly simplistic substitution models can mislead tree estimation at the billion year timescale. Our new preprint introduces GTRspmix, a protein modeling framework designed to more realistically model site-to-site heterogeneity in amino acid replacement. 🧵

Less than a week until I talk about my book 'The Tree of Life' @linneansociety.bsky.social. 25th June, 6pm, tickets available here: members.linnean.org/events/69f21...

The Tree of Life (A User’s Manual)

Max Telford takes us inside one of science’s greatest quests: reconstructing the web of relationships between all our planet’s species.

eventbrite.co.uk

Max Telford@maxjtelford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I will be talking about The Tree of Life at the Linnean Society on 25th June. If you are interested you can find out a little more and sign up for a ticket at the link below. Hope to see some of you there! members.linnean.org/events/69f21...

Now officially out in @elife.bsky.social! See how @maxjtelford.bsky.social and myself approached resolving spiralian relationships. doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Are interphylum spiralian relationships resolvable?

Analyses of two independent phylogenomic datasets suggest an explosive radiation at the origin of Spiralia, with implications for understanding the group's evolutionary history.

doi.org

Ana Serra Silva@anaserrasilva.bsky.social · 6mo ago

New paper on @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social: Are interphylum spiralian relationships resolvable? doi.org/10.64898/202... @maxjtelford.bsky.social and I tried answering this question with two independent phylogenomic datasets. (1/7) 🧪

Ahah, another race to follow! ⛵ www.vendeearctique.org

Uuuh, email from predatory journal but with some effort put in! These guys had to at least check my GoogleScholar (or have AI check for them... most likely). No hepatology or sylviculture/forestry this time! Amazing!

Abstract submission (and early-bird!) deadline for the BioSyst.EU approaches! You have until Sunday, May 31st to send it in! Join us and our fellow European systematics associations in Uppsala, August 17-19, 2026 for the 4th BioSyst.EU meeting! Details: www.trippus.net/BioSyst2026 #BioSystEU2026

BioSyst.EU 2026

A three-day conference celebrating European systematics and biodiversity research at its origin

trippus.net

🚨🚨 Last 2 days to apply for our workshop! Get those applications in 📝✨

Laura Mulvey@lauramulvey.bsky.social · 3mo ago

📣 10 days left to register for our workshop: Bridging Stratigraphic Palaeobiology and Phylogenetics Questions? Reach out to any of the organisers: @rachelwarnock.bsky.social @niklashohmann.bsky.social More information and registration 👉 www.lorentzcenter.nl/site/index.p...

"New exhibition, #JurassicOceans, showcases the fearsome creatures that lurked below the surface & offers a stark warning about the impact of warming waters on marine ecosystems." - www.theguardian.com/environment/... @nhm-london.bsky.social @theguardian.com 🌊

Tentacles, pointy teeth and the T-rex of the sea: the Natural History Museum on beasts that once ruled the oceans

A new exhibition, Jurassic Oceans, showcases the fearsome creatures that lurked below the surface – and offers a stark warning about the impact of warming waters on marine ecosystems today

theguardian.com

I will be talking about The Tree of Life at the Linnean Society on 25th June. If you are interested you can find out a little more and sign up for a ticket at the link below. Hope to see some of you there! members.linnean.org/events/69f21...

So I didn't hallucinate the monstrosity (nope, not calling it a tree) making the rounds in the 'phylogenetics' feed? Although something definitely did some serious hallucinating... shudder

On this International Museum Day it seems fitting to dig up the most random scientific output I've ever been involved in! Please blame any shoddy/outdated practices on my bosses trying to get enough content to make a video (and this was almost 10 years ago 😉) www.facebook.com/reel/1721870...

Anyone else find going to their country of origin's consulate/embassy to be quite jarring? I've spent an hour in Portugal without leaving London this morning, and got treated to the usual delays, shoutiness and tired old jokes I've heard since I was a kid... nope, they're still not funny...

Based on the amount and type of noise coming from the pub, I think it's safe to assume PSG won their match👂 Pity my team is out already...

How can two countries' postal services be so ****? With USPS, I have a letter that's been swanning about Tampa for almost two weeks. (The destination is in Tampa...) And Royal Mail keeps ignoring the 're-schedule delivery' option. Why insist on delivering on a different day than requested?

a green curtain is hanging on a red curtain in a room .

ALT: a green curtain is hanging on a red curtain in a room .

media.tenor.com

Can we please stop treating animals as disposable? Pets aren't toys... (and not all animals make good pets!) And please, please don't just 'release' them into the wild... that's how we get invasives... 😖 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Endangered Mexican axolotl discovered by girl, 10, under a bridge in Wales

Evie and her mother were enjoying a day trip to south Wales when they came across the amphibian.

bbc.co.uk

The Tree of Life available as a paperback today. bit.ly/41Mq7jp Breezy, scholarly, whimsical, rigorous + companionable guide to our family history. TLS Erudite, highly informed, frequently amusing.. compelling + memorable. Science Enjoyable + ambitious. An exhilarating cartographic journey. WSJ

Join us and our fellow European systematics associations in Uppsala, Sweden for the 4th BioSyst.EU meeting! Dates: August 17-19, 2026 Abstract submission and early bird deadline: May 31st Registration deadline: July 17th Details: www.trippus.net/BioSyst2026 We hope to see there! #BioSystEU2026

BioSyst.EU 2026@biosysteu2026.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Mark your calendars! The BioSyst.EU conference is taking place in Uppsala, Sweden from 17th to 19th August! Register now on our website (or using the QR code): www.trippus.net/BioSyst2026 #BioSystEU2026

Hey folks! Mollusc of the Year just opened up! I'm part of a working group from around the world studying the mysterious and beautiful galeommatoids, and one of our beasties is up for the MOTY! Help us out and VOTE EPHIPPODONTA!! @oceanspecies.bsky.social www.unitasmalacologica.org/ephippodonta...

Ephippodonta lunata

At barely 1 centimeter long, Ephippodonta lunata looks nothing like a typical clam. Most clams survive by snapping their shells tightly shut for protection, but the mysterious moon clam remodeled its....

unitasmalacologica.org

I might like hats a tad too much... Spent longer than I care to admit staring at this tree, cataloguing ahem dubious decisions... But the most egregious... Stetson is a brand not a hat type! And I'm fairly sure they don't (usually) make bicorns/tricorns... 🤔 Now back to actual phylogenies.

The Linnean Society of London@linneansociety.bsky.social · 4mo ago

We had to stop ourselves from adding all our best wig pictures, because we would be here all day, wasting time that we could be spending wearing hats. Besides, it begged the question, is a wig a hat? Experts in the emerging field of hatsonomy have yet to come to a firm conclusion. What do you think?

📢📢REMINDER LinneSys applications closes TOMORROW Friday, March 27th at 23:59 GMT+1!!!📢📢 Apply now! systass.org/linnesys/ Do remember to join the @systassn.bsky.social or the @linneansociety.bsky.social as a member first! Also, we only fund taxonomy and systematics related projects!

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund The Councils of The Linnean Society of London and The Systematics Association jointly administer this fund for the benefit of systematics research. The Fund has …

systass.org

Ooops, I spend so much time hassling @systassn.bsky.social members to renew their memberships and didn't realise I've been in arrears in another society for almost a year... Oh, the shame!

a cartoon cat says " for shame " while walking

ALT: a cartoon cat says " for shame " while walking

media.tenor.com

📢📢REMINDER LinneSys applications close this Friday, March 27th at 23:59 GMT+1!!!📢📢 Apply now! systass.org/linnesys/ Do remember to join the @systassn.bsky.social or the @linneansociety.bsky.social as a member first! Also, we only fund taxonomy and systematics related projects!

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund The Councils of The Linnean Society of London and The Systematics Association jointly administer this fund for the benefit of systematics research. The Fund has …

systass.org

The deadline for this year's LinneSys approaches! You have until Fri, March 27th at 23:59 GMT+1 If you're looking for a small grant for systematics work, get your application in ASAP systass.org/linnesys/ Just become a member of the @systassn.bsky.social or the @linneansociety.bsky.social first!

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund The Councils of The Linnean Society of London and The Systematics Association jointly administer this fund for the benefit of systematics research. The Fund has …

systass.org

So you are using IQ-TREE to estimate a tree for "deep time" phylogenetics using amino acid alignments. There is a lot of confusion about how to test model fit. Here are some suggestions.

I have zero interest in French football teams but invariably know when PSG wins. Why? Because the fans congregate at the nearby pub and make a racket... Tonight, in additon to the usual football crowd noises, there's drums 🙄

Looking for a small grant for systematics work? Check us out! systass.org/linnesys/ Deadline is MARCH 27 at 23:59 GMT+1 All you need is to be a member of the @systassn.bsky.social or the @linneansociety.bsky.social Caveat, legally, we cannot fund anyone in these countries: tinyurl.com/wemwtfrz

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund

LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund The Councils of The Linnean Society of London and The Systematics Association jointly administer this fund for the benefit of systematics research. The Fund has …

systass.org

It's #WorldBookDay. I did a #book. It's about #frogs. Buy it. *You'll like it: tell your friends (*phrase stolen from Huey Morgan)

On world book day might you be tempted to preorder the paperback edition of The Tree of Life? Out in pb on April 23rd. www.amazon.co.uk/Tree-Life-So...

The omission of circular monstrosities is reason enough to add this to the ever growing list of 'new toys to try'.

Andrew Rambaut (🐏🎀)@arambaut.bsky.social · 5mo ago

There are features from FigTree that are missing some of which I plan to implement, some I am not (I am looking at you circular trees).

If I ever drop off the map, this isn't a bad place to come looking. Weather permitting... ⛵ Do expect maniacal laughter, though. To this day, I don't know if my skipper was more afraid of rough weather or my undisguised glee in said weather... (Beaufort up to 6/7, I do have some sense...)