The UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship program is accepting applications until November 1. If you're a finishing Ph.D student or recent grad interested in coming to Berkeley to work on a project in paleobiology/paleoecology/geobiology please feel free to reach out! ppfp.ucop.edu/info/

I have a Perspective piece in Science, "The scales of strain on sharks" www.science.org/doi/full/10.... commenting on a really wonderful article by Erin Dillon et al., "Fossil denticles reveal how ocean productivity shapes shark baselines and recovery potential" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

How many #sharks should there be on a coral #reef? Our new publication in Science tackles this question using thousands of fossil shark dermal denticles—tiny, tooth-like scales that are shed and preserve in sediments—from Panama's two oceans. Check it out here: doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Exhilarated to share a 2nd @science.org cover article this month from our lab @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social! A collaboration with US & Mexico colleagues on the role of a Mexican biogeographic holding pen in shaping the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI)(1/11) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Excited to share a preprint of my 3rd dissertation chapter! We evaluated how a potential genomic measure of sexual selection strength, the ratio of genetic diversity on the Z chromosome vs the autosomes, varies across selective and biogeographic contexts in #manakins. Check it out! bit.ly/4fY43de

Can the Z:A ratio serve as a genomic index of sexual selection? An assessment across space and time in a genus of lekking birds

Understanding the role of sexual selection in shaping evolutionary trajectories is a key goal of biology, and thus developing a genomic measure of sexual selection strength is desirable. In systems wi...

biorxiv.org

Apply!! 3 open postdocs in biome biogeography and macroecology in @nezimmermann.bsky.social's amazing ERC project on global biome mapping and evolution: 1) apply.refline.ch/273855/1856/... 2) apply.refline.ch/273855/1857/... 3) apply.refline.ch/273855/1858/...

This is the local coatí. The kids named him Baron Von Bullfroggen

Our latest piece, just out

Nature Portfolio@natureportfolio.nature.com · 9mo ago

The food chains on modern Caribbean coral reefs may have shortened by up to 70% compared with those on their prehistoric counterparts, according to research in Nature. The findings suggest that modern reefs could be increasingly vulnerable to external stressors and ecosystem collapse. 🌍 🧪

Our new paper is online! We found that 1) today's shark & ray diversity was already reached ~100Ma; 2) that the K/Pg extinction was not catastrophic; 3) that the max diversity was reached ~50Ma; and 4) that today's diversity is depleted compared to the past. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Revealing the hidden patterns of shark and ray diversity over the past 145 million years

Gardiner et al. reconstruct the diversity of sharks and rays across the past 145 million years using deep learning and an extensive dataset. Their results unveil previously hidden patterns, including ...

cell.com

New paper out today! "Fossil otolith assemblages reveal millennial-scale changes in reef fish biomass and trophic structure across the Isthmus of Panama" 🔓https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0419 We used fossil fish otoliths to reconstruct community structure and energetics over millennia.

In 2025 the normally predictable upwelling in the Gulf of Panama failed to appear - the first time since our records began 40 years ago (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2512056122I). We are studying the gulf carefully to see what will happen in 2026. Will it also fail or was 2025 a one-off?

So excited to see this out! Metabarcoding shows fishes shift diets on degraded reefs; growth rates similar, condition diverged → species-specific coping strategies buff.ly/kGkEDpw @mattleray.bsky.social @nancyknowlton.bsky.social @odealab.bsky.social @sbac-manmetuni.bsky.social @stri_panama +others

Interested in Historical Ecology and Conservation Palaeobiology? 🪸🦀 Steve Pates and I are offering a PhD project on Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines @es-ucl.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social 🗓️ Apply by 19th January 2026 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com

findaphd.com

With otolith master Chien-Hsiang Lin, we studied the remarkable fish fauna of the late Miocene Chagres formation in Caribbean Panama peerj.com/articles/201...

#ICRS is the premier conference for all things coral reef, and a great place to foster thinking and collaboration between ecologists, historical ecologists, and palaeontologists. Consider submitting your abstract to "Reefs through Time", hosted by some top-notch researchers #Coral #Paleobiology

Erin Dillon@erinmdillon.bsky.social · last yr.

Work on reef paleoecology? Join our session "Reefs through time: leveraging today's interdisciplinary tools to better understand the past of reef organisms and ecosystems" at the 2026 International Coral Reef Symposium 📆Abstract deadline: Dec 1, 2025 🔗https://www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-abstracts

In time for #FossilFriday, a new paper by Jansen Smith and many paleontologists (including me) on what questions the field may focus on in the coming decade Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Unprecedented suppression of Panama’s Pacific upwelling in 2025.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.

New paper! led by Chris Perry: Most W. Atlantic reefs in current state can't keep up with sealevel rise at 2°C+. If reefs could accrete at Holocene rates (like these in Enriquillo basin) they'd manage fine. Restoration pockets offer some local hope, but overall sobering news doi.org/10.1038/s415...

📊 new paper! The natural phenomenon of upwelling, which normally occurs every year in the Gulf of Panama, failed for the first time on record in 2025... www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... [most co-authors not on bluesky except @javsdiaz.bsky.social @jonscibulski.bsky.social]...

Just one more week (till 5 Sept) to apply for the postdoc position with me at UA Museums' Department of Museum Research and Collections. NSF-project together with Jill Leonard-Pingel, @odealab.bsky.social, and @sethf.bsky.social focused on marine ecosystems in Panama. bsky.app/profile/pale...

Adiel Klompmaker@paleoadiel.bsky.social · last yr.

Job Alert‼️ Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in paleontology/biology at the University of Alabama Museums: careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social

Calling all Palaeontology PhD candidates and post-docs everywhere! No matter what your particular field of research or country of institution, please follow forms.gle/cLLkEjdLjPrT... and fill in my ANONYMOUS RESEARCH SURVEY – #Yourpalaeolife : investigating fieldwork by early career palaeontologists

#Yourpalaeolife: the experience of early career palaeontologists and fieldwork

Hello everybody! Welcome to my anonymous survey about fieldwork in palaeontology. I want to know about your experiences: what is the place of fieldwork in our research lives, how to we view it, and h...

forms.gle

Job Alert‼️ Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in paleontology/biology at the University of Alabama Museums: careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social

I do like a good past analogue for future change. V cool study by Pallacks et al shows how twilight zone lanternfishes—vital prey & carbon cyclers and earth's largest biomass—vanished from the E. Mediterranean when oxygen dropped, but rebounded fast when it returned. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Ocean deoxygenation linked to ancient mesopelagic fish decline - Communications Earth & Environment

Historical phases of ocean oxygen minimum are associated with near extinctions of mesopelagic fish, suggesting risks of future deoxygenation to marine fisheries due to warming, according to an analysi...

nature.com

We are hiring a lab manager for our lab family at Naos Island in Panama. More information and position description here: odealab.com/opportunities/. Deadline is today, but if you need more time please just let me know

Nice video report from Shuchita Jha at @inold.news on our Caribbean reef trophodynamics paper (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...). How can some reef fishes be bigger today than they were 7,000 years ago? youtu.be/buGORJ3F1iM

Caribbean Coral Reefs Meet Archaeology

YouTube video by Neighbird

youtu.be

Thrilled to share our new paper, led by @jonscibulski.bsky.social, on the rich 16kyr-long history of human-ocean interactions along the Pacific coast of Panama and Costa Rica. Inspired by the late Richard Cooke MBE and beautifully illustrated by his son, @cookedillustrations.com #PaleoSky

Jon Cybulski@jonscibulski.bsky.social · last yr.

🌊Just out! We reviewed the history of human-ocean interactions, focusing on the Pacific coast of the Southern Central Asmerican Isthmus (Panamá and Costa Rica). Over 16K years of stories on culture, environment, and ecology! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10.... Illustration: Madeline Dall

🐠🦈 Just out: In this paper we ask "How has reef trophic structure changed since humans started removing predatory fishes from Caribbean coral reefs?". www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com

This is the Panama Canal with the centennial bridge over the Culebra Cut, the locks leading into the Pacific ocean and Panama City in the background

The #INQUA meetings are about paleoecology, climate change, human evolution, and environmental transformations over the past 2.6myrs. @cookedillustra.bsky.social made a beautiful report from the last INQUA meeting in Rome. Here are some highlights. Grab the whole pdf here zenodo.org/records/1494...

This smoky jungle frog is the reigning queen of the Gamboa frog pond