wanna read the latest overview of “internal evolutionary conflicts” — scenarios where genes spread despite being organism-deleterious? and wanna learn how to model them? look at our new preprint! we introduce unifying ideas, and try hard to write accessibly. small 🧵 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Started our session by a talk from @gauravathreya.bsky.social where he talked about three routes to internal evolutionary conflicts and how these routes interact #MMEE2026

Over the years I’ve been prioritising spending more time at schools and small meetings than large conferences and the beautiful @tulip-gs-labex.bsky.social justifies it. Brilliant interactions with enthusiastic early career researches and deeper discussions with instructors. Thanks for the invite!

Humbling to give a talk at the Lynn Margulis hall of @lipme-toulouse.bsky.social. Thank you Philippe Remigi for the invite and the great discussion … work involved my wonderful colleagues… @mariabr1.bsky.social @nikhil-sharma.bsky.social @prateekverma.bsky.social and @planthealth-ugoet.bsky.social

Are you looking for a PhD on the intersection between evolutionary and ecological theory? Join us @univie. Fully funded PhD position in fundamental eco-evolutionary theory, open to international students. Apply by 13.7.2026: ecoevo.owlstown.net/search Reposting appreciated. #evolbio #evoeco #ecology

Jitka's EcoEvo Lab - Jobs

ecoevo.owlstown.net

1. How common is LLM use in scientific publishing, and how does it vary across field, publisher, journal prestige, author demographics etc.? @kylesiler.bsky.social has new paper in PNAS that addresses this question on a massive scale: 7.3 million papers from Elsevier, PLOS, MDPI, and Frontiers.

The diffusion of large language models in published academic articles | PNAS

Large language models (LLMs) are rapidly changing academic research, raising questions of who is adopting these tools and under what conditions. Th...

pnas.org

Our paper unpacking "fitness" is out doi.org/10.1093/gene.... How to define fitness depends on what question you ask. Selection acts on organismal vital rates, longer-term outcomes make sense for genetic lineages, models link them. "Invasion fitness" = speed, but sometimes probability matters more.

Why there are so many definitions of fitness in models

Abstract. Evolutionary “fitness” is operationalized in many different ways in models. Its role is to quantify that which is favored by natural selection. G

doi.org

Joanna Masel@joannamasel.bsky.social · 2y ago

Our latest preprint doi.org/10.32942/X2V... explains why fitness can be defined in so many ways, and which version(s) you should use when. Fitness quantifies what natural selection favors. 1/

A brilliant piece by @reckless.bsky.social on the “software brain” and the flattening of human experience required to make AI work. I agree with almost all of it. But I think there’s a deeper tension here.

The Verge@theverge.com · 3mo ago

THE PEOPLE DO NOT YEARN FOR AUTOMATION

Big opportunities for researchers 🌍 We are investing nearly €400 million to help researchers share their work and collaborate with the best scientific teams across the EU. The 2026 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships are now open. More: link.europa.eu/PNxpxw

I hadn't realised that Bob Trivers had died. What a complicated legacy. jjffh.com/tribute/deta...

Robert Trivers Obituary | John J. Fox Funeral Home Inc | Larchmont, NY

View Robert Trivers's complete obituary, share memories, and explore 11 tribute posts from the community.

jjffh.com

How does an animal choose between exploring for a better food source and taking advantage of a known one? Our recent work in Current Biology demonstrates how recent feeding and metabolic state dynamically influence fly local search. bit.ly/3PfrIv3 #Science #Neurosky #Foraging #Drosophila

It was such a fantastic event today getting to know my wonderful colleagues operating in Hubland Nord @uni-wuerzburg.de and beyond! Our group tecoevo.github.io was presented superbly by @axelarango.bsky.social

CCTB@cctb-wue.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Today's the Hubland Nord Bio Day! The biology research groups at the Hubland Nord campus are coming together to present their research projects and exchange ideas!

Today's the Hubland Nord Bio Day! The biology research groups at the Hubland Nord campus are coming together to present their research projects and exchange ideas!

The 6th Data Crunch Cup Würzburg is coming up! For 7 days, starting March 23, 2026 at 8 am, you can solve exciting challenges in biology, computer science, and data science to win prizes! Register now at DCCW.de! #bioinformatics #cctb #datascience #universitätwürzburg #fibio

#ECR, PhDs and postdocs, take note - here is our alternative date for the info session about the DFG's Emmy Noether Programme, its eligibility requirements and your funding opportunities. Full Details:▶️ www.dfg.de/en/research-...

Fantastic double feature seminar today by @sabinenoebel.bsky.social on tradition, culture and mate copying in #drosophila and a superb theory study of the same by @srishtipatil.bsky.social ! It’s been a pleasure hosting you both here @cctb-wue.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de

Tomorrow I will give a joint talk with @srishtipatil.bsky.social at the @uni-wuerzburg.de to present our joint work with @gokhalecs.bsky.social just published in @pnas.org

@plosbiology.org is formalizing its long‑standing practice of asking authors to share research code, introducing a mandatory #code‑sharing policy and clarifying what is meant by code sharing. Learn more and find guidance on best practice: plos.io/4reyX3v

PLOS Biology@plosbiology.org · 5mo ago

In support of #OpenScience, we routinely ask authors to openly share their #research #code before publication. We are now formalizing this practice with a mandatory #code-sharing policy and clarifying what we mean by code sharing. May be nice to cut-out the box for reference plos.io/47dPeOW 🧪

With @saramitri.bsky.social, @sonjalehtinen.bsky.social and L. Lehmann we’ve launched the UNIL Center for Theory in Ecology and Evolution @unil.bsky.social🇨🇭 To kick things off, we’re offering short visiting fellowships for theorists in ecology & evolution. Apply & pls RP 😀 tinyurl.com/2wem36zz

🌿 Postdoc opportunity in plant evolutionary ecology/genetics! My lab in the Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to start Fall 2026. We study plant adaptation, using weeds as model systems. #Postdoc #EcoEvo Pls RT!

The Division of Biological Physics @mpipks.bsky.social seeks a Research Group Leader in #biophysics, #softmatter physics, or related areas. (Further particulars in the ad.) Apply by the 3rd of April 2026 at pks.mpg.de/bprgl to join us in Dresden!

Today we have Yuriy Pichugin visiting us from the @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social discussing the Evolution of informed dispersal strategies in trophic meta-communities in our #WueBiT seminars

For the MMEE 2026 in Cork www.ucc.ie/en/matsci/ev... note the updated deadline! Submission of talks and poster presentations: March 30th, 2026.

Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution | University College Cork

Learn, Study and Research in UCC, Ireland's first 5 star university. Our tradition of independent thinking will prepare you for the world and the workplace in a vibrant, modern, green campus.

ucc.ie

Ascona workshop "Statistical and AI methods for multi-modal multi-scale modeling of biological systems", 28 June - 3 July. Deadline for registration Mon 16 March, 23:59 CET. There are ~10-12 places left.

Wolfgang Huber@wkhuber.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Apply for the Ascona workshop "Statistical and AI methods for multi-modal multi-scale modeling of biological systems", 28 Jun-3 Jul 2026 on Monte Verità, Lago Maggiore at the foot of the Swiss Alps. ascona2026.sciencesconf.org

For many animals, adaptation means survival. In order to learn with minimal risk, some species use safe spaces. @gokhalecs.bsky.social and Dharanish Rajendra describe the math behind this behaviour in the latest edition of @royalsocietypublishing.org. ➡️ www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/news-and-...

Register for Theory across Biology 2026: 12 June, Bern. One-day meeting on mathematical & theoretical approaches in biology with chalk talks and flip-chart sessions. Ideal for theorists, modelers, and interdisciplinary biologists. Abstracts by: 10 May 2026 Register by: 24 May 2026: buff.ly/svAZ8NF

Play isn’t only fun… it’s preparation for danger! Our new paper by @DharanishR in @royalsociety.org shows how protected juvenile environments boost #learning of risky behaviours via a protected early life period across some species. 🦂🦁 tinyurl.com/3w45xvz9 @cctb-wue.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de

Royal Society Publishing@royalsocietypublishing.org · 5mo ago

Optimizing play for learning risky behaviour #ProcB #OpenAccess #TheoreticalBiology royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Thrilled to share our new paper with the brilliant @srishtipatil.bsky.social & @sabinenoebel.bsky.social ! 🎉 Can mate copying maintain phenotypic diversity with multiple male options to choose from? find out @ doi.org/10.1073/pnas... @dkfz.bsky.social @unihalle.bsky.social @cctb-wue.bsky.social

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg@uni-wuerzburg.de · 5mo ago

How do animals choose a mate? Sometimes they follow their own taste, sometimes they copy others’ choices. This has an impact on the entire group, as a study from @cctb-wue.bsky.social & @gokhalecs.bsky.social shows. 📷 Chamika/Adobe Stock go.uniwue.de/gokhale-pnas

Honored and over the moon to add another Chronobiology talk to the TEDx universe at Aberystwyth next week! 🌓🦟 There are still some tickets left! tedxaberystwyth.com @aberuni.bsky.social @mpi-evolbio.bsky.social @clocksevolution.bsky.social @bioclocksuk.bsky.social

Fantastic work by Amalia Bastos and @chriskrupenye.bsky.social on acknowledging and "going along" with shared imaginary realities in non-humans. If general, then it could push back some traits of the cognitive revolution from 60-70 K to 6-9 mya. Extremely exciting! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Evidence for representation of pretend objects by Kanzi, a language-trained bonobo

Secondary representations enable our minds to depart from the here-and-now and generate imaginary, hypothetical, or alternate possibilities that are decoupled from reality, supporting many of our rich...

science.org