𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
@basantakhakurel.bsky.social
वसन्त खकुरेल
PhD student at Ludwig Maximilians Universität München.
Phylogenetics | Bayesian statistics | Morphological Evolution | https://basantakhakurel.github.io/
(he/him)
PhD student at Ludwig Maximilians Universität München.
Phylogenetics | Bayesian statistics | Morphological Evolution | https://basantakhakurel.github.io/
(he/him)
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Becoming a part of the @systbiol.bsky.social community is one of my greatest scientific achievements. I am happy to celebrate this today with a journal cover and a nomination to the editorial team
January 19, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Becoming a part of the @systbiol.bsky.social community is one of my greatest scientific achievements. I am happy to celebrate this today with a journal cover and a nomination to the editorial team
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Applications are now open for the 2026 Workshop on Molecular Evolution (MOLE)!
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
Claudia Solis-Lemus and I will be holding an informational session on Zoom next Wed (1/21) from 10:30-11:30 AM Central for those interested:
lsu.zoom.us/j/4968115684
Deadline to apply: 1/26
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
Claudia Solis-Lemus and I will be holding an informational session on Zoom next Wed (1/21) from 10:30-11:30 AM Central for those interested:
lsu.zoom.us/j/4968115684
Deadline to apply: 1/26
Workshop on Molecular Evolution | Marine Biological Laboratory
The workshop serves graduate students, postdocs, and established faculty from around the world seeking to apply the principles of molecular evolution to questions of anthropology, conservation genetic...
www.mbl.edu
January 16, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Applications are now open for the 2026 Workshop on Molecular Evolution (MOLE)!
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
Claudia Solis-Lemus and I will be holding an informational session on Zoom next Wed (1/21) from 10:30-11:30 AM Central for those interested:
lsu.zoom.us/j/4968115684
Deadline to apply: 1/26
www.mbl.edu/education/ad...
Claudia Solis-Lemus and I will be holding an informational session on Zoom next Wed (1/21) from 10:30-11:30 AM Central for those interested:
lsu.zoom.us/j/4968115684
Deadline to apply: 1/26
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Systematic Biology’s January 2026 issue (75.1) is out! It launches our 75th anniversary series, debuts the new Invited Review article category, features a Tillandsia Spotlight, along with a nice mix of empirical & methods papers. Check it out: academic.oup.com/sysbio/issue...
@systbiol.bsky.social
@systbiol.bsky.social
January 16, 2026 at 2:52 AM
Systematic Biology’s January 2026 issue (75.1) is out! It launches our 75th anniversary series, debuts the new Invited Review article category, features a Tillandsia Spotlight, along with a nice mix of empirical & methods papers. Check it out: academic.oup.com/sysbio/issue...
@systbiol.bsky.social
@systbiol.bsky.social
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Had a great post-SSB hackathon with the RevBayes crew! Got tons of work done on both RevBayes and RevGadgets! Special thanks to @trayc7.bsky.social @jembrown.bsky.social for organizing and hosting!
January 15, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Had a great post-SSB hackathon with the RevBayes crew! Got tons of work done on both RevBayes and RevGadgets! Special thanks to @trayc7.bsky.social @jembrown.bsky.social for organizing and hosting!
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
New paper in Paleobiology! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
“Super-progenitor” species and the distribution of sampled descendants | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
“Super-progenitor” species and the distribution of sampled descendants
www.cambridge.org
January 6, 2026 at 6:08 PM
New paper in Paleobiology! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
My daughter’s cat hates our other cat, and will sometimes sit watching him sleep from behind my office door
January 3, 2026 at 1:18 AM
My daughter’s cat hates our other cat, and will sometimes sit watching him sleep from behind my office door
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Reflections on the evolving practice of systematic biology, a joy to write with Michael Donoghue for the upcoming 75th volume of Systematic Biology!
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
December 31, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reflections on the evolving practice of systematic biology, a joy to write with Michael Donoghue for the upcoming 75th volume of Systematic Biology!
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694700v1
December 17, 2025 at 3:33 AM
No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694700v1
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Very excited for this incredible lineup of talks at #SSB2026!
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Very excited for this incredible lineup of talks at #SSB2026!
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
ssb2026.github.io/talks.html
For those giving talks, more instructions will be sent shortly.
@systbiol.bsky.social
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Improved Phylogenetic Posterior Estimation through Regularised Conditional Clade Distributions https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694737v1
December 20, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Improved Phylogenetic Posterior Estimation through Regularised Conditional Clade Distributions https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694737v1
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA?
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes
Muller's ratchet predicts that non-recombining genomes can accumulate deleterious mutations, though molecular evidence for it is rare. Previous studies have tried to detect ratchet-like behavior in mi...
www.biorxiv.org
December 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Have you ever wondered: just how strong *is* the evidence for Muller's ratchet on mtDNA?
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Well, wonder no more!
(Project led by Yu Mo, with @smishra677.bsky.social and @yadirapga.bsky.social)
"No molecular evidence for Muller's ratchet in mitochondrial genomes"
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Does anyone know any current or former recipients of an SNF mobility grant based in Germany? I'd be grateful for any leads!
December 12, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Does anyone know any current or former recipients of an SNF mobility grant based in Germany? I'd be grateful for any leads!
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
December 1, 2025 at 5:56 PM
New post by me on #MITPressReader @mitpress.bsky.social
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
On the 100th anniversary of the #ScopesMonkeyTrial
the ways we depict #evolution can still give an erroneous progressive view (that evolution leads to humans or ‘increased complexity’).
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/is-our-pictu...
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
A quick reminder for everyone registered for SSB2026: please take a moment to complete the survey to submit lightning talks, sign up for workshops, and indicate your interest in other meeting activities.
If you haven’t filled it out yet, today’s the day!
We're excited to see you all in January!
If you haven’t filled it out yet, today’s the day!
We're excited to see you all in January!
November 30, 2025 at 7:26 PM
A quick reminder for everyone registered for SSB2026: please take a moment to complete the survey to submit lightning talks, sign up for workshops, and indicate your interest in other meeting activities.
If you haven’t filled it out yet, today’s the day!
We're excited to see you all in January!
If you haven’t filled it out yet, today’s the day!
We're excited to see you all in January!
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Deadline soon (end of Nov) for this PhD position in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics in my group.
PhD position available in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics (hoehnalab.github.io/job_adverts/...). Topic: analyzing gene expression evolution across several firefly species and linking expression changes to genomic architecture. The position is jointly supervised with @anaevolcatalan.bsky.social
hoehnalab.github.io
November 27, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Deadline soon (end of Nov) for this PhD position in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics in my group.
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
The last five months with Claude Code have completely changed how we work.
matsen.group/agentic.html details:
• How agents work (& why it matters)
• Git Flow with agents
• Using agents for science
• The human-agent interface
Questions? What has your experience been?
matsen.group/agentic.html details:
• How agents work (& why it matters)
• Git Flow with agents
• Using agents for science
• The human-agent interface
Questions? What has your experience been?
Agentic Coding For Scientists
A four-part series on using coding agents like Claude Code for scientific programming, covering fundamentals, workflows, best practices, and the human side of AI-assisted development.
matsen.group
November 13, 2025 at 5:08 PM
The last five months with Claude Code have completely changed how we work.
matsen.group/agentic.html details:
• How agents work (& why it matters)
• Git Flow with agents
• Using agents for science
• The human-agent interface
Questions? What has your experience been?
matsen.group/agentic.html details:
• How agents work (& why it matters)
• Git Flow with agents
• Using agents for science
• The human-agent interface
Questions? What has your experience been?
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Check out this new paper in Systematic Biology! Aside from the author list including leaders in the field who happen to be some of my favorite scientists, this paper discusses * both * phylogeny inference incorporating continuous characters AND dicynodont evolution. How cool is that? 🧪
Incorporating continuous characters in joint estimation of dicynodont phylogeny
Abstract. Continuous characters have received comparatively little attention in Bayesian phylogenetic estimation. This is predominantly because they cannot
academic.oup.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Check out this new paper in Systematic Biology! Aside from the author list including leaders in the field who happen to be some of my favorite scientists, this paper discusses * both * phylogeny inference incorporating continuous characters AND dicynodont evolution. How cool is that? 🧪
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Interested in using continuous traits for phylogenetic estimation? We took a hard look at this in a well-studied clade. There’s a lot of promise to these data, but still much work to do to be able to make full use of them
doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
Validate User
doi.org
November 14, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Interested in using continuous traits for phylogenetic estimation? We took a hard look at this in a well-studied clade. There’s a lot of promise to these data, but still much work to do to be able to make full use of them
doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
doi.org/10.1093/sysb...
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
By shifting water to a higher elevation, the giant Three Gorges Dam caused the Earth to spin more slowly. www.wired.com/story/can-a-...
Can a Hydroelectric Dam Really Make the Days Longer?
By shifting water to a higher elevation, the giant Three Gorges Dam caused the Earth to spin more slowly.
www.wired.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:06 PM
By shifting water to a higher elevation, the giant Three Gorges Dam caused the Earth to spin more slowly. www.wired.com/story/can-a-...
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
November 14, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Congratulations to Joe Felsenstein on being awarded the 2026 Mendel Medal!
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
If you're a #teacher interested in a great #openaccess write up on reading #phylogenetic trees, check out www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/system... created by @jonhendricks.bsky.social and Elizabeth Hermsen.
2.1 Reading Trees
Chapter contents: Systematics — 1. Taxonomy — 2. Phylogenetics —— 2.1 Reading trees ← —— 2.2 Building trees —— 2.3 Character mapping —— 2.4 Phylogenetic trees and classificationParts of a tree A phylo...
www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM
If you're a #teacher interested in a great #openaccess write up on reading #phylogenetic trees, check out www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/system... created by @jonhendricks.bsky.social and Elizabeth Hermsen.
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
PhD position available in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics (hoehnalab.github.io/job_adverts/...). Topic: analyzing gene expression evolution across several firefly species and linking expression changes to genomic architecture. The position is jointly supervised with @anaevolcatalan.bsky.social
hoehnalab.github.io
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
PhD position available in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics (hoehnalab.github.io/job_adverts/...). Topic: analyzing gene expression evolution across several firefly species and linking expression changes to genomic architecture. The position is jointly supervised with @anaevolcatalan.bsky.social
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory
www.cambridge.org
November 8, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by 𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙰𝙽𝚃𝙰 𝙺𝙷𝙰𝙺𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙻
Nice, intelligent review of my book "The Tree of Life" in Nature Ecology and Evolution by @bethanyjallen.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.amazon.co.uk/Tree-Life-So...
Out in USA next Tuesday!
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.amazon.co.uk/Tree-Life-So...
Out in USA next Tuesday!
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
A beginner’s guide to tree thinking - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Nature Ecology & Evolution - A beginner’s guide to tree thinking
www.nature.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Nice, intelligent review of my book "The Tree of Life" in Nature Ecology and Evolution by @bethanyjallen.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.amazon.co.uk/Tree-Life-So...
Out in USA next Tuesday!
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.amazon.co.uk/Tree-Life-So...
Out in USA next Tuesday!
www.amazon.com/Tree-Life-So...