Frederic Delsuc
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freddelsuc.bsky.social
Frederic Delsuc
@freddelsuc.bsky.social

Evolutionary biologist at CNRS - ISEM - University of Montpellier - Phylogenomics - Mammals - Convergence - Microbiome

Biology 41%
Environmental science 27%
Pinned
New @erc.europa.eu funded #ConvergeAnt preprint on using the evolution of pseudogenes to document the parallel regression of oral anatomy in myrmecophagous mammals posted at @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Retour sur quatorze années de recherche sur la #biodiversité #tropicale d'Amazonie avec le Centre d’Etude de la Biodiversité Amazonienne (Labex #CEBA) 😍 - Un grand merci à Jerôme Chave et tous les autres acteurs du LabEx! anr.fr/fr/actus/det...
Plongée au cœur de quatorze années de recherche sur la biodiversité amazonienne avec le laboratoire d’excellence (Labex) CEBA (Centre d’Etude de la Biodiversité Amazonienne)
La Guyane est un laboratoire naturel idéal pour étudier la biodiversité tropicale. Depuis 14 ans, le Labex CEBA, basé en Guyane française et porté par le CNRS, cherche à comprendre l’origine et le mai...
anr.fr

Congrats Quentin! Amazing photo as always 👏

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Thrilled to have won the Amphibians and Reptiles category of the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year and to be able to share this fascinating frog behavior! #wpy61 #frogs #herpetology www.quentinmartinez.fr
Cross-species cloning in ants 🐜
These two males belong to different species—but share the same mother. How? Why?
To celebrate the print release of our last paper in this week’s @nature.com (issue 8084), here’s a thread summarizing the results. Why? Let’s dive in🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Preprint Alert! 🦥
We produced complete genomes for 2 Xenarthra and placed them in a mammalian comparative framework. We found that Xenarthra harbour the largest number of retrocopies in mammals! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Retrocopy formation and domestication shape genome evolution in sloths and other xenarthrans
Xenarthrans, comprising sloths, anteaters, and armadillos, represent one of the most morphologically and physiologically specialised mammalian clades, yet the genomic basis of their adaptations remain...
www.biorxiv.org
Another record month for bioRxiv - and further evidence the pandemic spike+dip was just that and growth continues. Thanks to all involved and that includes 🫵

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

What have 🦷🦷 #TEETH 🦷🦷, 🥛 #MILK 🥛, and💧💧 #SALIVA 💧💧to do with each other? Ask PetarPajic, Luane Landau, and Omer Gokcumen @gokcumenlab.bsky.social ❗️

academic.oup.com/gbe/article-...
Saliva Protein Genes in Humans were Shaped During Primate Evolution
Abstract. Genes within the secretory calcium-binding phosphoprotein locus diversified along with the formation of a calcified skeleton in vertebrates, the
academic.oup.com

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Targeted ortholog search in unannotated genome assemblies with fDOG-Assembly https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.19.677253v1

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Sujet de stage M2 sur la "dock mussel", cet écotype de moules hybrides qui habite dans les ports. L'objectif est de tester si la dock mussel s’est adaptée grâce à sa variance génétique d’admixture ou si l’admixture n’est que le corolaire du contact secondaire entre les deux espèces parentales.

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

🐜 Une nouvelle étude révèle un phénomène inédit dans le règne animal : certaines reines donnent naissance à des mâles d’une autre espèce. Ce mécanisme appelé « xénoparité » permet à leurs colonies de survivre.

Explications avec des GIF de fourmis ⬇️
Chez les fourmis moissoneuses, des reines enfantent des mâles d’une autre espèce
Une nouvelle étude révèle un phénomène inédit dans le règne animal : certaines reines donnent naissance à des mâles d’une autre espèce. Ce mécanisme appelé « xénoparité » permet à leurs colonies de su...
www.radiofrance.fr
A new Science study of ants in Fiji—involving genomic sequencing of over 4000 ant specimens from museum collections—shows that most native species have been in decline since humans first arrived in the archipelago 3000 years ago. https://scim.ag/489mI2o
Genomic signatures indicate biodiversity loss in an endemic island ant fauna
Insect populations have declined worldwide, but the extent and drivers of these declines are debated. Most studies rely on field surveys performed in the past century, leaving gaps in our understandin...
www.science.org

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

If you’ve heard about our study on ants producing two different species but are still confused about how it works (and don’t have time to read the paper), this 10-minute video made by @bengthomas.bsky.social is very informative:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-O4...

Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The Ants That Broke Biology
YouTube video by 7 Days of Science
www.youtube.com
Hybridization and introgression are major evolutionary processes. Since the 1940s, the prevailing view has been that they shape plants far more than animals. In our new study (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
), we find the opposite: animals exchange genes more, and for longer, than plants
How many chromosomes can an animal have?

In our paper out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social we show that the Atlas blue butterfly has 229 chromosome pairs- the highest in diploid Metazoa! These arose by rapid autosome fragmentation while sex chromosomes stayed intact.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Constraints on chromosome evolution revealed by the 229 chromosome pairs of the Atlas blue butterfly
The genome of the Atlas blue butterfly contains ten times more chromosomes than most butterflies, and more than any other known diploid animal. Wright et al. show that this extraordinary karyotype is ...
tinyurl.com
Nomination de Sébastien Lecornu à Matignon : un message politique très fort envoyé à tous les Français !

Pour soutenir la lutte dessinée, engagée et indépendante :
▶️ ko-fi.com/allanbarte
▶️ fr.tipeee.com/allan-barte
🦣🍖🧬 Fully funded 3-yr PhD in palaeogenomics & bioinformatics! Help me push non-model palaeogenomes beyond their limits @DTU in Denmark.

Start: Feb 2026 (flexible)
Application deadline: 24 Oct 2025

For details click here: tinyurl.com/BioExtPhD

Reposts appreciated 😁

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

PhD opportunity in Bodø! You’ll sequence genomes from invasive and non-invasive slug (A. vulgaris) populations to uncover the molecular basis of invasion dynamics. Supervised by Prof. Les Noble & co-supervisor by me. Fully funded, cutting-edge science, great team. Apply by Sept 21: shorturl.at/zJT06
shorturl.at
High-resolution metagenome assembly for modern long reads with myloasm https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.05.674543v1
Excited to share that I’ve started as Associate Professor at the Technical University of Denmark! 🧑‍🎓

I also received an a NNF Emerging Investigator grant to use genomics + machine learning to study extinction.

👉 PhD & Postdoc positions coming soon — follow for updates!
Reposts appreciated 🙏
New findings in Science suggest that rodents owe much of their evolutionary success to their thumb-nail (the first digit, D1), an adaptation that gave them dexterous hands for cracking seeds and nuts.

Learn more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/46caVho
Nature @nature.com · Sep 3
A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species

go.nature.com/4mOb5T9
‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother
Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.
go.nature.com
Nature @nature.com · Sep 3
How is this possible?

This ant can lay eggs of two different species, birthed by the same mother

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Fantastic dental calculus and where to find it

Johnny Richards and team (@markella-morait.bsky.social + curators from 5 museums) survey >140 mammalian species with >1,600 specimens to understand what factors determine dental calculus formation. #aDNA #museomics
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

Link mentions 2 positions specifically in Comparative Genomics, Depts. of animal science and entomology. Bill Murphy running the search.

apply.interfolio.com/171886
Today 14 scientific societies in #ecology #evolution and #marineScience are publishing the results of a survey that finds negative impacts of federal policies on food security, flood mitigation, infectious disease preparedness, and wildlife conservation: 🧪👩‍🔬 www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...
I gave a symposium talk at the European Society for Evolutionary Biology 2025 (#eseb2025) meeting last week and this was my title slide showcasing how I was speaking as an independent scientist because @dalhousieu.bsky.social @dalhousie.bsky.social has locked us out.

Reposted by Frédéric Delsuc

If you like evolutionary constraints, serial homology, teeth, bats or all of the above, come and see our talk and posters! 👇🏼
At 3:30 I will talk about the genomic and developmental foundation of adaptive tooth shape evolution in bats Room S09 rm 118-119 #ESEB2025
Last first-author paper finally published! This took too many years but even after leaving research we manage to get it done, with Odile Maliet, @leandrist.bsky.social, @noguesbravo.bsky.social, @n8upham.bsky.social, Walter Jetz, and really supportive Hélène Morlon

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Negative global-scale association between genetic diversity and speciation rates in mammals - Nature Communications
Genetic diversity and speciation rate support adaptability and species richness patterns, respectively. Here, the authors find a negative association between mitochondrial genetic diversity and specia...
www.nature.com