Gaurav Athreya
@gauravathreya.bsky.social
maths, community & evolutionary ecology, evolution of cooperation. PhD-ing kokkonut in Mainz. amateur hiker and bread baker, professional stick insect parent. Previously: IISER Pune & the MPI for Evolutionary Biology
Pinned
Gaurav Athreya
@gauravathreya.bsky.social
· Jul 23
Interested in host-symbiont interdependence, eukaryogenesis, and evolutionary transitions in individuality? my first paper just came out! With @gokhalecs.bsky.social and Pete Czuppon, we study when & how individuality emerges in a host-endosymbiont collective doi.org/10.1086/737588 a short thread🧵:
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
🗞️📣 New paper "Exact conditions for evolutionary stability in indirect reciprocity under noise" with @chilbe.bsky.social & @yohm.bsky.social
How can cooperation persist in large groups of unrelated individuals? Reputation 🗣️ But which social norms make this stable, even when mistakes happen?
🧵(1/6)
How can cooperation persist in large groups of unrelated individuals? Reputation 🗣️ But which social norms make this stable, even when mistakes happen?
🧵(1/6)
Exact conditions for evolutionary stability in indirect reciprocity under noise
Author summary Understanding how cooperation can evolve and be sustained is a central question in evolutionary biology and social science. One prominent explanation is indirect reciprocity, where indi...
journals.plos.org
November 3, 2025 at 10:54 AM
🗞️📣 New paper "Exact conditions for evolutionary stability in indirect reciprocity under noise" with @chilbe.bsky.social & @yohm.bsky.social
How can cooperation persist in large groups of unrelated individuals? Reputation 🗣️ But which social norms make this stable, even when mistakes happen?
🧵(1/6)
How can cooperation persist in large groups of unrelated individuals? Reputation 🗣️ But which social norms make this stable, even when mistakes happen?
🧵(1/6)
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Our Guest: István Zachar.
Title: Farming the mitochondrial ancestor as a model of endosymbiotic establishment by natural selection.
When: 🌟NEXT Thursday, 13 of November, at 3 PM CEST (Stockholm time zone).
Zoom link: umu.zoom.us/j/61448056807 #Endosymbiosis
Title: Farming the mitochondrial ancestor as a model of endosymbiotic establishment by natural selection.
When: 🌟NEXT Thursday, 13 of November, at 3 PM CEST (Stockholm time zone).
Zoom link: umu.zoom.us/j/61448056807 #Endosymbiosis
November 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Our Guest: István Zachar.
Title: Farming the mitochondrial ancestor as a model of endosymbiotic establishment by natural selection.
When: 🌟NEXT Thursday, 13 of November, at 3 PM CEST (Stockholm time zone).
Zoom link: umu.zoom.us/j/61448056807 #Endosymbiosis
Title: Farming the mitochondrial ancestor as a model of endosymbiotic establishment by natural selection.
When: 🌟NEXT Thursday, 13 of November, at 3 PM CEST (Stockholm time zone).
Zoom link: umu.zoom.us/j/61448056807 #Endosymbiosis
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
I beg your pardon?
November 1, 2025 at 4:59 AM
I beg your pardon?
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
This is the Noperthedron. A portmanteau of “nope” and “Rupert,” it is the only known shape that does not have a trait called Rupert’s property. No matter how you bore a straight tunnel through it, a second Noperthedron cannot fit through. www.quantamagazine.org/first-shape-...
October 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
This is the Noperthedron. A portmanteau of “nope” and “Rupert,” it is the only known shape that does not have a trait called Rupert’s property. No matter how you bore a straight tunnel through it, a second Noperthedron cannot fit through. www.quantamagazine.org/first-shape-...
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
🧬✨ It’s official!
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
October 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
🧬✨ It’s official!
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
EMPSEB31 is coming to Germany, June 2026!
Europe’s friendliest evolution meeting returns, organized by PhD students, for PhD students.
Expect inspiring research, new connections, and a mix of science + fun, the EMPSEB way!
📍Save the date & follow us for updates! Link in Bio 🌍
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Applications for the MEME programme (www.evobio.eu
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
October 23, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Applications for the MEME programme (www.evobio.eu
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
) are now open! MEME is a research- and mobility-oriented master’s in evolutionary biology (& I’m a proud alumna!), jointly run by the Unis of Groningen, Uppsala, Montpellier, and LMU Munich, with Harvard and Lausanne as partners. Spread the word!
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
🚨🚨Job! 🚨🚨Permanent (75% time) job! We are a pretty awesome research group & seek a manager who deals with everything: personnel tasks, organizing retreats, preparing code for teaching / data structures for research... Fluency in German & English essential. stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de#/jgu/job/51527
stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de
October 17, 2025 at 7:38 AM
🚨🚨Job! 🚨🚨Permanent (75% time) job! We are a pretty awesome research group & seek a manager who deals with everything: personnel tasks, organizing retreats, preparing code for teaching / data structures for research... Fluency in German & English essential. stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de#/jgu/job/51527
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Pretty excited to share our new preprint!
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 10, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Pretty excited to share our new preprint!
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Non-photosynthetic Plastid Replacement by a Primary Plastid in the Making
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
And this is a society journal - from the Society for Modeling and Theory in Biology @smtpb.bsky.social !
October 7, 2025 at 5:07 AM
And this is a society journal - from the Society for Modeling and Theory in Biology @smtpb.bsky.social !
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Looking forward to this! A non-Elsevier alternative to Theoretical Population Biology / Journal of Theoretical Biology
Population Biology Modeling & Theory (PBMT) is a peer-reviewed journal reporting advances in modeling and theory within population biology. Its scope spans demography, ecology, epidemiology, evolutionary biology, population genetics, and phylogenetics. PBMT will be online soon.
October 7, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Looking forward to this! A non-Elsevier alternative to Theoretical Population Biology / Journal of Theoretical Biology
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Why is it so hard to detect fecundity-longevity #trade-offs in social insects? And what does this have to do with the Gospel of #Matthew??
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Luck can explain the positive link between fecundity and longevity: the Matthew effect in social insects and beyond
Abstract. The universality of the trade-off between fecundity and longevity in life-history theory is sometimes contested. Social insects present the argua
doi.org
October 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Why is it so hard to detect fecundity-longevity #trade-offs in social insects? And what does this have to do with the Gospel of #Matthew??
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Find out in our new paper with @kokkonut.bsky.social and Susanne Foitzik @mainzuniversity.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Want to get the low-down on vulturine guineafowl societies? Here's a summary of our knowledge so far:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The multifaceted societies of vulturine guineafowl
Vulturine guineafowl, Acryllium vulturinum, are highly social birds that form stable identity groups (SIGs), corresponding to the concept of society p…
www.sciencedirect.com
September 30, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Want to get the low-down on vulturine guineafowl societies? Here's a summary of our knowledge so far:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
New paper out! 🤩 "Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time" with @kokkonut.bsky.social and @marcanthonytollis.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1371/jour... A short thread:
Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time
Author summary Humans are not the only species suffering from cancer, yet cancer does not impact all life equally. Body size is relevant because maintaining a large number of cells in a tumour-free st...
doi.org
September 16, 2025 at 11:51 AM
New paper out! 🤩 "Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time" with @kokkonut.bsky.social and @marcanthonytollis.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1371/jour... A short thread:
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
It started as a master thesis project by Markus Hiltunen, and ended up in this publication in Science. What a fun project to work on! Thanks Markus - and all other coauthors, too, for a great team work! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Early germline sequestration in a basidiomycete fungus
In sexual organisms, inheritance of new mutations is highly dependent on the timing of germline definition. Here, we used the fairy ring–forming fungus Marasmius oreades to challenge the general assum...
www.science.org
August 14, 2025 at 7:55 PM
It started as a master thesis project by Markus Hiltunen, and ended up in this publication in Science. What a fun project to work on! Thanks Markus - and all other coauthors, too, for a great team work! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Here are all the talks I attended and sketched at #ESEB2025 ! Only a fraction of the 642 speakers at the conference 😮
I had an absolutely amazing week chatting about lots of fascinating science
#sciart #eseb #esebcongress @eseb2025.bsky.social
I had an absolutely amazing week chatting about lots of fascinating science
#sciart #eseb #esebcongress @eseb2025.bsky.social
September 2, 2025 at 9:11 AM
Here are all the talks I attended and sketched at #ESEB2025 ! Only a fraction of the 642 speakers at the conference 😮
I had an absolutely amazing week chatting about lots of fascinating science
#sciart #eseb #esebcongress @eseb2025.bsky.social
I had an absolutely amazing week chatting about lots of fascinating science
#sciart #eseb #esebcongress @eseb2025.bsky.social
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
If you work on the internal conflicts, do consider proposing a paper for our upcoming special issue in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
More info here: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/special-issue/
More info here: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/special-issue/
August 29, 2025 at 2:35 PM
If you work on the internal conflicts, do consider proposing a paper for our upcoming special issue in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.
More info here: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/special-issue/
More info here: internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/special-issue/
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Some of the #Bengaluru representation at #ESEB2025 in Barcelona!
@shikharabhat.bsky.social @crazychipkali.bsky.social @vrindarvkm.bsky.social @gauravathreya.bsky.social @utharasrini.bsky.social
@shikharabhat.bsky.social @crazychipkali.bsky.social @vrindarvkm.bsky.social @gauravathreya.bsky.social @utharasrini.bsky.social
August 25, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Some of the #Bengaluru representation at #ESEB2025 in Barcelona!
@shikharabhat.bsky.social @crazychipkali.bsky.social @vrindarvkm.bsky.social @gauravathreya.bsky.social @utharasrini.bsky.social
@shikharabhat.bsky.social @crazychipkali.bsky.social @vrindarvkm.bsky.social @gauravathreya.bsky.social @utharasrini.bsky.social
a bit unhappy that the talks about being trans & Palestinian in academia were concurrent with other science talks #ESEB2025. How will these inspiring people’s stories percolate / get everyone to reflect if the schedule selects for attendance only by those who are already sympathetic?
Thanks to Sofia and May Sheday for the courageous and inspiring talks! The scientific world cannot remain silent @eseb2025.bsky.social #ESEB2025 #inclusivity 🏳️🌈 #transrights 🏳️⚧️ #freepalestine 🇵🇸
August 22, 2025 at 1:38 PM
a bit unhappy that the talks about being trans & Palestinian in academia were concurrent with other science talks #ESEB2025. How will these inspiring people’s stories percolate / get everyone to reflect if the schedule selects for attendance only by those who are already sympathetic?
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Great talk by @gauravathreya.bsky.social about his work on age-dependent facultative sex! It’s been a super fun and interesting project to work on 🤩 and a preprint will be coming soon! #ESEB2025
August 21, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Great talk by @gauravathreya.bsky.social about his work on age-dependent facultative sex! It’s been a super fun and interesting project to work on 🤩 and a preprint will be coming soon! #ESEB2025
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Is AI transforming science? Apparently not in evolutionary biology. Of nearly 1,700 abstracts at #ESEB2025, only four mention AI or artificial intelligence, another eight mention deep learning, and another two explicitly refer to AlphaFold.
August 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Is AI transforming science? Apparently not in evolutionary biology. Of nearly 1,700 abstracts at #ESEB2025, only four mention AI or artificial intelligence, another eight mention deep learning, and another two explicitly refer to AlphaFold.
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
What if your family members turn out to be your worst enemies? Come see my talk at #eseb2025 on using pedigree and mark-recapture data to explore how relatedness structures competitive interactions, and whether this maintains variation! Thursday, 11am, S48.02, meeting room 122+123
August 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
What if your family members turn out to be your worst enemies? Come see my talk at #eseb2025 on using pedigree and mark-recapture data to explore how relatedness structures competitive interactions, and whether this maintains variation! Thursday, 11am, S48.02, meeting room 122+123
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Hey #ESEB2025 folk! I'll be presenting my work on describing evolution in finite populations at 11:30 am on Tuesday in S-03. Drop by to learn how taking ecology and variable population size seriously changes classic pop gen descriptions like the Price eqn, revealing novel directional eco-evo forces.
August 16, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Hey #ESEB2025 folk! I'll be presenting my work on describing evolution in finite populations at 11:30 am on Tuesday in S-03. Drop by to learn how taking ecology and variable population size seriously changes classic pop gen descriptions like the Price eqn, revealing novel directional eco-evo forces.
hello to everyone going to #ESEB2025! want to hear about the consequences of age-dependent plasticity in reproducing via sex vs. asex? I will give a talk at 11:15am on Thursday in S15.02. come for the pretty Hydra illustrations, stay for the novel evolutionary insights on facultative sex!
August 16, 2025 at 5:31 PM
hello to everyone going to #ESEB2025! want to hear about the consequences of age-dependent plasticity in reproducing via sex vs. asex? I will give a talk at 11:15am on Thursday in S15.02. come for the pretty Hydra illustrations, stay for the novel evolutionary insights on facultative sex!
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Assistant Professor position in Traditional Ecological Knowledge at Stanford University. Applications due Sept 30, 2025
facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...
facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...
Stanford | Faculty Positions: Details - Assistant Professor in Traditional Ecological Knowledge
facultypositions.stanford.edu
August 6, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Assistant Professor position in Traditional Ecological Knowledge at Stanford University. Applications due Sept 30, 2025
facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...
facultypositions.stanford.edu/en-us/job/49...
Reposted by Gaurav Athreya
Folks going to #ESEB2025 : To help people connect on Bluesky, I've started making starter packs. Here is a first one with the names that were available when I started.
Ping me if you want to be included in the next one!
Ping me if you want to be included in the next one!
August 14, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Folks going to #ESEB2025 : To help people connect on Bluesky, I've started making starter packs. Here is a first one with the names that were available when I started.
Ping me if you want to be included in the next one!
Ping me if you want to be included in the next one!