Gopal Murali
@gopalmurali.bsky.social
Herp obsessed🦎🐍🐸🐢| DST-INSPIRE Faculty Fellow, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc | Fulbright Alum @uofa-eeb.bsky.social | biodiversity informatics | colsci | macroecology | macroevolution | global change biology |
https://www.gopalmurali.in
https://www.gopalmurali.in
Reposted by Gopal Murali
New publication:
Rethinking desert definitions: Bridging the gap between science, policy, and conservation
Open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Rethinking desert definitions: Bridging the gap between science, policy, and conservation
Open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Rethinking desert definitions: Bridging the gap between science, policy, and conservation - Ambio
Deserts are often misperceived as desolate, non-productive landscapes. This perception contributes to the misuse of terms like ‘semiarid’ and ‘desertification’, creating ambiguity in how deserts are d...
link.springer.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:16 AM
New publication:
Rethinking desert definitions: Bridging the gap between science, policy, and conservation
Open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Rethinking desert definitions: Bridging the gap between science, policy, and conservation
Open access link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Human-induced pressures are expected to intensify this century. @uriroll.bsky.social &co present #ProactiveConservationIndex, a new tool for #conservation prioritization regarding future threats for any group of species, & apply it to all terrestrial #vertebrates @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3WVRpRH
October 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Human-induced pressures are expected to intensify this century. @uriroll.bsky.social &co present #ProactiveConservationIndex, a new tool for #conservation prioritization regarding future threats for any group of species, & apply it to all terrestrial #vertebrates @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/3WVRpRH
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Extreme climate events can catalyze rapid evolutionary change! in our new Current Biology (@currentbiology.bsky.social) piece, Colin and I argue it’s time to study their evolutionary consequences systematically — beyond opportunistic observations. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Evolutionary consequences of extreme climate events
Simon Baeckens and Colin Donihue review case studies of rapid evolutionary change
in response to extreme climate events and sketch a framework for future studies in
the rapidly changing climate of the...
www.cell.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Extreme climate events can catalyze rapid evolutionary change! in our new Current Biology (@currentbiology.bsky.social) piece, Colin and I argue it’s time to study their evolutionary consequences systematically — beyond opportunistic observations. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Nature research paper: Stronger El Niños reduce tropical forest arthropod diversity and function
go.nature.com/40WEeCG
go.nature.com/40WEeCG
Stronger El Niños reduce tropical forest arthropod diversity and function - Nature
Time-series data from tropical forests tracking weather and declines in arthropod diversity and function show that fluctuations in species were largely dependent on their El Niño sensitivity and ecological specialization.
go.nature.com
August 11, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Nature research paper: Stronger El Niños reduce tropical forest arthropod diversity and function
go.nature.com/40WEeCG
go.nature.com/40WEeCG
Reposted by Gopal Murali
🫠. A tree came out today with 9,072 bird species, all placements based on actual DNA. It looks like they used eBird 2022 taxonomy; 10,096 were recognized back then. That means these folks just dropped (molecularly well informed) knowledge on 83% of the world's birds.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
A new time tree of birds reveals the interplay between dispersal, geographic range size, and diversification
Flight may affect the dispersal and evolution of birds. Using a new evolutionary tree,
Claramunt et al. find that efficient fliers have broader geographic ranges, and speciation
reduces range size, bu...
www.cell.com
July 31, 2025 at 4:14 AM
🫠. A tree came out today with 9,072 bird species, all placements based on actual DNA. It looks like they used eBird 2022 taxonomy; 10,096 were recognized back then. That means these folks just dropped (molecularly well informed) knowledge on 83% of the world's birds.
www.cell.com/current-biol...
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity | PNAS
The link between form and function of an organism’s morphology is usually apparent
or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable ...
doi.org
July 24, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Ecology and Biogeography of Sexual Size Dimorphism in Squamates, Liang et al., GEB
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
June 30, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Ecology and Biogeography of Sexual Size Dimorphism in Squamates, Liang et al., GEB
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Gopal Murali
maybe my favorite paper I've written, I have a synthesis out today early access in @asn-amnat.bsky.social today that attempts to answer a simple but slippery question: what is an elevational range? doi.org/10.1086/737130
June 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
maybe my favorite paper I've written, I have a synthesis out today early access in @asn-amnat.bsky.social today that attempts to answer a simple but slippery question: what is an elevational range? doi.org/10.1086/737130
Reposted by Gopal Murali
NEW SCIENCE! 🚨🚨🚨🧪🪶🌐
Our paper is now online at @natecoevo.nature.com! “Geographic redistributions are insufficient to mitigate exposure to climate change in North American birds”. We know birds are moving north with climate change, but what are the consequences?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our paper is now online at @natecoevo.nature.com! “Geographic redistributions are insufficient to mitigate exposure to climate change in North American birds”. We know birds are moving north with climate change, but what are the consequences?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
June 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
NEW SCIENCE! 🚨🚨🚨🧪🪶🌐
Our paper is now online at @natecoevo.nature.com! “Geographic redistributions are insufficient to mitigate exposure to climate change in North American birds”. We know birds are moving north with climate change, but what are the consequences?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our paper is now online at @natecoevo.nature.com! “Geographic redistributions are insufficient to mitigate exposure to climate change in North American birds”. We know birds are moving north with climate change, but what are the consequences?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
“observed patterns of island biodiversity … demonstrate that neutral models can make accurate predictions of higher-order diversity statistics. “ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... 🧪🌐
Quantitatively Testing Predictions From Mechanistic Models: A Case Study for Island Biodiversity
A key test of an ecological model is whether it can quantitatively predict unseen aspects of the data not used in model fitting. Here, we test whether a model fitted only to island alpha diversity ca....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
June 10, 2025 at 8:22 AM
“observed patterns of island biodiversity … demonstrate that neutral models can make accurate predictions of higher-order diversity statistics. “ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... 🧪🌐
Reposted by Gopal Murali
“There’s just no moths on that sheet.” @tessairini.bsky.social writes in the @theguardian.com about #InsectDecline with #DanJanzen, #WinnieHallwachs and the caterpillars of the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste #ACG in #CostaRica @gdfcf.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
June 3, 2025 at 10:37 AM
“There’s just no moths on that sheet.” @tessairini.bsky.social writes in the @theguardian.com about #InsectDecline with #DanJanzen, #WinnieHallwachs and the caterpillars of the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste #ACG in #CostaRica @gdfcf.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought ..."After elevated tree mortality during the first 15 years, ecosystem-level structural changes resulted in the remaining trees no longer experiencing drought stress." 🧪🌐🌾
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Drought is a growing issue in tropical rainforests. Here, the authors revisit a long-term rainfall manipulation experiment in the Amazon to show that tree mortality was followed by community-level adj...
www.nature.com
June 2, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought ..."After elevated tree mortality during the first 15 years, ecosystem-level structural changes resulted in the remaining trees no longer experiencing drought stress." 🧪🌐🌾
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Happy to share my new article on how morphological diversification proceeds during evolutionary radiations: "The diffused evolutionary dynamics of morphological novelty" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧵 1/12
The diffused evolutionary dynamics of morphological novelty | PNAS
Rates of evolution are fundamental to understand the processes that shaped the history
of life. The predominant view holds that high rates of pheno...
www.pnas.org
May 2, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Happy to share my new article on how morphological diversification proceeds during evolutionary radiations: "The diffused evolutionary dynamics of morphological novelty" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 🧵 1/12
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Human pressures reshape biodiversity, but not always in expected ways. No global biotic homogenization found. Impacts vary by threat, taxa, and scale. #LandUse #Overexploitation #Pollution #ClimateChange #Invasives
👉Conservation must get specific
#KnowYourPressure #TailorYourStrategy #BendTheCurve
👉Conservation must get specific
#KnowYourPressure #TailorYourStrategy #BendTheCurve
The global human impact on biodiversity - Nature
Key measures of biodiversity were quantified and found to be affected by human pressures that shifted community composition and decreased local diversity across terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecos...
www.nature.com
March 31, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Human pressures reshape biodiversity, but not always in expected ways. No global biotic homogenization found. Impacts vary by threat, taxa, and scale. #LandUse #Overexploitation #Pollution #ClimateChange #Invasives
👉Conservation must get specific
#KnowYourPressure #TailorYourStrategy #BendTheCurve
👉Conservation must get specific
#KnowYourPressure #TailorYourStrategy #BendTheCurve
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Exciting news! @wcratcliff.bsky.social and I published an essay last week in @nature.com reviewing the substantial contributions of 'long-term' studies to evolutionary biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/n
March 25, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Exciting news! @wcratcliff.bsky.social and I published an essay last week in @nature.com reviewing the substantial contributions of 'long-term' studies to evolutionary biology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/n
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
1/n
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Welp this is horrifying. These researchers quantified the "stratigraphy" of plastic waste used in Common Coot nests. Using expiration dates, they found one nest that contained 635 (!!!) pieces of trash, including plastic dating back to 1991.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
February 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Welp this is horrifying. These researchers quantified the "stratigraphy" of plastic waste used in Common Coot nests. Using expiration dates, they found one nest that contained 635 (!!!) pieces of trash, including plastic dating back to 1991.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Gopal Murali
New paper in @nature.com led by @patricepottier.bsky.social! We demonstrated global vulnerability of amphibians to warming, threatening 10% of >5,000 species examined. How did we do it? See thread🧵
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
March 6, 2025 at 10:27 AM
New paper in @nature.com led by @patricepottier.bsky.social! We demonstrated global vulnerability of amphibians to warming, threatening 10% of >5,000 species examined. How did we do it? See thread🧵
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
📢Our new paper on alien vertebrates in the world's mountains is now out @naturecomms.bsky.social. Using data on 700+ spp across ~3,000 mountains we explore their distribution patterns,flows across realms, presence in protected areas, and the factors driving these trends.
🐟🐸🦎🦜🦝⛰️
👉 rdcu.be/ebidu
🐟🐸🦎🦜🦝⛰️
👉 rdcu.be/ebidu
The global distribution patterns of alien vertebrate richness in mountains
Nature Communications - Among contemporary threats to mountain biodiversity, biological invasions have been understudied. This large-scale synthesis on alien vertebrates in global mountains delves...
rdcu.be
February 26, 2025 at 8:31 AM
📢Our new paper on alien vertebrates in the world's mountains is now out @naturecomms.bsky.social. Using data on 700+ spp across ~3,000 mountains we explore their distribution patterns,flows across realms, presence in protected areas, and the factors driving these trends.
🐟🐸🦎🦜🦝⛰️
👉 rdcu.be/ebidu
🐟🐸🦎🦜🦝⛰️
👉 rdcu.be/ebidu
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Our study on Duttaphrynus melanostictus evolution published in Nature Communication. We showed how these toads likely spread across the Indian Ocean via human transport, from ancient trade routes to modern shipping. 🌍🐸
@chrisdufresnes.bsky.social
@naturecomms.bsky.social
@comeniusuni.bsky.social
@chrisdufresnes.bsky.social
@naturecomms.bsky.social
@comeniusuni.bsky.social
February 1, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Our study on Duttaphrynus melanostictus evolution published in Nature Communication. We showed how these toads likely spread across the Indian Ocean via human transport, from ancient trade routes to modern shipping. 🌍🐸
@chrisdufresnes.bsky.social
@naturecomms.bsky.social
@comeniusuni.bsky.social
@chrisdufresnes.bsky.social
@naturecomms.bsky.social
@comeniusuni.bsky.social
Reposted by Gopal Murali
The late Eric Pianka made thousands of observations of desert lizard body temperature and activity. We used them to test biophysical models of their cost of living and projected the models to past and future climates in Africa and Australia #unimelb #ARC @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Climate change and the cost-of-living squeeze in desert lizards
Climate warming can induce a cost-of-living “squeeze” in ectotherms by increasing energetic expenditures while reducing foraging gains. We used biophysical models (validated by 2685 field observations...
www.science.org
January 16, 2025 at 9:59 PM
The late Eric Pianka made thousands of observations of desert lizard body temperature and activity. We used them to test biophysical models of their cost of living and projected the models to past and future climates in Africa and Australia #unimelb #ARC @science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
I'm very happy to announce I just published a paper from my post doc with Gavin Thomas in @natureecoevo.bsky.social! So if you're interested in #macroevolution, #phylogenetics and sexual size dimorphism (SSD), strap in
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Evolution of sexual size dimorphism in tetrapods is driven by varying patterns of sex-specific selection on size - Nature Ecology & Evolution
A phylogenetic comparative analysis of male and female body size across tetrapods globally shows that directional change in size is usually greater in males but reveals different underlying mechanisms...
doi.org
December 23, 2024 at 11:06 PM
I'm very happy to announce I just published a paper from my post doc with Gavin Thomas in @natureecoevo.bsky.social! So if you're interested in #macroevolution, #phylogenetics and sexual size dimorphism (SSD), strap in
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
New work from the lab! Annelise Blanchette found that brown anole lizards may be the most lead (pb) tolerant vertebrate known to date by integrating physiological studies of field and lab exposed animals and transcriptomics #urbanecology #ecotox #anolis 🦎 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Extreme lead tolerance in an urban lizard
Lead (Pb) is an extremely toxic heavy metal pollutant pervasive in many environments with serious health consequences for humans and wildlife. Identifying organisms that can serve as biomonitors of le...
www.biorxiv.org
December 11, 2024 at 2:35 PM
New work from the lab! Annelise Blanchette found that brown anole lizards may be the most lead (pb) tolerant vertebrate known to date by integrating physiological studies of field and lab exposed animals and transcriptomics #urbanecology #ecotox #anolis 🦎 1/n
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Gopal Murali
🌍🌱 It’s often believed that plant communities with greater phylogenetic diversity also have higher functional diversity. In other words, the more evolutionary lineages present, the greater the range of traits. But is this always true?
December 4, 2024 at 5:05 PM
🌍🌱 It’s often believed that plant communities with greater phylogenetic diversity also have higher functional diversity. In other words, the more evolutionary lineages present, the greater the range of traits. But is this always true?
Reposted by Gopal Murali
🚨Paper out! I am very proud to announce the publication of my very last #PhD article, exploring the vulnerability of terrestrial #vertebrates to #invasivespecies.
Check the paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
With C. Bellard @celinebellard.bsky.social, B. Leroy, and G. Latombe
Check the paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
With C. Bellard @celinebellard.bsky.social, B. Leroy, and G. Latombe
Exposure and Sensitivity of Terrestrial Vertebrates to Biological Invasions Worldwide
To reach the COP 15 objective of diminishing the impacts of biological invasions on native biota, one needs to identify the most vulnerable areas to this threat for prioritizing conservation actions.....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 4, 2024 at 5:00 PM
🚨Paper out! I am very proud to announce the publication of my very last #PhD article, exploring the vulnerability of terrestrial #vertebrates to #invasivespecies.
Check the paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
With C. Bellard @celinebellard.bsky.social, B. Leroy, and G. Latombe
Check the paper: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
With C. Bellard @celinebellard.bsky.social, B. Leroy, and G. Latombe
Reposted by Gopal Murali
Come join us in Tucson!! I am excited to announce a tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience
@uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Read more about the position in the updated link below! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
@uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Read more about the position in the updated link below! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
November 26, 2024 at 10:19 PM
Come join us in Tucson!! I am excited to announce a tenure track faculty position on the genomics of resilience
@uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Read more about the position in the updated link below! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
@uofa-eeb.bsky.social! Read more about the position in the updated link below! We will begin reviewing applications on December 9! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...