Thomas Hitchcock
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imprintedgene.bsky.social
Thomas Hitchcock
@imprintedgene.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist @iTHEMS,RIKEN. Social evolution, unusual genetics, and Mikel Arteta.
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Two other members of the research group have successfully made it to @eseb2025.bsky.social ahead of me.

Look out for @kztwyman.bsky.social, whose poster "A formal theory of group-level adaptation for obligate eusociality" (P01.068) is in this evening's session.
August 18, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Our latest preprint explores the evolution of the primate amylase locus, uncovering structural innovations, regulatory shifts and molecular convergence.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Convergent evolution through independent rearrangements in the primate amylase locus
Structurally complex regions of the genome are increasingly recognized as engines of evolutionary convergence due to their propensity to generate recurrent gene duplications that give rise to similar ...
www.biorxiv.org
August 15, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Mrnjavac et al. reevaluate arguments against Muller's hypothesis, and find that they do not conclusively exclude a role for sheltering in sex chromosome evolution.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf177

#evobio #molbio
An Extension of Muller's Sheltering Hypothesis for the Evolution of Sex Chromosome Gene Content
Abstract. The first influential hypothesis for sex chromosome evolution was proposed in 1914 by H. J. Muller, who argued that once recombination was suppre
doi.org
August 11, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Happy to share our latest article, led by Tee Muirhead, now out in PNAS! We report the evolutionary genomics of the newly discovered neo-sex chromosomes in Myzomela — involving translocation, inversions & degeneration on the neo-W. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
doi.org
July 28, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Outreach volunteers sought! @imprintedgene.bsky.social and I will host “Breaking Bread: Exploring the Evolution of Amylase in humans” at Festa Major de Gràcia, Barcelona (16 Aug, 19:00). We need 1-2 volunteers (ES/EN) for visitor guidance and on-site translation. Please DM or email me if interested.
July 28, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
New paper: "Faster adaptation but slower divergence of X chromosomes under paternal genome elimination" (Open Access)

w/ Robert Baird, @imprintedgene.bsky.social‬, Jan Ševčík, Katy Monteith, @laurarossevo.bsky.social‬ & @ajmongue.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

‪@natcomms.nature.com‬
Faster adaptation but slower divergence of X chromosomes under paternal genome elimination - Nature Communications
X chromosomes evolve faster than autosomes, but confounding factors make this a difficult phenomenon to study. Utilising the unusual sex determination system of Sciaridae flies, this study finds a slo...
www.nature.com
June 11, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Talks by:

@tatianagiraud.bsky.social
Bo Xu
@vincentcastric.bsky.social
@wenjuanma84.bsky.social
Sha Sun
Pengfei Wu
Robert Baird
Jing Liu
@imprintedgene.bsky.social
Deborah Charlesworth
June 11, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Abstracts for @eseb2025.bsky.social due next week! Milk, ejaculates, skin secretions, regurgitate, microbes ...our symposium will have it all, with invited speakers @berasymbionts.bsky.social and @jennyperry.bsky.social ...and you?
Organised w/ @joriskoene.bsky.social and @wolfnerlab.bsky.social
April 17, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Now available for preorder!

The Paradox of the Organism:
Adaptation and Internal Conflict, edited by me and Manus Patten, will be published by @harvardpress.bsky.social this fall.

Cover coming soon.
April 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
The man who sent Japan's cherry blossoms out to the world: "If my cherries can help spread some happiness and avoid war, then it’s all worthwhile, and I can sleep soundly."
The man who sent Japan's cherry blossoms out to the world
Masatoshi Asari's trees — symbols of peace and reconciliation — blossom in the U.K., U.S., Poland and China.
www.japantimes.co.jp
April 12, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Registration is open for the Internal Conflicts STN Workshop at ESEB 2025 on August 17 in Barcelona. Free registration includes lunch. More info: https://internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com/workshop-ii/ #workshop
Workshop II – INTERNAL CONFLICTS AND ORGANISMAL ADAPTATION
Workshop II – INTERNAL CONFLICTS AND ORGANISMAL ADAPTATION
internalconflictsstn.wordpress.com
April 11, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Ever wondered why you too should publish in @jevbio.bsky.social? Wonder no more, we have the answers for you (in case you didn’t know already):
Why publish in JEB?

✅ Society-owned and not-for-profit model
✅ Dedicated submission support - in-house Managing Editor
✅ Range of article types
✅ Modern Open Science policies - our own Data Editor
✅ Large editorial board with wide-range of expertise

#societyjournal @eseb.bsky.social
April 9, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
1/7 Very happy to share our latest paper on the joint evolution of separate sexes and sexual dimorphism in @jevbio.bsky.social, led by @thomaslesaffre.bsky.social and in collaboration with John Pannell at @dee-unil.bsky.social

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voae136
The joint evolution of separate sexes and sexual dimorphism
Abstract. Dioecious plants are frequently sexually dimorphic. Such dimorphism, which reflects responses to selection acting in opposite directions for male
doi.org
January 22, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Undergraduate Diversity at Evolution provides full support— registration, travel, lodging, meals— and mentoring for students to attend the Evolution 2025 meeting in Athens, Georgia this summer! Applications are due Monday, submit yours here:
Society for the Study of Evolution
Site description
buff.ly
January 15, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
New paper: "Kin competition drives the evolution of earlier metamorphosis", with @bingdongevo.bsky.social.

doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
January 15, 2025 at 8:05 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
*Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation*

Join us on Thursday, 9am Eastern, for a history special in our STN lecture series!

Jack Werren and Bengt Olle Bengtsson will reflect on their many years of working on genetic conflicts.
January 13, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
New paper on "Patterns of paternity: insights into mating competition and gene flow in a recovering population of humpback whales." 🐋🧬
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

@emma-carroll.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social @seamammalresearch.bsky.social 1/8
January 8, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Tie that binds - Hill-Robertson Interference can produce signals of sexual antagonism even in the absence of sexually antagonistic selection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.01.08.632022v1
January 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
My second paper, written with @geoffwild.bsky.social, has been published in @journal-evo.bsky.social
! Title: Selective advantage of redirected helping in a viscous population: doi.org/10.1093/evol....
Selective advantage of redirected helping in a viscous population
Abstract. When a brood fails, the failed parent can help a neighbor rear its offspring. This behavior is known as redirected helping and occurs in various
doi.org
January 5, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
🚨JOB 🚨Would a title "Professor of Life History Evolution" suit you? If yes... Become a colleague of us here in Mainz! I am happy to provide more information if this intrigues you.
cms.zdv.uni-mainz.de/karriere/wp-...
cms.zdv.uni-mainz.de
November 22, 2024 at 9:17 AM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Temporal Dynamics of Faster Neo-Z Evolution in Butterflies https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.19.572367v1
Temporal Dynamics of Faster Neo-Z Evolution in Butterflies https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.12.19.572367v1
The faster-Z/X hypothesis predicts that sex-linked genes should diverge faster than autosomal genes.
www.biorxiv.org
December 20, 2023 at 8:35 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
One-week international workshop on evolution June 22-29 in the Swiss Alps for Master's & early PhD students. Application due 28 January 2024.

I've co-taught the course several times (but not this time), and it's a terrific format and beautiful location.

www.evolution.unibas.ch/teaching/gua...
Evolutionary Biology | University of Basel
www.evolution.unibas.ch
December 12, 2023 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Thomas Hitchcock
Do deleterious mutations promote the evolution of recombination suppression between X and Y chromosomes? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Do deleterious mutations promote the evolution of recombination suppression between X and Y chromoso...
bioRxiv - the preprint server for biology, operated by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a research and educational institution
www.biorxiv.org
November 28, 2023 at 1:42 AM