Ken Toyama
@kenstoyama.bsky.social
Evolutionary biologist. Postdoc at UNMSM 🇵🇪. Macroevolution and Ecomorphology. Mostly lizards, sometimes snakes, always computers. From 🇵🇪
https://kenstoyama.wordpress.com/
https://kenstoyama.wordpress.com/
We visited Independencia island in Peru some weeks ago. Besides beautiful landscapes, we were impressed by how the local population of Microlophus lizards illustrates the island syndrome. Males were large, colorful, highly territorial, bold, and most missed fingers/toes. Densities were high.
November 18, 2025 at 5:22 PM
We visited Independencia island in Peru some weeks ago. Besides beautiful landscapes, we were impressed by how the local population of Microlophus lizards illustrates the island syndrome. Males were large, colorful, highly territorial, bold, and most missed fingers/toes. Densities were high.
We need a Butlerian Jihad
October 15, 2025 at 10:02 PM
We need a Butlerian Jihad
Reposted by Ken Toyama
As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
August 14, 2025 at 1:24 AM
As always, Ted Chiang is great in this interview.
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
cdh.princeton.edu/blog/2025/08...
Reposted by Ken Toyama
If you are applying to a PhD, don't use an LLM in composing your proposal.
If you are doing a PhD, don't use an LLM to do the writing and reading and thinking for you.
Sorry, I am going to die on this hill.
If you are doing a PhD, don't use an LLM to do the writing and reading and thinking for you.
Sorry, I am going to die on this hill.
July 31, 2025 at 9:52 AM
If you are applying to a PhD, don't use an LLM in composing your proposal.
If you are doing a PhD, don't use an LLM to do the writing and reading and thinking for you.
Sorry, I am going to die on this hill.
If you are doing a PhD, don't use an LLM to do the writing and reading and thinking for you.
Sorry, I am going to die on this hill.
Reposted by Ken Toyama
Happy to share our latest paper in which we use a new big phylogeny of birds to analyze the relationships between dispersal, geographic range size and diversification rates across all birds. See also post by
@sheardcat.bsky.social and @josephtobias.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@sheardcat.bsky.social and @josephtobias.bsky.social
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 30, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Happy to share our latest paper in which we use a new big phylogeny of birds to analyze the relationships between dispersal, geographic range size and diversification rates across all birds. See also post by
@sheardcat.bsky.social and @josephtobias.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
@sheardcat.bsky.social and @josephtobias.bsky.social
www.cell.com/current-biol...
First we removed people's names from awards.
Now, we want to remove journal names when referencing people's work.
Soon we will remove people's names from their own papers.
The dehumanization of science.
Now, we want to remove journal names when referencing people's work.
Soon we will remove people's names from their own papers.
The dehumanization of science.
I just published: Stop displaying journal names on your slides
A mentoring event at a Congress called for better support of early-career scientists - but what followed sent mixed signals. This blog reflects on those moments and ends with a pledge.
medium.com/p/stop-displ...
A mentoring event at a Congress called for better support of early-career scientists - but what followed sent mixed signals. This blog reflects on those moments and ends with a pledge.
medium.com/p/stop-displ...
Stop displaying journal names on your slides
A mentoring event at a scientific Congress called for better support of early-career scientists — but what followed sent mixed signals…
medium.com
July 21, 2025 at 5:31 PM
First we removed people's names from awards.
Now, we want to remove journal names when referencing people's work.
Soon we will remove people's names from their own papers.
The dehumanization of science.
Now, we want to remove journal names when referencing people's work.
Soon we will remove people's names from their own papers.
The dehumanization of science.
Reposted by Ken Toyama
In this new Historical Perspective, Ken S. Toyama describes how the original definition of Rensch's rule, which has been overlooked for decades, can impact the way we study sexual dimorphism. Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Beyond Size Dimorphism: The Past, Present, and Future of Rensch’s Rule | The American Naturalist: Vol 205, No 6
Abstract A pattern of allometry in which the degree of male-biased sexual size dimorphism (SSD) increases with species body size is known as “Rensch’s rule.” Over the past decades, a growing amount of...
www.journals.uchicago.edu
June 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM
In this new Historical Perspective, Ken S. Toyama describes how the original definition of Rensch's rule, which has been overlooked for decades, can impact the way we study sexual dimorphism. Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
My historical perspective on Rensch's rule now Ahead of Print @asn-amnat.bsky.social
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
April 24, 2025 at 7:46 PM
My historical perspective on Rensch's rule now Ahead of Print @asn-amnat.bsky.social
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
I wrote a post for @anoleannals.bsky.social about my latest paper with @jblosos.bsky.social @anthony-herrel.bsky.social and Luke Mahler on anole bite force and Rensch's rule. Read it here!
www.anoleannals.org/2025/01/17/a...
www.anoleannals.org/2025/01/17/a...
Anole Bites Help Us Rediscover Rensch’s Rule
What Rensch (really) found there Rensch’s rule is one of the great macroevolutionary patterns studied by evolutionary biologists. It describes the positive association between male-biased sex…
www.anoleannals.org
January 20, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I wrote a post for @anoleannals.bsky.social about my latest paper with @jblosos.bsky.social @anthony-herrel.bsky.social and Luke Mahler on anole bite force and Rensch's rule. Read it here!
www.anoleannals.org/2025/01/17/a...
www.anoleannals.org/2025/01/17/a...
What does sexual size dimorphism (SSD) mean in terms of combat performance differences between the sexes? We explored this question looking at bite force in Anolis lizards in this new @jevbio.bsky.social paper:
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
Sexual size dimorphism as a determinant of fighting performance dimorphism in Anolis lizards
Abstract. Rensch’s Rule describes a pattern of interspecific allometry in which sexual size dimorphism (SSD) increases with size among closely related spec
academic.oup.com
December 2, 2024 at 7:13 PM
What does sexual size dimorphism (SSD) mean in terms of combat performance differences between the sexes? We explored this question looking at bite force in Anolis lizards in this new @jevbio.bsky.social paper:
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...
academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...