Kevin Bennett
@kevinfpbennett.bsky.social
Postdoc, Penn State University. Research affiliate, Smithsonian's NMNH. Evolution. Hybridization. Plumage color. Sexual selection. Birds.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Evolution's not a tidy family tree. New work from @davetoews.bsky.social in @plosbiology.org found warblers sharing genes for yellow plumage across species lines for millions of yrs. But some, like this Prothonotary Warbler, took their own path to gold. Durham, NC. #PROW #genomics #ornithology
February 3, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Evolution's not a tidy family tree. New work from @davetoews.bsky.social in @plosbiology.org found warblers sharing genes for yellow plumage across species lines for millions of yrs. But some, like this Prothonotary Warbler, took their own path to gold. Durham, NC. #PROW #genomics #ornithology
I'm missing 12 orders of the 45 in the eBird/Clement's taxonomy, according to the new BotW phylogeny viewer. Time to go to Africa.
bro you phylolist?
If you thought regular bird listing was for nerds, wait til you get a load of phylolisting. @snacktavish.bsky.social
January 27, 2026 at 3:10 PM
I'm missing 12 orders of the 45 in the eBird/Clement's taxonomy, according to the new BotW phylogeny viewer. Time to go to Africa.
Unbelievably helpful.
MAJOR NEWS! We just launched an awesome new tool! The illustrated Birds of the World Phylogeny Explorer lets users trace any bird’s lineage, compare species relationships, and explore major evolutionary milestones with a click of a button. SHARE and EXPLORE! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/phy...
January 27, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Unbelievably helpful.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Super black plumage was identified in birds as part of awesome work by Drs. Dakota McCoy (@reallymccoy.bsky.social), Rick Prum, and others.
Dr. Roberta Canton dug into one clade containing a taxon having super black plumage, _Lepidothrix_ manakins, to show that super black is relatively common...
Dr. Roberta Canton dug into one clade containing a taxon having super black plumage, _Lepidothrix_ manakins, to show that super black is relatively common...
January 22, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Super black plumage was identified in birds as part of awesome work by Drs. Dakota McCoy (@reallymccoy.bsky.social), Rick Prum, and others.
Dr. Roberta Canton dug into one clade containing a taxon having super black plumage, _Lepidothrix_ manakins, to show that super black is relatively common...
Dr. Roberta Canton dug into one clade containing a taxon having super black plumage, _Lepidothrix_ manakins, to show that super black is relatively common...
My read of the proposed House budget is that NSF basically maintains its previous funding level, rather than the massive cuts requested by the White House. Same with USGS. punchbowl.news/wp-content/u...
punchbowl.news
January 5, 2026 at 3:51 PM
My read of the proposed House budget is that NSF basically maintains its previous funding level, rather than the massive cuts requested by the White House. Same with USGS. punchbowl.news/wp-content/u...
Pleasantly surprised to discover last week's episode of the ABA podcast discussed our recent warbler hybrid work. Give it a listen! doi.org/10.1080/1559...
January 2, 2026 at 12:01 PM
Pleasantly surprised to discover last week's episode of the ABA podcast discussed our recent warbler hybrid work. Give it a listen! doi.org/10.1080/1559...
Smartphone ownership among 12-year-olds is associated with depression, obesity, and loss of sleep. No smartphones for kids!
doi.org/10.1542/peds...
doi.org/10.1542/peds...
doi.org
December 29, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Smartphone ownership among 12-year-olds is associated with depression, obesity, and loss of sleep. No smartphones for kids!
doi.org/10.1542/peds...
doi.org/10.1542/peds...
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Latest articles from the WJO - Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia × G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler. #ornithology doi.org/10.1080/1559...
December 16, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Latest articles from the WJO - Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia × G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler. #ornithology doi.org/10.1080/1559...
Achieved my career goal of getting a writeup from the Avian Hybrids blog. This one is on the manakin paper I co-led with H.C. Lim last year which comprised a good chunk of my PhD work.
New story on the Avian Hybrids blog!
Water off a manakin’s back: How sexual and natural selection shape plumage coloration in manakins
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2025/12/10/w...
Based on the Science Advances paper by Haw Chuan Lim et al. | #ornithology
Water off a manakin’s back: How sexual and natural selection shape plumage coloration in manakins
avianhybrids.wordpress.com/2025/12/10/w...
Based on the Science Advances paper by Haw Chuan Lim et al. | #ornithology
Water off a manakin’s back: How sexual and natural selection shape plumage coloration in manakins
Plumage coloration mechanisms shed light on introgression patterns.
avianhybrids.wordpress.com
December 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Achieved my career goal of getting a writeup from the Avian Hybrids blog. This one is on the manakin paper I co-led with H.C. Lim last year which comprised a good chunk of my PhD work.
Magnolia, yellow, blackburnian, redstart, prairie, vitelline, and Wilson's warbler interbred (order unknown) to pass around the Leiothlypis (orange-crowned, Nashville, etc) form of BCO2, a gene that encodes a carotenoid-cleaving enzyme. Gene flow was probably instrumental in making warblers colorful
December 14, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Magnolia, yellow, blackburnian, redstart, prairie, vitelline, and Wilson's warbler interbred (order unknown) to pass around the Leiothlypis (orange-crowned, Nashville, etc) form of BCO2, a gene that encodes a carotenoid-cleaving enzyme. Gene flow was probably instrumental in making warblers colorful
Note, we didn't end up getting -every- species. Most that we missed were recent splits. But also, sorry, Leucopeza fans.
December 12, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Note, we didn't end up getting -every- species. Most that we missed were recent splits. But also, sorry, Leucopeza fans.
New paper out. If you like colorful birds, hybridization, and phylogenetics, read on! 🧵https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003501
A colorful legacy of hybridization in wood-warblers includes frequent sharing of carotenoid genes among species and genera
Introgression between species can shape evolutionary trajectories in important ways. This study of the entire family of the colorful wood-warblers (Parulidae) uses whole-genome sequencing to reveal fr...
doi.org
December 12, 2025 at 3:55 PM
New paper out. If you like colorful birds, hybridization, and phylogenetics, read on! 🧵https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003501
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
BIG day for warbler genomes, with work led by @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social! Whole genomes nearly *every species* of warbler.
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers borrow color-related genes from evolutionary neighbors, study finds | Penn State University
A new study has uncovered several instances of wood warblers — some of the most colorful birds in North America — passing color-related genes to other wood warbler species, including those that are no...
www.psu.edu
December 11, 2025 at 7:18 PM
BIG day for warbler genomes, with work led by @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social! Whole genomes nearly *every species* of warbler.
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Looking at long-read data is so calming compared to short reads.
December 3, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Looking at long-read data is so calming compared to short reads.
Check out our short warbler hybrid paper out today, including a new unofficial common name. Carotenoid people will find some little tidbits of discussion about how these hybrids can help us understand regulation of yellow feathers.
I mean, the title says it all: Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia × G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler. Fun stuff with @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social and Kurt Gielow, OA in @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social!
🦉 🧪
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🦉 🧪
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
November 21, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Check out our short warbler hybrid paper out today, including a new unofficial common name. Carotenoid people will find some little tidbits of discussion about how these hybrids can help us understand regulation of yellow feathers.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Super excited to release this virtual field / lab experience called "VRmivora":
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
VRmivora
This VR experience—created by Penn State and the National Science Foundation—drops you into a young forest to find wood-warblers. Explore the landscape as you find and identify wood-warblers, which…
davetoews.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Super excited to release this virtual field / lab experience called "VRmivora":
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
davetoews.com/vrmivora/
It's free to download via SideQuest for a Meta VR headset:
sidequestvr.com/app/44760/vr...
Thanks to all involved, especially the Center for Immersive Experiences: immersive.psu.edu
🦉🧪
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
A mosaic of modular variation at a single gene underpins convergent plumage coloration
The reshuffling of genomic variation from multiple origins is an important contributor to phenotypic diversification, yet insights into the evolutionary trajectories of this combinatorial process and ...
www.science.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
For decades, human genome editing has been limited to small, localized modifications.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
September 25, 2025 at 6:27 PM
For decades, human genome editing has been limited to small, localized modifications.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
Today, in a new paper published in @science.org , researchers from Arc's Hsu lab show that bridge recombinase technology is capable of large-scale genomic rearrangements in human cells.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
🐦🔬 Recruiting PhD students! 🌎🧬
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
Moncrieff Lab | Bird Evolution
The Moncrieff Lab is a research lab based at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. Research in the lab involves museum specimens, fieldwork, and...
www.moncriefflab.org
August 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM
🐦🔬 Recruiting PhD students! 🌎🧬
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
I’m looking for 1–2 PhD students to join our team starting Fall 2026 at the Sam Noble Museum & University of Oklahoma.
Our research: 🐦 birds • 🌍 biogeography • 🌴 Neotropics • 🧬 population genomics • 🌱 speciation
👉 Learn more: www.moncriefflab.org
Please share!
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good review / synthesis of the evolution of DNA sequencing technologies over the last 40-50 years? Looking for something to read as a lab group with folks who are newer to the field. TIA
August 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good review / synthesis of the evolution of DNA sequencing technologies over the last 40-50 years? Looking for something to read as a lab group with folks who are newer to the field. TIA
Saw this and thought to myself "Oh no we got scooped!" Nope. This is the preprint of our manuscript. Fun collab with Laura Céspedes Arias.
Diversification and divergence in Myioborus warblers: insights into evolutionary relationships and plumage genetics https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.12.669906v1
August 16, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Saw this and thought to myself "Oh no we got scooped!" Nope. This is the preprint of our manuscript. Fun collab with Laura Céspedes Arias.
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
#AOS2025 don't miss @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social's talk at 11:15am on Wednesday in the Genomics 2 session (Ballroom C). We're cooking up some cool stuff with @mbtoomey.bsky.social on warbler carotenoid processing enzymes! 🦉🧪
August 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
#AOS2025 don't miss @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social's talk at 11:15am on Wednesday in the Genomics 2 session (Ballroom C). We're cooking up some cool stuff with @mbtoomey.bsky.social on warbler carotenoid processing enzymes! 🦉🧪
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
This looks like an amazing tool
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Phyling: phylogenetic inference from annotated genomes
Phyling is a fast, scalable, and user-friendly tool supporting phylogenomic reconstruction of species phylogenies directly from protein-encoded genomic data. It identifies orthologous genes by searchi...
www.biorxiv.org
August 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
This looks like an amazing tool
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Kevin Bennett
Yes our learning management system is ClassWorks, but to manage your roster you have to go to Socrates. But students register through Einstein+. And to enter grades you have to go to Gradify. Except if the student is graduating, then you have to use Gradly. Oh and classrooms are managed through Bluo
July 21, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Yes our learning management system is ClassWorks, but to manage your roster you have to go to Socrates. But students register through Einstein+. And to enter grades you have to go to Gradify. Except if the student is graduating, then you have to use Gradly. Oh and classrooms are managed through Bluo
New paper published! How does a mid-size river impact gene flow and population structure, including when there is an adaptive sexual trait present on one bank but not the other? With Peri Bolton, Robb Brumfield (@limpkin.bsky.social), Jerry Wilkinson, and Mike Braun.
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
Impact of a putative riverine barrier on genomic population structure and gene flow in the presence of sexual selection
Abstract. Gene flow connects populations and facilitates the exchange of alleles, impacting speciation and adaptation. In western Panama, lekking golden-co
doi.org
July 8, 2025 at 7:09 PM
New paper published! How does a mid-size river impact gene flow and population structure, including when there is an adaptive sexual trait present on one bank but not the other? With Peri Bolton, Robb Brumfield (@limpkin.bsky.social), Jerry Wilkinson, and Mike Braun.
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
doi.org/10.1093/evol...