Sandra Álvarez
@sabifo4.bsky.social
Researcher at UCL (CLOE) | Evol Biol & Comp Methods | Co-Founder of the Evolution Committee at SRUK/CERU | Ashtangi & pianist | She/Her
Website: https://sabifo4.github.io/
GitHub: https://github.com/sabifo4
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/sabifo4
Website: https://sabifo4.github.io/
GitHub: https://github.com/sabifo4
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/sabifo4
Applications to join the Computational Approaches to Early Evolution workshop are still accepted! Do not miss your chance to attend this event full of discussions on the computational methods for studying early life! 🦠💻🧬
forms.oist.jp/form/computa...
forms.oist.jp/form/computa...
January 16, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Applications to join the Computational Approaches to Early Evolution workshop are still accepted! Do not miss your chance to attend this event full of discussions on the computational methods for studying early life! 🦠💻🧬
forms.oist.jp/form/computa...
forms.oist.jp/form/computa...
Join us for interesting discussions at the Computational Approaches to Early Evolution workshop next year in April at OIST in Onna, Okinawa! 🦠💻🧬 Registrations open until January 2nd '26, do not miss it! More info & registration details in the link below! 🔽
www.oist.jp/conference/c...
www.oist.jp/conference/c...
Computational Approaches to Early Evolution
www.oist.jp
December 23, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Join us for interesting discussions at the Computational Approaches to Early Evolution workshop next year in April at OIST in Onna, Okinawa! 🦠💻🧬 Registrations open until January 2nd '26, do not miss it! More info & registration details in the link below! 🔽
www.oist.jp/conference/c...
www.oist.jp/conference/c...
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Pre-Christmas moleclular-clock shenanigans with @sabifo4.bsky.social @mariodosreis.bsky.social @zihengyang.bsky.social
December 19, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Pre-Christmas moleclular-clock shenanigans with @sabifo4.bsky.social @mariodosreis.bsky.social @zihengyang.bsky.social
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
New paper! Here we look at shape evolution of the mandible in Pelagiaria, a group of open-ocean fishes that includes tuna and mackerel. We find that shape disparity accumulated rapidly at the origin of the clade at around the K/Pg boundary... academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Adaptive radiation of pelagiarian fishes at the K/Pg boundary led to rapid diversification of mandible morphology
Abstract. Mandibles represent a key evolutionary innovation that has enabled jawed vertebrates to adapt and diversify in response to a range of food source
academic.oup.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:28 AM
New paper! Here we look at shape evolution of the mandible in Pelagiaria, a group of open-ocean fishes that includes tuna and mackerel. We find that shape disparity accumulated rapidly at the origin of the clade at around the K/Pg boundary... academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
So grateful to be back for another year! 💫 Big thanks to all the participants who joined us on this phylogenomics journey. We hope you find these resources helpful for your analyses, best of luck! 💻🧬
Huge shoutout to the amazing instructor squad @kaplipa.bsky.social , @sabifo4.bsky.social , Tomas Flouri & @zihengyang.bsky.social for smashing another epic #Phylogenomics course! 🚀
Massive thanks to everyone who joined us this week — go crush your data and rock those projects! 💥🔥
Massive thanks to everyone who joined us this week — go crush your data and rock those projects! 💥🔥
December 5, 2025 at 5:57 PM
So grateful to be back for another year! 💫 Big thanks to all the participants who joined us on this phylogenomics journey. We hope you find these resources helpful for your analyses, best of luck! 💻🧬
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Very happy to kick off the 5th edition of the #Phylogenomics course with @kaplipa.bsky.social , Tomas Flouri, @sabifo4.bsky.social , @zihengyang.bsky.social , and a wonderfully diverse cohort of attendees from all around the globe!
December 1, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Very happy to kick off the 5th edition of the #Phylogenomics course with @kaplipa.bsky.social , Tomas Flouri, @sabifo4.bsky.social , @zihengyang.bsky.social , and a wonderfully diverse cohort of attendees from all around the globe!
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Wrapping up our annual joint lab meeting with a visit to the Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL was such a highlight! Always inspiring to reconnect with longtime colleagues, new team members, and collaborators💫
November 25, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Wrapping up our annual joint lab meeting with a visit to the Grant Museum of Zoology at UCL was such a highlight! Always inspiring to reconnect with longtime colleagues, new team members, and collaborators💫
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
Nature research paper: Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals
go.nature.com/4i0i61w
go.nature.com/4i0i61w
Convergent genome evolution shaped the emergence of terrestrial animals - Nature
Comparisons of 154 genomes from 21 animal phyla and outgroups have been used to reconstruct ancestral adaptation to life on land across 11 distinct terrestrialization events, revealing strong evidence for convergent genomic evolution across the animal kingdom and recurring periods of terrestrial colonization.
go.nature.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Happy to share Jialin's first publication. She did a great job exploring the transition to land in animals. Co-supervised by the great Jordi Paps and me and in collaboration with Davide Pisani and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
Back from this great workshop at Beijing Normal University! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to bring this event to life, it has been a great success!💫 Special thanks to Cai-jin Chen for climbing the Great Wall with me, truly unforgettable! 谢谢🌹
November 12, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Back from this great workshop at Beijing Normal University! Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to bring this event to life, it has been a great success!💫 Special thanks to Cai-jin Chen for climbing the Great Wall with me, truly unforgettable! 谢谢🌹
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Students, if you join us for the lecture, we will be hosting a Student Committee-sponsored reception and you'll be entitled to a FREE drink 🍻
The receptions will be held jointly, so you'll have the opportunity to meet other students and members of the Association.
Join us! tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8
The receptions will be held jointly, so you'll have the opportunity to meet other students and members of the Association.
Join us! tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8
Don't forget to register for our in-person Founders' Lecture, next Friday OCT 24 6PM at Burlington House, London.
Prof @emmateeling.bsky.social, UCD, will be talking to us on all things bat 🦇
This is a free event but it will help us gauge interest if you register. tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8
Prof @emmateeling.bsky.social, UCD, will be talking to us on all things bat 🦇
This is a free event but it will help us gauge interest if you register. tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8
October 15, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Students, if you join us for the lecture, we will be hosting a Student Committee-sponsored reception and you'll be entitled to a FREE drink 🍻
The receptions will be held jointly, so you'll have the opportunity to meet other students and members of the Association.
Join us! tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8
The receptions will be held jointly, so you'll have the opportunity to meet other students and members of the Association.
Join us! tinyurl.com/28u2u2z8
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Very happy to announce our new paper on the evolution of metabolism is out now! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
With @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @ssolo.bsky.social Davide Pisani, Tim Lenton and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
(1/2)
With @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @ssolo.bsky.social Davide Pisani, Tim Lenton and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
(1/2)
The emergence of metabolisms through Earth history and implications for biospheric evolution | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
We investigate the evolution of microbial metabolisms from the last universal common
ancestor to the extant biota through comparative phylogenomics, reconciling the evolution
of the genes that underpi...
royalsocietypublishing.org
August 12, 2025 at 9:48 AM
Very happy to announce our new paper on the evolution of metabolism is out now! royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
With @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @ssolo.bsky.social Davide Pisani, Tim Lenton and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
(1/2)
With @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @ssolo.bsky.social Davide Pisani, Tim Lenton and @phil-donoghue.bsky.social
(1/2)
More than grateful to the CoME25 organisers for inviting me one more year, it is always so much fun!! Ευχαριστώ πάρα πολύ και τα λέμε σύντομα! 💙
What a busy (but sunny) May in Crete!🔆 Ziheng & @sabifo4.bsky.social enjoyed teaching and meeting the participants at the Computational Molecular Evolution course! Ziheng then joined the satellite workshop on Biodiversity Genomics 🌍🧬 Thanks to everyone who made these fantastic meetings possible!!
June 6, 2025 at 6:46 PM
More than grateful to the CoME25 organisers for inviting me one more year, it is always so much fun!! Ευχαριστώ πάρα πολύ και τα λέμε σύντομα! 💙
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Congratulations Dr Jiayi Ji!! 🥳Thanks to examiners @hernanaburbano.bsky.social and Simon Martin, now time to enjoy the long weekend! 🎉
May 2, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Congratulations Dr Jiayi Ji!! 🥳Thanks to examiners @hernanaburbano.bsky.social and Simon Martin, now time to enjoy the long weekend! 🎉
Had so much fun at the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop! 💫 Hope that everyone who attended this event enjoyed the two-day journey on theory, methods, and applications of Bayesian Phylogenetics and... Hopefully see you all again soon in future events! 💻🧬
And that's a wrap on the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop!
Thank you to all the attendees, instructors (@anaserrasilva.bsky.social, @sabifo4.bsky.social, Tomas Flouri and Yuttapong Thawornwattana) and to our wonderful TA @lauramulvey.bsky.social!
Thank you to all the attendees, instructors (@anaserrasilva.bsky.social, @sabifo4.bsky.social, Tomas Flouri and Yuttapong Thawornwattana) and to our wonderful TA @lauramulvey.bsky.social!
May 1, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Had so much fun at the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop! 💫 Hope that everyone who attended this event enjoyed the two-day journey on theory, methods, and applications of Bayesian Phylogenetics and... Hopefully see you all again soon in future events! 💻🧬
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Really pleased to be part of this project which shows that aerobic bacteria arose in the Archaean, long before the GOE - after which aerobes proliferated through HGT. Fun @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social collab including @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @emoody.bsky.social Davide Pisani
Dating Bacteria is hard due to the lack of maxima. Assuming aerobes likely postdated the GOE gave us better resolved ages, but also surprised us, but not Dr Dayhoff, showing O2 use predated its atmospheric rise by 900 Mys and helped oxygenic photosynthesis to evolve. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
April 4, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Really pleased to be part of this project which shows that aerobic bacteria arose in the Archaean, long before the GOE - after which aerobes proliferated through HGT. Fun @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social collab including @tweethinking.bsky.social @sabifo4.bsky.social @emoody.bsky.social Davide Pisani
The Physalia Phylogenomics course is back this December! Join us for a computational journey on phylogeny and timetree inference with genomic datasets 🧬 💻
More information about the course and how you can register on the post below ⬇️
More information about the course and how you can register on the post below ⬇️
Registrations are now open for the #Phylogenomics course with this amazing team of instructors Paschalia, Tomas, @sabifo4.bsky.social and @zihengyang.bsky.social
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
www.physalia-courses.org/courses-work...
Phylogenomics
1-5 December 2025
www.physalia-courses.org
March 26, 2025 at 11:00 AM
The Physalia Phylogenomics course is back this December! Join us for a computational journey on phylogeny and timetree inference with genomic datasets 🧬 💻
More information about the course and how you can register on the post below ⬇️
More information about the course and how you can register on the post below ⬇️
The clock is ticking 🕔! Pre-registration will close today March 14th (17:00h GMT+0), do not miss your chance to join us at the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop! 💻🧬
The deadline to apply for student travel bursaries to attend the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop 💻🧬 is approaching: March 3rd! Pre-registration will be open until March 14th.
Do not miss the deadlines, submit your application before it is too late!
sruk.org.uk/ceru-events/...
Do not miss the deadlines, submit your application before it is too late!
sruk.org.uk/ceru-events/...
March 14, 2025 at 2:24 PM
The clock is ticking 🕔! Pre-registration will close today March 14th (17:00h GMT+0), do not miss your chance to join us at the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop! 💻🧬
Thanks to all organisers that have made the Workshop of Computational Genomics possible and all the participants that have joined us both in person and online -- we have had such a great time in Hong Kong! 🌹 Hope to see you all again in future meetings 🤗 Next stop: 🚗 Shenzhen!
Our Workshop on Genomics at Sun Yat-sen University Institute of Advanced Studies Hong Kong has come to an end! We are grateful to all organisers and very pleased to have meet such fantastic and hard-working participants! 下次见, 谢谢 🌹(1/2)
March 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Thanks to all organisers that have made the Workshop of Computational Genomics possible and all the participants that have joined us both in person and online -- we have had such a great time in Hong Kong! 🌹 Hope to see you all again in future meetings 🤗 Next stop: 🚗 Shenzhen!
The deadline to apply for student travel bursaries to attend the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop 💻🧬 is approaching: March 3rd! Pre-registration will be open until March 14th.
Do not miss the deadlines, submit your application before it is too late!
sruk.org.uk/ceru-events/...
Do not miss the deadlines, submit your application before it is too late!
sruk.org.uk/ceru-events/...
February 28, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The deadline to apply for student travel bursaries to attend the SystAssn-SRUK/CERU Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop 💻🧬 is approaching: March 3rd! Pre-registration will be open until March 14th.
Do not miss the deadlines, submit your application before it is too late!
sruk.org.uk/ceru-events/...
Do not miss the deadlines, submit your application before it is too late!
sruk.org.uk/ceru-events/...
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Looking for funds for a small systematics-focused project?
You have until 23:59 GMT+0 MONDAY, MARCH 10TH to apply to the LinneSys scheme!
You can apply for up to 1500GBP, you just need to be a member of @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social!
Details here: systass.org/linnesys/
You have until 23:59 GMT+0 MONDAY, MARCH 10TH to apply to the LinneSys scheme!
You can apply for up to 1500GBP, you just need to be a member of @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social!
Details here: systass.org/linnesys/
LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund
LinneSys: Systematics Research Fund The Councils of The Linnean Society of London and The Systematics Association jointly administer this fund for the benefit of systematics research. The Fund has …
systass.org
February 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Looking for funds for a small systematics-focused project?
You have until 23:59 GMT+0 MONDAY, MARCH 10TH to apply to the LinneSys scheme!
You can apply for up to 1500GBP, you just need to be a member of @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social!
Details here: systass.org/linnesys/
You have until 23:59 GMT+0 MONDAY, MARCH 10TH to apply to the LinneSys scheme!
You can apply for up to 1500GBP, you just need to be a member of @systassn.bsky.social or @linneansociety.bsky.social!
Details here: systass.org/linnesys/
Introduction to Bayesian inference; practical sessions focused on the usage of MCMCtree, BPP, and PhyloBayes; discussion sessions... Does this sound like something you would like to delve into over a two-day workshop? 💻🧬 Then pre-register your interest to join before March 14th! More details below 🔽
We are organising an in-person Bayesian Phylogenetics Workshop, in partnership with SRUK/CERU.
When: April 29-30, 2025
Where: University College London
There are limited places, so please pre-register by March 14th!!!
Find more details here: systass.org/workshop-bay...
When: April 29-30, 2025
Where: University College London
There are limited places, so please pre-register by March 14th!!!
Find more details here: systass.org/workshop-bay...
February 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Introduction to Bayesian inference; practical sessions focused on the usage of MCMCtree, BPP, and PhyloBayes; discussion sessions... Does this sound like something you would like to delve into over a two-day workshop? 💻🧬 Then pre-register your interest to join before March 14th! More details below 🔽
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Our latest: a Richard Boyle (Exeter) production, using simulations to show how differential selection of biogeochemical cycles can lead to planetary homeostasis, with some empirical data from @emoody.bsky.social and @sabifo4.bsky.social @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social
Persistence selection between simulated biogeochemical cycle variants for their distinct effects on the Earth system | PNAS
The average long-term impact of Darwinian evolution on Earth’s habitability remains
extremely uncertain. Recent attempts to reconcile this uncertai...
www.pnas.org
February 13, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Our latest: a Richard Boyle (Exeter) production, using simulations to show how differential selection of biogeochemical cycles can lead to planetary homeostasis, with some empirical data from @emoody.bsky.social and @sabifo4.bsky.social @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social
Would you like to learn more about the evolutionary history of sea spiders? You may want to read our latest study led by Morena @morena99.bsky.social, who has nicely summarised the key findings of our research in the quoted thread below 🔽 (1/2)
Sea spiders (Pycnogonida) are an ancient Class of chelicerates with a fascinating evolutionary tale. A new study we just published on the EJLS uncovers their evolutionary history! 🧵 #Evolution #TheLinneanSociety #SeaSpiders #Arthropoda
academic.oup.com/evolinnean/a...
academic.oup.com/evolinnean/a...
A timescale for the evolutionary history of sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida)
Abstract. Sea spiders (Arthropoda: Pycnogonida) are an ancient lineage of chelicerates represented by a single living order, Pantopoda, and a patchy fossil
academic.oup.com
January 27, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Would you like to learn more about the evolutionary history of sea spiders? You may want to read our latest study led by Morena @morena99.bsky.social, who has nicely summarised the key findings of our research in the quoted thread below 🔽 (1/2)
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
Our study (haiwei luo & i) on dating bacterial tree of life by new methods integrating host-microbe symbiosis, complex subs models & extended sequential dating, is online Syst Biol. @systbiol.bsky.social shorturl.at/Ywoud #phylo
sky.social
January 24, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Our study (haiwei luo & i) on dating bacterial tree of life by new methods integrating host-microbe symbiosis, complex subs models & extended sequential dating, is online Syst Biol. @systbiol.bsky.social shorturl.at/Ywoud #phylo
Reposted by Sandra Álvarez
🚨New paper 🚨We argue that abrupt biodiversity losses can be driven by populations sharing similar tolerances to warming 🦋🌎🥵. Out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org. Summary thread below 🧵
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
January 9, 2025 at 12:53 PM
🚨New paper 🚨We argue that abrupt biodiversity losses can be driven by populations sharing similar tolerances to warming 🦋🌎🥵. Out now in @royalsocietypublishing.org. Summary thread below 🧵
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....