Randy Klabacka
@chico-huico.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Biology at BYU | Evolutionary Genetics | Bioenergetics | Herpetology
Pinned
Life update- I moved from the low desert to the high desert for a new position as assistant professor in the BYU Biology Department. It is an honor to come back as a faculty member to the institution where I developed my love for evolution and herpetology! #RiseAndShout
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
November 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
How do new centromeres evolve while staying compatible with the division machinery?
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Discover it in our new Nature paper! We show centromeres transition gradually via a mix of drift, selection, and sex, reaching new states that still work with the kinetochore.
👉 doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09779-1
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
I don’t think people really understand when I say Giant Isopods can gorge themselves on a meal. Look at how much the stomach of this small male is extended from snacking on raw chicken in my trap.
October 27, 2025 at 11:59 PM
I don’t think people really understand when I say Giant Isopods can gorge themselves on a meal. Look at how much the stomach of this small male is extended from snacking on raw chicken in my trap.
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
Folks have been super kind regarding this manuscript
It is such a contentious topic that I wondered if letting this project go beyond the four walls of the lab was a personal/emotional mistake
But no - it wasn't
People are chill. People are nice. This community rules 🤘
bsky.app/profile/jlst...
It is such a contentious topic that I wondered if letting this project go beyond the four walls of the lab was a personal/emotional mistake
But no - it wasn't
People are chill. People are nice. This community rules 🤘
bsky.app/profile/jlst...
NEW pub in @science.org 🥳
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Is it sponges (panels A & B) or comb jellies (C & D) that root the animal tree of life?
For over 15 years, #phylogenomic studies have been divided.
We provide new evidence suggesting that...
🔗: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
November 15, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Folks have been super kind regarding this manuscript
It is such a contentious topic that I wondered if letting this project go beyond the four walls of the lab was a personal/emotional mistake
But no - it wasn't
People are chill. People are nice. This community rules 🤘
bsky.app/profile/jlst...
It is such a contentious topic that I wondered if letting this project go beyond the four walls of the lab was a personal/emotional mistake
But no - it wasn't
People are chill. People are nice. This community rules 🤘
bsky.app/profile/jlst...
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
📢 Adoption of new IUCN resolution on #amphibian #conservation 📢 🐸
Big news, since a recent study showed that amphib conservation is serially underfunded. The TLDR of this are calls for:
-updated conservation guidelines
-govts to implement long term national plans
-funding research
Big news, since a recent study showed that amphib conservation is serially underfunded. The TLDR of this are calls for:
-updated conservation guidelines
-govts to implement long term national plans
-funding research
Adoption of new IUCN resolution guiding the conservation of amphibians | Oryx | Cambridge Core
Adoption of new IUCN resolution guiding the conservation of amphibians
www.cambridge.org
November 16, 2025 at 12:49 AM
📢 Adoption of new IUCN resolution on #amphibian #conservation 📢 🐸
Big news, since a recent study showed that amphib conservation is serially underfunded. The TLDR of this are calls for:
-updated conservation guidelines
-govts to implement long term national plans
-funding research
Big news, since a recent study showed that amphib conservation is serially underfunded. The TLDR of this are calls for:
-updated conservation guidelines
-govts to implement long term national plans
-funding research
“Before you write a single word:
Can you explain your project in three sentences?
Can someone outside your subfield understand why it matters?
Do you have a clear narrative arc from question to approach to impact?
If not, you’re not ready to write. You’re ready to storyboard.”
Can you explain your project in three sentences?
Can someone outside your subfield understand why it matters?
Do you have a clear narrative arc from question to approach to impact?
If not, you’re not ready to write. You’re ready to storyboard.”
"What Grant Reviewers Actually Look For (and What They Ignore)" jim-olds.org/2025/10/23/w...
“What Grant Reviewers Actually Look For (and What They Ignore)”
A close colleague of mine at a major US research university begins the process of preparing a grant proposal by creating something he calls a “storyboard”. When I was growing up in LA, the concept…
jim-olds.org
October 23, 2025 at 6:28 PM
“Before you write a single word:
Can you explain your project in three sentences?
Can someone outside your subfield understand why it matters?
Do you have a clear narrative arc from question to approach to impact?
If not, you’re not ready to write. You’re ready to storyboard.”
Can you explain your project in three sentences?
Can someone outside your subfield understand why it matters?
Do you have a clear narrative arc from question to approach to impact?
If not, you’re not ready to write. You’re ready to storyboard.”
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
Out now on the cover of @journal-evo.bsky.social!
Led by Sarah Khalil, we took a genomic approach to investigate the hybrid zone between different-colored Red-backed Fairywren subspecies. We found some interesting candidate genes under selection. Check it out! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...
Led by Sarah Khalil, we took a genomic approach to investigate the hybrid zone between different-colored Red-backed Fairywren subspecies. We found some interesting candidate genes under selection. Check it out! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...
October 18, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Out now on the cover of @journal-evo.bsky.social!
Led by Sarah Khalil, we took a genomic approach to investigate the hybrid zone between different-colored Red-backed Fairywren subspecies. We found some interesting candidate genes under selection. Check it out! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...
Led by Sarah Khalil, we took a genomic approach to investigate the hybrid zone between different-colored Red-backed Fairywren subspecies. We found some interesting candidate genes under selection. Check it out! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
ASN Address: Pirates of the Caribbean (and Elsewhere): Three-Legged Lizards and the Study of Evolutionary Adaptation by Losos et al.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
October 17, 2025 at 6:45 PM
ASN Address: Pirates of the Caribbean (and Elsewhere): Three-Legged Lizards and the Study of Evolutionary Adaptation by Losos et al.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
October 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
We're excited to be recruiting an NIH funded postdoc to work in the Coop lab at UC Davis. We're specifically interested in candidates who are want to work at the intersection of human genetics, GWAS, and population genetics modeling. Please RT
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
We've already got hundreds of students and mentors here, sharing how the sudden policy change has derailed plans. We're looking at formally "delivering" results to NSF leadership tomorrow, please do keep sharing and spreading the word: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
September 29, 2025 at 11:18 PM
We've already got hundreds of students and mentors here, sharing how the sudden policy change has derailed plans. We're looking at formally "delivering" results to NSF leadership tomorrow, please do keep sharing and spreading the word: laurenkuehne.github.io/grfpChanges/
I just edited a Wikipedia page for the first time, and it was so exhilarating.
September 29, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I just edited a Wikipedia page for the first time, and it was so exhilarating.
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts
I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??
here she is at her burrow entrance.
I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??
here she is at her burrow entrance.
September 23, 2025 at 1:25 AM
let me share a little story about a remarkable wasp that I encountered yesterday in our local deserts
I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??
here she is at her burrow entrance.
I stumbled across her, and scrambled to get a few crappy photos .... but then realized that she had a burrow, perhaps a better photo op was possible ??
here she is at her burrow entrance.
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
Our review on the last decade+ of hybrid incompatibility research is now out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Original thread here: bsky.app/profile/moll...
Original thread here: bsky.app/profile/moll...
August 10, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Our review on the last decade+ of hybrid incompatibility research is now out! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Original thread here: bsky.app/profile/moll...
Original thread here: bsky.app/profile/moll...
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
Cool study. Shows low dispersal of mammals across continents. Most are continental scale endemics. Significant in understanding the modern structure of the Bretskyan hierarchy from mammalian perspective.
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Macroecology
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Macroecology
July 20, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Cool study. Shows low dispersal of mammals across continents. Most are continental scale endemics. Significant in understanding the modern structure of the Bretskyan hierarchy from mammalian perspective.
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Macroecology
nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Macroecology
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
Monitor lizards, also known in Australia as goannas, are some of the most iconic reptiles on the continent. In our new study, we looked beneath their skin with cutting-edge imaging techniques – and we may just have found the key to their evolutionary success. youtu.be/RfOK2wWYjLo
These Lizards have their own built in chainmail
YouTube video by Museums Victoria
youtu.be
July 21, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Monitor lizards, also known in Australia as goannas, are some of the most iconic reptiles on the continent. In our new study, we looked beneath their skin with cutting-edge imaging techniques – and we may just have found the key to their evolutionary success. youtu.be/RfOK2wWYjLo
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
Please share! Our lab is recruiting a PhD student to join us starting fall 2026. Our group is broadly interested in plant molecular evolution and comparative genomics. More info about our lab and grad programs at Colorado St. is available on our lab website.
sites.google.com/site/danielb...
sites.google.com/site/danielb...
Sloan Lab
Welcome! Our research focuses on the evolutionary process at the molecular level. In particular, we investigate how a mixture of natural selection and non-adaptive forces create and maintain the amazi...
sites.google.com
July 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Please share! Our lab is recruiting a PhD student to join us starting fall 2026. Our group is broadly interested in plant molecular evolution and comparative genomics. More info about our lab and grad programs at Colorado St. is available on our lab website.
sites.google.com/site/danielb...
sites.google.com/site/danielb...
I’m so proud of Sadie and Jordan! They did a great job presenting their research on genetic and morphological examination of non-native New Mexico whiptail lizards. #JMIH25
July 14, 2025 at 3:10 AM
I’m so proud of Sadie and Jordan! They did a great job presenting their research on genetic and morphological examination of non-native New Mexico whiptail lizards. #JMIH25
Differential gene expression was observed between tissues, species, and reproductive modes (asexual vs sexual) in whiptail lizards by Josh Rivera. Very cool! #JMIH25
July 13, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Differential gene expression was observed between tissues, species, and reproductive modes (asexual vs sexual) in whiptail lizards by Josh Rivera. Very cool! #JMIH25
Higher rates of amino-acid changing mutations in a hybrid unisexual whiptail species compared to its parental species with lots of variation in different gene categories- super cool findings by Zoë Müller! #JMIH25
July 13, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Higher rates of amino-acid changing mutations in a hybrid unisexual whiptail species compared to its parental species with lots of variation in different gene categories- super cool findings by Zoë Müller! #JMIH25
What the heck are unisexual salamanders good at? @amphibs.bsky.social looked into the chemical composition of skin secretions. Of 67 unique compounds, sexual species have more than the unisexuals- so more digging is left to answer the original question.
July 13, 2025 at 7:45 PM
What the heck are unisexual salamanders good at? @amphibs.bsky.social looked into the chemical composition of skin secretions. Of 67 unique compounds, sexual species have more than the unisexuals- so more digging is left to answer the original question.
The impact of salinity exposure during development has been examined in fish and amphibians, but little is known about reptiles (despite many coastal species). Sydney Wayne gave a fantastic talk showing the negative impact of both exposure to and development in saline environments #JMIH25
July 13, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The impact of salinity exposure during development has been examined in fish and amphibians, but little is known about reptiles (despite many coastal species). Sydney Wayne gave a fantastic talk showing the negative impact of both exposure to and development in saline environments #JMIH25
Andrew Durso presented on the utility and development of a snake ID app. Many cases of snake bite go un/misidentified to the species level (only 5% are identified in the USA). The app is awesome on par with several other major AI identification apps (inat, Merlin) #JMIH25
July 13, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Andrew Durso presented on the utility and development of a snake ID app. Many cases of snake bite go un/misidentified to the species level (only 5% are identified in the USA). The app is awesome on par with several other major AI identification apps (inat, Merlin) #JMIH25
Reposted by Randy Klabacka
The evolutionary foundations of transcriptional regulation in animals www.nature.com/articles/s41... (read free: rdcu.be/evDcA) 🧬🖥️🧪
July 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
The evolutionary foundations of transcriptional regulation in animals www.nature.com/articles/s41... (read free: rdcu.be/evDcA) 🧬🖥️🧪