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eesupdate.bsky.social
EES_update
@eesupdate.bsky.social
New research on evolutionary biology, particularly evo-devo, plasticity-led evolution, extragenetic inheritance, evolvability and niche construction.
#evolution, #evodevo, #ecodevo, #philbio, #philsci, #biology

https://extendedevolutionarysynthesis.com/
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📢 Here is my commentary about the pitfalls of taking an impoverished evolutionary approach to culture, which include 'the limitations of a unidirectional model of evolution' and 'the neglect of niche construction theory'. #ehbea #evolution #psychscisky 🧪

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www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The pitfalls of an impoverished approach to culture: Commentary on Baumard and André
www.sciencedirect.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:00 PM
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A great review of my book "Evolution Evolving" by Simon Okholm in Metascience

"Evolving Evolution is no ordinary textbook, and that is part of its appeal, giving the reader a sense of cutting-edge discovery and intellectual adventure"

"Does development matter in evolution?" see shorturl.at/DxuK
November 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM
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Friends don’t let friends be adaptationists; if the math doesn’t math maybe it’s a spandrel. Cool story @radiolab.bsky.social about menopause, an often overlooked aspect of women’s reproductive health…

www.wnycstudios.org/story/the-me...
The Menopause Mystery
What do orcas, chimps, and humans have in common? A puzzling pause.
www.wnycstudios.org
August 13, 2025 at 1:52 PM
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I'm pleased to share this new article by @svenkasser.bsky.social, Laura Fortunato @anthrolog.bsky.social, Marc Feldman and myself.

The article extends gene-culture coevolution to recognize evolutionary effects of culture arising through drift and migration.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
August 13, 2025 at 1:54 PM
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Advocates of @eesupdate.bsky.social claim that standard evolutionary theory leaves important explanatory gaps. In a recent paper, we ask what kind—data-based, implementation-based, or framework-based—and what each might mean for the EES debate 👇📃 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #HPBio #evosky #HPS
August 12, 2025 at 10:36 AM
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🚨 New, short article by myself, Clark Barrett and @kevinlala.bsky.social on the legacy of Wilson's 'Sociobiology: The New Synthesis', which was published 50 years ago.

@science.org #ehbea #histbiol #evobio #psyscisky

Revisiting the human sociobiology debate |Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Revisiting the human sociobiology debate
What have we learned 50 years on?
www.science.org
August 8, 2025 at 9:39 AM
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Thanks to Tim Lewens for a wonderful review of our 'Evolution Evolving' book.

"In this exceptionally ambitious and impressive book, Lala and collaborators... show how an understanding of development is essential to an understanding of evolution"

Read it here: shorturl.at/mgGEm

#evolution #evodevo
Development developing - Biology & Philosophy
Lala et al.’s (2024) Evolution Evolving is an excellent book. It offers a compelling case for the relevance of development to the study of evolution. It takes a pluralistic stance on the forms of unde...
shorturl.at
July 30, 2025 at 12:52 PM
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In episode 458, I talk with Drs. Lesley Newson and Peter Richerson about their fascinating book, A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution. #Anthropology #Science

youtu.be/RJEm7baBdTs
#458 Lesley Newson & Peter Richerson - A Story of Us: A New Look at Human Evolution
YouTube video by The Dissenter
youtu.be
July 26, 2025 at 9:14 AM
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I'm happy to share our latest manuscript "Impediments to countering racist pseudoscience", coauthored with @gillianrbrown1.bsky.social @kztwyman.bsky.social & Marcus Feldman.
July 25, 2025 at 9:17 AM
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Check out our recent review 'Power and Limitations of Inferring Genetic Ancestry'- what do we even mean by the term 'genetic ancestry' and what do commonly-used methods actually tell us?
An Early View: Dr @nancybird1.bsky.social , Prof @turiking.bsky.social, & Prof Hellenthal examine the methodological advances and interpretive limits of genetic ancestry inference. The authors emphasize the need for a stronger focus on conveying uncertainty to mitigate risks of over-interpretation.
Power and Limitations of Inferring Genetic Ancestry
Background The recent emergence of technologies that capture and analyse genetic variation patterns obtained from a person's DNA sample has led to numerous academic and commercial endeavours to infe...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
July 26, 2025 at 2:27 AM
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Two useful new reviews on ancestry inference in population genetics:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
genomebiology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....
July 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
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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
July 20, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Fascinating historical review of Lala et al's "Evolution Evolving" book by @cassandrazieyang.bsky.social

See BioScience doi.org/10.1093/bios...

#evolution
The causal role of constructive development in evolution
doi.org
June 23, 2025 at 10:21 AM
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I was thrilled to take part in the 43rd Altenberg workshop on Conrad Hal Waddington at the KLI! Thanks to @alejandrofabregastejeda.com and @fvergara-silva.bsky.social for being such great organizers! (pun very much intended)
June 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
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The extraordinary legacy of Conrad Waddington was the focus of a terrific workshop held at the KLI last week. Superb talks, a beautiful venue, and great discussion made for a lot of fun. Thanks to all the participants, and particularly organizers Alejandro Febregas Tejeda & Francisco Vergara-Silva.
June 23, 2025 at 9:51 AM
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A terrific review of my recent book in this month's Biological Theory:

Enrico Petracca argues that "Evolution Evolving marks a tip-
ping point in the study of evolution".

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Evolution at a Tipping Point - Biological Theory
This is a review essay on Evolution Evolving, by Kevin Lala, Tobias Uller, Nathalie Feiner, Marcus Feldman, and Scott Gilbert. The review suggests that the book marks a tipping point in the debate ove...
link.springer.com
June 13, 2025 at 2:23 PM
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Look what I got from my local library. I'm stoked! @kevinlala.bsky.social
June 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM
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A powerful new approach to interpreting population-genetic data in evolution and ecology.

Noah A. Rosenberg's Mathematical Properties of Population-Genetic Statistics is out now.

Learn more and read a free sample: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb... #MathMonday
June 9, 2025 at 1:04 PM
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Policarpo et al. use phylogenetic and synteny data to identify 19 teleost-to-teleost horizontal gene transfers, involving genes linked to immunity or pore formation; this suggests eukaryote-to-eukaryote HGT has shaped teleost evolution.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf107

#evolbio #molbio #fish
Multiple Horizontal Transfers of Immune Genes Between Distantly Related Teleost Fishes
Abstract. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is less frequent in eukaryotes than in prokaryotes, yet can have strong functional implications and was proposed a
doi.org
May 28, 2025 at 9:14 AM
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New research reveals that human teeth evolved from the sensory armor of ancient fish over 460 million years ago. This discovery links our dental origins to early vertebrate exoskeletons.
🧪⚒️
#Evolution
#Paleontology
#ToothOrigins
#Fossils
#EvolutionaryBiology
Paper
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Our teeth evolved from fish 'body armor' over 460 million years, scientists discover
Teeth are sensitive because they evolved from sensory tissue in both ancient vertebrates and ancient arthropods.
www.livescience.com
May 25, 2025 at 8:56 PM
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I am please to share my latest article "A developmentalist’s view of inheritance", just published in acta ethologica.

rdcu.be/em4wW

Inheritance is a time-distributed developmental process by which diverse developmental resources become available to the next generation.
May 22, 2025 at 11:54 AM
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🚨PAPER ALERT Chimpanzees expand the meanings of their single calls when combining them. They use a variety of mechanisms, analogous to those found in human language, to alter the meanings of single calls in their combinations. Photo by @lirsamuni.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
May 9, 2025 at 10:09 PM
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📢 CES launches Advancing Cultural Evolution (ACE) Course Design Awards! 🎉 $4000 award + global impact for your cultural evolution course materials. Course must be college/grad level with 10+ hrs content.

Application link: vuw.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... #CulturalEvolution #Education #Grants
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vuw.qualtrics.com
May 14, 2025 at 10:39 AM
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Burgess Shale fans! We've got a new post today about the taming of the Burgess oddballs, with a focus on the 5-eyed, clawed-proboscis-havin' Opabinia regalis. How did Burgess problematica go from being taxonomic orphans to evidence for body plan evolution? Read:
www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2025...
Ode to Opabinia, or Why You Don't Hear as Much About Problematic Fossils as you Used to — Extinct
In which Max examines the history of research on that Burgess oddball, Opabinia regalis , and asks why this problematic fossil is less problematic than it used to be
www.extinctblog.org
May 15, 2025 at 1:40 PM