James Albert
@gymnotus.bsky.social
Ecology and Evolution of Amazonian Fishes
For Stomiiformes, an elongate body shape is ancestral, deep body derived.
October 22, 2025 at 2:56 AM
For Stomiiformes, an elongate body shape is ancestral, deep body derived.
Unlike the blind walk of phylogeny, ontogeny is a goal directed process.
October 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Unlike the blind walk of phylogeny, ontogeny is a goal directed process.
The C-value paradox: no simple correlation between the total amount of genomic DNA (C-value) and perceived biological complexity.
October 5, 2025 at 3:34 AM
The C-value paradox: no simple correlation between the total amount of genomic DNA (C-value) and perceived biological complexity.
The transition of vegetation from the lowly water-stressed forest with high tree cover to a savanna-grassland regime with low tree cover and the utilization of rootzone storage capacity to cope with the spatial change to a drier climate.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
October 4, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The transition of vegetation from the lowly water-stressed forest with high tree cover to a savanna-grassland regime with low tree cover and the utilization of rootzone storage capacity to cope with the spatial change to a drier climate.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965 by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. Primary evidence of the Big Bang.
October 4, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Cosmic microwave background radiation in 1965 by American radio astronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson. Primary evidence of the Big Bang.
It really helps to think of all vertebrates as fish. The position of the anus is a very stable feature of the vertebrate body plan, indicated by the red arrows in these images of embryos in four species.
September 23, 2025 at 3:41 PM
It really helps to think of all vertebrates as fish. The position of the anus is a very stable feature of the vertebrate body plan, indicated by the red arrows in these images of embryos in four species.
The position of the anus is a core feature of the vertebrate body plan. And there are really no other landmarks on the belly side of a developing vertebrate to help guide gene expression and cellular differentiation.
September 23, 2025 at 3:40 AM
The position of the anus is a core feature of the vertebrate body plan. And there are really no other landmarks on the belly side of a developing vertebrate to help guide gene expression and cellular differentiation.
Makes sense, many biological systems show an intermediate sweet spot reflecting trade-offs at more extreme parameter values
September 22, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Makes sense, many biological systems show an intermediate sweet spot reflecting trade-offs at more extreme parameter values
Although chromosome-level macrosynteny is broadly conserved among cypriniforms, we demonstrate that microsynteny can resolve deep phylogenetic nodes. Both sequence-based and microsynteny-based analyses find that Gyrinocheilidae is the sister lineage to all other cypriniforms
September 21, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Although chromosome-level macrosynteny is broadly conserved among cypriniforms, we demonstrate that microsynteny can resolve deep phylogenetic nodes. Both sequence-based and microsynteny-based analyses find that Gyrinocheilidae is the sister lineage to all other cypriniforms
Why do black-and-white stripes deter biting flies from landing on surfaces? This phenomenon has been explained as modulation brightness or polarized light. A similar explanation is confusion of insect motion detection systems that control their approach and landing.
September 20, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Why do black-and-white stripes deter biting flies from landing on surfaces? This phenomenon has been explained as modulation brightness or polarized light. A similar explanation is confusion of insect motion detection systems that control their approach and landing.
From Karis Nemik's manifesto. "The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that."
September 14, 2025 at 12:04 AM
From Karis Nemik's manifesto. "The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that."
Sorry I must disagree. In biology systematics, all higher taxa must be monophyletic - i.e. clades or whole branches of the Tree of Life. Otherwise we invent grades instead of discovering clades.
September 12, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Sorry I must disagree. In biology systematics, all higher taxa must be monophyletic - i.e. clades or whole branches of the Tree of Life. Otherwise we invent grades instead of discovering clades.
Remember Hennig's rule of monophyly was always intended for groups of species (i.e. higher taxa), not for species themselves. Hennig was an evolutionary biologist after all.
September 12, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Remember Hennig's rule of monophyly was always intended for groups of species (i.e. higher taxa), not for species themselves. Hennig was an evolutionary biologist after all.
Indeed, species that give rise to species (paraspecies) are predicted by Darwin's famous theory of evolution, and are empirical realities in many groups of organisms. See this list in a Wikipedia page I made:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraspe...
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraspe...
September 12, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Indeed, species that give rise to species (paraspecies) are predicted by Darwin's famous theory of evolution, and are empirical realities in many groups of organisms. See this list in a Wikipedia page I made:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraspe...
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraspe...
All phenotypes, including behaviors, arise from the interactions of genetic and environmental information. This directional migration would look very different if the storkling had hatched in the southern hemisphere.
September 6, 2025 at 5:55 PM
All phenotypes, including behaviors, arise from the interactions of genetic and environmental information. This directional migration would look very different if the storkling had hatched in the southern hemisphere.
This requires a cost-benefit analysis. Quantum computing consumes far less energy than conventional supercomputers, but still uses about 25 kW, or about 25 lbs per hour of CO2 emissions when electricity comes from coal or petroleum.
September 6, 2025 at 5:47 PM
This requires a cost-benefit analysis. Quantum computing consumes far less energy than conventional supercomputers, but still uses about 25 kW, or about 25 lbs per hour of CO2 emissions when electricity comes from coal or petroleum.
Too funny using a guppy to represent fish biomass
August 19, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Too funny using a guppy to represent fish biomass
The two new Micropterus species are allopatric sister taxa.
August 19, 2025 at 2:05 PM
The two new Micropterus species are allopatric sister taxa.
At the gene-tree level, we identified just one genomic region, around the casz1 transcription factor, with a topology that reflects species differences. Phenotypic diversification and reproductive isolation—two major attributes of species—may unfold in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal.
August 12, 2025 at 3:18 AM
At the gene-tree level, we identified just one genomic region, around the casz1 transcription factor, with a topology that reflects species differences. Phenotypic diversification and reproductive isolation—two major attributes of species—may unfold in the near-absence of phylogenetic signal.
The tree of life is highly uneven,with most species in just a few higher taxa (arthropods) and most clades with few species.
August 10, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The tree of life is highly uneven,with most species in just a few higher taxa (arthropods) and most clades with few species.
August 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM