Joseph W. Brown
@josephwb.bsky.social
Comp. evol. biol., fake ornithologist, LFHCfs, Luddite, CSH
I get down methodically
Without regard to my soul
tinyurl.com/G00gleSch0lar
HHGG bot: @whalepetunias.bsky.social
pfp: Chickens exposed to natural beard hair on a mannequin
hdr: socks & sandals
I get down methodically
Without regard to my soul
tinyurl.com/G00gleSch0lar
HHGG bot: @whalepetunias.bsky.social
pfp: Chickens exposed to natural beard hair on a mannequin
hdr: socks & sandals
Pinned
Joseph W. Brown
@josephwb.bsky.social
· Dec 28
I made this over the break. Why would I do such a thing? Am I some sort of #phylogenetics dork? Well... yes, but that's not why. To fully explain I'll have to do one of those sewing-strings-wrapped-around-a-spool dealies. 1/ 🧪
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
proof that science mis- and disinformation are effective and have profound consequences for society. This is a shameful milestone.
UPDATE: Canada has announced that it has lost its measles elimination status.
This is a direct result of the increase in anti-vax disinformation, which has caused large, sustained outbreaks in the country over the last year.
This is a direct result of the increase in anti-vax disinformation, which has caused large, sustained outbreaks in the country over the last year.
November 10, 2025 at 8:09 PM
proof that science mis- and disinformation are effective and have profound consequences for society. This is a shameful milestone.
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Now joined by Carrona Jewelry, cast in silver from real (and mostly Chilean) insects
November 10, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Now joined by Carrona Jewelry, cast in silver from real (and mostly Chilean) insects
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Saw this just before I spotted this post from the great @mrgeorgewallace.bsky.social
As the cousin of a trans person and the acquaintance and coworker of many others, I thank you.
As the cousin of a trans person and the acquaintance and coworker of many others, I thank you.
November 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Saw this just before I spotted this post from the great @mrgeorgewallace.bsky.social
As the cousin of a trans person and the acquaintance and coworker of many others, I thank you.
As the cousin of a trans person and the acquaintance and coworker of many others, I thank you.
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
What do you get when you cross a red-tailed hawk with a turkey vulture? 🪶
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
What do you get when you cross a red-tailed hawk with a turkey vulture? 🪶
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
a few months ago I said "having generative AI handle absolutely anything with regards to healthcare is a nightmare and should be banned" and a bunch of people made fun of me and called me stupid. anyways,
November 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
a few months ago I said "having generative AI handle absolutely anything with regards to healthcare is a nightmare and should be banned" and a bunch of people made fun of me and called me stupid. anyways,
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Lophophorata is monophyletic!
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
November 10, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Lophophorata is monophyletic!
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
Super excited to see this work out in Current Biology - we sequenced a phoronid genome and used shared chromosome fusions to confirm the monophyly of Lophophorata.
A big team effort from the Luo Lab @yjluo.bsky.social!
More here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1m3mV3QW8S...
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Saddened for all the students applying to the NSF GRFP who feel they can’t bring their full selves to their personal statements this year.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
November 9, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Saddened for all the students applying to the NSF GRFP who feel they can’t bring their full selves to their personal statements this year.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Science is better with you in it. I hope you get the funding and keep doing excellent work.
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
🚨🦇New paper alert! We integrate information across fields to highlight key traits associated with the diversification of #bats, their roles as evolutionary drivers, and their importance to global ecosystems:
An Integrative Perspective on Bat Evolution
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
An Integrative Perspective on Bat Evolution
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
An Integrative Perspective on Bat Evolution
Bats are one of the most widespread, species-rich, ecologically and morphologically diverse mammal lineages, and the only mammals capable of powered flight. Due to their evolution within the constrain...
www.annualreviews.org
November 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM
🚨🦇New paper alert! We integrate information across fields to highlight key traits associated with the diversification of #bats, their roles as evolutionary drivers, and their importance to global ecosystems:
An Integrative Perspective on Bat Evolution
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
An Integrative Perspective on Bat Evolution
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Well, you're in your little room
And you're working on something good
But if it's really good
You're gonna need a bigger room
And when you're in the bigger room
You might not know what to do
You might have to think of how you got started
Sitting in your little room
- The White Stripes
And you're working on something good
But if it's really good
You're gonna need a bigger room
And when you're in the bigger room
You might not know what to do
You might have to think of how you got started
Sitting in your little room
- The White Stripes
OutKast is inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame:
“We started in a little room. Great things start in little rooms”
“We started in a little room. Great things start in little rooms”
November 9, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Well, you're in your little room
And you're working on something good
But if it's really good
You're gonna need a bigger room
And when you're in the bigger room
You might not know what to do
You might have to think of how you got started
Sitting in your little room
- The White Stripes
And you're working on something good
But if it's really good
You're gonna need a bigger room
And when you're in the bigger room
You might not know what to do
You might have to think of how you got started
Sitting in your little room
- The White Stripes
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Our new @science.org paper is out! Cuckoos and hosts are locked in a coevolutionary arms race over egg mimicry.
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
Genomic architecture of egg mimicry and its consequences for speciation in parasitic cuckoos
Host-parasite arms races facilitate rapid evolution and can fuel speciation. Cuculus cuckoos are deceptive egg mimics that exhibit a broad diversity of counterfeit egg phenotypes, representing host-ad...
doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Our new @science.org paper is out! Cuckoos and hosts are locked in a coevolutionary arms race over egg mimicry.
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
But how are these egg types inherited, and could this drive speciation? We sequenced hundreds of genomes to find out!
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
🧵1/6
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
A fantastic piece. Fascinating that Watson was another victim of The Bell Curve and became entrenched by his undeserved arrogance and hubris
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:27 PM
A fantastic piece. Fascinating that Watson was another victim of The Bell Curve and became entrenched by his undeserved arrogance and hubris
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Distinguishing punctuated and continuous-time models of character evolution for discrete characters and the implications for macroevolutionary theory
www.cambridge.org
November 8, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Glad to have this one out! As some of you might remember, I'd kicked around the idea for some time, but the inestimable @wrightam.bsky.social got it all pulled together properly. It's a first step - we still need to include likelihoods of stasis between first & … www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Interested in the biogeography of lizards?🦎
We studied the historical biogeography of Sceloporus lizards and the link between their dispersal and climatic niches 🌎🌦️ @fabrovillalobos.bsky.social @ndimhypervol.bsky.social @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social
Learn more here 👇:
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
We studied the historical biogeography of Sceloporus lizards and the link between their dispersal and climatic niches 🌎🌦️ @fabrovillalobos.bsky.social @ndimhypervol.bsky.social @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social
Learn more here 👇:
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
Historical biogeography and climatic niche dynamics in spiny lizards of the genus Sceloporus (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae)
Abstract. Although we now have extensive biogeographical datasets for tetrapods, unravelling the drivers of species’ distributions remains challenging, esp
academic.oup.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Interested in the biogeography of lizards?🦎
We studied the historical biogeography of Sceloporus lizards and the link between their dispersal and climatic niches 🌎🌦️ @fabrovillalobos.bsky.social @ndimhypervol.bsky.social @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social
Learn more here 👇:
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
We studied the historical biogeography of Sceloporus lizards and the link between their dispersal and climatic niches 🌎🌦️ @fabrovillalobos.bsky.social @ndimhypervol.bsky.social @biojlinnsoc.bsky.social
Learn more here 👇:
academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Joshua trees make the cover of @newphyt.bsky.social for the issue with our paper, led by @kheyduk.bsky.social, showing that they use water-saving CAM photosynthesis — but only sometimes 🌿 buff.ly/WnPoRXa
November 7, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Joshua trees make the cover of @newphyt.bsky.social for the issue with our paper, led by @kheyduk.bsky.social, showing that they use water-saving CAM photosynthesis — but only sometimes 🌿 buff.ly/WnPoRXa
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
Phylogeny of tinamous based on whole-genomes and fossils: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... 🪶🧪 (📷Musher et al.)
November 7, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Phylogeny of tinamous based on whole-genomes and fossils: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... 🪶🧪 (📷Musher et al.)
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
disappointed that @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is implicitly endorsing the use of LLMs to replace scientific thought
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
IT'S HAPPENING! 💥 I'm psyched to launch the collaboration between @qedscience.bsky.social & @openrxiv.bsky.social @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social! Preprint + q.e.d = your science is out there, and anyone can appreciate it. Let's care about making discoveries, and not on “getting published” (1/3) 👇
November 7, 2025 at 9:06 AM
disappointed that @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social is implicitly endorsing the use of LLMs to replace scientific thought
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
@richardsever.bsky.social this is a short-sighted move and a net negative for science
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
since chatgpt has coached another young person in a mental health crisis to their death, I am yet again tapping the sign
November 7, 2025 at 10:59 AM
since chatgpt has coached another young person in a mental health crisis to their death, I am yet again tapping the sign
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 7, 2025 at 10:44 AM
An Asgard archaeon with internal membrane compartments
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Brilliant study led by @fmacleod.bsky.social and Andriko von Kügelgen. Tight collaboration with @buzzbaum.bsky.social and lab. Congrats to all authors!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
"data irregularities" and "time-keeping oversights"
November 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
"data irregularities" and "time-keeping oversights"
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
I hadnt seen this particular take on this story till now. A minimalist apology. Not impressed.
nationalnews.co.uk/news/shamed-...
nationalnews.co.uk/news/shamed-...
Shamed Scientist Apologises For The First Time About The Academic Scandal That Destroyed His Career And Shocked The World
An ecologist who shot to fame after discovering that spiders have human-like personalities has made an emotional apology after being
nationalnews.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 8:31 PM
I hadnt seen this particular take on this story till now. A minimalist apology. Not impressed.
nationalnews.co.uk/news/shamed-...
nationalnews.co.uk/news/shamed-...
Reposted by Joseph W. Brown
academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution
Multivariate trait evolution: models for the evolution of the quantitative genetic G-matrix on phylogenies
Abstract. Genetic covariance matrices (G-matrices) are a key focus for research and predictions from quantitative genetic evolutionary models of multiple t
academic.oup.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:58 AM
academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution
So exciting to see a new method to model the evolution of G (and P) matrices on phylogenies. Another step in the direction of trying to bridge micro and macroevolution