Kyle T David
@kylethedavid.bsky.social
NSF postdoc in the Rokas lab at Vanderbilt university, interested in macro(ecology x evolution) 🧬 ➡️ 🦎 ➡️ 🌐
November 11, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Really had to scramble to replace all my juvenile T. rex with Nanotyrannus
October 31, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Really had to scramble to replace all my juvenile T. rex with Nanotyrannus
Grendel loves his Halloween costume!
October 28, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Grendel loves his Halloween costume!
the lifer in question
October 18, 2025 at 10:03 PM
the lifer in question
when @haleybiont.bsky.social spots a barred owl she's gonna make sure the whole trail knows it
October 18, 2025 at 10:02 PM
when @haleybiont.bsky.social spots a barred owl she's gonna make sure the whole trail knows it
I said what I said
August 22, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I said what I said
a peek under the hood
July 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
a peek under the hood
This weekend me and @evolutionvu.bsky.social collaborated with some local girl scouts to run an advanced evolution simulator, saw some cool convergence as well as a plesiomorphy that hung around way longer than I thought it would
July 21, 2025 at 8:30 PM
This weekend me and @evolutionvu.bsky.social collaborated with some local girl scouts to run an advanced evolution simulator, saw some cool convergence as well as a plesiomorphy that hung around way longer than I thought it would
over 500,000 animal species, can you imagine!?
July 16, 2025 at 1:39 PM
over 500,000 animal species, can you imagine!?
Had a great time celebrating the centennial of the Scopes trial with a trip to Dayton, hallowed ground for an evolutionary biologist! Thanks to @evolutionvu.bsky.social for organizing!
July 16, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Had a great time celebrating the centennial of the Scopes trial with a trip to Dayton, hallowed ground for an evolutionary biologist! Thanks to @evolutionvu.bsky.social for organizing!
Nice argument. Unfortunately, I've already depicted you as the fungal cultivating minima caste and me as the neuroparsin-A upregulated soldier major caste
June 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Nice argument. Unfortunately, I've already depicted you as the fungal cultivating minima caste and me as the neuroparsin-A upregulated soldier major caste
So not only are convergent traits mostly the result of the same gene families, some of these families are contributing to multiple traits as well!
June 4, 2025 at 3:38 PM
So not only are convergent traits mostly the result of the same gene families, some of these families are contributing to multiple traits as well!
We also found a few gene families that were associated with as many as 23% of all traits. We believe these ‘keystone’ families play important roles across the evolution of diverse metabolic traits.
June 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
We also found a few gene families that were associated with as many as 23% of all traits. We believe these ‘keystone’ families play important roles across the evolution of diverse metabolic traits.
With help from @jgschraiber.bsky.social we found that gains and losses of both traits and genes closely mirrored one another in at least one family (such as Raffinose and SUC) for 81% of tested traits, indicating parallel evolution across deep time may be more common than previously believed
June 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
With help from @jgschraiber.bsky.social we found that gains and losses of both traits and genes closely mirrored one another in at least one family (such as Raffinose and SUC) for 81% of tested traits, indicating parallel evolution across deep time may be more common than previously believed
To address this question I used a dataset of 56 metabolic traits and genomes from 993 species of yeasts (special thanks to @lablabella.bsky.social & @marie-clairehar.bsky.social!). Each trait has independently evolved dozens to hundreds of times, providing unprecedented statistical power
June 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
To address this question I used a dataset of 56 metabolic traits and genomes from 993 species of yeasts (special thanks to @lablabella.bsky.social & @marie-clairehar.bsky.social!). Each trait has independently evolved dozens to hundreds of times, providing unprecedented statistical power
When novel phenotypes occur independently on the tree of life (convergence) they can be the result of the same (homologous) or unique (nonhomologous) genomic elements. But how common is parallelism across deep timescales? Are stories like eyes or antifreeze proteins more common?
June 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
When novel phenotypes occur independently on the tree of life (convergence) they can be the result of the same (homologous) or unique (nonhomologous) genomic elements. But how common is parallelism across deep timescales? Are stories like eyes or antifreeze proteins more common?
How many paths lead to evolutionary innovation? How versatile are genomic toolkits? Excited to announce my new @pnas.org paper addressing these questions in collaboration with @rokaslab.bsky.social, @hittingerlab.bsky.social, and the Pennell lab!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
June 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
How many paths lead to evolutionary innovation? How versatile are genomic toolkits? Excited to announce my new @pnas.org paper addressing these questions in collaboration with @rokaslab.bsky.social, @hittingerlab.bsky.social, and the Pennell lab!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Spot the difference
April 9, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Spot the difference
Get Me To God's Country
April 2, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Get Me To God's Country
I try to maintain a professional presence on this app and keep personal updates to a minimum, but I'm proud to announce @haleybiont.bsky.social and I became Discus grandparents over the weekend!
March 17, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I try to maintain a professional presence on this app and keep personal updates to a minimum, but I'm proud to announce @haleybiont.bsky.social and I became Discus grandparents over the weekend!
Stuck in traffic behind my new favorite person in Tennessee
February 11, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Stuck in traffic behind my new favorite person in Tennessee
please do not inform them of Current Events
January 30, 2025 at 12:59 AM
please do not inform them of Current Events
oh to be a red lizard whiptail catfish (Rineloricaria sp.) resting on a leaf blowing gently in the current
January 30, 2025 at 12:51 AM
oh to be a red lizard whiptail catfish (Rineloricaria sp.) resting on a leaf blowing gently in the current