Mafalda S Ferreira
@mafaldaferreira.bsky.social
Genomics of adaptation
Assist. Prof., SciLifeLab fellow
Dep. Zoology, Stockholm University
🇵🇹 living in 🇸🇪
Adaptation genomics of vertebrates, from hares to ptarmigan, to Atlantic herring
seasonalgenomics.wordpress.com
she/her
Assist. Prof., SciLifeLab fellow
Dep. Zoology, Stockholm University
🇵🇹 living in 🇸🇪
Adaptation genomics of vertebrates, from hares to ptarmigan, to Atlantic herring
seasonalgenomics.wordpress.com
she/her
I may have lost my patience when asked to create YET another account to access manuscripts....
Hint: No, my first name is not "lol"...
Hint: No, my first name is not "lol"...
November 16, 2025 at 1:15 PM
I may have lost my patience when asked to create YET another account to access manuscripts....
Hint: No, my first name is not "lol"...
Hint: No, my first name is not "lol"...
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
Modestly, we decided to review a century's worth of theories of balancing selection :) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
A century of theories of balancing selection
Traits that affect organismal fitness are often highly genetically variable. This genetic variation is vital for populations to adapt to their environments, but it is also surprising given that natur...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Modestly, we decided to review a century's worth of theories of balancing selection :) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have been motivated to understand the mechanisms through which organisms adapt to their environments. Coloration and pigmentation are remarkably variable wi...
shorturl.at
November 12, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I am so excited to share new work on a TE insertion that regulates iridescence in swordtails, led by fantastic grad student @nadiahaghani.bsky.social and with help from many coauthors! In a time that has been so difficult to navigate, this & other projects have kept my spirits up: shorturl.at/NE65A
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
PhD position available in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics (hoehnalab.github.io/job_adverts/...). Topic: analyzing gene expression evolution across several firefly species and linking expression changes to genomic architecture. The position is jointly supervised with @anaevolcatalan.bsky.social
hoehnalab.github.io
November 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
PhD position available in evolutionary genomics/bioinformatics (hoehnalab.github.io/job_adverts/...). Topic: analyzing gene expression evolution across several firefly species and linking expression changes to genomic architecture. The position is jointly supervised with @anaevolcatalan.bsky.social
People in California (!!) seeing the Aurora.
Me, in Sweden, look out the window:
☁️☁️☁️☁️100% cloud coverage due to November ☁️☁️☁️☁️
Me, in Sweden, look out the window:
☁️☁️☁️☁️100% cloud coverage due to November ☁️☁️☁️☁️
November 12, 2025 at 5:50 AM
People in California (!!) seeing the Aurora.
Me, in Sweden, look out the window:
☁️☁️☁️☁️100% cloud coverage due to November ☁️☁️☁️☁️
Me, in Sweden, look out the window:
☁️☁️☁️☁️100% cloud coverage due to November ☁️☁️☁️☁️
We have 🐟 herring pre print!
Our new study reveals that ancient gene flow between Pacific and Atlantic herring played a key role in helping Atlantic herring adapt to the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our new study reveals that ancient gene flow between Pacific and Atlantic herring played a key role in helping Atlantic herring adapt to the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:13 PM
We have 🐟 herring pre print!
Our new study reveals that ancient gene flow between Pacific and Atlantic herring played a key role in helping Atlantic herring adapt to the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our new study reveals that ancient gene flow between Pacific and Atlantic herring played a key role in helping Atlantic herring adapt to the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:13 PM
We have 🐟 herring pre print!
Our new study reveals that ancient gene flow between Pacific and Atlantic herring played a key role in helping Atlantic herring adapt to the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Our new study reveals that ancient gene flow between Pacific and Atlantic herring played a key role in helping Atlantic herring adapt to the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
Gelechioidea, that superdiverse superfamily of Lepidoptera that has been a super mess taxonomically, finally gets some structure at the family level with phylogenomics! Read all about it in our article led by PhD student @etkayapar.bsky.social !
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Integrating Sanger and next‐generation sequencing data sheds light on phylogenetic relationships among gelechioid moths (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea)
The maximum-likelihood analysis of a phylogenomic dataset of 1767 protein-coding genes from 57 ingroup taxa yields a robust family-level topology for Gelechioidea, revealing novel among-family relat...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Gelechioidea, that superdiverse superfamily of Lepidoptera that has been a super mess taxonomically, finally gets some structure at the family level with phylogenomics! Read all about it in our article led by PhD student @etkayapar.bsky.social !
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
What can goshawks teach us about how camouflage, behavior, and habitat protect seasonally color-molting prey? Recent findings suggest that brown prey may be less vulnerable to predation under climate change compared to white morphs.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
November 3, 2025 at 7:49 PM
What can goshawks teach us about how camouflage, behavior, and habitat protect seasonally color-molting prey? Recent findings suggest that brown prey may be less vulnerable to predation under climate change compared to white morphs.
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
Read now ahead of print!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
November 3, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
Tree evolution is surprisingly quirky! 🌳 Trees are likely ancestral in many plant groups, often re-evolve on islands, and Arabidopsis can be made tree-like by tweaking a few genes. We revisited what genes really make a tree a tree using comparative genomics. @trhvidsten.bsky.social #trees #evolution
An updated perspective: what genes make a tree a tree? #plantscience
An updated perspective: what genes make a tree a tree?
We learn early on how to tell trees apart from other plants. However, it has proved hard to distinguish trees from other plants at the genetic level, and it is believed that there are no unique ‘tree genes’. With the rapid increase in available tree genomes, we can perform new comparative and evolutionary analyses of plant life histories and growth forms. Here we provide a fresh perspective on the genetic foundation for woodiness and perenniality in angiosperms by analyzing selection pressures and gene family evolution in the rosids using genomic data. We examine genes distinguishing trees from herbs and discuss future directions for uncovering the genetic factors that define a tree in this new era of tree genomics.
dlvr.it
October 24, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Tree evolution is surprisingly quirky! 🌳 Trees are likely ancestral in many plant groups, often re-evolve on islands, and Arabidopsis can be made tree-like by tweaking a few genes. We revisited what genes really make a tree a tree using comparative genomics. @trhvidsten.bsky.social #trees #evolution
Back from a successful field trip to Rolvsøya, Norway, where we collected tissue samples from hares and ptarmigan. It was a pleasure collaborating with Simen Pedersen (INN University) and Huijuan Bi from my group — great teamwork and beautiful Arctic scenery!
October 22, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Back from a successful field trip to Rolvsøya, Norway, where we collected tissue samples from hares and ptarmigan. It was a pleasure collaborating with Simen Pedersen (INN University) and Huijuan Bi from my group — great teamwork and beautiful Arctic scenery!
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
A mosaic of modular variation at a single gene underpins convergent plumage coloration
The reshuffling of genomic variation from multiple origins is an important contributor to phenotypic diversification, yet insights into the evolutionary trajectories of this combinatorial process and ...
www.science.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM
1/9 New in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado8005
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
How does genetic architecture constrain evolutionary trajectories? To address this question, we inferred the genetic architecture of convergent plumage coloration and its evolutionary history in wheatears.
Agouti doing what it does best: making color patterns and jumping between species 🖤🤍
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A mosaic of modular variation at a single gene underpins convergent plumage coloration
The reshuffling of genomic variation from multiple origins is an important contributor to phenotypic diversification, yet insights into the evolutionary trajectories of this combinatorial process and ...
www.science.org
October 20, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Agouti doing what it does best: making color patterns and jumping between species 🖤🤍
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
How do insects respond to changing climates? Our new review and analysis in @annualreviews.bsky.social suggests that phenological adaptation trumps thermal adaptation.
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Life-History Evolution of Insects in Response to Climate Variation: Seasonal Timing Versus Thermal Physiology | Annual Reviews
Climate adaptation in insects can proceed via responses in life-history traits and their thermal plasticity and through phenological shifts mediated by responses to photoperiodic cues (photoperiodism)...
www.annualreviews.org
September 30, 2025 at 8:03 AM
How do insects respond to changing climates? Our new review and analysis in @annualreviews.bsky.social suggests that phenological adaptation trumps thermal adaptation.
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
@scilifelab.se Group Leader retreat 2025 was a blast! Productive discussions, new collaborations, problems solved!! When we get together the magic happens 💪💪
Proud of @gmkov.bsky.social and I’s Tech Session on Planetary Biology research, that brought PIs, Platforms and Leadership together to TALK!
Proud of @gmkov.bsky.social and I’s Tech Session on Planetary Biology research, that brought PIs, Platforms and Leadership together to TALK!
September 20, 2025 at 8:17 AM
@scilifelab.se Group Leader retreat 2025 was a blast! Productive discussions, new collaborations, problems solved!! When we get together the magic happens 💪💪
Proud of @gmkov.bsky.social and I’s Tech Session on Planetary Biology research, that brought PIs, Platforms and Leadership together to TALK!
Proud of @gmkov.bsky.social and I’s Tech Session on Planetary Biology research, that brought PIs, Platforms and Leadership together to TALK!
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
Evidence for Neolithic acquisition of the high pathogenic island by Escherichia coli followed by recent selection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.17.676721v1
September 19, 2025 at 4:32 AM
Evidence for Neolithic acquisition of the high pathogenic island by Escherichia coli followed by recent selection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.17.676721v1
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
Extreme climate events can catalyze rapid evolutionary change! in our new Current Biology (@currentbiology.bsky.social) piece, Colin and I argue it’s time to study their evolutionary consequences systematically — beyond opportunistic observations. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Evolutionary consequences of extreme climate events
Simon Baeckens and Colin Donihue review case studies of rapid evolutionary change
in response to extreme climate events and sketch a framework for future studies in
the rapidly changing climate of the...
www.cell.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Extreme climate events can catalyze rapid evolutionary change! in our new Current Biology (@currentbiology.bsky.social) piece, Colin and I argue it’s time to study their evolutionary consequences systematically — beyond opportunistic observations. www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
The first of Jessie Foley’s work on the #evolution of #ageing in #Heliconius for your reading pleasure.
Come for the 348 day old butterfly, stay for the evolved slower rate of ageing, species*diet effects, and weightlifting for elderly butterflies 💪🏻👵🏻
🧪
Come for the 348 day old butterfly, stay for the evolved slower rate of ageing, species*diet effects, and weightlifting for elderly butterflies 💪🏻👵🏻
🧪
Evolution of increased longevity and slowed ageing in a genus of tropical butterfly https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.08.29.673072v1
September 3, 2025 at 9:07 PM
The first of Jessie Foley’s work on the #evolution of #ageing in #Heliconius for your reading pleasure.
Come for the 348 day old butterfly, stay for the evolved slower rate of ageing, species*diet effects, and weightlifting for elderly butterflies 💪🏻👵🏻
🧪
Come for the 348 day old butterfly, stay for the evolved slower rate of ageing, species*diet effects, and weightlifting for elderly butterflies 💪🏻👵🏻
🧪
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
My new book is almost ready for you! Check out the blurbs (and more) for "Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences". If you mentor scientific writers, or include writing in your undergrad classes, this book is for you. It can be easier!
Owls, blurbs, and a cover – oh my! “Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences” is getting close
We (that’s Bethann Garramon Merkle and I) are getting very excited about our new book, Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences: An Evidence-Based Approach. Over the last few months, we’ve be…
scientistseessquirrel.wordpress.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:11 PM
My new book is almost ready for you! Check out the blurbs (and more) for "Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences". If you mentor scientific writers, or include writing in your undergrad classes, this book is for you. It can be easier!
Reposted by Mafalda S Ferreira
*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University*
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
September 2, 2025 at 2:20 PM
*Postdoc in Evolutionary genomics at Stockholm University*
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...
We are recruiting a postdoc for a large interdisciplinary project to investigate evolutionary drivers and genomic consequences of pollen evolution in response to pollination mode shifts in flowering plants. 1/5
su.varbi.com/what:job/job...