7/7
The result: panmixia and high effective population size, helping explain how amphioxus maintain extreme genomic diversity alongside striking phenotypic stability.

6/7
This near-panmictic pattern is best explained by long-distance larval dispersal via ocean currents. Together with a wide ecological range, this dispersal leads to a very large effective population size, ultimately resulting in extraordinary heterozygosity of ~3%.

5/7
Using population genomic and phylogenetic analyses, together with comparisons to simulations, we show that despite low adult mobility and local settlement, European amphioxus populations exhibit a weak population structure that place them close to panmixia.

4/7
We used high-coverage whole-genome data from multiple individuals sampled at two distant locations (Atlantic & Mediterranean) to accurately quantify genomic diversity and investigate its evolutionary causes.

3/7
Amphioxus are fascinating chordates: despite an extremely simple and conserved phenotype—even between deeply diverged species—they harbor some of the highest levels of genomic diversity ever reported in metazoans. How can such phenotypic stability coexist with extreme genomic diversity?

2/7
Joint work with @marcrr.bsky.social, @diegoharta.bsky.social, Stéphanie Bertrand, and Hector Escrivà.

Thank you, Marc! 🙃