Matt Rockman
@wormsrock.bsky.social
Evolutionary zoology & quantitative genetics
Biology Professor, New York University
Biology Professor, New York University
Reminds me of this amazing homeotic mutant I found on google streetview
November 9, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Reminds me of this amazing homeotic mutant I found on google streetview
A favorite:
What, If Anything, is a Rabbit? on JSTOR
Albert E. Wood, What, If Anything, is a Rabbit?, Evolution, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Dec., 1957), pp. 417-425
www.jstor.org
October 12, 2025 at 5:32 PM
A favorite:
Yeah, it's weird! Tim Crombie and @erikandersen.bsky.social & co. have characterized global C. elegans population genetics and the pattern is pretty clear. A key paper:
Deep sampling of Hawaiian Caenorhabditis elegans reveals high genetic diversity and admixture with global populations
Hawaiian Caenorhabditis elegans harbor high levels of genetic diversity that might represent the complex patterns of ancestral diversity in the species prior to human influence.
elifesciences.org
September 25, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Yeah, it's weird! Tim Crombie and @erikandersen.bsky.social & co. have characterized global C. elegans population genetics and the pattern is pretty clear. A key paper:
Thanks! Africa is definitely undersampled. Modest efforts in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Cabo Verde, and a few other places have turned up the cosmopolitan species, but there are no doubt tons more endemics like C. afra in the rainforests.
September 25, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Thanks! Africa is definitely undersampled. Modest efforts in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Cabo Verde, and a few other places have turned up the cosmopolitan species, but there are no doubt tons more endemics like C. afra in the rainforests.
Finally, Pohnpei is one of the most fascinating and delightful places imaginable - spectacular scenery, unique biology, and most of all, exceptionally generous people and culture. It was an incredible privilege to visit and work there.
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Finally, Pohnpei is one of the most fascinating and delightful places imaginable - spectacular scenery, unique biology, and most of all, exceptionally generous people and culture. It was an incredible privilege to visit and work there.
That is, Oceania looks like a source for Asian species, not the reverse! Here’s the preprint.
Caenorhabditis diversity on Pohnpei, Micronesia, provides evidence that the Elegans Supergroup has its roots in the Americas and diversified in the Pacific en route to Asia
The microscopic nematode Caenorhabditis elegans stands unrivaled as a model for developmental biology, neurobiology, and genetics, but fundamental aspects of its ecology, biogeography, and natural his...
www.biorxiv.org
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
That is, Oceania looks like a source for Asian species, not the reverse! Here’s the preprint.
Surprisingly, the phylogeny implies (equivocally, to be sure) that the Elegans Supergroup of species, which includes C. elegans, is derived from American ancestors, and that a lot of the groups diversification may have taken place in Oceania, prior to subsequent invasions of Asia.
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Surprisingly, the phylogeny implies (equivocally, to be sure) that the Elegans Supergroup of species, which includes C. elegans, is derived from American ancestors, and that a lot of the groups diversification may have taken place in Oceania, prior to subsequent invasions of Asia.
The goal was to understand biogeography, so we sequenced transcriptomes for the new species, and several others, and built the largest-yet Caenorhabditis phylogeny. The most common Pohnpeian species (C. pwilidak sp nov) is sister to a Hawaiian endemic clade!
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
The goal was to understand biogeography, so we sequenced transcriptomes for the new species, and several others, and built the largest-yet Caenorhabditis phylogeny. The most common Pohnpeian species (C. pwilidak sp nov) is sister to a Hawaiian endemic clade!
We didn’t find C. elegans. But we did find 9 Caenorhabditis species, five of them new, some with distinct habitat profiles. We gave them formal names based on Pohnpeian words. A Pohnpeian language summary of the research is at this link:
Learning from the worms of Pohnpei, FSM
rockmanlab.bio.nyu.edu
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
We didn’t find C. elegans. But we did find 9 Caenorhabditis species, five of them new, some with distinct habitat profiles. We gave them formal names based on Pohnpeian words. A Pohnpeian language summary of the research is at this link:
In Pohnpei, we processed more than 500 samples through Baermann funnels and established more than 1000 isofemale cultures of Caenorhabditis. Our data let us estimate basic parameters of Caenorhabditis population biology (e.g., ~5 worms found each new patch).
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
In Pohnpei, we processed more than 500 samples through Baermann funnels and established more than 1000 isofemale cultures of Caenorhabditis. Our data let us estimate basic parameters of Caenorhabditis population biology (e.g., ~5 worms found each new patch).
This was a great collaboration between my lab - me, Sophie Tintori, and Tuc Nguyen - and Harmony Yomai, a Micronesian plant ecologist. We also had help from fantastic local experts who led us to sites all over the island, including the spectacular cloudforests in the island’s interior.
September 24, 2025 at 8:33 PM
This was a great collaboration between my lab - me, Sophie Tintori, and Tuc Nguyen - and Harmony Yomai, a Micronesian plant ecologist. We also had help from fantastic local experts who led us to sites all over the island, including the spectacular cloudforests in the island’s interior.