Joseph Guhlin

Text: The Evolution Exchange, a monthly conversation series from the Society for the Study of Evolution. Outlines of cartoon heads with speech bubbles.

💬 In the second installment of The Evolution Exchange, retired NSF Program Officer Dr. Sam Scheiner returns to discuss how to craft a successful research proposal. Watch or read the transcript here: www.evolutionsociety.org/the-evolutio...

Insect research has used Drosophila as a model organism for over a century. But today’s tools now open up a much wider spectrum of insects which deserve to be studied. See the recent commentary in @fly-journal.bsky.social by @peterkdearden.bsky.social, ‘Why just fly?’ doi.org/10.1080/1933...

Symbolic regression for empirically realistic population dynamic time series https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.16.706224v1

A Beginner's Guide to Structural Variants in Eco‐Evolutionary Population Genomics Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has greatly expanded researchers' ability to study structural variants (SVs), that is, the variation in the presence, number, orientation or position of a DNA sequence. ....

New review!

Theory & a practical guide to structural variants in popgen🧬

Many thanks to my co-authors: @rebekahoomen.bsky.social
@annatigano.bsky.social @marenwellenreuther.bsky.social @janawold.bsky.social @dlfield.bsky.social @clairemerot.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

A female kākāpō on a nest with two eggs. Credit: Andrew Digby

Two more #kakapo nests found on Anchor today: Waa on 3 eggs and Hauturu (pic) on 2.
Also two matings last night:
Anchor: Konini 💚 Quill
Whenua Hou: Hera 💚 Tutoko
#conservation #kakapo2026 #birds

Very excited about this latest work led by @jermp.bsky.social! Since it's initial release, SSHash has served as the basis for several other tools (Fulgor, piscem, etc.). It was already very fast. It is now *substantially* faster!

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A nice opinion paper (doi.org/10.1016/j.pb... ) from @anneroulin.bsky.social that highlights the need for caution when generalizing about the importance of TEs in local plant adaptation.
#TEsky #transposon

I use a vacuum with the attachment removed. And have also gotten some sundews, which are certainly pretty, but have caught 2 out of ∞ bugs so far

Exploring #PAG33 and San Diego for the first time! If you're interested in knowing more about why bird microchromosomes are so hard to sequence, come by poster 287 this afternoon!

Now published in Algorithms for Molecular Biology: link.springer.com/article/10.1.... Key message: a tiny CNN model with 7k parameters can capture main splice signals across vertebrates+insect and halves the minimap2 & miniprot junction error rate. I always use this new feature now.

A Kākāpō amongst vegetation, with only the side of its head showing. Credit: Andrew Digby

#kakapo breeding seasons are always roller coasters.
☹️ Young male Tau Kuhurangi has died on Pukenui, likely from a wing injury. Population is now 236.
🙂 Second mating of the year: Esperance (pic) and Ian. #conservation #parrots #birds

Under the Lens Podcast | Bioprotection Aotearoa

We made a podcast for @bioprotection.bsky.social Have a look if you are interested in all things that start with b, Nick singing 80's songs or, perhaps more importantly, why and how to save the planet. bioprotection.org.nz/under-the-le...

Nest Survival Models and Genomics Illuminate Hybridisation Attempts, Guiding Culturally Informed Management to Recover a Critically Endangered Seabird Long-term monitoring has revealed hybridisation attempts between the Critically Endangered Kuaka Whenua Hou (KWH, Pelecanoides whenuahouensis) and the abundant Kuaka (P. urinatrix). Here we use model...

I'm delighted to share that our publication 'Nest survival models and genomics illuminate hybridisation attempts, guiding culturally informed management to recover a critically endangered seabird' is out now in Animal Conservation @animalconserv.bsky.social! doi.org/10.1111/acv.... 🧵 1/9

D-BLUP: a differentiable genomic BLUP model with learnable variance and marker weights https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.25.690542v1

Big bluestem has been a lovely and complex system to work with for the majority of my PhD and will always have a piece of my heart! Very excited to share this work with the community.

Help. Can anyone in my network (or outside) endorse me for arXiv q-bio? #breeding #breeding

It’s Tuesday folks, and you know what that means:

Hoiho DNA key to combating disease Attempts to conserve the hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin may have just reached a turning point, after landmark genomic research found the species is...

www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin...

More Hoiho coverage! #Conservation #animals #birds #genomics

Young'uns, looking adorably fluffy

Reposting for other time zones! Check this out and please give us a boost! :)

Good quesiton! Most likely a bad idea. We find genomic regions within each subspecies show signs of local adaptations that happened after the divergence. So bringing in genetics optimal for the subantarctic islands to the mainland would most likely be detrimental.

Benedict Mispronouncing Penguin Has Us Weak😭 #Shorts YouTube video by The Graham Norton Show

www.youtube.com/shorts/GflW9...

I love typst. I just convert to pdf to submit, but submitting the source would be nicer

Amazing group of people to work with! @jemmageoghegan.bsky.social @peterkdearden.bsky.social @annasanture.bsky.social @cegrueber.bsky.social And everyone else not on bsky! Double thanks to Janelle for the amazing pictures!

Population genomics of yellow-eyed penguins uncovers subspecies divergence and candidate genes linked to respiratory distress syndrome Yellow-eyed penguins (hoiho/takaraka, Megadyptes antipodes ) are among the world’s rarest penguins and are regarded as a taonga (treasured) species in Aotearoa New Zealand. Since 2019, chicks on the N...

Preprint out now: “Population genomics of yellow‑eyed penguins uncovers subspecies divergence and candidate genes linked to respiratory distress syndrome.”
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Full press release: www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...

This was a partnership across the Universities of Otago and Auckland, Department of Conservation, Ngāi Tahu, Dunedin Wildlife Hospital, and Genomics Aotearoa, building on national genomics infrastructure (incl. tools first honed with #kākāpō).

Hoiho chicks

#Conservation implications: treating hoiho as three subspecies changes the playbook. Mainland M. a. murihiku needs urgent, tailored action, and genetic rescue from subantarctic birds could risk outbreeding depression by introducing local adaptations younger than the species divergence.

Take‑home on disease: it’s likely host genetics + virus + environment, not a single mutation “on/off” switch. That’s why species‑wide genomics + ARG‑aware GWAS are so powerful here.

Selection scans also show the Southern subspecies have younger TMRCAs (signals of recent selection) in cilia‑related pathways; hair‑like structures lining airways that trap and clear pathogens. This could help explain why Southern chicks resist RDS.

Manhattan Plot for RDS Association and YPGV Status GWAS

Re: RDS on the mainland. A GWAS within the Northern subspecies and all subspecies flags candidate genes tied to immunity and respiration.