Ethan Tolman

Soaring Systematics: an evaluation of biogeography and flight behavior in dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) using phylogenomics Abstract. Dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata) are descended from what were most likely the first winged animals, which flew ∼320 million years a

Years of fun collaboration, led by Dr. Lacie Newton together with our #GEODE #NSF #DRAGONFLY #phylogeny #systematics team, Seth Bybee, John Abbott, Rob Guralnick, Vincent Kalkman, and rest of #GEODE community!

track.smtpsendmail.com/9032119/c?p=...

GhostParser: A highly scalable phylogenomic approach for the identification of ghost introgression A growing body of empirical research shows that interspecific gene flow is a widespread biological force that shapes evolutionary histories across the Tree of Life. Computational approaches designed t...

My very first post on here.
I am stoked to share lab's latest paper led by @ethantolman.bsky.social. Ethan developed a highly scalable pipeline to differentiate between various gene flow models, including ghost introgression in phylogenomic datasets. Check it out! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Meet the Beautiful Dragonfly That Thrives in Your Pollution

So great to see our work on blue dasher dragonflies highlighted in the New York Times. Excellent piece by @cjgiaimo.bsky.social!

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/16/s...

Odonata systematics: past, present, and future: a review of the phylogenetic works in Anisoptera (dragonflies) Abstract. Odonata is an insect order that comprises ~6420 described species distributed among three suborders. Here we review the dragonflies, or Anisopter

So excited to have this #dragonfly paper out! #Odonata systematics: past, present, and future: a review of the phylogenetic works in #Anisoptera (dragonflies) url: academic.oup.com/isd/article/... @ethantolman.bsky.social

Integrating eDNA and community science to monitor urban Odonata diversity Environmental DNA captured rare and underrepresented taxa often missed by community science observations. Community science revealed adult-stage observations across a broader temporal window. Integr.....

So excited to have this #eDNA #Aquatics paper out led by Rhema Uche Dike, @ethantolman.bsky.social, @chrisdbeatty.bsky.social and many others! doi.org/10.1111/icad...

Newly sequenced genomes reveal patterns of gene family expansion in select dragonflies (Odonata: Anisoptera) Abstract. Gene family evolution plays a key role in shaping patterns of biodiversity across the tree of life. In Insecta, adaptive gene family turnover has

Last PhD chapter is published!
academic.oup.com/isd/article-...

Elevational and Oceanic Barriers Shape the Distribution, Dispersal and Diversity of Aotearoa's Kapokapowai (Uropetala) Dragonflies Abstract. Mountains and islands provide an opportunity for studying the biogeography of diversification and population fragmentation. Aotearoa (New Zealand

#Dragonflies! With @taramcallister.bsky.social @ethantolman.bsky.social and colleagues! Elevational and Oceanic Barriers Shape the Distribution, Dispersal and Diversity of Aotearoa's Kapokapowai (Uropetala) Dragonflies url: academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

Glad to see the Idaho Statesmen cover the cool work @gracie-castillo.bsky.social @harrisonpardue.bsky.social @eredman3.bsky.social @jiaweiz.bsky.social @bengallafent.bsky.social @maleahwei.bsky.social and others are doing in Boise!

The blueprint for survival: the blue dasher dragonfly as a model for urban adaptation - BMC Ecology and Evolution Background Human alteration of natural environments and habitats is a major driver of species decline. However, a handful of species thrive in human altered environments. The biology, distribution, po...

Excited to have this #entomology #dragonfly paper out! Congratulations to @ethantolman.bsky.social Ellie Gamett and team! bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

@gracie-castillo.bsky.social, @harrisonpardue.bsky.social, @eredman3.bsky.social and Liam Williams found alarmingly high levels of inbreeding in Trout, and discuss what this means for the Odonata they live with!

@isaaclevesque.bsky.social @jiaweiz.bsky.social, Sam Gallafent, Randy Li, and Atharva Tripathi found that insects sampled from the same habitat have responded differently to anthropogenic change and past climate change!

Maleah Wei and @bengallafent.bsky.social shared an awesome talk about urban adaptation and migration in the blue dasher dragonfly, as well as the importance of community science engagement, with their advisor Dick Jordan!

Thanks to @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social @chrisdbeatty.bsky.social and @annaeichert.bsky.social for helping with the research projects!

Excited to see @gracie-castillo.bsky.social @harrisonpardue.bsky.social @eredman3.bsky.social @isaaclevesque.bsky.social @jiaweiz.bsky.social @bengallafent.bsky.social and others present at the annual conference of @odonataamericas.bsky.social after a week of research!

Caiman

A net blowing in the wind

A man holding a tray of fish

#fieldwork @ethantolman.bsky.social @willkuhn.bsky.social

The Blueprint for Survival: The Blue Dasher Dragonfly as a Model for Urban Adaptation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.12.628234v1

The Blueprint for Survival: The Blue Dasher Dragonfly as a Model for Urban Adaptation Human alteration of natural environments and habitats is a major driver of species decline. However, a handful of species thrive in human altered environments. The biology, distribution, population st...

Excited to have another preprint out with @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social, @chrisdbeatty.bsky.social and others! We explore why the blue dasher dragonfly is so successful in our cities.
#dragonflies #entomology🧪
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Thanks to @chrisdbeatty.bsky.social too!

Very excited to have two new, and very different, preprints out this Thanksgiving! Special thanks to @jessicalwarelab.bsky.social @paulbfrandsen.bsky.social and others! 🧪
#eDNA #PopulationGenomics #Dragonflies
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

#Dragonfly nymph habitat is sometimes more just plain muddy than #lentic or #lotic! #fieldwork #entomology 🧪

Ethan Tolman ‪Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech University‬ - ‪‪Cited by 130‬‬ - ‪Conservation Genomics‬ - ‪Comparative Genomics‬ - ‪Systematics‬ - ‪Science Education‬

Hi Eryn, I would love to be added to this thread as well! scholar.google.com/citations?us...