Fernando Blanco

Two major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution - Nature Communications Here, the authors analyze a fossil dataset spanning 60 million years to investigate ecological stability. Their network analysis identifies prolonged stability interrupted by two major functional transitions in ungulate assemblages linked to tectonic and climatic events.

👨‍🔬Also Joaquín Calatayud, #IICG researcher, is co-authors of the new article ‘Two major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution’, published in @natcomms.nature.com  

👀You can read it here👇

Here you can find a link to my full CV:

drive.google.com/file/d/1xH5P...

🚨 I'm looking for #Postdoc opportunities starting this September! 🧑‍🔬🔍
I'm a highly motivated researcher with experience in R, network analysis, and multivariate statistics. My focus is on the evolution of ecosystems and biodiversity over deep time.

60 millones de años en movimiento: cómo los cambios ambientales transformaron a los mayores herbívoros del planeta—y cómo sus ecosistemas resistieron - sepaleontologia Leer más

¡Nueva publicación de soci@s! 🗣️

Un nuevo estudio liderado por @fernandoblancos.bsky.social  explora cómo los cambios ambientales impactaron en los grandes #mamíferos y sus ecosistemas durante el Neógeno 🐘🌍

👉 Léelo aquí:
https://sepaleontologia.es/?p=1423

#SEPsocios #Paleontología #CambioClimático

La Tierra puede acercarse al tercer colapso ecológico MADRID, 05 (SERVIMEDIA) Los ecosistemas de la Tierra afrontaron dos reorganizaciones abruptas por cambios ambientales como glaciaciones o movimientos tectónicos en los úl...

La Tierra puede acercarse al tercer colapso ecológico www.lavanguardia.com/sociedad/202...

Los ecosistemas resistieron cambios muy abruptos en el pasado, pero ahora pueden colapsar Madrid, 5 jun (EFE).- Un equipo de científicos ha comprobado la capacidad de adaptación que tenían los ecosistemas del pasado a las perturbaciones más abruptas, como las...

Los ecosistemas resistieron cambios muy abruptos en el pasado, pero ahora pueden colapsar www.lavanguardia.com/vida/2025060...

9/ This paper is the result of over 7 years of work—a true collective effort. Huge thanks to all my co-authors for making this possible! @ohsanisidro.bsky.social @singerstone.bsky.social @amniotalab.bsky.social et al.

📸 @singerstone.bsky.social

8/ But here’s the concern:
We are now in a period of accelerated functional loss—driven by habitat destruction, climate change, and overexploitation.
If this continues, we may be on the brink of a third global tipping point—one driven by humans.

7/ Despite major extinctions (including the Late Pleistocene megafaunal collapse), the basic functional scaffolding of herbivore faunas stayed stable for the last 4.5 million years.
Ecosystems “changed players,” but kept the same formation—until now.

6/ 🌀 Second tipping point (~10 Ma):
Driven by global aridification and the spread of C4 grasslands, this restructured herbivore faunas again. Forested browsers declined, grazers with tougher teeth rose. Functional diversity began a long decline that continues today.

5/ This event also led to an acceleration in functional diversity increase. For the first time, all major herbivore orders—Proboscidea, Artiodactyla, and Perissodactyla—coexisted across continents, expanding ecological roles and reshaping ecosystems at a global scale.

4/ 🌀First tipping point (~21 Ma):
Triggered by tectonics—Africa and Eurasia connected via the Gomphotherium land bridge.
This unleashed a wave of faunal migrations and global functional reorganization (Proboscideans out of Africa for the first time).

3/ Across time, we found long phases of functional stability, where ecosystems retained their structure despite species turnover.
But we also found two major, irreversible tipping points in global herbivore faunas—moments of drastic ecological reassembly.

2/ We used network analysis and trait data (like body size & tooth shape) from 3,000+ species to reconstruct the functional structure of global ungulate ecosystems over the past 60 million years.
Rather than focusing on taxonomy, we asked: What ecological roles they played?

1/ Large herbivores (like ancient elephants, rhinos, deer) aren’t just big plant-eaters—they’re ecosystem engineers. They shape landscapes, disperse seeds, and influence soil and fire dynamics.
But how did they evolve as climates and continents shifted?
📸 @singerstone.bsky.social

Two major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution - Nature Communications Here, the authors analyze a fossil dataset spanning 60 million years to investigate ecological stability. Their network analysis identifies prolonged stability interrupted by two major functional tran...

🦏🦣🦌 LARGE paper alert!!! We tracked 60 million years of large herbivore evolution—over 3,000 fossil species—to uncover how ecosystems have changed and reorganized through time. What we found might help us understand the next big tipping point 🧵👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A diverse group of 7 people pose in front of a large banner showing the work of the Institite for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation.

A large mirrored bean-shaped sculpture surrounded by people, green trees, and skyscrapers under a blue sky.

A man draws and explains a series of complicated models on a blackboard while a woman watches.

A sign projected on the floor saying 'mass extinction'.

Back from a fun 10 days @imsi.institute in Chicago 🇺🇲, working as part of an Interdisciplinary Research Cluster on 'Advances in Mathematical Modelling of mass extinction events'. Great collaborations and some thought-provoking work!

Recurrence plot

Stylized computer enhanced picture of conodonts

Call for a postdoc position at Vilnius University.
If you are interested in doing innovative macroevolutionary, macroecological, geobiological research in my group please write me: andrej.spiridonov@gf.vu.lt or PM.
Duration of the project 2 years, budget up to 130K euro.
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#Paleobio ⚒️ #Geology

Burgos retreat at @cenieh.bsky.social with some Amniota Lab members! Ignacio Lazagabaster, @fernandoblancos.bsky.social , @paleoiris.bsky.social @singerstone.bsky.social & @ohsanisidro.bsky.social Fossils, science, food and good vibes

#paleobiology #AmniotaLab #MACPALS

macrovector / Freepik

Hoy se celebra el Día Mundial del Clima, un sistema complejo que incluye a la hidrosfera, la atmósfera, la geosfera y la biosfera.

Shupinski AB, Craffey M, Smith FA, Lyons SK. Different mammals, same structure: co-occurrence structure across the Plio-Pleistocene transition. Paleobiology. Published online 2025:1-10. doi:10.1017/pab.2024.53
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Hola!
El 26 de marzo a las 15:00 en la Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas (UCM) proyectamos Off the Archeological Record. Después, abrimos debate en una mesa redonda con la arqueóloga y guionista Paloma Zarzuela, y las paleontólogas Mª Ángeles Álvarez Sierra y Dánae Sanz

Brilliant paper! Functional networks are key to understanding past ecosystems. Exciting to see this research evolving—more work to come!

Frontiers | Selection, evolution and persistence of paleoecological systems

Late for Darwin's big day, but a new paper adding to his great theory, addressing the persistence of ecological systems on long timescales. "Selection, evolution and persistence of paleoecological systems" www.frontiersin.org/journals/ear... #evolution #paleontology #selection

Punctuated ecological equilibrium in mammal communities over evolutionary time scales Functional richness in past mammal communities increased ecosystem resilience.

In 2021, in a paper led by @fernandoblancos.bsky.social published in @science.org we analyzed the evolution of functional faunas in large mammals from the Iberian Peninsula over the last 20 million years. …

Hey everyone! Since I’m new to BlueSky, I thought I’d share a quick summary of some of the main projects I’ve worked on over the past three years. Buckle up for some paleontology! 🦴⚒️💻

Don't miss the chance to attend this incredible meeting in Zurich this July! Mark your calendar and join us for insightful discussions and networking opportunities 👇👇

Hiya @thepalass.bsky.social meeting delegates, I'm Alex and I lead the Palaeo@Leeds Research Cluster. If you're an undergrad/postgrad looking for a PhD position for '25 start, please find me for a chat at the #PalAss24 meeting - see below for some of the projects on offer.

Network of the networks represented in academic starter packs! Interactive and searchable here: ketikagarg.github.io/blueSkyAcade... #academicsky

Panorama view onto the old town of Bern and the alps behind it on a sunny day.

The Institute of #ecology and #evolution at @unibern.bsky.social is looking for two tenure-track assistant professors (APTT):

APTT Mathematical or Computational Ecology 👩‍💻

APTT #Conservation #Biology 👨🏾‍🔬

More info: tinyurl.com/IEEjobs

Application deadline: 1 March 2025