Else Mikkelsen

A five panel figure, with four showing photographs of a putative hybrid warbler between a mourning warbler and a common yellowthroat. The final panel shows an illustration of the bird by David Sibley

A three panel figure showing the genetic composition of the hybrid and the putative parental species. Two panels show points on a principal components analysis, with the hybrid falling intermediate. The final panel shows bars illustrating genome-wide admixture, with the hybrid having intermediate ancestry between the two.

I mean, the title says it all: Genetic confirmation of an “uncommon mourningthroat” (Geothlypis philadelphia  ×  G. trichas): A rare but persistent hybrid warbler. Fun stuff with @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social and Kurt Gielow, OA in @wilsonornithsoc.bsky.social!
🦉 🧪
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Figure with a photo of a member of then Solomons Monarch complex, a map of the Solomon Islands (divided into four island groups, Makira being the most isolated), and a principal component analysis highlighting the distinct between-island-group structure, with moderate structure within the New Georgia Group and weaker structure within the Bukida group (highlighted in an inset).

Just out in Systematic Biology, we explore the role of gene flow in island phylogeography of the Solomons Black-and-white Monarch complex. doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

Up first, strong genetic structure between islands groups and weak (but present!) structure between Pleistocene-connected islands (🧵)

The overconfidence of the Google AI overview is so frustrating. My worst was googling my own papers and then seeing my carefully-worded suggestions regurgitated as facts

Thanks!

CSB/EEB seminars YouTube video by CSB&EEB-Seminars

Exit seminar done!
The recording is now available at this link: www.youtube.com/live/plSnpuK...
(you'll have to skip to around 29:30 as the livestream started 30 mins early)

Thanks!

If anyone wants to learn about the evolutionary role of hybridization in skuas and manakins, my exit seminar will be livestreamed on Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC38...
(starts at 9:30 EST, but the recording should remain available for a while at that link)

A poster for Else's exit seminar titled "The Role of Hybridization in the Speciation of Birds". The poster shows illustrations of several bird species (skuas and manakins) above a background of a subarctic coastline and a tropical rainforest river.

Almost PhDone! I'll be giving my PhD exit seminar in the morning (Thursday), and defending on Friday.

Ooh, those are lovely! I'm definitely due for a visit, haven't been since I was a preteen. Hopefully some time in the next few years I can make the trip!

Rare blue-and-green hybrid jay spotted in Texas is offspring of birds whose lineages split 7 million years ago The hybrid bird is the product of two species whose habitat ranges began to overlap a few decades ago, potentially due to climate change, researchers said.

Something cool to start your weekend: a Blue Jay x Green Jay hybrid from Texas! #ornithology

badge showing displaying skua and a QR code

Join this trans-hemospheric collaboration to get skuas elected as bird of the year in New Zealand #teamskua Loud, Proud #seabirds

A photograph of a Hākoakoa parent with its fuzzy brown chick. The parent is displaying loudly while the chick is looking at you, already planning its next move. Text on the image says "More than a pretty (aggressive) vace, Skua are devoted parents who often form polyandrous family units. Chicks venture out to explore their world quickly." Photo credit Penny Pascoe via Australian Antarctic programme.

It's family values day here at Team Hākoakoa. You'll struggle to find a bird more devoted to its chicks than Skua. Just look at that fuzzy brown face. How could you not vote Skua for #birdoftheyear2025? #Skua @forestandbird.bsky.social

Hybridization and introgression are major evolutionary processes. Since the 1940s, the prevailing view has been that they shape plants far more than animals. In our new study (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
), we find the opposite: animals exchange genes more, and for longer, than plants

Estimating waiting distances between genealogy changes under a Multi-Species Extension of the Sequentially Markov Coalescent Abstract. Genomes are composed of a mosaic of segments inherited from different ancestors, each separated by past recombination events. Consequently, genea

super excited to share this big project with @daeaton.bsky.social out now in Systematic Biology! We derived distributions for -- given an arbitrary species tree model -- how far you have to move along a genome before observing a change in the underlying genealogy: doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

There's a bunch of weird reproductive modes - gynogenesis, androgenesis, hybridogenesis, and kleptogenesis that mostly occur in weird hybrid lineages (but sometimes within non-hybrids too) that often parasitize the genomes of related species (or one of the parental species of a hybrid)

Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity | PNAS The link between form and function of an organism’s morphology is usually apparent or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable ...

Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

The Driving W Hypothesis for Low Within-Population Mitochondrial DNA Diversity and Between-Population Mitochondrial Capture The fields of evolutionary biology, molecular ecology, genetics, and taxonomy have been profoundly influenced by studies of variation in mitochondrial DNA. Here I propose a hypothesis that will likely...

Hi y'all. In the midst of [gestures all around], I managed to write a thing.

If you work with mitochondrial DNA sequences in groups such as birds, butterflies, or snakes, you might find it interesting.

Feedback welcome.

The "Driving W Hypothesis" for low mtDNA diversity:

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

We composted ‘biodegradable’ balloons. Here’s what we found after 16 weeks Since 1989, the balloon industry has relied on a problematic study that claimed balloons degraded “at about the same rate as oak tree leaves” after six weeks. We put it to the test.

Sadly not theconversation.com/we-composted...

Wow!!

Larinioides sclopetarius - 3D model by Urielgc Larinioides sclopetarius (Clerck, 1757) — Bridge Orbweaver This 3D model depicts a male Larinioides sclopetarius specimen, collected in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada in 2025. It was reconstructed from...

Meet the Bridge Orbweaver — reconstructed in full detail from a male specimen collected in Scarborough, Ontario (2025).

skfb.ly/pxLos

#3DModeling #ScientificVisualization #Arachnology #Biodiversity #DigitalTaxonomy #Larinioides #RaspberryPi #Zoology #UrbanWildlife

you might think N American species are getting common at their north range limit and rare at their south range limit as temps get warmer

but you would be wrong

new paper in GEB w/ @eliotmiller.bsky.social & Matt Strimas-Mackey, eBird Status & Trends ftw

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Ooh nice! I wonder if any of my family saw it

Secondary Sympatry as a Sorting Process Early explanations for the frequent observation of exaggerated trait divergence in sympatric versus allopatric taxa focused on secondary contact between allopatrically speciating lineages and emphasi...

New paper out in Ecology Letters (open access): I and Daniel Matute consider 'species sorting' -- a bias in the outcome of secondary contact following the allopatric stage of speciation -- as a reason for the much-observed pattern of elevated trait differences in sympatric close relatives

Very cool!

Four figure panels from the paper. At upper left, a map of Asia showing the breeding ranges of six subspecies of greenish warblers, five of which are in the main ring: viridanus in blue in west Siberia, ludlowi in green in the western Himalayas, trochiloides in yellow in the central and eastern Himalayas, obscuratus in orange in central China, plumbeitarsus in red in eastern Siberia. The western form nitidus in grey, is also shown. In the lower left panel is a plot of genomic PC1 vs. PC2, with each little diamond symbol representing a single bird. This shows viridanus and plumbeitarsus as very distinct, while being connected by gradual or stepwise change through the populations around the southern ring. This is also shown in the lower central panel, which plots location around the ring vs. PC1. In the right panel, genotypes at 12 different Large Haploblock Regions are shown for 257 individuals arranged in order around the ring. Distinct differences between viridanus (in blue) and plumbeitarsus (in red) are seen, with more gradual variation through the ring connecting them. A single backcross of an F1 and a plumbeitarsus is seen in the lower row of this panel.

OK who's ready for some science?

Do you like speciation? Genomics? Hybridization? Bioinformatics? Then this is for you:

Published today: "The Distribution & Dispersal of Large Haploblocks in a Superspecies"

Bonus interest if you like ring species and cute greenish birds:

doi.org/10.1111/mec....

Defense Against Dishonest Charts This is a guide to protect ourselves and to preserve what is good about turning data into visual things.

This excellent interactive tutorial on misleading data visualizations explores the idea of a "counter chart" — the graph you draw in response to refute a misleading claims

flowingdata.com/projects/dis...

I'd vote landbird - to me shorebirds are terrestrial but aren't landbirds