Graham Coop

Black Mtn Lookout Riverside 2, Riverside County, CA
🗺33.8244, -116.7576 🧭180° ⛰7717 ft
https://ops.alertcalifornia.org/cam-console/15906

(although the silver and cross fox morphs are much prettier in real life than this painting makes them look)

There are three colour morphs of red foxes: silver, cross, and red (see Figure 10.8), with this difference primarily controlled by a sin- gle polymorphism with genotypes RR, Rr, and rr respectively. The fur pelts of the silver morph fetched three times the price for hunters compared to cross (a smoky red) and red pelts, the latter two being seen as roughly equivalent in worth. Thus the desirability of the pelts acts as a recessive trait, with much stronger selection against the sil- ver homozygotes. As a result of this price difference, silver foxes were hunted more intensely and declined as a proportion of the population in Eastern Canada, see Figure 10.7, as documented by Elton, from 16% to 5% from 1834 to 1937. Haldane (1942) reanalyzed these data and showed that they were consistent with recessive selection act- ing against the silver morph alone. Note how the heterozygotes (cross) decline somewhat as a result of selection on the silver homozygotes, but overall the R allele is slow to respond to selection as it is ‘hidden’ from selection in the heterozygote state.

explanation of the recessive fox morph selection as explained in popgen notes. It's fun to see these @biodivlibrary.bsky.social pictures popping up on bluesky.

I use the silver morph fox coat as a teaching example of selection against a recessive allele as these silver morphs are homozygotes for a pigmentation allele. They were prized by hunters and so they were selected against over time
See Figure 2 of Allendorf and Hard
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Historical illustration showing three North American fox color phases—Cross Fox with mixed brown and black fur, Red Fox with reddish-orange fur, and Silver Fox with solid black fur—standing together in snow. Below them, an Alaska Red Fox is depicted in a snowy landscape, holding a white rabbit in its mouth, highlighting its hunting behavior. The artwork is detailed, capturing fur texture and natural poses in a winter setting.

🦊 The larger North American mammals..
Washington, National Geographic Society, 1916..

[Source]

How Kansas Republicans weaponized the law to target 300 trans driver's license holders SB 244 was put into effect virtually overnight, causing chaos, panic and fear in the trans community.

New — I spoke to eight trans people in Kansas about the new state law that invalidated their driver’s licenses overnight, what’s it’s like to live there right now, plus details of two DMV emails exclusively obtained by The Handbasket that shed light on the law’s chaotic and cruel rollout:

Amazing peppered moth story from Saccheri lab - same locus, but different structural variants, underly parallel evolution of industrial melanism in the UK and across continental Europe.

Society for the Study of Evolution Site description

📢 Now accepting proposals for the Graduate Research Excellence Grants! These provide evolutionary biology research funds for early and advanced Master’s and PhD students. Applicants must be members of SSE. Deadline: May 18, 2026
www.evolutionsociety.org/content/soci...

Illustration of two green Pteroglossus sulcatus toucans perched on tree branches with pale leaves. Both birds have long, curved, dark red and black bills, vivid blue markings near their beaks, and detailed green feathers with darker wing tips. The upper bird is pecking at a curled yellow caterpillar, while the lower bird looks forward. The background is plain, highlighting the birds' vibrant colors and intricate feather patterns. Text below names the species as "Pteroglossus sulcatus (Swains)" or "Grooved-bill Araçari."

🦜 A monograph of the Ramphastidae, or family of toucans /.
London: Published by the author, 20, Broad Street, Golden Square, 1834 [that is, 1833-1835]..

[Source]

Thanks to the Nature team for digging into this. Apportionment is one of those inside-baseball issues that I hoped never to need to learn about... But here was are.

I told them that after 18 years of teaching the class I still get nervous sometimes talking to 300 people and that's ok because it keeps me on my toes. But I'm totally repositioning the mic next lecture.

New teaching neurosis drops.
Student: It's funny. When I listen to the lecture recording the microphone picks up you heart beating, and so I can hear when you get nervous.
<sees look on my face>
Oh don't worry, it's not very noticeable.
2nd Student: Oh yeah, I've totally noticed that too!

This story from @michaeldgreen.phd is way too common at the Trump/Bhattacharya NIH. Program staff can't give grantees clear answers; they don't have them. That is the MO: provide intentionally ambiguous guidance under threat of retaliation, creating an environment where staff over-comply out of fear

Grateful to have worked with such an incredible team on this project. Excited to finally share this story about Top2 evolution and hybrid incompatibility in Drosophila. More to come!

It was either this or "Little new a foot in mollusk evolution"

mollusk evolution novelty not spiraling out of control

This week's cover @thelancet.com

There's still time to apply to the PREP program at the University of Oregon! Deadline is March 2nd, see below for details.

Trans rights are human rights

So when do authors preprint? Many do long before they submit to a journal (to get feedback to improve the work?); many submit around the same time (just want the work out?). Only a minority are submitting once the paper is under review [evidence against claims by some detractors]. 3/n

Federal funding for US biomedical research is moribund.

Since October 1 2025, NIH is -80% in new grants and -70% in values (total dollars).

Labs are closing down and researchers are leaving science.

To what end?

ngl my legs still feel like jelly.

But I am so honored to have had this chance to bring forward the concerns we've seen, and continue to see, at NIH. Very similar concerns are mirrored in Federal workers across agencies.

Thanks again to @vanhollen.senate.gov and his team for the opportunity.

EXCLUSIVE: Harvard placed Martin Nowak on paid administrative leave amid a renewed investigation into his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a letter obtained by The Crimson.

Hugo C. Chiasson and Elise A. Spenner report.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...

Kansas Sends Letters To Trans People Demanding The Immediate Surrender Of Drivers Licenses "The legislature did not include a grace period." ERIN REED FEB 25, 2026 88 5 21 Share Kansas Sate Capitol // farzinvousoughian

1. Numerous transgender people in Kansas are reporting that the state has sent them a letter demanding the immediate surrender of drivers licenses.

Those driving could be arrested, charged, and see privileges revoked.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...

I turtlely didn't see that coming.

Cornholme erotic books note attacks 'cesspit' Hebden Bridge A village goes viral when an angry note appears on its book-swap box railing against "filthy" titles.

www.bbc.com/news/uk-engl...

@friendsofdarwin.bsky.social

Panorama of Sacramento, the Sierras and Yolo Bypass. Made by taking ~ 50 individual pics and then stitching them together in Adobe Llightroom.

Preprint!!!! This is the result of an ongoing collaboration between us and the genomics core to make genetics cheap and easy. A synergy between library prep and analytical approaches. This one hinges on recognizing 1. that DNA molecules are shaped by evolution and 2. we have friends everywhere.