Anna Penna

Join the lab The Caetano lab at Towson University (Maryland, USA) is seeking a Master's degree student to start in Fall 2026. A Research Assistant (RA) position is available to the student during part (or all) of....

Master's degree position at Towson University with Daniel Caetano on macroevolutionary and phylogenetic comparative methods! Daniel is an awesome human and a great mentor, share with your students!
caetanods.weebly.com/join-the-lab...

Ivory poaching and the rapid evolution of tusklessness in African elephants Intensive ivory poaching during a period of civil conflict caused the rapid evolution of tusklessness in an African elephant population.

Intense ivory poaching has led to the evolution of tusklessness in some African elephant populations, which might reduce poaching, but also happens to be an X-chromosome–linked dominant trait that is lethal to males #EleFunFactFriday #TheMoreYouKnow 💫 🧪 🐘

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Body mass evolution as a driver of morphological and ecological diversity in terrestrial mammals - BMC Ecology and Evolution Body mass plays a fundamental role in the macroevolutionary dynamics of morphological, ecological, and phylogenetic diversification. Given biomechanical principles, large body masses in terrestrial ve...

Thrilled to share our new paper out in BMC, part of my postdoc at @cornellvet.bsky.social! 🐘🐀
We found that larger mammals evolve more diverse morphologies, while smaller ones can explore many locomotor strategies without much change to their forelimbs.
bmcecolevol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

More details coming soon, but mark your calendars ...

Breakout meeting for @systbiol.bsky.social‬ The Society of Systematic Biologists - will be Jan 9-11 in Baton Rouge!

Topic is 'The Importance of Natural History Collections'

@jembrown.bsky.social is primary host/organizer

ssb2026.github.io

We designed these materials for undergrad & grad students in conservation, evo bio, or mol ecol. They can help instructors bring ancient DNA & museum science into the classroom. I hope they inspire the next generation of conservation geneticists & museum researchers! 💡🧬🦴

3-A guided activity to help students frame their own research questions, blending genetics, conservation goals, and museum-based sampling.

doi.org/10.5531/cbc....

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2-A hands-on exercise using a real-world museomics study on the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) to spark student-led analysis and discussion.

doi.org/10.5531/cbc....

📚 The series includes:
1-A foundational synthesis introducing the concepts and methods needed to integrate historical and modern DNA into conservation projects.

doi.org/10.5531/cbc....

🔬 Why museum specimens?
Museum collections hold irreplaceable genetic data, including from endangered or extinct species. These materials offer a powerful window into the past and a practical toolkit for solving today's conservation challenges.

Our work is now published in Lessons in Conservation, and it's designed to inspire and empower students, educators, and researchers interested in ancient DNA, genomics, and conservation biology.

Together with a fantastic team, we’ve developed a set of open-access teaching resources on how museum collections and genomic tools (a.k.a. conservation museomics) can be applied to biodiversity conservation.

🚨 New teaching resources on museum genomics and conservation are now available! 🧬🦴🌿

I'm thrilled to share a project that has been a year in the making and is very close to my heart.

doi.org/10.5531/cbc....

Interested in trait evolution and/or connecting micro and macroevolution? The Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics Workshop has returned, now at Mountain Lake Biological Station, VA, June 9-13th! Deadline for application April 4th, 5pm EST. More info here: eqgw.github.io

3-y postdoc position in (meta)Genomics of Population Declines elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid.... If you have experience with low-coverage genomic data, care about biodiversity loss, want to understand host-microbiomes interactions, this post is for you! #museomics #ancientDNA #mammals

It´s already February, and that means we have a new #AaRCTikTalks. This month we'll focus on museomics, or the use of museum collections as sources of #aDNA data. Come and check out our amazing speakers on Friday 28th! Save the date!

We are hiring! Looking for new editorial board members -

📚 Associate Editors x c.10
📚 Handling Editor x 1
📚 Commissioning Editor x1

More information and application procedure: jevbio.net/call-for-edi...

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Hi! I don't know why it took me so long to leave xitter, but here I am :) It will take me a while to rebuild my network, so suggestions of who to follow or starter packs on evolutionary biology, micro-to-macro evolution, speciation, genomics... are welcome!

Nice hat, bro!