Dr. Tyler A. Elliott

Scientists estimate that 10 billion tons of fish & half of the ocean’s zooplankton biomass live in the midwater zone (between 100 & 1000 m). Capturing & transporting carbon to the deep, sustaining fisheries, & supporting endangered wildlife are just some of the ecosystem services happening here.

Upcoming seminar in the @eseb.bsky.social Internal Conflicts and Organismal Adaptation Special Topics Network

Really looking forward to Tuesday next week, March 17, when we have @mobilepurin.bsky.social and @manishamuna.bsky.social presenting.

Join us!

Zoom links etc in the post below.

TEgenomeSimulator: A Flexible Framework for Simulating Genomes with Configurable Transposable Element Landscapes https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.09.710711v1

Modularity, ecology, and theoretical evolution of the ribozyme body plan https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.07.710320v1

2 'Lazarus' animals thought to be extinct for over 7,000 years found alive in New Guinea The pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider, until now known only through fossils, have been rediscovered.

Two marsupials previously believed to be extinct found in New Guinea:

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Transposable elements contribute substantially to naturally occurring genetic lethality in Drosophila melanogaster
#Drosophila

In Davos, PM Carney told the world that Canada will be principled in our commitment to upholding international law. He now admits the war on Iran is illegal — and he's backing it anyway. That's not principled leadership. It's a betrayal of everything he promised.

ICYMI: in our new paper, we contend there is "no current consensus on a definition of sex that is free of assumptions and limitations... and most importantly,...no biological definition of sex should be used to dictate human rights" #evolsky #LGBTQSTEM #ecology #evolution #biologicalsex

In 1983, Ruth Schwartz Cowan published a book called More Work for Mother where she argued that modern household tech (washing machines/vacuums) didn't reduce women's housework time, it just raised standards of domesticity. Household work is never shortened by tech & you can extrapolate that out.

New on Dryad: "Is the human chin a spandrel? Insights from an evolutionary analysis of ape craniomandibular form" 🧪

🔍 Dataset: bit.ly/46VL7Hs

📖 Article in @plosone.org: bit.ly/4lkHsZz

#biology #humanevolution #evolutionarybiology #opendata #research #researchintegrity

Breath to genome: Whole genome sequencing of large whales from blow sampling https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.08.710374v1

Diversification rate shifts are everywhere. Analyses of phylogenies covering >300k species reveal widespread changes in speciation dynamics across the Tree of Life.
@bjorntko.bsky.social @hoehna.bsky.social @acapomorphic.bsky.social ‬ academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Fungal symbioses: A multiplicity of fungi in the lichen union Increasing evidence suggests that lichens are not just a partnership between one fungus and one alga or cyanobacterium but may contain multiple intera…

Thrilled to see this published! 😄
Our dispatch examines potential additional fungal symbionts in lichen partnerships and the key challenges in unraveling their biology.

Thanks for involving me in this @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social

@currentbiology.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A ribozyme mass extinction at the RNA-cellular boundary and its potential imprint on the genetic code https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.05.709948v1

A retroelement-derived mammalian ARC protein exhibits selective RNA recognition and nucleic acid chaperone functions - PubMed Activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (ARC) is an RNA-binding protein that also serves as a central hub for neuronal protein-protein interactions. It is essential for intercellular signaling and contributes to synaptic plasticity. ARC includes Gag-like sequences of Ty3/Gypsy retrotransp …

#TEsky A retroelement-derived mammalian ARC protein exhibits selective RNA recognition and nucleic acid chaperone functions pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41797537/

The DELAYED ABAXIAL TRICHOMES Helitron has dual functions in vegetative and pollen development in Arabidopsis thaliana - PubMed Transposons drive genetic diversity and evolution by altering the genomic landscape over time. Here, we describe <i>D</i><i>ELAYED</i> <i>AB</i><i>AXIAL TRICHOMES</i> (<i>DAB</i>), a Helitron/RC transposable element in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> that has a role in vegetative phase change and gameto …

#TEsky The DELAYED ABAXIAL TRICHOMES Helitron has dual functions in vegetative and pollen development in Arabidopsis thaliana pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41785314/

A genomic compendium of hundreds of teleost fishes reveals their evolutionary landscape - PubMed The remarkable morphological diversity and species abundance of teleost fishes offer a valuable resource for understanding vertebrate evolution. In phase I of the Fish10K project, genomes of 110 teleost species were sequenced and assembled, filling gaps in 3 previously unrepresented orders, and inte …

#TEsky A genomic compendium of hundreds of teleost fishes reveals their evolutionary landscape pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41789145/

📚 We revisit a prominent claim that economic inequality legitimizes itself by paradoxically strengthening meritocratic beliefs.

📉 Challenging the "paradox of inequality," our evidence shows that rising inequality within countries over time erodes citizens’ belief in meritocracy.

New Article: "An NLR–transposase fusion gene from rye provides broadly effective resistance to stripe rust in wheat" rdcu.be/e7z39

Broad-spectrum stripe rust resistance gene Yr83 coned from rye; encodes a unique NLR–transposase fusion protein. #PlantScience

The Canadian government right now is hellbent on more fossil fuel exploitation, it's just so frustrating to see

The horror Israel/US has unleashed on Iran is going to unfold over time, over generations x.com/arianajasmin...

🧬🔎 Deep dive into plant #TransposableElements

❓ If you identify all autonomous #TEs, you will automatically also have all non-coding derivates, right? Right?

Well, no! Not even close. Check out here, how much you are missing:

📚 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

#TEsky

I’m happy to announce that our preprint is out! 🧬🐭

We show that the mouse HSR selfish DNA kills embryos that do not inherit it through a toxin–antidote system, thereby increasing its transmission to the next generation. ⚡

Feedback is welcome!

@takashiakeralab.bsky.social

#SelfishDNA #meiosis4eva

We have published a preprint entitled “Island species as models for small population biology and conservation.” 🏝️🩵🌍

1/3

ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

#TEsky a short paper from @mbonar.bsky.social , myself and others on our reannotation of TEs in the Octopus vulgaris genome. More work to come using genome ecology to analyze TEs in this species bsky.app/profile/bior...

Many heat-stressed tropical insects are reaching their limits Vast study in Peru and Kenya confirms limited defenses against rising temperatures, redoubling climate concerns

🧪🌎🔬🌡️Many heat-stressed tropical insects are reaching their limits www.science.org/content/arti...

Control of retrotransposon-driven activation of the interferon response by the double-stranded RNA binding protein DGCR8 Abstract. The type I interferon (IFN) response is the main innate immune pathway against viruses in mammals. This pathway must be tightly regulated to prev

I'm so happy to share our latest paper! Now out in @narjournal.bsky.social 🥳

Did you know that transposable elements embedded in mRNAs can form dsRNA and activate innate immunity? 🧬🦠 Have a look! academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

#TEsky #RNAsky #RNAbiology #immunity #NAR

Artificial competition shows the replicative superiority of KP elements over complete P elements in Drosophila melanogaster and D. simulans
#Drosophila

RepeatOBserver: Tandem Repeat Visualisation and Putative Centromere Detection see also the Perspective by Amanda M. Larracuente and John S. Sproul

#TEsky Missed this last year but I've been playing with it recently: RepeatOBserver: Tandem Repeat Visualisation and Putative Centromere Detection doi.org/10.1111/1755...