Evolutionary biologist interested in how the genome works and which changes lead to phenotypes. Computational Scientist at Colossal Biosciences 🦤https://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwjx6fbac2qOrange cat mystery solved! Orange cats lack ~5,100 bases of DNA that normally regulate the gene ARHGAP36. The gene is still there, but switched on when it should be off. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(25)00391-4 #2026MMM #RIP26 Mar 2026 02:16 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwjx6fbac2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwj5m6nic2yBengal cats (house cats that are ~4% Asian leopard cat) look wild, but domestic cat controls the coat color. Leopard cat color genes are suppressed. Genome version of home habitat advantage https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(24)00304-X #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 02:02 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwj5m6nic2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwiy2m4o22bLions & tigers & bears? Genomic work from Sun et al. (2025) found the Japanese Archipelago housed lions, not tigers, during the Late Pleistocene. Originally, all big 🐱 fossil remains were attributed to tigers. Oh my! https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2523901123 #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 01:59 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwiy2m4o22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwiob72y22wAcross 27 dromedary camel-types, DNA analysis showed that names based on coat color often didn’t match real genetic boundaries. The strongest pattern was geography: camel-types cluster broadly by origin (Asia vs. Africa). #2026MMM #RIP https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esaa01626 Mar 2026 01:53 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwiob72y22whttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwhrxcqys2kAurochs used to live in Northern and Southern Europe and carried many mitochondrial genome lineages. Lari et al found that Southern Italy aurochs have similar lineages as modern cattle unlike northern Europe Aurochs, suggesting a role in domestication for Italy https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-11-32 #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 01:38 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwhrxcqys2khttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwho6bpis2vTo protect their kidneys during extreme dehydration, camels use a unique metabolic strategy. Rather than importing osmolytes like most mammals, they increase glucose uptake in renal cells, fueling osmolyte production to balance osmotic stress. #2026MMM https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms618826 Mar 2026 01:36 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwho6bpis2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwhfuwgsc2x#RIP Genome-wide heterozygosity of the ossifrage: 0.0011 sites/bp, roughly half the avian average. Zou et al. 2021 traced this genetic impoverishment to the Last Glacial Maximum (~20 kya), suggesting vultures were never genetically diverse to begin with. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msab130 #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 01:31 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwhfuwgsc2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwglupwzc2aGila monsters get viruses, like other species. 33 microvirus genomes were discovered from studying fecal samples from 14 Gila monsters. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7975881/ #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 01:16 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwglupwzc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwgiasxjc2qThe ossifrage hides Ice Age history in its mtDNA! Godoy et al. used museum specimens of now-extinct populations to reveal 2 lineages: one from W. Europe, one from Africa & C. Asia, shaped by separate glacial refugia. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2003.02075.x #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 01:14 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwgiasxjc2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwgaqsut22vAsian elephant (🐘) lost tonight but it often wins against cancer! The Asian 🐘 genome + those of other mammals that are also less prone to cancer have a mutation in the ALDH6A1 gene that differs from other mammals and may help explain how they suppress cancer #2026MMM #RIP doi.org/10.1111/acel.1391726 Mar 2026 01:10 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwgaqsut22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwfkgepxc2vHippos were present in central Europe until around 31,000 years ago at the same time as mammoths and woolly rhinos. This was likely a small and isolated population in the Upper Rhine Plain. #2026MMM https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2025.09.03526 Mar 2026 00:58 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwfkgepxc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwfhj26mk2z60% of the 🌏's wild Asian elephants (🐘) reside in India. Whole genome data from 34 Asian 🐘 reveal patterns of genetic divergence, diversity, inbreeding, + costly mutations that suggest 🐘 serially founded new populations as they moved north ➡️ south in India. #2026MMM doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2024.08.06226 Mar 2026 00:56 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwfhj26mk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwf2zgtck2m#RIP Grey fox. Sarcoptic mange devastates wolves, coyotes & red foxes. In wolves, immunity & skin barrier genes explain who survives. Grey foxes are remarkably mange-resistant. With the new grey fox reference genome, we have the tools to discover why! #2026MMM https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7896714/26 Mar 2026 00:49 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwf2zgtck2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwenl2x4c2mGrey foxes colonized California's Channel Islands ~13,000 years ago and evolved into an entirely new species, the island fox! DNA shows all island foxes trace back to a now-extinct mainland grey fox population replaced by expanding grey foxes. #2026MMM https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/13/10/185926 Mar 2026 00:42 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwenl2x4c2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwek2els22wHekkala et al. (2011) used DNA to id cryptic diversity finding that both C. niloticus & C. suchas historically inhabited the Nile River! DNA of 8 croc mummies from Thebes & Samoun showed all were C. suchas, consistent w/priests' preference for the smaller croc! https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-294X.2011.05245.x #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 00:40 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwek2els22whttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwec5tkzc2cEuropean sea lampreys look well-mixed across the Atlantic, but seascape genomics tells a finer story. Baltazar-Soares et al. found local adaptation to ocean oxygen & river runoff, plus hints of selection driven by prey fish abundance. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13561 #2026MMM #RIP26 Mar 2026 00:35 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwec5tkzc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwdtbkrws2fEvolution invented adaptive immunity TWICE. Lampreys have no antibodies, yet Pancer et al. showed they build 10¹⁴+ unique immune receptors using leucine-rich repeats, a completely different molecular toolkit from our own. Convergent evolution! https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02740 #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 00:27 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwdtbkrws2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwdq4cdm22hHoney badger is also susceptible to viruses - one honey badger attacked three people. Using molecular analyses, it was later confirmed that the honey badger was infected with rabies that it contracted from a dog https://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/8/4/186 #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 00:25 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwdq4cdm22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwdjboobk22Using coalescent demographic reconstructions, Zhou et al found that the extinct Baiji had undergone a bottleneck at the beginning of the Holocene but populations were recovering in the last 10,000 years until recent extinction from human activities https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms3708 #2026MMM #RIP26 Mar 2026 00:21 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwdjboobk22https://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwdcbf4n22cTrue river dolphins across the world's rivers are not all related. The extinct Baiji from East Asia was more closely related to the South American river dolphins in the genus Inia than to the Ganges river dolphin or Susu from South Asia https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0083623 #2026MMM26 Mar 2026 00:17 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwdcbf4n22chttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwda7zou222Scientists sequenced the mitochondrial genome of the extinct Steller’s Sea Cow from a museum bone, reconstructing its evolutionary history centuries after it went extinct. Data show it was most closely related to the dugong, found across the Indo-Pacific Ocean. #2026MMM https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygeno.2018.10.01226 Mar 2026 00:16 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwda7zou222https://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwd3kklbs2iIndian rhino genomes contain a fragment called pSS(R)2 composed of repetitive units. It is unique to this species and could be used to identify horns, hooves, and other tissues to prevent poaching. #2026MMM #RIP https://doi.org/10.1016/s0378-1119(99)00015-326 Mar 2026 00:14 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwd3kklbs2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwco65cyk2eA noninvasive census of an animal population is possible by analyzing dung samples. Researchers extracted DNA from rhino droppings in Gorumara National Park. They identified 43 unique rhinos and a 3.8:1 male to female ratio in this region #2026MMM https://doi.org/10.1017/S003060531400116126 Mar 2026 00:06 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwco65cyk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwcl6s7as2aDespite their extremely large body size, humpback whales are well-known for their agility. Signatures of positive natural selection surrounding some genes related to reflexes and movement might hold clues to this awesome agility! #2026MMM doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2024.14882226 Mar 2026 00:04 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwcl6s7as2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhwbdstmw22aTonight our final 16 species battle. Let's see whose genome wrote the better survival story. 🧬🎖️ I'll be posting genetics & evolution facts from Genetics TeaMMM #2026MMM https://media.tenor.com/LbCQIqbnescAAAAC/jedielephant-elephant.gif?hh=208&ww=30825 Mar 2026 23:42 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhwbdstmw22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhri7ab6b22cWas the Sea Mink its own species or a variant of the American Mink? DNA from the American mink shows that it is not a very genetically diverse species, making less likely that cryptic variation exists within the living representatives https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag014 #2026MMM #RIP24 Mar 2026 02:02 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhri7ab6b22chttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhrhk6izhc2cAmerican mink have a history of being difficult to place in the Mustelid tree of life. Mink in the genus Neogale, including the extinct sea mink, used to be part of the weasels in the genus Mustela but DNA found the two branches to be distant cousins https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.036 #2026MMM24 Mar 2026 01:50 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhrhk6izhc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhrhhuyuvk2bGenetic data show that the Camelus dromedarius, C. ferus, and C. bactrianus lost ~70% of their populations in the last glacial period. Domestication hit C. dromedarius again around 4-5 kya. The Wild Dromedary survived the Ice Age… then humans took over. #2026MMM https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-016-1032-724 Mar 2026 01:49 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhrhhuyuvk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhrhbgova22rInterestingly, the molar teeth of Grasshopper Mice have a much larger "cusped surface" than some of their relatives, meaning their molars have more pointy parts. Why? To crunch insect & other fleshy parts, of course! But alas, too little too late #RIP #2026MMM https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyac09324 Mar 2026 01:45 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhrhbgova22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/lucasrocm.bsky.social/post/3mhrgoe4nls26But which other mice are the amazing semi-carnivorous Grasshopper Mice (Onychomys) related to? Seems that they diverged ~6 mya from the group that includes the North American Deermouse (Peromyscus) -- do you think they still have family reunions? #2026MMM https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyac09324 Mar 2026 01:34 +0000at://did:plc:5fwjo7echcydabohftcvabjh/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhrgoe4nls26