Fernando Blanco

Fernando Blanco

@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

Paleobiologist studying the evolution of ancient ecosystems/Severo Ochoa Fellow at Estación Biológica de Doñana/Tocateclas

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Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

🦏🦣🦌 LARGE paper alert!!! We tracked 60 million years of large herbivore evolution—over 3,000 fossil species—to uncover how ecosystems have changed and reorganized through time. What we found might help us understand the next big tipping point 🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comTwo major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution - Nature CommunicationsHere, the authors analyze a fossil dataset spanning 60 million years to investigate ecological stability. Their network analysis identifies prolonged stability interrupted by two major functional tran...

Fernando Blanco reposted

Iris Menéndez
@paleoiris.bsky.social

🧵 Why are there so many habitat-specialist squirrels? A new global study explores how habitat specialization has shaped squirrel evolution 👇🐿️🌍

Fernando Blanco reposted

Guillermo Navalón
@gnavalon.bsky.social

Beyond excited to announce that as of today I officially started a Ramón y Cajal 5-year senior fellowship (tenure-track) at University of Alcalá in Madrid, if you are interested in birds & vertebrate macroevolution & you like sun & good food, hit me up to explore postdoc or PhD opportunities!

Fernando Blanco reposted

Instituto de Investigación en Cambio Global
@iicg-urjc.bsky.social

👨‍🔬Also Joaquín Calatayud, #IICG researcher, is co-authors of the new article ‘Two major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution’, published in @natcomms.nature.com   👀You can read it here👇

doi.orgTwo major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution - Nature CommunicationsHere, the authors analyze a fossil dataset spanning 60 million years to investigate ecological stability. Their network analysis identifies prolonged stability interrupted by two major functional transitions in ungulate assemblages linked to tectonic and climatic events.
Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

🚨 I'm looking for #Postdoc opportunities starting this September! 🧑‍🔬🔍 I'm a highly motivated researcher with experience in R, network analysis, and multivariate statistics. My focus is on the evolution of ecosystems and biodiversity over deep time.

Fernando Blanco reposted

SEPaleontologia
@sepaleontologia.bsky.social

¡Nueva publicación de soci@s! 🗣️ Un nuevo estudio liderado por @fernandoblancos.bsky.social  explora cómo los cambios ambientales impactaron en los grandes #mamíferos y sus ecosistemas durante el Neógeno 🐘🌍 👉 Léelo aquí: https://sepaleontologia.es/?p=1423 #SEPsocios #Paleontología #CambioClimático

sepaleontologia.es60 millones de años en movimiento: cómo los cambios ambientales transformaron a los mayores herbívoros del planeta—y cómo sus ecosistemas resistieron - sepaleontologiaLeer más
Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

8/ But here’s the concern: We are now in a period of accelerated functional loss—driven by habitat destruction, climate change, and overexploitation. If this continues, we may be on the brink of a third global tipping point—one driven by humans.

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

6/ 🌀 Second tipping point (~10 Ma):
Driven by global aridification and the spread of C4 grasslands, this restructured herbivore faunas again. Forested browsers declined, grazers with tougher teeth rose. Functional diversity began a long decline that continues today.

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

7/ Despite major extinctions (including the Late Pleistocene megafaunal collapse), the basic functional scaffolding of herbivore faunas stayed stable for the last 4.5 million years. Ecosystems “changed players,” but kept the same formation—until now.

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

4/ 🌀First tipping point (~21 Ma):
Triggered by tectonics—Africa and Eurasia connected via the Gomphotherium land bridge.
This unleashed a wave of faunal migrations and global functional reorganization (Proboscideans out of Africa for the first time).

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

5/ This event also led to an acceleration in functional diversity increase. For the first time, all major herbivore orders—Proboscidea, Artiodactyla, and Perissodactyla—coexisted across continents, expanding ecological roles and reshaping ecosystems at a global scale.

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

2/ We used network analysis and trait data (like body size & tooth shape) from 3,000+ species to reconstruct the functional structure of global ungulate ecosystems over the past 60 million years. Rather than focusing on taxonomy, we asked: What ecological roles they played?

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

3/ Across time, we found long phases of functional stability, where ecosystems retained their structure despite species turnover. But we also found two major, irreversible tipping points in global herbivore faunas—moments of drastic ecological reassembly.

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

🦏🦣🦌 LARGE paper alert!!! We tracked 60 million years of large herbivore evolution—over 3,000 fossil species—to uncover how ecosystems have changed and reorganized through time. What we found might help us understand the next big tipping point 🧵👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comTwo major ecological shifts shaped 60 million years of ungulate faunal evolution - Nature CommunicationsHere, the authors analyze a fossil dataset spanning 60 million years to investigate ecological stability. Their network analysis identifies prolonged stability interrupted by two major functional tran...

Fernando Blanco reposted

Andrej Spiridonov
@andrejpaleo.bsky.social

Call for a postdoc position at Vilnius University. If you are interested in doing innovative macroevolutionary, macroecological, geobiological research in my group please write me: andrej.spiridonov@gf.vu.lt or PM. Duration of the project 2 years, budget up to 130K euro. 1/2 #Paleobio ⚒️ #Geology

Fernando Blanco reposted

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
@arctomet.bsky.social

Shupinski AB, Craffey M, Smith FA, Lyons SK. Different mammals, same structure: co-occurrence structure across the Plio-Pleistocene transition. Paleobiology. Published online 2025:1-10. doi:10.1017/pab.2024.53 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.orgDifferent mammals, same structure: co-occurrence structure across the Plio-Pleistocene transition | Paleobiology | Cambridge CoreDifferent mammals, same structure: co-occurrence structure across the Plio-Pleistocene transition

Fernando Blanco reposted

Ana Rosa Gómez Cano
@argomezcano.bsky.social

Hola! El 26 de marzo a las 15:00 en la Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas (UCM) proyectamos Off the Archeological Record. Después, abrimos debate en una mesa redonda con la arqueóloga y guionista Paloma Zarzuela, y las paleontólogas Mª Ángeles Álvarez Sierra y Dánae Sanz

Fernando Blanco reposted

Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

Hey everyone! Since I’m new to BlueSky, I thought I’d share a quick summary of some of the main projects I’ve worked on over the past three years. Buckle up for some paleontology! 🦴⚒️💻

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

Don't miss the chance to attend this incredible meeting in Zurich this July! Mark your calendar and join us for insightful discussions and networking opportunities 👇👇

CPEG & CPB Symposium 2025@cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social

🚨 REMINDER 🚨 Abstract submission for the CPEG Meeting & Conservation Paleobiology Symposium closes soon! 🗓️ Abstract deadline: Feb 1st, 2025 🕒 Early bird pricing ends: April 1st, 2025 Details on keynote speakers, deadlines, fees, workshops & more below! 👉 cpeg-cpb25.uzh.ch/en.html # CPEGCPB25

cpeg-cpb25.uzh.ch | Crossing the Paleontological-Ecological Gap & Conservation Paleobiology Symposium | Zurich, 2025 | UZH

Fernando Blanco reposted

Prof Alex Dunhill
@profalexdunhill.bsky.social

Hiya @thepalass.bsky.social meeting delegates, I'm Alex and I lead the Palaeo@Leeds Research Cluster. If you're an undergrad/postgrad looking for a PhD position for '25 start, please find me for a chat at the #PalAss24 meeting - see below for some of the projects on offer.

Palaeo@Leeds@palaeoleeds.bsky.social

Are you a postgraduate scientist looking for a PhD in palaeobiology, geochemistry or palaeoenvironments? Then look no further than these NERC YESDTN scholarship opportunities to come and work at Leeds with the Palaeo@Leeds cluster yes-dtn.ac.uk/research/the...

yes-dtn.ac.ukPalaeoenvironments and Palaentology Archives - Yorkshire Environmental Sciences • Doctoral Training Network

Fernando Blanco reposted

IceLab
@icelabumu.bsky.social

Network of the networks represented in academic starter packs! Interactive and searchable here: ketikagarg.github.io/blueSkyAcade... #academicsky

ketikagarg.github.ioInteractive Network Visualization with D3.js
Ketika Garg@ketikagarg.bsky.social

1st post on bsky - about bsky! I was fascinated with academic starter packs and made an interactive network to see academic communities and how they connect - a map of knowledge! link to an interactive & searchable network: ketikagarg.github.io/blueSkyAcade...

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

📢 Registrations and Abstracts are now open! Don't miss the chance to join us @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social (Twitter). Submit your abstract and register today! 👇👇

CPEG & CPB Symposium 2025@cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social

🚨 Registration & abstract submission are NOW OPEN for the CPEG Meeting & Conservation Paleobiology Symposium! 🚨 📅 Summer 2025 📍 University of Zurich, Switzerland Visit our website for keynote speakers, deadlines, fees, workshops & more: cpeg-cpb25.uzh.ch/en.html #CPEGCPB25

cpeg-cpb25.uzh.ch | Crossing the Paleontological-Ecological Gap & Conservation Paleobiology Symposium | Zurich, 2025 | UZH

Fernando Blanco reposted

Serjoscha Evers
@sirjoscha.bsky.social

Second paper in Ecology & Evolution out in two consecutive days! 🐢🤩🐢 "Functional and character disparity are decoupled in turtle mandibles", w team fr MfN Berlin (incl. @plannapus.bsky.social) I guess the German chancellor would call this a "Doppel-Wumms" 😜 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.comFunctional and Character Disparity Are Decoupled in Turtle MandiblesHere, we compare functional disparity measured by biomechanical proxies and character disparity measured by discrete morphological characters in turtle jaws. Exploration of mandibular patterns reveal...
Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

I'm looking for a #Postdoc position ! 🧑‍🔬🔍 I'm a highly motivated researcher with experience in R programming, network analysis, and multivariate statistics. My focus is on the evolution of ecosystems and biodiversity over deep time. Any retweets or shares are greatly appreciated! 🙏

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