Juan L Cantalapiedra

Juan L Cantalapiedra

@singerstone.bsky.social

Evolutionary paleobiologist interested in Cenozoic large terrestrial mammals 🐘🦒🦏 | tenured scientist at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales MNCN-CSIC | PI of the Cantalapiedra Lab

271 followers218 following25 posts

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

SESBE
@sesbe-org.bsky.social

Marta Riutort se jubila después de una larga trayectoria en la UB. Pionera en la aplicación de técnicas moleculares al estudio de filogenias de platelmintos, su trabajo ha contribuido de forma decisiva a reconstruir su historia evolutiva, especialmente de los triclados o planarias

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Jens-Christian Svenning
@jcsvenning.bsky.social

🌍In a new @econovoau.bsky.social paper in Methods in Ecology & Evolution, led by @mattkerr.bsky.social, we present a process-based framework linking compositional, functional, abiotic & social dimensions of novel ecosystem trajectories♨️🌿 besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.comThe making of novel ecosystems: A process‐based framework for measurement, analysis and applicationEcological novelty is emerging rapidly due to global change drivers such as climate shifts, species introductions, defaunation, and land-use transformation. These changes challenge how we assess, ...

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Matt Kerr
@mattkerr.bsky.social

Our new paper presents a framework for analysing the processes that generate novel ecosystems, discussing different conceptual and practical approaches across ecological disciplines. You can read it, open access, in @methodsinecoevol.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.comThe making of novel ecosystems: A process‐based framework for measurement, analysis and applicationEcological novelty is emerging rapidly due to global change drivers such as climate shifts, species introductions, defaunation, and land-use transformation. These changes challenge how we assess, ...

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Dr. Anastasia Nikulina
@nikulinaav.bsky.social

🔥Before farming, hunter-gatherers already transformed nearly half of Europe’s #landscapes via burning and hunting! Our new study using an #AI approach shows #Neanderthals began reshaping ecosystems; later foragers continued this process 👉 journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... #Paleoecology #Anthropocene

journals.plos.orgOn the ecological impact of prehistoric hunter-gatherers in Europe: Early Holocene (Mesolithic) and Last Interglacial (Neanderthal) foragers comparedRecent studies have highlighted evidence of human impact on landscapes dating back to the Late Pleistocene–long before the advent of agriculture. Quantifying the extent of vegetation transformations b...

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Iris Menéndez
@paleoiris.bsky.social

Replying to @paleoiris.bsky.social

1️⃣ Not all squirrels are generalists. Many species are biome specialists, restricted to a single habitat (rainforest, steppe, etc.)

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Fernando Blanco
@fernandoblancos.bsky.social

Replying to @fernandoblancos.bsky.social

1/ Large herbivores (like ancient elephants, rhinos, deer) aren’t just big plant-eaters—they’re ecosystem engineers. They shape landscapes, disperse seeds, and influence soil and fire dynamics. But how did they evolve as climates and continents shifted? 📸 @singerstone.bsky.social

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Sergi Valverde
@svalver.bsky.social

Douglas et al. shows that up to 99% of evolutionary change occur at branching points across genes, morphology, and language. A major step for punctuated evolution, aligning with our goal of a unified framework. @nilese.bsky.social @andrejpaleo.bsky.social #EvoBio #CultEvo doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

doi.orgEvolution is coupled with branching across many granularities of life | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological SciencesAcross many scales of life, the rate of evolutionary change is often accelerated at the time when one lineage splits into two. The emergence of novel protein function can be facilitated by gene duplication (neofunctionalization); rapid morphological ...
Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

Thrilled to see our work on sloth evolution finally published @science.org! Huge thanks to Alberto Boscaini and Daniel Casali for bringing me on board for such a fascinating project! 🦥 #evolution #paleontology #paleobiology

Science Magazine@science.org

Ancient sloths ranged in size from tiny climbers to ground-dwelling giants. Now, researchers report in Science that this body size diversity was largely shaped by sloths’ habitats, and that these animals’ precipitous decline was likely a result of increasing human pressures. scim.ag/43dd0t7

scim.agThe emergence and demise of giant slothsThe emergence of multi-tonne herbivores is a recurrent aspect of the Cenozoic mammalian radiation. Several of these giants have vanished within the past 130,000 years, but the timing and macroevolutio...
Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

Just purchased a compilation of Darwin’s writings that did not make it into The Origin. His initial plan was to publish a larger book called Natural Selection. Then he rushed to deliver a shorter version (his most famous book). Some suggest it contains hints of multilevel selection…

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Sergi Valverde
@svalver.bsky.social

Excellent article in the Spanish newspaper @elpais about Elisabeth Vrba's legacy. @nilese.bsky.social @andrejpaleo.bsky.social @blaividiella.bsky.social

Juan L Cantalapiedra@singerstone.bsky.social

Hoy @argomezcano.bsky.social @hdezfdez.bsky.social y yo publicamos en @elpais.com sobre Elisabeth Vrba, la paleobióloga revolucionaria, que falleció el pasado mes de febrero #paleontología #evolución elpais.com/ciencia/2025...

elpais.comElisabeth Vrba, la mosquetera que revolucionó la paleobiologíaEn febrero falleció la paleobióloga Elisabeth Vrba, que logró integrar la teoría evolutiva, el neodarwinismo, con las nuevas evidencias derivadas del estudio del registro fósil

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Ana Rosa Gómez Cano
@argomezcano.bsky.social

📢 Hoy en El País se publica un artículo en honor a Elisabeth Vrba, una de las científicas que más han inspirado mi carrera. He tenido el privilegio de participar en su creación junto a @singerstone.bsky.social y @hdezfdez.bsky.social 👇🔗 elpais.com/ciencia/2025...

elpais.comElisabeth Vrba, la mosquetera que revolucionó la paleobiologíaEn febrero falleció la paleobióloga Elisabeth Vrba, que logró integrar la teoría evolutiva, el neodarwinismo, con las nuevas evidencias derivadas del estudio del registro fósil
Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

Hoy @argomezcano.bsky.social @hdezfdez.bsky.social y yo publicamos en @elpais.com sobre Elisabeth Vrba, la paleobióloga revolucionaria, que falleció el pasado mes de febrero #paleontología #evolución elpais.com/ciencia/2025...

elpais.comElisabeth Vrba, la mosquetera que revolucionó la paleobiologíaEn febrero falleció la paleobióloga Elisabeth Vrba, que logró integrar la teoría evolutiva, el neodarwinismo, con las nuevas evidencias derivadas del estudio del registro fósil

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

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

🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨 Extended deadlines and changes to keynote speakers! 🗓️ Abstract deadline EXTENDED: Feb 15th, 2025 🕒 Early bird pricing ends: April 1st, 2025 4th circular with full details below! 👉https://cpeg-cpb25.uzh.ch/en.html # CPEGCPB25

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Erin Reed
@erininthemorning.com

Ever wonder what snow in the swamp would look like? This is 5 miles into the Louisiana swamps in the Atchafalaya basin... it's unreal... having lived down there for the first 28 years of my life, we never saw anything like this. Smashed records. Curtesy of Garrett Roberts.

View full thread
View full thread
Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

Yet another 2023 paper in @science.org. Here we used a taxon-free approach to study the relative abundance and biomass of African herbivores 🌍🦓. We identified when the decline of megaherbivores started (3–4 Ma) and how it reshaped ecosystems. Fascinating! www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1...

science.orgPlio-Pleistocene African megaherbivore losses associated with community biomass restructuringFossil tooth data show decreases in the abundance and biomass of the largest mammals over the past 4 million years.
Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

In 2024, I collaborated with a Brazilian team to build the longest-ever temporal series of mammal trophic networks (20 million years!). We found that Iberian mammal food webs have simplified over time. A warning sign? 🕸️🐾 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

onlinelibrary.wiley.comThe reorganization of predator–prey networks over 20 million years explains extinction patterns of mammalian carnivoresWe used the Iberian fossil records to reconstruct mammalian food webs throughout millions of years. We found that trophic networks became sparser and less connected towards the present and that a hig....
View full thread
View full thread
Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

Also in 2021, I led a study on proboscidean macroevolution 🐘—we focused on species diversity and functional traits, highlighting the timing of declines in different lineages. Turns out, the story of elephants and their cousins is more complex than it looks! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comThe rise and fall of proboscidean ecological diversity - Nature Ecology & EvolutionThe authors use model-based approaches to examine the entire fossil history of proboscideans, from their dispersal outside of Afro-Arabia in the Oligocene to late Miocene extirpations and Quaternary c...
Juan L Cantalapiedra
@singerstone.bsky.social

In 2022, I joined @paleobicha.bsky.social on a project about butterfly speciation 🦋. We discovered that species confined to specific biomes evolve faster. Phylogenetic analyses revealed how biome restriction drives diversification. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

onlinelibrary.wiley.comA phylogenetic study to assess the link between biome specialization and diversification in swallowtail butterfliesAfter the resource-use hypothesis, habitat fragmentation caused by climatic changes would affect particularly species inhabiting only one biome, which might suffer more both speciation and extinction...

Juan L Cantalapiedra reposted

Dr. Elizabeth Santos
@lizmillermacroevo.bsky.social

Co-authored with @sternarchella.bsky.social, Luke Tornabene, Dahiana Arcila, Ricardo Betancur-R, Pam Hart, @asantaquiteria.bsky.social, and an outstanding @riceuniversity.bsky.social undergraduate co-leader Rose Faucher #TeamFish #deepsea #marinebiology #evolution @burkemuseum.bsky.social

Dr. Elizabeth Santos@lizmillermacroevo.bsky.social

Our big collaboration on anglerfish diversity is out today in @natureecoevo.bsky.social. THREAD PART 1 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comReduced evolutionary constraint accompanies ongoing radiation in deep-sea anglerfishes - Nature Ecology & EvolutionBased on phylogenomic and geometric morphometric analyses of 132 anglerfish species, the authors infer a Cretaceous origin of the clade and show that bathypelagic anglerfish are undergoing rapid pheno...