Monophyletic species

Probably the most common line one can read in phylogenetic papers scratching at the surface of evolution is "species xxx is not monophyletic" or "supports species yyy as monophyletic". While appearing to be trivial, clade = monophylum, such statements are often naive, too often incomprehensive or, occasionally, just wrong. A clarification.

A fully resolved, and perfectly misleading, species tree

The ultimate promise of phylogenomics is to get a fully resolved species tree: a tree, where the individuals finely sort per species, and where all branches, especially the deepest ones, have high or, better, unambiguous support. A look behind such a tree, Jiang et al.'s (2021) Tree of Beeches.

Die Wahl der Qual

In meinem Heimatland steht mal wieder das 4-jährliche Abnicken der Legislative an: die Bundestagswahl 2021. Wieder mal Zeit, den Wahl-O-Mat der bpb zu visualisieren, und in allgemeineren Kontext zu stellen.

Wahl der (H)Ampelmännchen

Diesen Sonntag wird in meinen beiden Heimatländern gewählt: Rheinland-Pfalz (meinem Geburtsland) und Baden-Württemberg (meinem Zweitland, bevor die DFG mich ins schwedische Exil schickte). Zeit die Wahl-O-Maten der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung zu vernetzen.

Where have all the Mondays gone

Who likes Mondays? Probably no-one, really. Thus, inspired by a tweet of a fellow Monday-victim and two great classics, a songtext.