Joseph N. Keating

Independent origins of spicules reconcile palaeontological and molecular evidence of the evolutionary history of sponges

The paper reconciles molecular and fossil evidence by showing sponges emerged in the early Ediacaran without spicules, which evolved independently multiple times later.

Estimating ancestral states of complex characters: a case study on the evolution of feathers

This study compares ancestral state estimation methods for feather evolution, finding that tree time scaling, outgroup selection, and model choice significantly affect results.

Hagfish genome illuminates vertebrate whole genome duplications and their evolutionary consequences

Chromosome-scale inshore hagfish genome places 1R before the cyclostome-gnathostome split and 2R in the gnathostome stem, and reveals two cyclostome-specific duplications (CR1, CR2).