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The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
A side-by-side editorial comparison of fossilsim and spatstat.model — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
A fossil-record simulator that quietly grew a trait-evolution engine.
FossilSim is a mature R package for simulating fossil records on phylogenetic trees, and its release cadence reflects that: long gaps punctuated by a single capability addition. The last four releases span three years, with the most recent being a compatibility sync to its companion Shiny front-end rather than new functionality. The core simulation surface has been stable since 2022.
spatstat's inference layer builds out determinantal and cluster process fitting
spatstat.model fits point process models and provides the diagnostics that go with them. The recent window is dominated by determinantal point process work — a variance-covariance matrix and more diagnostics in 3.7-2, additional `intensity` and `repul` methods in 3.7-1, and ROC curves for determinantal models in 3.5-0. Cluster and Cox process inference has advanced in parallel, with Waagepetersen's composite likelihood arriving in 3.6-1.
FossilSim is a mature R package for simulating fossil records on phylogenetic trees, and its release cadence reflects that: long gaps punctuated by a single capability addition. The last four releases span three years, with the most recent being a compatibility sync to its companion Shiny front-end rather than new functionality. The core simulation surface has been stable since 2022.
The arc runs from sampling mechanics toward simulating what the organisms actually were. Version 2.2.0 taught the package to handle occurrence data for occurrence birth-death models; 2.3.0 then added trait simulation under Mk, BM and OU, which is a different kind of output than fossil ages. Since then the work has been maintenance and keeping the FossilSimShiny GUI in step, suggesting the authors consider the current model set feature-complete.
The pairing of the 2.3.3 release with a FossilSimShiny version bump points to the GUI, not the library, as where the next visible work lands. The entries do not show enough activity to predict a specific new model family.
spatstat.model fits point process models and provides the diagnostics that go with them. The recent window is dominated by determinantal point process work — a variance-covariance matrix and more diagnostics in 3.7-2, additional `intensity` and `repul` methods in 3.7-1, and ROC curves for determinantal models in 3.5-0. Cluster and Cox process inference has advanced in parallel, with Waagepetersen's composite likelihood arriving in 3.6-1.
The pattern is that model classes enter the package as fitting machinery first and only later gain the apparatus that makes them usable in practice — standard errors, diagnostics, residuals, model checking. Determinantal processes are visibly midway through that progression, reaching variance-covariance estimation only in the most recent release. Around this, the package has been broadening where models can be fitted at all: replicated point patterns on linear networks in 3.5-0, extended spatial logistic regression, and conversion of recursively partitioned models to tessellations.
Expect determinantal model support to keep filling out along the same path other model classes took, since variance estimation has only just arrived and partial residuals already exist for the cluster and Cox families. The entries do not signal a move into three dimensions here, unlike the geometry and simulation packages.
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either fossilsim or spatstat.model.
The Manhattan-plot package for GWAS results, finished and dormant since 2017.
The R package for CODATA constants rebuilt its symbol table on NIST's naming so future updates stop being hand work.
The R client for AusTraits spends its releases chasing the dataset it reads.
A ggplot2 layer for seasonal adjustment output, filling in one plot type at a time.
Reference-based multiple imputation tables, shipping only what CRAN checks demand.
An MMRM tabulation package that has published nothing since its 2024 CRAN releases.
See all fossilsim alternatives → · See all spatstat.model alternatives →
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
Both compete on the same themes — r-package — within Analytics. spatstat.model is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. spatstat.model is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 2.5 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
Top fossilsim alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "fossilsim alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fossilsim-r for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
Top spatstat.model alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "spatstat.model alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/spatstat-model for the full list with editorial commentary on each.