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Mike Benard

@benardmf.bsky.social
388 followers 179 following 147 posts

Biologist, ecologist, herpetologist. Views expressed here are my personal opinions. Professor & Department Chair at CWRU sites.google.com/a/case.edu/benard-…

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Reposted by Mike Benard
The One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I’ve been working around California Tiger Salamanders for 2 decades now, but this year I bit the bullet and applied for my federal permit. Ya Girl now has her 10a1A permit for CTS! To honor that, a thread of one of the cutest salamanders around, also known as every-CTS-pic-currently-on-my-phone
An almost-fully-metamorphed California tiger salamander from Madera county
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Kevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Sternberg Museum update: nearly $150K raised so far! Keep it coming foundation.fhsu.edu/save-sternbe... #SaveSternberg
Stylized stratigraphic column tracking the fundraising for the Sternberg Museum of Natural History, currently at $146,777 out of $855,000
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Andrew Deck @andrewdeck.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
ChatGPT is adding the signatures of real New Yorker cartoonists to its AI-generated images. So far, I've found the signatures of more than 15 contributors. "It’s slop, and unlike the other slop that I’ve encountered, this is slop that’s pretending to be me." www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/chat...
Left: A cartoon generated by ChatGPT and signed with Emily Flake’s signature that was posted to a Reddit forum in June. Right: A real Emily Flake cartoon published in The New Yorker on August 20, 2026 and licensed via The Cartoon Bank.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Love the tiger beetles- I have found them very hard to photograph most of the time because they are so active
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Nature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Purple Tiger Beetles at my worksite this past Friday. Lots of variety of markings and colors in that species. 
A long legged beetle with shiny dark purple color and slight ivory markings.An emerald green beetle with long legs and slight ivory markings.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
A life changing experience!
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I like the web of connected cultural references
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FrontRangeWildflowers @frwildflowers.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pseudevernia intensa lichen on lodgepole pine today was pretty intense as its name says 🌿
Pale green foliose lichen with blacks patches on lodgepole pine trunk above Nederland
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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
SCOOP: Top researchers at Columbia, Stanford, and others thought they were elected to elite scientific societies alongside Nobel laureates. The catch? The organizations are a sham. I spent the last month diving deep into a massive academic scam spanning continents, for @nature.com
nature.com
Exclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchers
A Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices.
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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My thoughts today are with the >19 million specimens held by the Academy of Natural Sciences and the dedicated staff who care for them. This ANSP holotype specimen is special to me, as I named it for my advisor, John Lundberg, a former ANSP Curator and authority on all catfishes, living, and fossil.
Composite image of the holotype specimen of Pseudobunocephalus lundbergi housed at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.
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Dr. Rich B @morphometrich.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The @sternbergpaleo.bsky.social in Hays is currently threatened with closure by Fort Hays State Univ. In addition to its massive impact for #paleontology research, @sternbergcamps.bsky.social open paleontology to youth all over the country. Consider signing to show your support & oppose its closure
change.org
Sign the Petition
Save the Sternberg Museum of Natural History from Closure
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 23/09/2026
A sea turtle has made its nest on the West Coast for the first time on record, laying eggs on a Southern California beach. The turtles are usually found in tropical waters, but a warming ocean by California has led to more unusual animal sightings.
washingtonpost.com
Sea turtle nests in historic first on Southern California coast
The olive ridley sighting was the first “natural nesting” on record for any sea turtle species on the West Coast, officials said.
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 23/09/2026
The ecologist couldn’t find a record of the 2020 paper, purportedly published in Ambio by “Knijn et al.” She decided to check the other references. She told Retraction Watch she found at least eight that didn’t exist.
retractionwatch.com
Wiley investigating book chapter on biodiversity for fake references
While reading a chapter from a 2024 book on restoring biodiversity in post-industrial land earlier this month, an ecologist came across a reference to a study on rewilding she wanted to look up.&nb…
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Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Quoted in this article for @smithsonianmag.bsky.social For the record, I think the age estimates here for sturgeon are highly inflated. But the life history of these ancient fishes deserves a second look. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...
smithsonianmag.com
Some Fish in the Great Lakes Might Be More Than 400 Years Old, a Study Suggests, Outliving Around 15 Generations of Humans
Lake sturgeon may be among the longest-living vertebrates, second only to Greenland sharks, according to recent research. However, scientists note that follow-up work is necessary to clarify the speci...
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Dannyboy wildlife @dannyboywildlife.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
White porcupine #leucism
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Wasp captured a honeybee among the goldenrod flowers.
A dark-colored wasp hangs head-down from a bright yellow goldenrod flower.  The wasp's hind limbs cling to the flower.  The front limbs and head of the wasp are holding a dead honeybee.  The honeybee is orange and black, with some yellow pollen on one of its hind legs. The background is out of focus green plant stems.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Opposite of camouflage: Bright yellow young jagged ambush bug (Phymata) on the dark purple flowers of an ironweed (Vernonia ) plant in Ohio in late summer.
Close-up side view of three dark purple flowers on a black background.  On the center flower there is a bright-yellow oval-shaped insect on the flower.  The bright yellow bug stands out from the deep purple flower and the bug is very conspicuous.
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Reposted by Mike Benard
Nature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Slurrrrp! White-lined Sphinx moth with its awesome straw!
A bath colored with gray white brown, and some pink, reaches into a pink flower with a proboscis that’s nearly the length of its body.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Walking on water - common water strider - Aquarius remigis
An insect sitting on the dark surface of a body of water.  The insect has an oval-shaped body and dark read eyes.  There are four long legs that extend from the body in an "X" shape, and the ends of the legs sit on the surface of the water.  Two smaller, bent legs, protrude from the front of the insects body. It also has two antennae pointing forward.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Looking over a small stone ledge around an urban pond near CWRU just in time to see two turtles (most likely released pets) make a quick escape.
Looking down on two turtles in the air as they launch off a small concrete ledge into greenish water.  The larger turtle is just hitting the water and causing a splash.  The smaller turtle is sideways in the air about to hit the water.
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Mike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
New followers: Thank you. I post a lot of wildlife photos that I've taken here and there, and always with ALT info. Here's a Pyrenees Asp (Vipera aspis zinnikeri), observed out in the open on a cool and foggy morning in NE Spain last year. More deets in the ALT. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿
A top-down image of a coiled snake resting on open ground. The snake's ground color is a grayish-brown, with darker brown markings running from the neck to the tail. These markings consist of short transverse bars that are connected by a stripe of the same color. The result is a zipper-like effect. The snake is a viper, and as such has a solid, stocky body, together with a triangular spear-shaped head. It is perhaps 20 inches (51cm) in length. The snake was encountered crawling in the open on a hillside trail, and immediately drew itself into a defensive coil. Thanks to its small size and my protective footwear, the shot was achieved by leaning over the snake with a 12-60mm lens.
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Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 07/09/2026
Out biking, helped this fellow cross the Georgetown-Lewes Trail
An orange and brown turtle
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
European Praying Mantis (Mantis religiosa) seen in Colorado this summer. The black-and-white bullseye pattern on the inside of the forelimb is one of the characters used to identify this species.
Close-up side view of the thorax, forelimbs and head of a large, light-green insect on a black background.  The thorax is narrow.  The head has large eyes about 1/3 the size of the head.  There are two very large raptorial forelimbs.  The forelimbs have three main segments that fold together, and on the end of two segments are little "teeth" that help capture prey.  The mantis is using its mouthparts to clean one of its forelimbs.
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Dr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Beware this AI slop garbage by “Raph Francis,” one of MANY books “written” by the same “author” in a very short time, covering everything from mantises to grouse to leopard seals (each in their on books). Infuriating to see content I’ve dedicated a career to show up in AI trash 😡😡😡
AI slop cover art for an AI slop book about Alligator Gar. AI slop description for an AI slop book about Alligator Gar.
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Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
It appears that the oldest natural history institute in the United States - the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia - is closing. A real shame and not something I fully understand or can comprehend. #naturalhistory #museums drexel.edu/news/archive...
drexel.edu
Preserving the Academy of Natural Sciences' Legacy and Collections for the Future
As part of this broader effort and following careful consideration, grounded in deep respect for the Academy’s extraordinary legacy, Academy and Drexel leadership have made the difficult decision to c...
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Dan Killam @dantheclamman.blog · 01/09/2026
In totally unrelated news, Duke decided to get rid of its world-renowned herbarium, with UNC Chapel Hill stepping in to save it. Biodiversity collections are under threat www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e...
newsobserver.com
Duke is moving its major collection of plant life to UNC. Here’s why
Eventually, UNC plans to build a Plant Biodiversity Research Center in Chapel Hill that will house all 1.7 million specimens.
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Nature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Today was the first time I encountered the fascinating Oak Rough Bulletgall Wasp (Disholcaspis quercusmamma). Small females are developing inside the gall. The galls are exuding honeydew, attractive to yellow jackets and ants, who might protect the gall from parasitic wasps. #invertefest
Round and nipple shaped greenish brown galls being attended by Yellowjackets and paper wasps. Inside the gall is a developing female solitary wasp. When she emerges this fall, she will lay an egg in a dormant leaf bud.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Revisited this log after two weeks - the fungus has now revealed itself to be a Dog’s Nose Fungus (Camarops petersii) - the slimy black surface indicates that it is actively producing spores.
A round, black, shiny fungus growing from a brown, dead log.  The edges of the fungus have a brown, paper-like wrapping that has mostly peeled away.  It really does look like a black, wet dog's nose - giving its common name.
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Get To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Playing with light I was trying to get the setting sun behind these flowers and all sorts of neat stuff happened. There’s a rainbow back there! Where did that come from? #BloomScrolling #BlueskyArtShow #summer 🌿
A spray of purple flowers in front of a rosy glow of light with a small rainbow going across it. Plus a bunch of silhouetted flowers and buds. Or maybe they’re shadows? It’s all rather abstract but beautiful.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Another from the same day
Side view of a red mushroom.  Similar to previous photo.  On forest floor, with green moss growing near base.  Stem is red and heavily textured, with almost a spiderweb pattern.  A white squiggly ridge runs around the edge of the cap, but the mushroom is otherwise almost entirely deep red.
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Tom Near @tjnear.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
9/11 ⚠️ This has a stark modern parallel. As anthropogenic warming approaches PETM severity, polar fishes that lost the swim bladder AND its supporting oxygen delivery systems face a compound threat: warming reverses the very conditions that made these losses tolerable in the first place. 🌍🔥
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Tom Near @tjnear.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
5/11 ❄️ In Southern Ocean swim bladder loss enabled the stepwise dismantling of entire oxygen delivery system. Icefishes, some dragonfishes, & eelpouts lost Root effect (mechanism for inflating swim bladder), icefishes also lost hemoglobin & myoglobin, all possible by oxygen-rich Southern Ocean. 🧬
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
An impressive red mushroom - that I think is Frost's Bolete (Exsudoporus frostii) but would welcome IDs - growing in the woods of northeast Ohio in mid-August.
Photo taken at ground level of a large, red mushroom.  It shows the mushroom's stem, and the underside of the mushroom's cap.  The color is a deep, crimson red.  There is a ridge around the edge of the cap.  The stem has a wrinkly appearance, like tree bark.  There are also several holes in the stem, that look like something, perhaps an insect- have been feeding on it.  The background is dark brown and green of the woods.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Dogbane Leaf Beetles (Chrysochus auratus) on the tip of a Hemp Dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum) leaf. The beetles feed on the plants, and turn the plant toxin into their own defense against predators.
Side view of a green leaf going through the middle of the frame.  There is a bright metallic beetle on top of the leaf, and another one clinging upside down to the underside of the leaf.  The beetles have metallic green thorax and legs, and metallic reddish-bronze on the abdomen.  Background is out of focus green leaves and blue sky.
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Anna Kramer @annackramer.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
SCOOP: Trump officials are pressuring the National Park Service to find a way to give a small piece of Yosemite to a private developer. The land would be used for a road, to give the developer rare private access to the heart of the park.
notus.org
Trump’s Quietly Working to Give Part of Yosemite to a Private Developer
The National Park Service is under pressure to make an unprecedented deal that cedes a quarter-mile strip of the park.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Clouds drifting over partial lunar eclipse, with insects singing in the background. Northeast Ohio.
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Roby Bhattacharyya @roby-b.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
To underscore why this is especially awful for those who may not know, the measles vaccine is usually given at 12 months. Newborns rely on community immunity to prevent exposure, which until recently we have had in the US. This quite literally could be anyone's newborn. None of this had to happen.
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Matthew Paulson @matthewpaulson.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Mama Gator and a few of her babies-There was only a small opening to shoot through so this was the best shot I could get. I would have liked to go closer but...🐊
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Get To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
So I guess my best advice is, follow real people who love wildlife & want to protect it. People whose joy shines through. Who share their stories about being out in nature. People who interact with other nature lovers, photographers & artists. They’re way more likely to be showing you the real thing
A shiny blue bird with a white throw and belly stands on a railing lookin straight at the camera. Above it is text that says “say no to ai slop.”
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
case.edu/farm/
case.edu
University Farm | Case Western Reserve University
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
CWRU Farm earlier this evening
Wide angle photo of an uncut field with tall green grass, tall yellow flowers, and a blue sky with sun shining through clouds late in the day.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Another view of the drops
Close-up of the underside of the lower half of the fungi from the previous post, but in more of a side view.  The droplets look almost oil-like, and are amber to clear colored.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Came across this interesting fungus on a fallen log today - covered in little droplets like it was weeping. Been trying to learn local fungi - a fun and interesting challenge!
Close-up of a cream-covered fungus that has large and small droplets of an amber-colored liquid seeping out of it.  The fungus is oval, and attached to brown tree bark.
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Nature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
And you said fairies weren’t real ;(
A black and yellow moth with super long black antenna, a yellow face and clear wings. They are sitting on a green leaf.
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Get To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Ok, phone camera people. Any suggestions for @dwmmphotography.bsky.social? #birds #invertebrates 📸 📷
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AmphibiaWeb @amphibiaweb.org · 10/08/2026
Cascades frogs have been reintroduced to Lassen National Park! Read the summary written by Anton Sorokin at AmphibiaWeb.org and follow the link there to his full High Country News article. #AWNews
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PictureTheSouth @picturethesouth.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
"There's an app for that" .... Android and iOS apps to alert you when the Bluetooth signal of Perv Glasses is within range. Search "Nearby Glasses"
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Lindsey Swierk @lindseyswierk.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
🦎*Please share!*🦎 The Swierk Lab is recruiting 1-2 PhD students for Fall 27 / Spr 28 to study Neotropical anole 1) body coloration and visual signals or 2) predator avoidance, diving, and respiration. Please contact only by email. More info and contact details here: drive.google.com/file/d/1TGmC...
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Get To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
TINY TURTLE ALERT!! Two years ago today I saw this little Snapping Turtle hatchling making its way to the water! I almost fell over in my joy and excitement #herps 🌿
Close up photo of a very small, very cute brown turtle on a dirt path.
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Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
A couple local parks and nature centers here have large swatters and explanatory signs about the bugs!
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