Reposted by Mike BenardThe One True Kat @theonetruekat.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I’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 7869
Reposted by Mike BenardKevin Sievers @diplotomodon.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Sternberg Museum update: nearly $150K raised so far! Keep it coming foundation.fhsu.edu/save-sternbe... #SaveSternberg 12116
Reposted by Mike BenardAndrew Deck @andrewdeck.bsky.social · 05/10/2026ChatGPT 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... 9041981686
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Love the tiger beetles- I have found them very hard to photograph most of the time because they are so active 010
Reposted by Mike BenardNature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Purple Tiger Beetles at my worksite this past Friday. Lots of variety of markings and colors in that species.  56110
Reposted by Mike BenardFrontRangeWildflowers @frwildflowers.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Pseudevernia intensa lichen on lodgepole pine today was pretty intense as its name says 🌿 28921
Reposted by Mike BenardMax Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 25/09/2026SCOOP: 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.comnature.comExclusive: Sham scientific societies are misleading star researchersA Nature investigation reveals a network of organizations that have been building their ranks through deceptive practices. 10310186
Reposted by Mike BenardJohn P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026My 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. 16112
Reposted by Mike BenardDr. Rich B @morphometrich.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The @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 closurechange.orgSign the PetitionSave the Sternberg Museum of Natural History from Closure 1148
Reposted by Mike BenardThe Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 23/09/2026A 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.comSea turtle nests in historic first on Southern California coastThe olive ridley sighting was the first “natural nesting” on record for any sea turtle species on the West Coast, officials said. 34620
Reposted by Mike BenardRetraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 23/09/2026The 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.comWiley investigating book chapter on biodiversity for fake referencesWhile 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… 1178
Reposted by Mike BenardProsanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Quoted 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.comSome Fish in the Great Lakes Might Be More Than 400 Years Old, a Study Suggests, Outliving Around 15 Generations of HumansLake 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... 3122
Reposted by Mike BenardDannyboy wildlife @dannyboywildlife.bsky.social · 19/09/2026White porcupine #leucism 1035672
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 19/09/2026Wasp captured a honeybee among the goldenrod flowers. 000
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Opposite of camouflage: Bright yellow young jagged ambush bug (Phymata) on the dark purple flowers of an ironweed (Vernonia ) plant in Ohio in late summer. 050
Reposted by Mike BenardNature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Slurrrrp! White-lined Sphinx moth with its awesome straw! 27722
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Walking on water - common water strider - Aquarius remigis 011
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Looking 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. 051
Reposted by Mike BenardMike Pingleton @somuchpingle.bsky.social · 09/09/2026New 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 🌿 610823
Reposted by Mike BenardIan Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 07/09/2026Out biking, helped this fellow cross the Georgetown-Lewes Trail 512112
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 06/09/2026European 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. 020
Reposted by Mike BenardDr. Solomon David @solomonrdavid.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Beware 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 😡😡😡 26721
Reposted by Mike BenardProsanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 01/09/2026It 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.eduPreserving the Academy of Natural Sciences' Legacy and Collections for the FutureAs 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... 32916
Reposted by Mike BenardDan Killam @dantheclamman.blog · 01/09/2026In 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.comDuke is moving its major collection of plant life to UNC. Here’s whyEventually, UNC plans to build a Plant Biodiversity Research Center in Chapel Hill that will house all 1.7 million specimens. 24926
Reposted by Mike BenardNature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Today 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 1306
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Revisited 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. 000
Reposted by Mike BenardGet To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 30/08/2026Playing 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 🌿 1427139
Reposted by Mike BenardTom Near @tjnear.bsky.social · 29/08/20269/11 ⚠️ 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. 🌍🔥 1111
Reposted by Mike BenardTom Near @tjnear.bsky.social · 29/08/20265/11 ❄️ 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. 🧬 181
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 29/08/2026An 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. 162
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Dogbane 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. 020
Reposted by Mike BenardAnna Kramer @annackramer.bsky.social · 28/08/2026SCOOP: 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.orgTrump’s Quietly Working to Give Part of Yosemite to a Private DeveloperThe National Park Service is under pressure to make an unprecedented deal that cedes a quarter-mile strip of the park. 51548433
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Clouds drifting over partial lunar eclipse, with insects singing in the background. Northeast Ohio. 020
Reposted by Mike BenardRoby Bhattacharyya @roby-b.bsky.social · 27/08/2026To 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. 181256572
Reposted by Mike BenardMatthew Paulson @matthewpaulson.bsky.social · 23/08/2026Mama 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...🐊 5196
Reposted by Mike BenardGet To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 23/08/2026So 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 633772
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 18/08/2026case.edu/farm/case.eduUniversity Farm | Case Western Reserve University 010
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Came 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! 130
Reposted by Mike BenardNature’s Edge @edge-nature.bsky.social · 11/08/2026And you said fairies weren’t real ;( 47712
Reposted by Mike BenardGet To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Ok, phone camera people. Any suggestions for @dwmmphotography.bsky.social? #birds #invertebrates 📸 📷 2114
Reposted by Mike BenardAmphibiaWeb @amphibiaweb.org · 10/08/2026Cascades 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 041
Reposted by Mike BenardPictureTheSouth @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" 173
Reposted by Mike BenardLindsey 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... 04940
Reposted by Mike BenardGet To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 06/08/2026TINY 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 🌿 1228850
Mike Benard @benardmf.bsky.social · 06/08/2026A couple local parks and nature centers here have large swatters and explanatory signs about the bugs! 020