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Brian Leavell

@bleavell.bsky.social

382 followers 241 following 153 posts

sensory ecology | behavior | evolution ○ lover of midges, frogs, bats and bagels ○ PhD w/ @xebernal.bsky.social @ Purdue All my ❤️ to 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ ☮️🌎

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

The star, co-creator, and/or exec producer of some of the most celebrated war films and tv miniseries, but god forbid:

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

The stick figures ❤️ 3/3

Stick figure drawings of two people holding hands, smiling.

Dunking Donuts coffee above Boston skyline.

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

I love the ladybug flag in particular. 2/3

At top "For the Common Good of The People". Middle: drawing of Boston Terrier. Bottom: "Commonwealth"

Head of fish with a drawing of an old boat for an eye

Ladybug next to flowers. Underneath: "Massachusetts 'Where everyone's voice is heard"

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

So many good ones 🧵 1/3

Dinosaur running with a dunkin donuts coffee, with the word "massachusetts" in the top right

Silhouette of man in middle. In corners are a roast beef sandwich, sea turtle, pizza, and an unidentifiable something.

Black and white drawing of fish. At the top: "ALEWIFE". At the bottom: "Herring of Daring"

Seal on surfboard etched with "FREEDOM" in the sunset.

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

TL;DR We found that the degree to which calling male túngara frogs defend themselves from eavesdropping frog-biting midges alters their attractiveness to females and predatory bats, though the sensory mechanisms and effects differ per receiver. Photo by Christian Ziegler

Fringe-lipped bat mid-flight, eavesdropping on the calls of male túngara frogs, which it uses to find its prey. Photo by Christian Ziegler.

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Whereas, bats didn't care about swats! (Oddly, they didn't care about call ornamentation either, just call rate... more discussion in the paper about this unexpected finding!)

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

We presented choice tests to females and predatory bats with variation in the degree of call elaboration (call rate + call ripples, and call complexity) and swat ripples. In general, females are less likely to choose a male the more he defends himself from frog-biting midge attacks.

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Females and predatory bats appear to integrate water ripples produced by calls, but do they care about swat ripples? That is, could attacks by the frog-biting midge create effects that cascade throughout the communication network, and shift relative male fitness? Photo by @kathglz.bsky.social

Calling male túngara frog being attacked by eavesdropping frog-biting midges. Photo by Katherine González

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Male túngara frogs compete for access to females by elaborating their calls. But! Many enemies eavesdrop on these calls. Here, frog-biting midges find blood 🩸 meals by localizing calls with their antennae (see work by @xebernal.bsky.social‬!). Males swat at these midges, creating water ripples.

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

🚨 NEW PAPER 🚨 Variation in sexual signals and defensive strategies elicits receiver-dependent shifts in attractiveness *Open Access!* in @jexpbiol.bsky.social doi.org/10.1242/jeb.... w/ Dineilys Aparicio, Hoover Pantoja-Sánchez, Rachel Page, & @xebernal.bsky.social 🧵 Photo by Christian Ziegler

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

AP news headline: UN body says Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May, as hunger worsens

Photo below: Palestinians queued up with bowls to receive food

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Excerpt from linked article: Toward the end of Khalil’s short remarks, he looked at Mamdani as if it were just the two of them in the room, and he said, “I am excited about the possibility of raising my son in a city where you are mayor.” It was a stunning moment, one of those times when you could, if you were listening, hear a collective catching of breath before a fresh wave of applause. People made their way to the exits, some wiping away tears. I saw a friend, and we hugged. She said, “I didn’t realize I was crying, but now I can’t stop.”

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

President George W. Bush giving speech in front of "Mission Accomplished" sign

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Deeply red state. #NoKings

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Cool. So now we've jumped ahead to... checks notes... September 2024.

Graph of Dow Jones Industrial Average 1-year figure, showing that current $ = $ at September 2024.

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

it's working

Image of Reddit post from r/Conservative subreddit. Title: "Reddits Algorithm Is forcing Every Protest In the Nation To Hit My Feed". Subject body: "I block each sub that hits my feed with DOGE protestors and they just keep coming. I honestly hope this entire site gets shut down for good if reddit can't get new management to stop...".

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Hands Off | Boise, Idaho #handsoff #HandsOff2025

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Sen. Cory Booker's record-breaking speech as a wordcloud

Word cloud showing the 100 most frequent words used in Senator Cory Booker's record-breaking speech that started March 31, 2025 and ended April 1, 2025. Larger words = more frequently used. Most frequent word, which is shown as the largest in the middle is "people".

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

VANCE: "I just hate bailing Europe out again."

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I've been seeing this photo so much recently

Wall Street trader holds forehead in hand while wincing. Photo above Yahoo Finance website headline, "Trump's tariffs wreak havoc on battered Wall Street" with caption,

"US stocks plunged as President Trump's tariffs sent shockwaves through markets and the global trade order."

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 21/12/2023

New paper out! doi.org/10.1098/rspb... A chapter from my dissertation. We look at the cascading effects of eavesdropping frog-biting midges on a communication network. Spoiler! These midges impact multiple signalers and receivers in complex ways! Photo by Katherine González

Photo of a túngara frog calling in water while being attacked by eavesdropping frog-biting midges.

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Brian Leavell @bleavell.bsky.social · 02/11/2023

Check out what showed up in the mail! 🐸 🦎 🐢

Illustration by Julia Beck of Dr. Ximena Bernal wearing a headlamp and holding a frog, both looking at the viewer.

Photo of Women In Herpetology: 50 Stories from Around the World; Edited by Umilaela Arifin, Itzue Wendolin Caviedes Solis & Sinlan Poo. Showing illustrations of herpetologists with a study organism.

Photo of a page of the book featuring illustrations of Herpetologists from South America and linking each person's photo with their country in a map of South America.

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