iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Carlos M Herrera @cmhmaliani.bsky.social · 49m

Leed esto de Eneko Arrondo @bioeaf.bsky.social que está muy bien. ¡ No insultéis a los buitres ! Yo añado, "¡Qué mas quisieran que parecerse a cualquier buitre!" ecomandanga.wordpress.com/2026/10/07/n...

ecomandanga.wordpress.com

No insultéis a los buitres

Por Eneko Arrondo. En el mundo existen 23 especies de buitres divididas en dos grupos alejados evolutivamente. Por un lado, tenemos a los cóndores, jotes y zopilotes americanos, que son comúnmente …

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Natalie Pilakouta @nataliepilakouta.bsky.social · 17h

📣 PhD opportunity in my lab 📣 Are you interested in the effects of climate change on social behaviour? 🌡️🔥 This PhD project will examine these effects in the amazing burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Informal enquiries welcome. Please share widely!

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Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This study was conceived by @erikpostma.bsky.social, who secured funding for a 4 year postdoc. It took me most of that period to unpick what was supposed to be a confirmatory account of adaptive trait evolution in response to selection.

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Pierre de Villemereuil @pdevillemereuil.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

With fieldwork, I didn't get to advertise our (not so now) new paper on the quantitative genetics of growth in the 🦎 in @journal-evo.bsky.social: dx.doi.org/10.1093/evol... It's an exciting paper paper in which we disentangle what it means to treat the whole growth curve as a function-valued trait!

dx.doi.org

Quantitative genetics of lifetime growth curves in a lizard

Abstract. Body size is an iconic trait in quantitative genetics. For species with indeterminate growth however, growth curve, a function-valued trait, is t

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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Latest work from @devisatarkar.bsky.social DPhil thesis exploring the ecological effects that modulate the link between offspring and adult body mass in great tits. The correlation is really quite plastic! Fun collaboration with @lbliard.bsky.social @iremsepil.bsky.social @davididiaquez.bsky.social

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Devi Satarkar @devisatarkar.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Heavier great tit nestlings 🐥 usually end up as heavier adults 🐦. Is this always a strong correlation? Our new preprint shows that the strength of this 'silver-spoon' association shifts continuously with environmental context, and is stronger in harsh conditions! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

14-day old great tit (Parus major) nestling in hand. Bird handled under appropriate BTO licence.

Adult great tit (Parus major) in hand. Bird handled under appropriate BTO licence.

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Check out Devi’s new pre-prints looking at how trait covariances change across environmental gradients using a cool analytical approach!

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PLOS Biology @plosbiology.org · 23/09/2026

Why do we not see evolutionary change in heritable, fitness-related traits in free-living populations? @erikpostma.bsky.social &co use the #evolution of clutch size in great tits to show the importance of gene flow in explaining contemporary evolutionary change and stasis 🧪 buff.ly/ngAKH6r

Scatter plot comparing individual breeding values at year t−1 and year t, with blue dots = survivors, orange dots = non‑survivors, green dots = native recruits and magenta triangles = immigrant recruits. The genetic change attributable to local adaptation (i.e., the net effect of breeder mortality and the recruitment of local-origin individuals) is represented by a grey dashed line, which differs from the total genetic change in the breeding population (solid black line) that additionally includes the contribution of immigrant recruitment.

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Journal of Animal Ecology @animalecology.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

📖 New paper! Early-life environment drives long-term decrease in adult body mass in a wild bird population🌍 🐦‍⬛ 🏔️ 🔎 buff.ly/7Lra4iN

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Denise Wawman @denisewawman.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Just published in Ibis. A 15.5 year study of avian pox in Dunnocks (Prunella modularis). Quick summary: Dull brown bird doesn't die of disease & haematophagous Hippoboscidae from healthy heterotrophs help hypothesis. (Can anyone think of a better word than heterotrophs?) More details below. 1/n

doi.org

A longitudinal study of avian pox in a small passerine, the Dunnock (<fi>Prunella modularis</fi>)

Long-term, longitudinal studies of disease in wild bird populations are rare. Diseases are important determinants of bird survival and may spill-over into other species including livestock and, in so...

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EcoEvoRxiv @ecoevorxiv.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

'Vegetation and local density are associated with red deer calving dates but don’t explain the long-term temporal trend' doi.org/10.32942/X21...

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Rona Learmonth @rona-learmonth.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

New preprint! 🐛 doi.org/10.64898/202... We experimentally reared winter moths to show how plasticity to temperature affects phenology not just directly, but through carry-over effects across life stages With Lea Beaupere, @ellafcole.bsky.social @andreaestandia.bsky.social @sheldonbirds.bsky.social

Schematic of cross-temperature rearing experiment. For a single female’s clutch, eggs are split into sub-clutches in hot, warm, mean, cool and ambient treatments (labelled and illustrated by box colour) for hatching and rearing to pupation. The timing of individual pupation is recorded, and each pupa reassigned across the temperature treatments. This reassignment is shown for the cool treatment only. After adult emergence, individuals were mated within matching early- and late-life treatment combinations, and their clutches re-split between mean and hot treatments only. Again, the reassignment is shown for the cool treatment only. Ambient treatments shown here below the dashed line were not used in full analyses as their temperature regimes are more variable and so not comparable to experimental temperatures. Sample sizes for each life stage are therefore given only for the four experimental treatments included in full analyses.

Late-instar winter moth caterpillar on oak leaf

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Barbara Class, Ph.D. (she/her) @barbaraclass.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Tired of reviewing for for-profit academic publishing? How about reviewing for diamond open-access journals instead? Sign the Diamond reviewer pledge and spread the word! forrt.org/diamond-revi...

forrt.org

Diamond Reviewer Pledge

Signatories of the Diamond Reviewer Pledge commit to reviewing at least one article in the next 12 months for a diamond open access journal.

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Maria Moiron @mmoiron.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

📢 My colleague Daniela Perez (not on Bluesky) is looking for a postdoc! The position is for 2 years, working on cooperation, competition & collective decision-making in 🪱. More info: tinyurl.com/mr2vd57n 📅 Deadline: 25 September 2026 📩 Interested? Contact Daniela directly!

tinyurl.com

Research Position (m/f/d) (Postdoc)

<div style="margin:0;">The Department of Evolutionary Biology explores how organisms' traits and behaviours evolve in response to envi...

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Louis Bliard @lbliard.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

New preprint out with Michael Griesser and @ryangermain.bsky.social, for some comparative analyses in which we find that population growth rates of cooperative breeders are less sensitive to annual variation in precipitation and temperature doi.org/10.32942/X26...

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Edward Grey Institute @egioxford.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Remember the summer heatwaves in the UK in 2026? The late May heatwave was exceptional: an event +4.3 sd above mean - likely to occur only once every few decades under normal conditions. It was also unusual in being early and coinciding with tit breeding season. What consequences did it have? 🧵1/n

Temperature fluctuations in Wytham Woods between 15 May and June 15 for 2023-2026. Orange and green lines represent mean hourly temperatures from 218 temperature loggers in 2026 (orange) and 2023-2025 (green). The grey line and ribbon represent the mean daily temperature ± mean daily temperature range from the Central England Temperature dataset (CET; 1772-2025)

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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Summary of 2026 summer 🔥 from @metoffice.gov.uk. Summer runs 1/6-31/8, so omits late May '26 heatwave, possibly even more anomalous in statistical terms. We have a new preprint led by @davididiaquez.bsky.social which analyses effects on growth & survival of Wytham tits 🧵⬇️ bsky.app/profile/davi...

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

This work could not have been done without the work of the 100s of @egioxford.bsky.social and @biology.ox.ac.uk students, field workers and researchers who have been monitoring birds in Wytham since 1947. It also highlights the value and importance of continued monitoring of long-term populations.

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Overall, the May 2026 heatwave notably worsened seasonal declines in fledgling number and nestling mass, with likely longer-term effects via survival. As such extreme events increase in frequency, these findings may offer an early benchmark for their impacts.

Dead blue tit nestling found after the heatwave in Wytham Woods

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

It exacerbated the well-known seasonal decrease in breeding success that these species experience. In regular years late broods fledge c. 2.6 fewer fledglings than early broods, this difference was almost double in 2026 (c. 4.5 fewer fledglings) and similarly with nestling mass.

Heatwave effects on great and blue tit fledgling number and nestling mass. Dots and whiskers represent predicted mean ± standard deviation values from the models. Pre-heatwave and heatwave represent the relative periods before and after the heatwave (see pre-print SI-1). Orange represents the heatwave year (2026) and green the non-heatwave years (1978-2025). Values within the plot represent the mean change in the dependent variable between periods and its standard error. The p-value denotes the significance of the difference between heatwave and non-heatwave years. Number of fledglings and nestling mass were centred to a mean of zero

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

The heatwave coincided with the tail of the distribution of the 2026 breeding season, and although it did not last long, the heatwave affected adult breeding success and nestling mass in great tits and blue tits.

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Wytham Woods, near Oxford, was not immune to this heat spell and mean temperature during the late May heatwave was up to 10.5 ºC higher than the historical average.

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

During late May and early June the UK like most of Europe experienced an unprecedented spell of heat that broke all the previous high temperatures recorded at that time of the year, an meteorological event that had measurable effects on the human population (see: zenodo.org/records/2126...)

Mean daily maximum temperature in the United Kingdom during the 25 and 26 of May between 1931 and 2025, and in 2026. The white dot represents Wytham Woods, near Oxford. Data from HadUK-Grid 1km gridded observational dataset (v.1.3.2)

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

New preprint out in @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social with @devisatarkar.bsky.social and @sheldonbirds.bsky.social in which we analyse the effects of this summer's unprecedented and severe #heatwave on tit reproduction and mass. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

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Rona Learmonth @rona-learmonth.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Excited to share this joint first-author paper with @andreaestandia.bsky.social, now out in @royalsocietypublishing.org! We combined translocations, common garden experiments and genomic analyses to test for local adaptation to individual tree phenology in winter moths 🌳🐛 doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

royalsocietypublishing.org

No evidence of fine-scale local adaptation of winter moths to variable tree phenology | Proceedings B | The Royal Society

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Ben Sheldon @sheldonbirds.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Now published, work led by @rona-learmonth.bsky.social @andreaestandia.bsky.social testing scale of local adaptation in winter moth to tree phenology. We combined lab & field experiments & genomics to show no evidence for LA at the individual tree level: royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...

Three illustrations of techniques used in this paper (clockwise from left): trap deployed to collect gravid female winter moths on an oak tree; deploying winter moth eggs in the canopy of focal trees using a mobile elevated work platform; DNA samples ready for analysis.

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Maria Filippou @mariafilippou.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

If you’re interested in herps and would like to write an article for The Natterjack, we’d love to read it! 🐸🦎🐍 It can be about anything herp-related, and we’d love to hear from anyone who wants to contribute. Have a look at previous issues here: www.thebhs.org/publications...

thebhs.org

The Natterjack | British Herpetological Society

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Joe Brennan @biologyjoe87.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Looking for sci comm opportunities? Join us as a writer for American Naturalist press releases! These write-ups are primarily written by graduate students and other early-career scientists. No experience required; we have editors to help along the way. Apps due Sept 1. Please share widely :D

forms.gle

Looking for Press Release Writers & Editors for The American Naturalist

Sign up for the opportunity to write and/or edit for The American Naturalist! We are seeking authors to write press releases for new journal articles. See examples of recent press releases here. We a...

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Enjoyed it more than expected!! It’s been pretty cool and special!

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Xabier VP @xabiervp.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

@publico.es haciéndose eco de la magia y de la superstición. De la anticiencia en definitiva La magia del abandono, ecosistemas “descuidados”, etc

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Drew Sauve (he/him) @sauvedrew.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The Sauve Lab is recruiting students! Please share! Interested in conservation, forensics, or evolutionary ecology? Email your research interests, CV, and info for two references to sauve.drew@ontariotechu.ca! While Fall 2027 is the primary intake, there may be some flexibility in start dates.

Poster for the Sauve Lab at Ontario Tech University recruiting graduate students for Fall 2027. The poster includes the Sauve Lab and Ontario Tech logos, photos of an eastern loggerhead shrike, a flock of black-legged kittiwakes, and human chromosomes, along with scientific illustrations.
Text: "The Sauve Lab is recruiting graduate students. We run a research program focused on using genetics, primarily quantitative genetics, and statistical modelling to answer questions and solve problems in evolutionary ecology, conservation, and forensic science. We're excited about family trees in their various forms, from zoo population registries to pedigrees in long-term wild populations and genealogical records. We collaborate broadly with government, non-profit, and industry partners.
We're looking for students from all backgrounds who want to be part of a welcoming, supportive research group. Our lab believes everyone belongs, and we work together to create projects that fit graduate requirements and individual strengths.
Interested? Email sauve.drew@ontariotechu.ca with your research interests, a CV, and contact information for two references. For a Fall 2027 start, please email by August 25. Learn more about the Applied Biosciences programs at Ontario Tech University.

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Simon Evans @sevans.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

What are the conferences/meetings that plant evolutionary ecologists in the UK attend? It seems silly for us to be siloed by taxonomy, so I’m keen to explore how we can encourage greater discourse. Please RT.

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Barbara Tschirren @btschirren.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

🌟🌟 Postdoc position in Disease Ecology & Nature-Based Solutions 🌟🌟 We are looking for a creative and highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to join the UKRI @netpositivecentre.bsky.social and the @uniexecec.bsky.social in beautiful Cornwall, UK. careers.exeter.ac.uk/vacancies/11... 🦠🌳🏙️🌍🗺️🐝 🦌🕷️

careers.exeter.ac.uk

Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow in Cornwall | University of Exeter

View details and apply for this Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow vacancy in Cornwall. Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow This UKRI funded full-time post is available from 01/1...

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Evolution Letters @evolletters.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Are city birds genetically adapting to urban life? A common garden experiment in great tits reveals hidden evolutionary changes masked by environmental effects in the wild. doi.org/10.1093/evle... Image by G. Laurent, wikimedia

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Peter Santema @petersantema.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Our paper on breeding site fidelity in Red Phalaropes now available in early view @behavecol.bsky.social! academic.oup.com/beheco/advan... We colour banded 169 males and 184 females of this polyandrous shorebird on their Arctic breeding grounds, and monitored their return in the next year 1/4

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Krish Sanghvi @krishsanghvi11.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

We refine & extend the Y-model heuristic (“mean invariance” hypothesis) to explain why resource limitation reveals tradeoffs + suggestions for what empiricists should measure (hint: it’s not average resource availability in a population, or solely variation in acquisition-allocation). Now in JEB

academic.oup.com

Influence of the resource acquisition–allocation Y-model’s parameters on the detection of phenotypic trade-offs

Abstract. Phenotypic trade-offs, predicted to occur due to resource limitation, are not commonly detected. For this, the Y-model provides a powerful heuris

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Nicolas Silva @nicolasjsilva.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

It is finally out! The second paper of my PhD with @sociableweaver.bsky.social! You want to test if the species you're working on is really monomorphic? You want to see what are the dimorphic parts of it? Have a look to our work at #AnimalBehaviourJournal 😉 See more at => doi.org/10.1016/j.an...

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BES Evolutionary Ecology Group @bes-evolecol.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

We’re very excited to confirm that Rosemary Grant will be giving our inaugural online webinar in September. It’s free to all, so please look out for details of how to sign up for tickets.

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David López-Idiáquez @davididiaquez.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

That is more or less what I said hahaha

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Phenoweb project @phenoweb.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

1/🧵 Our 2026 Spring field season data is in! Here are some highlights from our long-term monitoring of blue tits, invertebrates & trees across 44 sites in Scotland👇🏼

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Steve Portugal @sjportugal.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Congrats first author Kyu Min Huh on our paper out in @royalsocietypublishing.org Journal of the RS Interface. Titled "Natural take-off flight performance is repeatable and scalable in mixed flock tit species". Link: doi.org/10.1098/rsif...

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Tomos Potter @tomospotter.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Preprint alert! 🧪 🐟 If you are interested in #LongTermStudies #BalancingSelection #KinCompetition check out our new MS. Mini thread below 🧵:

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Nordic Society Oikos @nordicoikos.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

🌿 The discounted early‑bird registration period for the joint NSO–GfÖ 2026 conference ends on 17 July. After this date, registration will remain open at the full fee until the final deadline on 16 August. Register here: vist.ly/5aqkm

Close-up of insects on a flower with text about NSO-GfÖ conference registration.

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Behaviour 2027 @behaviour2027.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

We are excited to announce that #Behaviour2027 (XXXIX International Ethological Congress) will be taking place in Vienna, Austria! We are looking forward to having you all join us next year from August 23-27. Please follow and share!

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