iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Paper pun goals! "I knew you were truffle when I walked in" is a magnificent title for a paper about baiting for mycophagous (fungi-eating🍄) mammals (like this long-nosed potoroo!)

A long-nosed potoroo, tiny T-Rex arms displayed proudly

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

The model was tested against the field estimates of an expert devil researcher*, with agreement in 95% of age estimates. Personally, I view this as a win for both the model & my own field skills 🤓 * Me!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Happy Tasmanian Devil Average Birthday, to all those who celebrate! 🥳 Devils have an annual mating season, which goes from late Feb until late April. That means, on average, devil joeys are born on 1st April. So if you wish a devil Happy Birthday today, you’ve got a good chance of being correct!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Random Delightful Fact of the Day - Eastern quolls go grey as they get older! A juvenile (~6 mths old) on the L, & a 4 yr old on the R (Worth noting that 4 yrs old is oooooold for an eastern quoll)

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

A dangerous(ly adorable) predator approaches…

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

As part of eastern quoll translocation work, we use supplementary feeding stations that are meant to exclude Tasmanian devils. The devils disagree…

A Tasmanian devil standing pensively outside a tube containing food. The tube is CLEARLY too small for the devil to fit into…

Oh wait, no it isn’t… The devil has comically managed to insert the entire front half of his body into the narrow tube. It looks like he is entering another dimension

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Quoll beans!! These tiny eastern quolls are only around 5 weeks old, & just starting to get their spots

A marsupial pouch full of tiny, pink eastern quolls. Their distinctive spotted pelage is starting to become apparent

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Please enjoy this antechinus sproinging* away * technical term

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Another interesting side finding was the first (that we know of) genetic confirmation of multiple paternity in eastern quolls, with multiple litters found to have been fathered by more than one male quoll!

A nesting box full of quolls, with both colour morphs (dark & fawn) represented.

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

However, genetic analysis of the next generation found no evidence that any of them had a captive-bred parent! While we may have missed some juveniles in our sampling, this (at the least) indicates that the captive-bred quolls had lower breeding success than their wild counterparts

An adult male light-morph eastern quoll about to be released

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

We also wanted to examine the genetic effects of the supplementation, so sampled the next generation of quolls post-release. This was a key part of an Honour's project by Jessica Morrison, who's the lead author on the study

An eastern quoll in the hand, after having a small genetic sample taken

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

A population supplementation of eastern quolls occurred @tasland.bsky.social's Silver Plains property, to boost a flagging population of this threatened species. Results were encouraging, w/ high survival & low dispersal of captive-bred quolls. Read about it here - www.publish.csiro.au/AM/AM22011

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

📣 New quoll science, looking at the genetic outcomes of a translocation of eastern quolls in Tasmania! 🧪🧬 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧵Thread below ⬇️

An eastern quoll peeking out from a nest of dry grass

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Dasyurid feet of various sizes! 👣 Tasmanian devil Spotted-tailed quoll Swamp antechinus

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

#WhereWhereWedgie 🦅 surveys near Hamilton today - - 6 (!!) x wedge-tailed eagles - 1 x white-bellied sea-eagle - 1 x brown falcon - 200 cockatoos!! An excellent day for science! @catmyoung.bsky.social @clawkins.bsky.social #citizenscience 🌿🪶🧪 #Tasmania #conservationscience

A person looking to the sky through binoculars, diligently searching for eagles

Success! A wedge-tailed eagle soaring high!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

That awkward moment when you catch a devil pooping on camera… In all seriousness, Tasmanian devils make latrines, where lots of individuals will poo in the same area. Then any devil wandering along can have a sniff, & know who’s around 💩 @tasland.bsky.social

A Tasmanian devil standing in front of a camera. Suddenly, a poo appears behind it!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

On the trail of the Manumea (tooth-billed pigeon) in Samoa! @catmyoung.bsky.social

A view of a forested valley from a bird hide in Samoa - most wreaths the hilltops

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

Has anyone asked the echidnas their views on this election? 🎤

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

There’s antechinus, & there’s ANTECHINUS!! Antechinus are small (usually…) relatives of the Tasmanian devil. This chonk of a male was caught at Inala Jurassic Garden, for quick samples to help out with vaccine research for Devil Facial Tumour @wildimmunity.bsky.social Pic- @catmyoung.bsky.social

An absolute unit of an antechinus - he knows he’s the king. Pic - @catmyoung

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

A ptunarra brown butterfly from March surveys at @tasland.bsky.social’s Vale of Belvoir These endangered endemic butterflies rely on native Poa grasslands & only fly for a few weeks in March

A ptunarra brown butterfly sitting on a paper daisy in the midst of a grassland

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Stumbled across a flock of migrating swift parrots at @tasland.bsky.social’s Five Rivers Reserve in the Central Highlands of Tasmania These critically endangered parrots breed in Tassie over summer, then head north for winter - a very sensible approach!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Happy Tasmanian Devil Average Birthday! 🥳 Tasmanian devils breed annually during late Feb/Mar, & have a very short gestation (~21 days). This means the average birth date for devils is 1st April So wish any devils you know a Happy Birthday! &, on average, you’ll be right on the money 🥳

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Quoll feet are the best feet! 👣 These are the hind feet of a spotted-tailed quoll - those striated pads provide extra grip when they’re climbing

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Quick as a quoll! ⚫️⚪️⚫️⚪️⚫️⚪️ 💨💨💨

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

Nothing better than a box of quolls! Spent yesterday at one of the sanctuaries that make up the Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program, helping conserve both eastern & spotted-tailed quolls in the wild @utas.edu.au @tasland.bsky.social

A group of quolls denning together in a nest box at a wildlife sanctuary

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 02/03/2025

A quollity piece of news for your Monday morning! www.utas.edu.au/about/news-a... Slow-mo eastern quoll for tax

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

DYK that quolls can go grey too? This is the tail of a 4 year old eastern quoll - 4 is a good innings for this species, & her tail looks magnificent!

The tail of an eastern quoll - the rest of her body is black with spots, but her tail has turned completely grey

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

Nothing better than coming across a big ol’ Tasmanian devil poo! 💩

A hand pictured next to a Tasmanian devil poo to indicate size - it’s big!!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Nothing to see here, just a suspiciously spiky rock

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Time for your annual reminder that it’s Tasmanian devil dispersal season! This means young devils out finding their way in the world are particularly vulnerable, & often drawn towards roads for easy passage & food. So watch your speed on Tassie roads this season & keep an eye out 👀

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

There’s no monkeys like snow monkeys! ❄️🐵

Japanese macaques sitting in a thermal pool to keep warm in snowy conditions

A Japanese macaque sitting on the edge of a thermal pool to keep warm in snowy conditions

A Japanese macaque sitting in the snow, looking quizzically at the photographer

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Our first day in Japan featured an active volcano & a serow - a goat-antelope with a magnificent beard!

Mount Asama in Honshu, it’s summit covered in snow & wreathed in cloud

A Japanese serow, a small goat-antelope with a very bushy beard & small horns, on a rocky slope

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

A tiger snake, sunning in perfect snake pose!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 01/12/2024

Encountered a brand new reptile the other day - the endemic Tasmanian she-oak skink! They almost look like a snake on first glance until you spot their tiny legs

A curled up she-oak skink - it has a long body, with tiny legs

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Spending the week on the Tasman Peninsula, Turrakana - home to probably my favourite road signs of all time

A warning sign on a road, picturing a Tasmanian devil. Someone has spray-painted a pair of wings onto the devil

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Neil the Seal, taking offence at a local piece of wood

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

The local swifties are very much enjoying the flowering black gums in the Hobart suburbs right now!

A swift parrot, sitting amongst the branches of a flowering black gum

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

🎶 It’s me, hi! 🎶 🎶 I’m the problem, it’s me 🎶 Did you know - 99% of camera trap photos taken in Tasmania are of brushtail possums messing with equipment…

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Added a quollity variation on fuzzy dice to our work ute

A pair quoll toys hanging from the mirror in a car

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 18/12/2023

Ducks fly together! As do flying duck orchids (Caleana minor)

A flying duck orchid with 3 flowers on the same stem. Each flower resembles a duck in flight!

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 26/11/2023

A magnificently whiskery beard orchid

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 17/10/2023

Camera trap photo of a Tasmanian bettong using their prehensile tail to gather up nesting material! Bettongs build nests of dry grass & bark to hunker down in during the day

Camera trap image of a bettong with their prehensile tail curled around a bunch of dry grass

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Dr David Hamilton @drdevildave.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

Australian Bird of the Year 2023!! Now if only there was some way we could protect their habitat… 🤔 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

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