iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I'm so excited to finally see the special issue "Addressing Biases in Animal Behaviour" fully published: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu.... Huge thanks to my brilliant co-editors @viveknityananda.bsky.social & @nicolakoyama.bsky.social. Special issue grew from @asab.org's 2024 Winter Meeting 🧵

sciencedirect.com

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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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Portuguese Ethological Society (SPE) @spetologia.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

doi.org/10.1038/s415... #SPEetologia A comparative study of 580 skate and ray species shows that eyespots are most likely to evolve in small-bodied species lacking strong mechanical or electrical defenses. Anti-predator strategies follow distinct evolutionary pathways shaped by body size and habitat

doi.org

The evolution of eyespots in skates and rays - Nature Ecology & Evolution

A phylogenetic analysis of 580 skate and ray species shows that eyespots evolved stepwise and are favoured in small, shallow-water species lacking robust defences, revealing how trade-offs among anti-...

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Lauren Brent @ljnbrent.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

New paper! We use simulations to test received wisdom on the observational sampling method to use and find that Altmann 1974 was right all along (never bet against Jeanne!). Focal follows capture rare, fleeting behaviours, scans captures long, common behaviours. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

sciencedirect.com

Observation methods in animal behaviour: a simulation study of performance

Most behavioural studies rely on systematic behavioural sampling, as observing and recording all behavioural events that occur is rarely feasible. Cho…

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J Pardo @jdpardo.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

New paper. Modern hagfishes (Myxiniformes) have radically reduced eyes. When did these reductions happen, and how? Leveraging the diverse hagfish fauna from Mazon Creek, we show this happened gradually in animals occupying shallow marine environments royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...

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British Ecological Society @britishecologicalsociety.org · 22/05/2026

Across birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects - urban animals are consistently bolder than their rural counterparts, according to a new global meta-analysis. 🌍🧪

f.mtr.cool

The city mouse really is bolder than the country mouse - British Ecological Society

And so are most animals, according to global study.

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Johann Mourier @sharkmourier.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

How cool is that! 😮 First live in situ observations of the iconic goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) on a seamount near Jarvis Island in 2019 & on the slope of the Tonga Trench in 2024. Past observations are restricted to specimens hauled to the surface onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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Theo Bakker @tcmbakker.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Read the vision of 39 prominent scientists to the future of behavioral ecology and sociobiology in our latest editorial. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 80:64. doi.org/10.1007/s002...

doi.org

The future of evolutionary behavioral biology - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -

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Marine Ecology Progress Series @meps-ir.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

🦤🌐🧪 Year-long satellite tracking of basking sharks revealed ~14,000 km migrations spanning 30° latitude. This includes a transatlantic journey from Norway to the Caribbean highlighting the need for pan-latitudinal research. #FeatureArticle bit.ly/meps15153 @cakloecker.bsky.social

A basking shark is filter-feeding in surface waters. The shark is shown from the bird-perspective with its tail movement and the spread gills being visible.

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Will Oestreich @will-oestreich.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Our paper about how resource variability shapes the ecology of social information is out in this issue of TREE! This eco-evolutionary lens helps explain why collective sensing has evolved across such a wide range of lifeforms, from microbes to blue whales. www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

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Camille Troisi @camilletroisi.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us: 🐦 Quantifying (social) learning and social behaviour in an urbanised world 🐦 Position at @ceec-research.bsky.social 📆29th May deadline More info: tinyurl.com/yz28s96x Apply: tinyurl.com/2wpkb64y #cognition #socialbehaviour #fieldwork #birds 🙏Please Share

Great tit perched on a branch, with beak slightly open.
Photo credit: Alizée Vernouillet

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Nick Jones @nickarjones.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Excited to share our new paper @royalsocietypublishing.org This one took what felt like endless maze trials. We found that even modest warming (~1°C) changed an ectotherm's behaviour such that it affected cognitive performance. Speeding them up and reducing decision accuracy.

tiny.cc

Increasing temperature reduces decision accuracy by shifting speed–accuracy trade-offs in slower individuals

Abstract. Cognitive responses are linked to consistent individual behavioural variation, but the potential impact of warming on this relationship remains u

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Theo Bakker @tcmbakker.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

James Traniello and I, and Associate Editors of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, have prepared editorials commemorating the semicentennial of Wilson's Sociobiology. Check it out! link.springer.com/article/10.1... and link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

Sociobiology and the transformation of evolutionary behavioral biology - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology

Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology -

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Evelyn Alexander @evelynalexander.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Thrilled to share my first PhD publication - gannets put more effort into diving when they are in groups 🐟🐟🐟 Out now in @meps-ir.bsky.social www.int-res.com/abstracts/me... +Thanks to my coauthors who put a lot of effort into collecting the videos! #seabirds #ornithology #animalbehaviour

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Rav BOO!dram 🎃👻 @rvbdrm.com · 09/01/2026

BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!

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Lisa @tuexplorer1.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

If you are squeamish skip this one. If not, keep watching to the end for a wild predation event! Down in the deep if it fits it sits... in your mouth. #OkeanosExplorer #MarineLife youtu.be/lwuWHMmOpNY?...

youtu.be

Oh My Grouper, Look at that Shark: Windows to the Deep 2019

YouTube video by oceanexplorergov

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Eva Stewart @evastewart.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

After 5 years of sample collection and analysis our paper examining the impacts of an industrial #DeepSea mining trial on seafloor #biodiversity is published! Read here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Prof Michael Meredith 🌊🧪🥼❄️ @oceanandice.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Delighted that one of my Antarctic winter photos has won the 2025 Royal Society Photography Competition, Earth Science & Climatology category. Captured during polar-night surveys of ocean conditions near Antarctic Peninsula glaciers. royalsociety.org/journals/pub...

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Adrian Pinchbeck @adrianpinchbeck.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Residents of an inshore Bridlington Bay shipwreck attend the BRUV for day 4 of #25DaysOfFishmas. A shoal of pouting investigate the bait cage, while tucked away in a triangular hole top left is a rarely filmed visitor in these waters - a shy conger eel awakes and surveys the melee outside! 🐟🧐🎅🦑

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Steve Portugal @sjportugal.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

New paper out today in Ecology and Evolution! Link below. Congrats PhD student @smthmpsn.bsky.social, on your first paper. All about how wild birds learn to avoid a novel aposematic warning signal. And a nice nod to Britney Spears in the paper title.

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Cat Hobaiter @nakedprimate.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

#teamSTRANGE goes to Switzerland! @mikemwebster.bsky.social talking @ Uni Bern about sampling biases in animal behaviour research and how acknowledging them helps us improve replications and ask cool new questions! www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪

A man giving a presentation in front of a screen with data and guppy fish on it

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

While on their field course with us, MSc students from the University of St Andrews carried out independent research projects. One group studied bat behaviour using ultrasonic recorders. Here, they’ve managed to record a Soprano Pipistrelle and a European Free-tailed Bat. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

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Sal Keith (she/her) @salkeith.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

So cool! Specific sounds attributed to 46 fish species in Curacao, linked to video of that fish www.fisheyecollaborative.org/library There's even an aggressive butterflyfish 🤗

fisheyecollaborative.org

Library | FishEye Collab

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

With our thermal camera, we managed to watch the Otters feeding, sprainting and even allogrooming. From the sizes, it’s likely this is a female #otter and two of her kits from this year. #mammals #thermal-camera #ecology #fieldwork @animalsdoingstuff.bsky.social

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

We were very lucky to have a nocturnal encounter with Otters during our field course with MSc students and staff from the University of St Andrews. Stood on a bridge near the field centre at night, we used our thermal camera and watched silently as this trio approached us. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

We’d like to say a huge thank you to all the staff and students from the University of St Andrews for making your field course so special. Thanks for your enthusiasm about local ecology, and for designing fascinating field projects. Good luck with the rest of your studies! @mikemwebster.bsky.social

A group of people (staff and MSc students from the University of St Andrews, together with Sophie and Fabrizio from Merops) stood in front of a sunny meadow, next to a barn. The photo is taken slightly from above by a drone.

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Animals Doing Stuff in Groups @animalsdoingstuff.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Check out this fascinating special edition of the Journal of Fish Biology @thefsbi.bsky.social focussed on how we study cognition in fishes- led by lab alumnus @nickarjones.bsky.social

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Cultural Evolution Society @culturalevolsoc.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

We're pleased to announce and congratulate the winners of the Advancing Cultural Evolution Course Design Awards! This competition recognises leading educators in the field of cultural evolution and their existing efforts to advance its teaching. We have 7 winners and 2 runners up (listed below):

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

For our second excursion with MSc students from the University of St Andrews, we headed to the #Camargue. First exploring the freshwater reedbeds to the north, then the southern salt marshes where we saw plenty of waders and Greater Flamingos. @mikemwebster.bsky.social #birds #ornithology #ecology

A pair of Spoonbills with a Caspian Tern behind them on a sandbank. One of the Spoonbills has its bill open, revealing the sensitive cream-coloured tissue inside.

A group of students walking across a boardwalk towards a reedbed. Sophie is with them, carrying a spotting scope.

Students looking across a freshwater pond using a spotting scope and binoculars.

A Greater Flamingo feeding in shallow mud. It has its head down and is skimming the surface of the mud with its bill.

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Luke Rendell @lrendell.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Super chuffed that @mikemwebster.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social @nakedprimate.bsky.social and I had our course 'The question of culture in animals' among this list! 🐳🧪

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Nick Jones @nickarjones.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

And of course hugely grateful to all contributing authors and reviewers whose efforts made this collection possible. Don't miss Stefan Schuster's opinion piece challenging the "golden rules" of cognitive testing tinyurl.com/bde3wuwy.

A range of cogntive assays and fish species, illustrated by Dr Tiffany Ernst (www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-r-ernst)

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Nick Jones @nickarjones.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Big thanks to @thefsbi.bsky.social for supporting this special issue, and to my amazing co-editors Joachim Frommen, Theodora Fuss, Cait Newport, Cairsty DePasquale, @mikemwebster.bsky.social, @catarina-vp.bsky.social, Libor Závorka & Anne Gro Vea Salvanes.

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Nick Jones @nickarjones.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

🐟 Our special issue "Measuring Fish Cognition: Empirical-based Guidance for Designing Cognition Assays" is out! From acclimation protocols to automated tracking, these studies tackle a range of methodological issues. Check it out: tinyurl.com/vdprfbf4 #FishCognition #AnimalBehaviour

tinyurl.com

Special Issue: Measuring fish cognition: Empirical based guidance for designing cognition assays: Journal of Fish Biology: Vol 107, No 4

The <em>Journal of Fish Biology</em> is a leading international ichthyology journal, addressing all aspects of fish biology, their exploitation and importance to human society.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

We spent a day with staff and MSc students from the University of St Andrews to explore the rugged uplands of the Causse Méjean. We had extraordinary views of the gorges from above the clouds, found some fantastic plants, and were lucky enough to spot 3 species of vulture. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

A view from an upland plateau looking down into a valley that is filled with clouds.

A group of students using binoculars and with a telescope. They are looking up into a blue sky with cliffs in the background.

Students using binoculars while Fabrizio uses a radio antenna to hear if any radio-tagged Bearded Vultures are nearby.

A Griffon Vulture soaring against a sky of light cloud cover.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Day 2 with MSc students from the University of St Andrews, and they are trialling their field projects. Microphones have been placed to record meadow soundscapes, audio has been reviewed from bat detectors, and model butterflies have been deployed to investigate predation. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

Students sat on the ground in a meadow next to a microphone mounted on a tripod.

Students reviewing bat calls using computer software.

A Speckled Wood butterfly on fallen plant tree leaves.

Plasticine model butterflies deployed on a tree.

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Merops Field Centre @meropsfieldcentre.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

A great first day with our visitors from the University of St Andrews. We’ve had a drone demonstration and toured the local habitats while looking for inspiration for field projects. Highlights included plenty of invertebrates, and some amazing #fungi. @mikemwebster.bsky.social

A group of people looking up at a drone. Its landing pad is in the foreground.

An iridescent green leafhopper on a ragweed leaf.

A Cauliflower Fungus among pine needles.

A group of people in a meadow pointing and looking at invertebrates on the ground. Some are taking photographs too.

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