Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 12hThe fact that I had to stop myself from accidentally re-buying books that I bought during last year's 70% off sale but haven't had the chance to read yet is probably an indication that I shouldn't buy any more books. (I bought two.) 010
Reposted by Nicole GerlachDustin Reichard @juncowren.bsky.social · 17hNew paper with Abbi Turner and @thecowbirdlab.bsky.social! We examine repeated parasitism of individual female dark-eyed juncos by brown-headed cowbirds using the Ketterson lab @iubiology.bsky.social's publicly available dataset. So much nest searching, but what a pay off! doi.org/10.5751/JFO-...doi.orgJournal of Field Ornithology: Repeated parasitism of individual female Dark-eyed Juncos (<em>Junco hyemalis</em>) by Brown-headed Cowbirds (<em>Molothrus ater</em>) over two decadesRepeated interactions between individual brood parasites and their hosts within and between breeding seasons are an understudied dynamic of most host-parasite systems due to a lack of longitudinal dat... 141
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 15hOh, definitely. Trying to teach taxonomy/phylogenetic systematics can be tough; they want the "real" tree and I have to explain that without a time machine, we'll never know the real tree with 100% certainty. But what I really want to know is: did they get the Back to the Future reference? 100
Reposted by Nicole GerlachJim 🇺🇦 @pom137.bsky.social · 14/10/2026Sitting on a car, a very sporty looking metallic wood-boring beetle. My guess is Chrysobothris chrysoela. #bugsky #inverts #insects #trees #forests #ECK #nature #macro #beetles 716221
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 14/10/2026I had one of these hitchhike inside on my shoulder once, then hang out on the bathroom mirror while I got a good look at it. It's the coolest beetle I've ever seen in real life! 110
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 13/10/2026Fun thing I learned today: local legend says that Amazon River Dolphins are shapeshifters who turn into handsome young men to seduce and impregnate women living near the river. They have to keep their head covered when in human form, though, since their blowhole remains. 📷: flaviovarricchio, iNat 040
Reposted by Nicole GerlachMarshal Hedin @mhedin.bsky.social · 13/10/2026you think the springtail knows that this is gonna be a VERY long bus ride ? from this pass weekend in the CA Sierra Nevada .... pure luck 0243
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 12/10/2026The pictures do not do justice to how incredibly sparkly the dew was making these mushrooms. Green-spored Parasol (Chlorophyllum molybdites) #fungi 🍄 0122
Reposted by Nicole GerlachDavid Tan @mangrovepitta.bsky.social · 11/10/2026Ah, so that's what those giant fans are for. 49316
Reposted by Nicole GerlachNick in NC @nicknc.bsky.social · 11/10/2026Marbled Madness!!! Lots of Ambystoma opacum out tonight. I love how each marbled salamander has its own unique pattern of black and silver markings. #herps. 58018
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 11/10/2026As someone who a) lives in a college town and b) doesn’t particularly care about college football, Homecoming Weekend is definitely more Homestaying Weekend. 040
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I can hear the soundtrack to this picture. I feel like it has a lot of kazoos. 270
Reposted by Nicole GerlachCoral City Camera @coralcitycamera.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Manatee w no propeller scars ✅ Healthy staghorn coral thicket ✅ Water below bleaching temps ✅ Juvenile grunts and snappers ✅ Life is good in Coral City 😎 ✅✅✅ #manatee #manateesofcoralcity #staghorncoral #acropora #coralcitycamera 7726140
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 09/10/202623. Florida Gar (Lepisosteus platyrhincus) I was so excited about this! This is only the fourth time I've seen a gar on campus (or at all), despite having looked for them every single time I've passed this part of the creek, ever since I saw my first one four years ago. #LocalVertDiversity #fish 060
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 08/10/202622. Greenhouse Frog (Eleutherodactylus planirostris) An introduced species here. They're not exactly rare, but I see these less commonly than many of our native frogs, which is good. This one did NOT appreciate being investigated by my dog, so I only got the one pic. #LocalVertDiversity #herps 081
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Me when my students don't rotate their images before posting them to an assignment. 0787
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 07/10/2026At most places of employment, this e-mail would be strange and possibly concerning, but in a biology department it's just a regular Wednesday. 040
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 07/10/202621. Sunfish (Lepomis sp.) These are probably Bluegill (L. macrochirus), but there are a few other congeners around campus too. My normal fish-observing path is fenced off now so I couldn't get close enough for a reasonably decent picture. #LocalVertDiversity 020
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Look at this wonderful snooted weirdo who showed up at my porch light last night! #BugSky #moth Beautiful Grass-Veneer (Crambus satrapellus) 050
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I had to read this a few times before it finally clicked, but now that it has: Bravo, sir. Well played. 020
Reposted by Nicole GerlachStephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026One thing I find endlessly funny about the rise of AI is that it has revealed that there is a large number of people who believe that the reason they wrote essays at school or university is their teachers were desperately waiting for them to provide a definite answer to “Lear: what’s up with him?” 6857931250
Reposted by Nicole GerlachDiane Traenkle 💙✊🏾🌈 @dtrenk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026#BirdSuperModel Dar-eyed Junco showing off its curves #BirdOfTheDay 3404
Reposted by Nicole GerlachGet To Know Nature @gettoknownature.bsky.social · 06/10/2026My phone says this is a Panicled Aster and I thought it said Panicked Aster and I was like “yeah I get it, it’s rough out there.” #BloomScrolling 🌿 1348363
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I love these kind of DIY scientific apparatuses that come from some creative thinking at the hardware store! Simple, but obviously effective. 110
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 06/10/2026I got to see an unshelled 3-day-old chicken embryo yesterday, which was pretty cool. 040
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 06/10/2026The front view almost looks like a dragonfly, at least in the thumbnail view. 110
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Hmm, no digits, though. Freakishly large Tiktaalik? 030
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I love juncos dearly, but I have SO MANY pictures of them looking pissed at me. Maybe it's a subspecies thing, and J. h. carolinensis are just grumpier than J. h. hyemalis? #birds 0121
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The Boogieman from the Ghostbusters cartoon. There's still a part of me that doesn't like sleeping with the closet door open.youtube.comChasing The Boogieman | The Real Ghostbusters Clip | GHOSTBUSTERSYouTube video by Ghostbusters 010
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 04/10/2026“That sign can’t stop me because I can’t read.” 🪶 vs. “Raaawr, I am the fearsome lurking danger of whom the signs foretold!!” 🐊 0308
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Wrightsock anti-blister socks are miracle workers!wrightsock.comAnti Blister Running Socks and Blister Free Hiking Socks | WrightsockWrightsock Anti Blister socks designed to prevent blisters and keep you on the move. Shop for run, hike or everyday wear. 020
Reposted by Nicole GerlachSmart Alyk @smartalyk.bsky.social · 03/10/2026DAY 485 SPECIES 485 - Didinium gargantua STAGE: Protists MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek watercolor. Sakura pen D. gargantua is a single celled marine ciliate named after the gluttonous giant in François Rabelais' classic 1534 novel Gargantua. #sciart #watercolor #eukaryotic #protistsonsky 3333
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Thanks! I was definitely mixing up Seymouria and seymouriamorpha when it came to the larvae. 010
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 02/10/2026There's a lot going on in this paper, but most of its analyses puts Seymouria either just outside Amniota or just outside crown-group Tetrapoda rather than close to modern amphibians. I think "unresolved" is the current state but I wonder if there's confusion between being amphibious vs. amphibian?pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govPhylogeny of Paleozoic limbed vertebrates reassessed through revision and expansion of the largest published relevant data matrixThe largest published phylogenetic analysis of early limbed vertebrates (Ruta M, Coates MI. 2007. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 5:69–122) recovered, for example, Seymouriamorpha, Diadectomorpha ... 220
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Stem amphibians? I've always taught Seymouriamorpha as stem amniotes, although the fact that we have fossilized aquatic larvae mean they definitely weren't true amniotes yet. Has there been a revision to the taxonomy? 110
Reposted by Nicole GerlachAled Thompson @aledthompson.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Daily birds 77 - Greater lophorina 644591
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 02/10/2026YouTube's auto-captioning thinks that this calling cassowary is a zombie. Or maybe cassowaries actually do want brains even without being undead? 020
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 02/10/2026A side-note: every single time I see crows (which is basically every day), part of my brain starts singing "A Murder of One" from Counting Crows. There's "joy" in this picture, but counting the ones out of frame, it was "boys." 000
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 02/10/202620. American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 🪶 #LocalVertDiversity We also have Fish Crows around here (near-identical to American Crows), but these were being very noisy as they inspected people's recycling, so ID was easy. (way-zoomed-in pic bc my dog still likes to chase them if we get too close) 120
Reposted by Nicole GerlachJohn Burns @burnsajohn.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Today I sat in the grass and saw a weevil and that was enough. 1334
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Commentary from some passing students about the second alligator: “Yo, he’s straight chillin’, bro!” 😆 020
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 01/10/2026A one-gator day is better than a no-gator-day, but a two-gator day is better than a one-gator day. 🐊🐊 0121
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 01/10/2026As always with these kind of check-ins, it is very obvious that some people are responding from a tablet with a stylus, and others are responding on their phones with their finger. Although if I had to do it, I think it'd probably look like I drew it with my finger even if I were using a stylus. 😆 020
Nicole Gerlach @ngerlach.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I've been having a rough few days, but at least I got a bunch of awesome little sketches from my students on today's "Draw me an amphibian" check-in question. 140