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Opwall Science

@opwallscience.bsky.social
76 followers 48 following 41 posts

The dedicated account for science and research news from Operation Wallacea's global network of field sites.

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Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
New family of flies for me - Megamerinidae This is Megamerina dolium - the sole species found in the British isles from this family 😎 From the @opwallscience.bsky.social @kneppwilding.bsky.social malaise samples I think only a few records from Sussex so I’m happy - check out their leg spines
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
New natural history note out in Ornithological Research documenting novel parental care behaviour in the Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens), as observed in camera trap footage from Cusuco National Park, Honduras: link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Apparent flush-foraging in a crested guan (Penelope purpurascens) family party - Ornithology Research
Ornithology Research - Crested guan (Penelope purpurascens) is a large, primarily arboreal Cracid with an incompletely understood breeding ecology. Here we present novel camera trap observations of...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
Congratulations to Libelje Mortier et al. on publishing the first ever checklist of fungi species for Honduras! This study – which includes data from Cusuco National Park, found evidence for 1365 species occurring in Honduras, although this is likely a fraction of true diversity tinyurl.com/4btmsfe5
mycokeys.pensoft.net
The first checklist of fungi known for Honduras: revealing taxonomic, geographical, and functional trends
Fungi play pivotal roles in ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services. Despite their ecological importance, fungal research remains limited, particularly in tropical regions. Many ...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Great to see the huge “Status & Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs 1970-2024” out, and very pleased to have made major contributions to the Honduras chapter. Overall the findings of the report are very alarming, indicating severe declines in Caribbean reef health: gcrmn.net/caribbean-20...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
New open-access paper by Sam Jones et al. examining the mechanisms governing elevational range limits in the bird communities of Cusuco National Park, Honduras. Results show habitat and behaviour are likely to be more important than physiology in governing altitudinal limits: tinyurl.com/393byxx6
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
New paper in Coral Reefs by Rebecca Cramp et al. documenting Diadema urchin declines between 2014-2022 in two ecologically-different Caribbean study sites (Utila and Tela), and examining the impacts of these declines on the benthic communities in these sites: tinyurl.com/5bb4khur
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
New spider described by Brogan Pett et al. from the Mariarano forest, Madagascar! Welcoming to the World Paccia haddadi – a ground-sac spider that endemic to the dry forest ecosystems of north-western Madagascar, and the 8th spider species described from the site to date tinyurl.com/2f5t6a5b
mapress.com
On the genus Paccius (Araneae, Trachelidae) in Madagascar: two new species, redescriptions, and a key to the species | Zootaxa
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Congratulations to Rachel Gunn et al. for their new Aquatic Biology paper which, from examining cleaner gobies on the reefs of Utila, Honduras, shows that cleaner behaviour is complex ,being influenced by a range of behavioural and ecological variables tinyurl.com/ys2bwdw8
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
Congratulations to Joseph Oakley & Natalia Argüelles-Valle for their new note documenting the first record of the Salamander Bolitoglossa dofleini in Mexico! This extends the northern range of the species by >100km tinyurl.com/ycyuwttf Photo: Joseph Oakley
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Reposted by Opwall Science
Dr Morgan Hughes @thereremouse.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Raman was one of our @opwall.bsky.social research assistants in Croatia a couple of years ago, and watching her impact as a young conservationist makes me so proud!!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
Great new paper by Richard Bodmer et al. examining the ecology of River dolphins at fish aggregations in Amazonian Peru. It found that Pink dolphins formed feeding aggregations in both small and large rivers, while Grey dolphin aggregations largely occurred in large rivers; tinyurl.com/ezxjtmaa
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Nice review by @thereremouse.bsky.social et al. of a new harp design that was extensively field-tested by the Croatia bat team in our Krka National Park field site this summer:
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
An extremely strong month for the Utila marine research team! Congratulations to @jamesboon.bsky.social, @salkeith.bsky.social et al. on another great paper, this one examining how reef structure influences fish anti-predation behaviour!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Great new open-access by @jamesboon.bsky.social, @salkeith.bsky.social, et al. showing high taxonomic and functional turnovers in the deep reef fish communities off Utlia, Honduras - a very interesting finding given deeper reefs have often been assumed to be more stable than shallower reefs!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
New paper by Catherine Sheppard et al. examining aggressive behaviour in damselfish in the coral reefs of Honduras. Results showed predicting aggressive responses can be complex, extending beyond simply whether the subject of the aggression is a “neighbour” or a “stranger”: tinyurl.com/mr3vhef9
tinyurl.com
Familiarity mediated by body size predicts intraspecific aggression in farming damselfishes - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
Abstract Aggressive territoriality can have significant benefits for resource acquisition yet is a costly behaviour. Selection should therefore favour mechanisms that allow individuals to modify their...
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Reposted by Opwall Science
Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
The most gorgeous of larvae These are immature Simuliidae - black flies. They sucker on to a fast-flowing river bottom & filter feed. They have beautiful cephalic fans which are filtering fans @opwallscience.bsky.social @opwall.bsky.social #Honduras #FlyFriday
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Reposted by Opwall Science
Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
Check out the most badass of larva - this is an immature lacewing How cool is nature - from the cloud forests of Honduras @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social #NationalInsectWeek @royentsoc.bsky.social
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Reposted by Opwall Science
Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
For #Flyfriday & #NationalInsectWeek, Check out this golden boy Eliozeta helluo (Fabrioius, 1805) is found across Europe, scattered parts of Russia, China, the Middle east, Korea, Japan & Mongolia! This one was found in Romania, collected on an @opwall.bsky.social @opwallscience.bsky.social trip
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Congratulations to @thereremouse.bsky.social et al. for their fantastic new paper provided a much-needed update to the terrestrial mammal inventory for Krka National Park, Croatia! Great output that should be highly useful for Park managers! Open access too so please take a look!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
New blog post out; our "fieldwork dictionary" summarizing the main survey methodologies used at our terrestrial and marine fieldwork sites: www.opwall.com/article/the-...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
New paper out highlighting the threat tropical storms pose to global island biodiversity. It shows the Caribbean especially has many species likely to be at risk of extinction from storms, and identifies 60 'high-risk' species that could be wiped by a single future storm event: shorturl.at/EAqOS
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
New open-access paper by Asela Buenfil-Rojas et al. describing a method to extract RNA from Morelet's Crocodile scuts (partly based on samples obtained from our Calakmul site), just out in MethodsX - shorturl.at/PXBFO
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Great new blog post by Glenn Shiach discussing the recent taxonomic spider discoveries from our research site in the dry forests of Madagascar: www.opwall.com/article/scie...
opwall.com
Operation Wallacea | New Spider Species Descriptions in Madagascar
Some incredible work in Madagascar has led to the identification of 5 new species to science this year!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
New paper by Rodney Roundtree et al. examining the acoustical ecology of dolphins and fish in the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve, Peru. They document distinct dolphin sounds seemingly used in different situations, and show a correlation between dolphin & fish acoustical activity: shorturl.at/gxerkhttps:/...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
New Opwall blog post introducing Andrew and Annika at RARElab, who we hope to be collaborating with on many interesting things in the near future! www.opwall.com/article/rare...
opwall.com
Operation Wallacea | RARElab: A new Opwall collaboration
RARElab: A new Opwall collaboration towards Rediscovering and Protecting Lost and Understudied Species
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Amazing species to be found in the cloud forests of Honduras!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
Frederico Barosso - our new Research and Education officer - giving a great overview of his thermal ecology research in a new blogpost here: www.opwall.com/article/test...
opwall.com
Operation Wallacea | Testing methods to study reptile thermal ecology
Fred describes his PhD research in Mexico with Opwall where he was testing new methods to study reptile thermal ecology!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
New paper by Hrvoje Čižmek et al. on the ecology of the Critically Endangered Noble Pen Shell off Miljet, Croatia. Results show the population to be dominated by older individuals, making it vulnerable to the mass mortality events posing a particular risk to the species: www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/17...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
New paper showing patterns in neotropical monitoring programs (incorporating relevant Opwall sites). Results indicate spatial and taxonomic bias in these programs, and crucially that many span <10 years in duration, meaning they may not pick up important ecological trends shorturl.at/alx37
shorturl.at
Bias in neotropical and reef biodiversity monitoring programs may prevent detecting changes in species diversity through time
Biodiversity monitoring networks are essential to quantify changes in biodiversity over time. Despite the importance of monitoring, studies using thes…
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
New book chapter preprint out on @authorea.com led by @jonathancazabonne.bsky.social. A massive piece of work using a wide range of data sources (including from Honduras) to provide an extremely thorough overview of the knowledge gaps that impede research into poorly-studied taxa.
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Great to see samples collected by @flygirlnhm.bsky.social at our @kneppwilding.bsky.social project being used as comparative data to support this super-interesting project on demographic patterns in Hoverfly migration!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Fantastic Diptera collection being collated by @flygirlnhm.bsky.social at the @nhm-london.bsky.social from our project at @kneppwilding.bsky.social!
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
@whatalexseas.bsky.social giving a superb talk on how citizen science projects can contribute to marine conservation outcomes at the inaugural Ocean Advocate Summit in Bristol last week.
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
New paper led by Deepankar Mahabale examining hunting sustainability in a community-led wildlife management plan in the Peruvian Amazon. Results show planned quotas with community buy-in can yield sustainable hunting yields, and such approaches may be a counter to illegal hunting: shorturl.at/OTlSL
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Congratulations to Dr James Boon on passing his Viva!
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Reposted by Opwall Science
Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Going through the malaise samples from the @opwallscience.bsky.social trip to Honduras And check out this Phoridae - those wings are amazing @dipterists.bsky.social
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
New paper out last month pooling standardized reef monitoring data from across the globe (including our research site on Hoga, Indonesia) to examine state shifts in reef ecosystems. Results show concerning shifts from reefs dominated by hard corals to more algae-dominated reefs: shorturl.at/4v7dV
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Very pleased to participate in the first Ocean Advocacy Summit in Bristol soon, where Alex O’Brien & Catherine Edsell will discuss the importance of citizen science in marine conservation. The summit is on 1st Feb - you can find more here: ocean-advocate.org/ocean-advoca...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Excellent few days in Czechia discussing upcoming fungi, parasite, and bat research with @teamlaboul.bsky.social
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Important paper highlighting further declines in fieldwork-driven research in the biological sciences.
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Our mycology collaborators are searching for records of fungi-infected ladybirds and would love to hear from you if you have any records to report!
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Reposted by Opwall Science
Erica McAlister @flygirlnhm.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
A gorgeous fly collected from @opwallscience.bsky.social trip to Honduras in 2023 Ormia sp. are very special Tachinidae as they have ‘ears’ on their prothorax that they use to listen for the hosts (Orthoptera) for their offspring to live in and consume 😎🤓 @dipterists.bsky.social
Ormia (Tachinidae) - adult fly Close up of hearing aid on Ormia species of fly
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 28/12/2024
Early pre-print view of a new paper on the inferred impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on hunted mammal species in Cusuco National Park, Honduras now out. Great work by Dylan McKenna pushing it through: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Opwall Science @opwallscience.bsky.social · 27/12/2024
Welcome to Opwall Science! This account is dedicated to sharing research news from our global network of fieldwork sites, as well as to highlight news and stories that might be of broad interest to the biodiversity and conservation science community.
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