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Yuchen Chen

@yuchenchen0531.bsky.social
44 followers 141 following 4 posts

Junior at Duke University💙😈 | Major in Biology, Minors in Visual&Media Studies and Religious Studies | social behaviors | 🧗‍♀️🏳️‍🌈🎬🖼️ she/her

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Zoë Goldsborough @zoegoldsborough.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
📣🎓 Open #PhD Position (3.5 years) 🎓📣 Want to come work with me on culture and social bonds in apes? 🐵 Apply to join my new group in the @livingingroups.bsky.social at @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social. Full job posting: imprs-qbee.mpg.de/131133/cultu... Deadline 📅 23 October 2026 Please share widely!
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Chris Krupenye @chriskrupenye.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
🚨 PhD position in human, nonhuman primate, and/or dog cognition! I am thrilled to be reviewing applicants this year for a new PhD student to join the Social & Cognitive Origins Group in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins @jhu.edu @jhuartssciences.bsky.social 1/
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Erin Siracusa @erinsiracusa.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Animals are known to prefer kin as social partners. But non-kin bonds are surprisingly common too. So, who forms them, how stable are they & what drives them? In our new @animbehsociety.bsky.social paper we tackle these overlooked questions in free-living rhesus macaques: tinyurl.com/mwsbkjve (1/5)
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Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology @sicb.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Watch the #SICB student journalist chat that accompanies this youtu.be/iu1y_26-di8?... #SICB #Student #journalist piece, on Yuchen Chen by Meghan Forcellati sicb.org/sicb-news/th... & read ICB's paper by Chen, @jacanamama.bsky.social & Hobson doi.org/10.1093/icb/...


In gregarious species, aggressive interactions often mediate the establishment of social rank and dominance hierarchies. Following the assumption that females and males compete under different selection pressures, many studies examine aggression and dominance in each sex separately. However, social selection pressures such as competition for resources or social status may influence the sexes similarly, and more work is needed to directly examine the role of sex in aggression and dominance. To address this, we compared aggression levels, choice of aggression targets, and dominance hierarchies between sexes in captive, mixed-sex groups of highly social monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). We examined interactions at the individual, dyadic, and group levels in 5 groups of 10 individuals each. We asked whether sex predicted aggressiveness, choice of aggression targets, and social rank. We found no evidence that one sex was more aggressive than the other. In most cases, sex did not impact the choice of target in an aggressive interaction. The sex of an individual did not significantly predict the rank they achieved in the group; females and males were equally likely to be high-ranked. Overall, we found that sex had limited impacts on aggression and rank in these mixed-sex groups. Our study provides new insights into social aggression and dominance in monk parakeets by examining both sexes and highlights the importance of studying sex similarities and differences within complex social environments.
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Casey terHorst @ecoevolab.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
EEB Mentor Match is now open! But apps due soon (8/17). Mentees: get help applying for grad school or fellowships in ecology & evolution. Mentors: senior grads, post-docs, or faculty in these fields willing to give advice Org by Diversity Cmte of @asn-amnat.bsky.social Pls share! eebmentormatch.com
eebmentormatch.com
EEB Mentor Match
Visit the post for more.
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Ming Liu @mingpapilio.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
New paper is out! Disease is often seen as a cost of social life. But can it also shape how complex societies evolve? Here, we use mathematical models to study social immunity: collective disease defence in ants, termites, bees and other group-living insects. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
pnas.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Dr. Carly Kenkel @drcarl.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
The list of Ecology/Evolution/Marine Bio Labs recruiting grad students for Fall 2027 is live! PIs enter your position info here: forms.gle/MAGd4ohyPeoY... students (and PIs not recruiting) share the composite list: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Please share widely! 🧪
forms.gle
Ecology/Evolution/Marine Biology labs recruiting for Fall 2027
Please complete this form if you are a PI recruiting graduate students for a Fall 2027 start. If you are NOT recruiting, feel free to share the response sheet with prospective students looking for lab...
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Okay Bsky, you're all queer and like books, so how about a queer book for y'all every day of Pride? 1. Currently listening to Better Living Through Birding, and going to include it on my recommended reading list for Ornithology. A great memoir of being queer and Black and a bird nerd.
bookshop.org
Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World
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Science Magazine @science.org · 28/05/2026
Researchers have identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation. scim.ag/4nTQ3nq
How animals sense Earth’s magnetic field is one of biology’s enduring mysteries. Researchers have now identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons (Columba livia) to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation.

Photo: Andreas Teichmann/laif/Redux
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Ecology of Animal Societies @livingingroups.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Is bigger always better? For social animals, group size is a dilemma: big groups face more internal competition, yet hold an edge over smaller neighbors. 33 years of data on 12 wild capuchin groups reveals how these forces shape behavior. Out today in *Nat Eco & Evo*: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Yuchen Chen @yuchenchen0531.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Yaaayyy shout out to the parakeets, my mentors Dr.Liz Hobson and Dr.Sara Lipshutz, and other people whom I have the fortune to work with in the field 🦜 Thank you Meghan for your great interest in our work and for writing this piece!
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Simons Foundation @simonsfoundation.org · 01/05/2026
Now accepting applications for our 2027 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution! These awards support students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs to conduct #ecology and #evolution research. Deadline is June 30, 2026: bit.ly/4umYKZd #science
bit.ly
Applications for 2027 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution Now Open
The Simons Foundation’s Life Sciences division is now accepting applications for its 2027 Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution.
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Elodie Mandel-Briefer @ebriefer.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Long podcast covering many topics, from skylarks to animal emotions (while also trying to remember correctly results of studies of colleagues 😂) open.spotify.com/episode/5og7...
open.spotify.com
How AI Could Help Us 'Talk' to Animals - Dr. Elodie Mandel-Briefer - #15
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Sara Lipshutz (she/her) @jacanamama.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Interested in a PhD working on sexual selection in tropical shorebirds? I'm recruiting a student for Fall 2027! I'm happy to support an applicant writing a Simons Graduate Fellowship in Ecology & Evolution: www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons...
simonsfoundation.org
Simons Graduate Fellowships in Ecology and Evolution
The purpose of these awards is to provide support for students entering U.S.-based Ph.D. programs with a plan to perform research in ecology and evolution. While we will consider all projects in ecolo...
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Elizabeth Hobson @elizabethhobson.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Grad students! The 2026 SIGNAL Graduate Student Professional Development Program will be on May 7-8 at 12-4:00pm ET. SIGNAL promotes a culture of belonging for graduate students in evolution, animal behavior, ecology, toxicology, & other fields. More info: signal-ab.weebly.com. Register by May 4!
SIGNAL flyer with photos of our two keynote speakers (Dr. Jess McLaughlin, University of Alaska and Dr. Charissa Owens, Yale University) and information on the timing of the event (May 7/8 from 12-4 pm Eastern) and the link to apply. Program sponsored by the Animal Behavior Society. Please visit https://signal-ab.weebly.com for more information; registration closes May 4th. Register here for the free workshop: https://signal-ab.weebly.com/register-for-2026.html
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Animal Behavior Society @animbehsociety.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Hey are you into podcasts? Have you ever made one or know how to sound edit? Well then we have the job for you! The Animal Behavior Podcast is hunting for more folks to help edit their podcasts! They have some interviews but need more expertise on the technical side. Email: arredondo .at. ou.edu
media.tenor.com
a man with glasses and a mustache is looking down
ALT: a man with glasses and a mustache is looking down
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Ammon Perkes @alltheperkes.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Surprise, I still do bird science! New paper I got to help with a bit just dropped: "Individual effort, social strategies and cognitive skills influence nest-prospecting decisions in brown-headed cowbirds" check it out in animal behavior (short 🧵 below) authors.elsevier.com/c/1mvT~mjMDttg 1/4
 A juvenile cowbird being fed by...I'm going to say a yellow warbler? I'm honestly not much of a bird scientist. Image from Idaho Press: https://www.idahopress.com/outdoors/the-brown-headed-cowbird/article_af49dd84-4e0b-11ef-9a3d-e3922b3731a0.html. 

The article is paywalled, but the google search was not: https://share.google/bJUdD1DAOZqE0Sd4p
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Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
📢Fully-funded #PhD opportunity with us ❓Quantifying animal #movement patterns & behavioural #interactions in a changing world 👥Joint position in @bristolbiosci.bsky.social & #MacquarieUniversity 📆19th April deadline tinyurl.com/343acaev #maths #modelling #data #fieldwork #Australia 🙏PLEASE SHARE
Zebra finches in Australia; one of the study organisms for the PhDDwarf mongoose staring at a camera in South Africa; one of the PhD study organisms
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Ben Young Landis @younglandis.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
I know there are *so* many of you evolution and ecology fiends out there who'd be perfect!! "The Pokémon Company is specifically looking for those with research experience in animal and plant ecology, with Japanese and English language skills on top." (IGN) nordic.ign.com/pokemon-poko... #SciComm 🧪
nordic.ign.com
The Pokémon Company Is Actively Recruiting PhD Holders With Backgrounds in Ecology to Work in Tokyo
Special research.
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Matthew Silk @mattjsilk.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
New (competition funded) PhD opportunity with me, @iaciac.bsky.social and @dralgernon.bsky.social www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Higher-order networks and animal communication. Suited to someone keen on network science theory/computational modeling and keen to adapt this to ecology & evolution.
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Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra @jrossibarra.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Fun news! @gcbias.bsky.social and I are teaching a 2-week online population genetics workshop this summer to raise money for the Center for Population Biology at UC Davis. We're trying to gauge interest -- please fill this out if you might be interested! And please share broadly!
docs.google.com
Davis Summer Population Genomics Program
Want to learn population genetics? Please fill out this form to indicate your potential interest in a 2-week intensive online summer population genetics course taught by Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Graham...
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Animal Behavior Society @animbehsociety.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
Are you an early career ABS member with diverse lived experiences that also studies sex &/or reproduction? Do you want to be interviewed for the "I Came For Science" podcast by fellow ABS member Laura Sirot? I bet you do! (Contact info on their webpage) www.icameforscience.org
Logo featuring bright pink background with red lips and the words "I Came for Science"
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Nature Ecology & Evolution @natecoevo.nature.com · 28/01/2026
Ecological and social pressures drive same-sex sexual behaviour in non-human primates 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Ecological and social pressures drive same-sex sexual behaviour in non-human primates - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Phylogenetic regression and structural equation modelling of environmental, social and life history traits across the primate clade indicates correlates for same-sex sexual behaviour (SSB), and sugges...
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University of Exeter CEC @uniexecec.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Internships are now available with the Cornish Jackdaw Project! 🐦‍⬛ Duties will include assisting with nest monitoring, bird ringing, data entry, and the potential to help with ongoing research projects.
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Dr Katrina Siddiqi-Davies @katrina-siddiqi.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
We are looking to hire a Seabird Field Assistant for 2026 for our Manx Shearwater research project. Please share this to anyone who'd like to get out in the field this summer and learn about biotelemetry, bird handling and research into animal behaviour. drive.google.com/file/d/1SGZt...
Last years field assistant holding a Manx Shearwater on the isle of Rum (under a towel), retrieving a GPS device after a bird has returned from a foraging trip!
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Elizabeth Hobson @elizabethhobson.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
I am recruiting postbacs for my parakeet sociality and cognition project, ideally to start in Feb/Mar this year. Help spreading the word would be appreciated! More information and application link available here: ornithologyexchange.org/jobs/board/s...
Graphical ad showing Hobson Lab Postbac position: parakeet sociality and cognition, with a graphic showing a flock of monk parakeets flying towards a social network, two unmarked monk parakeets perched, and examples of our individually color-marked birds showing their dye marks and color codes
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Yuchen Chen @yuchenchen0531.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Thank you!
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ASAB Spring 2027 @asab-meetings.bsky.social · 16/12/2025
If you’re sad #ASABWinter2025 is over, have no fear! #ASABSpring2025 🌼 is coming soon, from March 23-25 at Bristol University. It’s an especially fantastic meeting for students and ECRs 🤠 Don’t forget travel grants are due Feb 1! www.asab.org/conferences-...
ASAB spring conference 2026 logo with gorilla
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Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
I'm teaching Statistical Rethinking again starting Jan 2026. This time with live lectures, divided into Beginner and Experienced sections. Will be a lot more work for me, but I hope much better for students. I will record lectures & all will be found at this link: github.com/rmcelreath/s...
course schedule as a table. Available at the link in the post.
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Dr. Marcela Benítez @mebenitez.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Excited to share our methods preprint on CapuchinAI! 🐒💻 We built a field touchscreen + real-time facial recognition system (YOLOv7) that lets wild capuchins “log in” and complete individualized cognitive tasks. @emoryuniversity.bsky.social @gatechengineers.bsky.social #PrimateCognition #AI
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Delphine De Moor @delphinedemoor.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵 tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
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Christos C. Ioannou @ccioannou.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
@asab.org Spring, aimed at ECRs, is coming to Bristol! Conference grant DEADLINE for Developing Country Applicants (<£2500) or anyone needing an early decision for visas (<£750) is in ONE WEEK, 1st December. www.asab.org/conference-g... Referee statement also needed by then! 🐝🐜🦟🦂🐠🐟🐬🦎🐸🦆🐿️🦓
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bioRxiv Evolutionary Biology @biorxiv-evobio.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Lifetime fitness and annual survival are heritable and highly genetically correlated in a wild primate population www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/202…
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Jay Stafstrom @jaystafstrom.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
🚨Good news, everyone! 1) I'm thrilled to be joining the behavior powerhouse that is Indiana University!! So stoked, starting Jan 2026. 2) I'm recruiting grad students! Are you (or your trainee) interested in sensory ecology? behavior? evolution? fieldwork? spiders? Drop me a line Jstafstr(at)iu.edu
Net-casting spider stretching it netenlarged forward facing eyes of Asianopis subrufa
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HHMI @hhmi-science.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows
bit.ly
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience | HHMI
The Cech Fellows Program is a paid, nine-week summer research experience empowering the next generation of scientific leaders.
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EvolDir @evoldir.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Transmitting Science offers a course on "Introduction to Machine Learning in R" starting January 9, 2026. Learn to implement ML using {tidymodels}. Learn more: www.transmittingscience.com/courses… #course
transmittingscience.com
Introduction to Machine Learning in R
Join our Live Online Course to explore the key components of Machine Learning and enhance your skills in R.
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 22/11/2025
After the Ngogo chimpanzee group killed 21 members of neighboring groups and expanded their territory by 22%, female birth rates more than doubled and infant survival increased sharply—showing clear fitness benefits from intergroup killing. In PNAS: ow.ly/TKmf50XuPjY
Jolie, an adult female chimpanzee of the Ngogo community in Kibale National Park, Uganda, with sleeping infant son, Zawinul. 
CREDIT: Kevin Langergraber
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Andy Radford @andyradford.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
📢Two fully-funded #PhD opportunities to work with us: Topic: Social monitoring & manipulation UK-domiciled black-heritage scheme: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6 NERC DLTP: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp Cosupervisors: #PatrickKennedy @ljnbrent.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social #bioacoustics #mammals #fieldwork
Meerkat pups in the Kalahari, South AfricaRhesus macaques in Cayo Santiago
Dwarf mongoose staring at a camera, South Africa.
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Gregory Kohn @kohngregory.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Inferring the causes of animal social network structure from time-series data
Behavioural ecologists aim to understand the causes of animal social structure. Connecting theoretical models of social structure with empirical observations remains, however, a for-midable challenge....
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Lars Chittka @larschittka.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
The earliest mature debate about animal consciousness occurred around 1900 and centred on the insects. We cover this rich history in this new article, as well as some more recent developments on the topic: royalsocietypublishing.org/.../10.../rs...
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Alec Downie @aedownie.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Two weeks ago now @jennytung.bsky.social and I published a new review in Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, entitled “Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems.” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... A thread below...
sciencedirect.com
Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems
Immune genes show remarkably consistent evidence of selection, modification, and diversification across the tree of life. Parasites are a key force in…
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Santa Fe Institute @sfiscience.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
For undergraduates curious about complex systems research, applications are now open for the 2026 Undergraduate Complexity Research (UCR) program — a fully funded, 10-week summer research experience at the Santa Fe Institute. Apply by Jan. 14, 2026: santafe.edu/ucr
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ISBE2026 @isbe2026.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Meet our plenary speaker Felicity Muth! Assistant professor at the University of California Davis, her lab group are broadly interested in cognition, especially aspects of learning and memory that have a clear function in the natural world, focusing on captive and wild bumblebees.
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Nature Communications @natcomms.nature.com · 15/11/2025
Gut Microbes Can Make Mice Lazy "Behavioral traits get passed on via an animal’s genetics, but a new study reveals that the microbiome can pass them on too" @microbiome.bsky.social #microbiome
bit.ly
Gut Microbes Can Make Mice Lazy
Behavioral traits get passed on via an animal’s genetics, but a new study reveals that the microbiome can pass them on too, providing insight into animal evolution.
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Gerry Carter @gerrycarter.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Vocal convergence during formation of social relationships in vampire bats royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Vocal convergence during formation of social relationships in vampire bats | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
In many group-living birds and mammals, the formation of affiliative relationships is hypothesized to cause vocal convergence (an increase in call similarity between individuals). However, testing this causal effect can be difficult, because it requires ...
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Elizabeth Hobson @elizabethhobson.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
In an increasingly divided world, how do strangers become friends? Parakeets might have something to teach us! New paper on formation of affiliative relationships, led by Dr. Claire O’Connell doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
Graphic showing the paper title “Monk parakeets ‘test the waters’ when forming new relationships” in the journal Biology Letters. Also features photos of the co-authors (Claire, Annemarie, Gerry, and Liz) as well as the issue cover photo of two marked monk parakeets from Claire’s work grooming each other. Also shown are some of the main plots of the paper showing how the parakeets escalate their behaviors from low risk/low investment (like proximity) to higher risk/higher investment interactions (like preening/grooming)
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Vlad Demartsev @animal-sounds.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
🚨Who wants to work with Kalahari meerkats? A MSc project with @mathildemartin.bsky.social at the University of Zurich. #bioacoustics 🧪
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