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Márcio Zikán Cardoso

@zikan.bsky.social
483 followers 401 following 57 posts

Evolutionary ecologist at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Interested in butterflies and tropical ecology. AE @funecology.bsky.social

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Reposted by Márcio Zikán Cardoso
Brian J. Enquist @bjenquist.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Fifty years since a simple equation described the chaos of biology 🧪🌐 www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Fifty years since a simple equation described the chaos of biology
An exploration of chaos theory in population dynamics showed that unpredictable systems can often be modelled using surprisingly simple mathematics.
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Mike Kaspari @mikekaspari.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
A sad task, well done—Brian McGill pens a tribute to Bob Ricklefs. One measure of Ricklefs’ influence: Ecology students from the 70s on were trained on “Ricklefs”: an imposing tome weaving graphs and equations together with fine, dense prose. Thanks Bob. dynamicecology.wordpress.com/2026/06/11/r...
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Stephen Montgomery @ebablab.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
🚨Job claxon🚨 4-year #Postdoc available in our lab in @camzoology.bsky.social developing molecular and anatomical approaches to mapping evolutionary changes in the brain, using #Heliconiini butterflies. Come join us, we are nice. 🧪 www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
An immunostaining section through a Heliconius brain. Staining and imaging by Dr Max Farnworth.
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
This is NOT AI. These are green dragontail butterflies (Lamproptera meges), native to S & SE Asia. They compensate for undersized wings with long 'swallowtails' to generate lift. Butterflies that fly in cursive, swimming like fish through the air. (📷: Center for Biological Diversity)
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
A nice little Dynamine for you all.
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Anyi Mazo-Vargas @anyimv.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
The Butterfly Science World Cup is going to be in Latin America! 💃💃💃 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 #BOB
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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 11/04/2026
New #RSOS paper: Unveiling the patterns and drivers of scientific and societal interest in Brazilian #lepidopterans: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Life in the city. Saw these cliff-flycatchers on a sunny morning catching insects in mid-air. Managed to see one capture and then eat a butterfly, but it was too far to ID the lep. Right below these convenient ladder-like perches there were brightly colored remains of beetles!
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Journal of Ecology @journalofecology.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
💡We're still looking for proposals for our special feature with @jappliedecology.bsky.social and @funecology.bsky.social! 🪲This special feature will focus on how climate change affects plant–antagonist interactions. Find out more 👉️ buff.ly/RtmeWgE
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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 03/04/2026
I made a little Instagram reel about this image because it’s just so frickin’ cool
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THE FAR SIDE DAILY @bot.cowtools.org · 27/03/2026
“Matthews … we’re getting another one of those strange ‘aw blah es span yol’ sounds.”
“Matthews … we’re getting another one of those strange 
‘aw blah es span yol’ sounds.”
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David Lowry @davidlowry.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Paul Ehrlich has died. Most will remember him for "The Population Bomb." But for many of us, Ehrlich and Raven 1964 was a foundational read that influenced our careers. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
BUTTERFLIES AND PLANTS: A STUDY IN COEVOLUTION
Click on the article title to read more.
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Christoph Grüter @chrisleduck.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
I'm pleased to share this new #openaccess review article on 🌻 flower constancy🌻 and how it shapes plant-pollinator interactions. I hope you'll find it useful 🐝🦋 🌺: tinyurl.com/mrx59pt3
royalsocietypublishing.org
Flower constancy in pollinators: a bouquet of agendas shapes interactions among mutualistic partners
Abstract. Plant–pollinator interactions have become a major research area because of their impact on key ecosystem services. One pollinator behaviour of pa
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
In 2018, a fire destroyed irreplaceable collections housed at the National Museum, in Rio de Janeiro. This timely paper tells the histoy of the Museum and the effort to rescue it from the ashes. url: academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...
academic.oup.com
An overview of Natural History Collections, post-disaster recovery, and digitization progress at the Museu Nacional/UFRJ, Brazil
Abstract. Established in 1818, the National Museum [Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (MN)] is the oldest scientific institution in Br
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Stephen Montgomery @ebablab.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
From our @hfspo.bsky.social project, where we have been trying to test out new methods and ideas!
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
theguardian.com
Indonesia floods were ‘extinction level’ disturbance for world’s rarest ape
Conservationists fear up to 11% of Tapanuli orangutan population perished in disaster that also killed 1,000 people
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Journal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
NEW METHODS ARTICLE: Phylogenetic GLMMs open doors to study evolution of discrete traits. We show how binary models extend to ordinal & nominal traits, using bird data, and provide tutorials to make these methods accessible to evolutionary biologists: doi.org/10.1093/jeb/... Mizuno et al.
doi.org
Promoting the use of phylogenetic multinomial generalised mixed-effects model to understand the evolution of discrete traits
Abstract. Phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) are fundamental tools for understanding trait evolution across species. While linear models are widely us
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Stephen Montgomery @ebablab.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨 Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social - employment benefits - 4 years funding - 1000% fun Deadline: 14/1/2026 Details: www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Shades of blue and red in a slice through an immuno stained brain showing some deliciously lovely looking mushroom body lobes - ripe for investigation during a funded PhD - and the central complex. Image credit: Dr Max Farnworth
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 28/10/2025
Coffee prices are up 21%. Ground beef prices up 13%. Big reason why? Trump’s chaotic tariffs on Brazil. I voted to repeal these tariffs along with every Democrat and a few Republicans, and it PASSED the Senate. All eyes now on House Republicans who are still on vacation.
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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
Insect salivary proteins alter the stability of plant splicing factors Haoli Gao, et al. 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/3PX4GV... #planthopper #PlantScience
Working model of SR45-interacting salivary protein (SISP) regulating plant immunity.
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Amazing eyes of the malachite butterfly (Siproeta steneles). Bosque da Barra, Rio de Janeiro.
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Stephen Montgomery @ebablab.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Lots of interesting evolutionary nuggets in this study, and some we can’t exactly explain! A great combination of Yi Peng Toh’s patient neuroanatomical work and @fcicconardi.bsky.social’s bioinformagician skills, and another fun collaboration with @dickmerrill.bsky.social
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Francesco Cicconardi @fcicconardi.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
New paper out! A nice collaboration. We explore how olfactory brain structures and receptors evolved across this remarkable group, Heliconiini butterflies.
academic.oup.com
Evolution of the olfactory system during the radiation of Heliconiini butterflies
Abstract. Sensory system evolution plays a crucial role in shaping species’ interactions with their environment, yet the extent to which olfactory system d
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
Today´s Guardian has an article about our study on butterfly colors, where we compare butterfly colors in native forest to those in eucalyptus plantations. This is study is a partnership between labs from Denmark, Spain, and Brazil. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
As forests are cut down, butterflies are losing their colours
The insects’ brilliant hues evolved in lush ecosystems to help them survive. Now they are becoming more muted to adapt to degraded landscapes – and they are not the only things dulling down
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Wayne Maddison @waynemaddison.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Confused writing is usually a symptom of confused thinking. As we struggle to clarify writing, we clarify our thoughts. AI writing aids rob us of that struggle, leaving clean-looking text and thoughts still confused for lack of inspection. Writing is not just a product; it is a diagnostic tool.
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Excellent initiative! I grew up thinking Greenland was huge and larger than the whole of South America. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
African Union joins calls to end use of Mercator map that shrinks continent’s size
Member states back Correct the Map campaign that urges governments and organisations to use more accurate map
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Besides Trumpf deranged interference in my country, I am down to a new low. I have sent a manuscript for review to (so far) 11 potential reviewers (7 declined; 4 did not respond). I am now bothering a 12th potential reviewer... Any fellow assistant editors out there have had this happening before?
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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Trump is now imposing tariffs for political retribution.
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Paul Krugman @pkrugman.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
With everything else going on, I'm not sure people realize that Trump's latest tariff on Brazil took things to a new (lower) level paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trumps-dic...
paulkrugman.substack.com
Trump's Dictator Protection Program
Using tariffs to fight democracy
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Fantastic place to work!
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Stephen Montgomery @ebablab.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
🚨Anyone want a job?🚨 We have two #postdocs up for grabs! 🧪 - cell developmental biology/#evodevo/#neuroevodevo - bioinformatics and molecular biology Both working on brain evolution in Heliconiini butterflies Details below! Please repost 🙏 1/n
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Adriana Darielle Mejía Briscoe @adrianabriscoe.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Are you originally from a non-U.S. country interested in doing a postdoc in my lab? We study the evolution of butterfly vision and coloration. The Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellowship Letter of Intent deadline is May 7. Please contact me if interested. www.hfsp.org/funding/hfsp...
hfsp.org
Postdoctoral Fellowships | Human Frontier Science Program
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Chris van Swaay @chrisvanswaay.eurosky.social · 06/05/2025
Enjoy this great short (9 min) film on the work of Constanti Stefanescu, co-ordinator of the Catalan Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Such schemes are not only important for the butterfly counts, but also as a social network bringing butterflies to the people. www.youtube.com/watch?v=d__p...
youtube.com
CHASING BUTTERFLIES
YouTube video by KAVU
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Richard Merrill @dickmerrill.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Interested in a PhD connecting sensory ecology and evolutionary genetics? Applications are now open for a project on the Speciation Genomics of Eye Size Variation in Heliconius Butterflies in our lab at LMU Munich: www.evol.bio.lmu.de/research/mer... Please repost!
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
First visit to a protected area that hosts the endangered butterfly Parides ascanius (Fluminense swallowtail). A small enclave in the heart of highly urbanized West Rio. Its host plant is the trilobed vine depicted here. The other vine is a passionflower plant. Tiger moth is a beautiful Poliopastea.
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Bori @borinasredes.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
📢ATENÇÂO, JORNALISTA A Bori convida você para um debate com especialistas sobre aditivos alimentares. Vamos entender o que está por trás do uso dessas substâncias pela indústria e como isso afeta nossa saúde. Coletiva Desvendando os aditivos alimentares: o que estamos consumindo? 🧶
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Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
With some 20,000 species- four times the total diversity of mammals- ants have developed an enormous variety of forms. This is the soldier of Pheidole absurda, from Texas.
Photo of an angular orange ant in top view, standing on a pure white surface. The ant’s head is rectangular, shiny like glass, and nearly as long as the rest of the body.
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
Greetings from a cloudy afternoon in Rio.
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Márcio Zikán Cardoso @zikan.bsky.social · 18/04/2025
Kicking-up our Easter lab meeting with a chocolate bar extravaganza and a great talk by our newest post-doc Marilia Costa on land-use change and its impact on ant communities. Looking forward to a productive 3-year collaboration!
A gathering of folks holding chocolate bars and being happy
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Ritabrata Chowdhury @ritabrata1907.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Happy to share my first major PhD work, where we show that Heliconiini caterpillars have developed more puncture resistant cuticle as a counter-adaptation against sharp Passiflora trichomes. However, we also show that the trichomes affect post ingestion, suggesting that the arms-race continues!
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IPBES @ipbes.net · 12/02/2025
The 2025 @tylerprize.bsky.social has been awarded to Sandra Díaz & Eduardo Brondízio for their stellar bodies-of-work. Not only are they the 1st recipients from S. America, but they were also 2/3 co-Chairs of @ipbes.net #GlobalAssessment. 🌍🧪 Congratulations! Read more: www.tylerprize.org
An image of Sandra Díaz & Eduardo Brondízio with the Tyler Prize logo. Overlay text reads "'Nobel Prize for Environment' awarded to two powerful voices from the Global South."
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The Company of Biologists @biologists.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Early-career researchers: Apply by 14 February for a funded place at the 'Democratising Microscopy in Latin America: Imaging Across Scales and Regions' Workshop occurring 12-15 October 2025. bit.ly/4aXgFxq #Microscopy #SciSky
Workshop Democratising Microscopy in Latin America

Organisers: Constadina Arvanitis, Mario Del Rosario, Helena De la Torre, Mariana De Niz, Maria Fernanda Latorre Barragán and Licyel Lenny Paulas Condori
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Functional Ecology @funecology.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
📢Senior Editor vacancy! We're looking for an active researcher with broad interests in #animal #ecology & related fields, to join our #editorial team ⏰Deadline 20th Feb 👇Full details www.britishecologicalsociety.org/content/seni...
britishecologicalsociety.org
Senior Editor - British Ecological Society
Join the editorial board on Functional Ecology! Apply by 20 Feb 2025.
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Nature @nature.com · 24/01/2025
Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X go.nature.com/42tH8Ai
go.nature.com
Bluesky’s science takeover: 70% of Nature poll respondents use platform
Roughly 6,000 readers answered our poll, with many declaring that Bluesky was nicer, kinder and less antagonistic to science than X.
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Andrew Warren @andybugguy.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Here is a swarm of Painted Lady butterflies to make your day complete! (Vanessa cardui), Douglas County, Colorado, USA
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Johanna Mappes @jmappes.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
🧪Why does warning signal variability persist in #aposematic species? Our new @sse-evolution.bsky.social paper explores this using data from 64,741 🤯 A.plantaginis, raised over 25 generations. Spoiler: no evidence that life-history traits constrain warning colours! academic.oup.com/evolut/advan...
academic.oup.com
Evolutionary potential and constraints in an aposematic species: Genetic correlations between warning coloration and fitness components in wood tiger moths
Abstract. Variability in warning signals is common but remains puzzling since deviations from the most common form should result in a higher number of pred
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Johanna Mappes @jmappes.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
Still time to apply! My lab has a postdoc position open! Helsinki is great and working environment is fantastic! join us! #colours #polymorphism #behavior #experiments #lepidoptera predatorpreyinteractions.com/opportunities/
predatorpreyinteractions.com
Opportunities
New opportunities Undergraduate opportunities Postdoctoral Research New opportunities Postdoctoral Researcher in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology on Colour Polymorphism We are seeking a passionate …
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Journal of Experimental Biology @jexpbiol.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
13 December is the deadline to submit your abstract for a poster or oral presentation at the Biologists @ 100 meeting #biologists100 24-27 March 2025 @ the ACC Liverpool conference centre Don't miss the chance to tell us about your research 100yearsconference.biologists.com/abstracts/
Postcard saying:
JEB Symposium, Sensory perception in a changing world.
Organised by Kathleen Gilmour, Almut Kelber and Sanjay Sane.
Part of Biologists @ 100
24-27 March 2025, ACC Liverpool, UK.
Register now.
Early-bird deadline: 17 January 2025
The Company of Biologists 100 logo is in the bottom left corner.
On the right side is an photo of a moth visiting a flower.
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Andrew Warren @andybugguy.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Sapsuckers are, without a doubt, my favorite birds! They drill these elaborate sap wells, which attract lots of insects... Here is a Red-naped Sapsucker hard at work, with some insects that came to her wells- Mourning Cloak, Red Admiral, Satyr Anglewing, plus Honey Bees and Bald-faced Hornets.
Female Red-naped Sapsucker busy drilling sap wells. Douglas County, Colorado, August 2016.Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) sipping sap from a sap well, together with Honey Bees and Bald-faced Hornets. Douglas County, Colorado, August, 2016.A Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) came to join the Mourning Cloak at the sap well. Satyr Anglewing (Polygonia satyrus) sharing the sap well with Honey Bees and Bald-faced Hornets. The insects at the sap well remained all afternoon.
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CassWArt 🌴 @casswart.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
It's Thanksgiving in the US today! I thought it would be nice to do a sketch study of the Ocellated Turkey, a species of turkey found as far south as the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, and parts of Belize and Guatemala. Much more colorful than the Eastern US turkey. 🦃 #BirdArt #NatureArt #WildlifeArt
Sketch studies of the Ocellated Turkey, a vibrant colorful variation of Eastern turkey, adorning a bright blue head and rainbow-colored feathers. The tips of the male turkey have gold-tipped tail feathers.
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