I saw a similar one at the train station today. I was in a hurry so I couldn't get a better shot, but I wonder if it's the same guy... The beak looks different. 🤔

I rarely think much about the Acknowledgments section. This time I do. It reflects how much collective effort went into this paper and our dedication to Ela Hau, who tragically passed away while we were finalizing this work. J Anim Ecol – heritable glucocorticoid plasticity bit.ly/4anJXqc

Boosting origin of life theory, RNA comes close to copying itself Some RNA molecules can create their own mirror images, suggesting similar molecules could have sparked life

Researchers report creating RNAs that can generate a sort of mirror image of themselves and use that template to generate the original.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/46F2BHN

💥Ignite: Caloric restriction-mediated reproductive lifespan extension across multiple strains of the clonal aquatic plant Lemna turionifera

📷 © Robert A. Laird

vist.ly/4q3f9

#Aging #CaloricRestriction #IntraSpecificVariation #Lemnacea #Lemnoideae #Longevity

Proud to present: Suitcase Science, a new outreach format containing 6 assignments to take on a journey to schools in the region, to teach kids about terns, how to study them, their fascinating behaviour and some of the things that threaten them. Wanna book us? Drop me a line. :-)

I am looking for a PhD student to join my new Socio-Eco-Evo group, hosted in Katie Peichel's Evolutionary Ecology Division @ University of Bern. We're offering a fully funded 4-year position, studying social plasticity and behavioral adaptation among stickleback in Greenland. Please share around!

Co-authorship 'rules' are tricky and often unfair. Isn't it crazy that Franz X. Süssmayr, who wrote about half of the so-called "Mozart Requiem" and Franco Alfano, who wrote a third of Turandot, didn't even make it to the Acknowledgements...? 🤔

DNA Break Repair by Homologous Recombination (2024) Drew Berry wehi.tv YouTube video by WEHImovies

I've seen these animations here and there on the net, but I just found their source: this amazing YouTube channel by @drewberry.bsky.social , which is a goldmine. From malaria lifecycle to signal transduction - full of super cool stuff! youtu.be/Xe-83tBcxhs?...

Warm and cool temperatures decrease early‐life telomere length in wild pied flycatchers Climate change represents a major challenge for avian species. It is characterized by an increase in average ambient temperatures, but also by an increase of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves...

Furic et al. Warm and cool temperatures decrease early‐life telomere length in wild pied flycatchers nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #ornithology

Hortobágy Fishponds

Students from University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic

Birdwatchers

Przewalski's horses

Field excursion to Hortobágy after the PhD Conference on Evolution and Biodiversity at the University of Debrecen in Hungary.

Wow! Very cool observation!

From modern tools for ecological monitoring to smart ways to make sense of messy real-world data - including occupancy & N-mixture models - this presentation showed how quantitative ecology can help tackle the biodiversity crisis. A stimulating talk by Brett Sandercock @bksandercock.bsky.social

🚨 Last call for abstracts! 🚨
Only 7 days left to submit your abstract for the EOU Fledglings Meeting 2026 🐣
🗓 Deadline: 16 January 2026
🎤 Oral & poster presentations welcome
🌍 Conference for early-career ornithologists
👉https://eounion.org/fledglings

Don’t miss out — we’d love to see your work! ✨🦉

Tamas Szekely (l) introducing Robert Thomson (r) from @africanornithology.bsky.social. Robert gave a fascinating talk about how Sociable Weavers act as ecosystem engineers in the Kalahari. Their massive nests drive biodiversity & species interactions, featuring the remarkable African Pygmy Falcons.

Eva B. Thorstad giving a plenary talk

Eva B. Thorstad @evathorstad.bsky.social from @ninanatureresearch.bsky.social talks about conservation issues in the Atlantic coast and beyond, at the Evolution & Biodiversity PhD conference in Debrecen

Jacint Tökölyi from @evozoodeb.bsky.social explains that freshwater hydra die in sterilized water: they need bacteria for a healthy microbiome. Evolution & Biodiversity PhD conference in Debrecen

Oliver Krüger talking about how eagle owl population recovery affects biodiversity and community structure at the Evolution & Biodiversity PhD conference in Debrecen, @evozoodeb.bsky.social

Nowadays snow became rare in Hungary, so it's a refreshing setting for the Evolution & Biodiversity PhD conference taking place these days (Jan 8-11) in Debrecen, coorganised by @evozoodeb.bsky.social I'll post some highlights from the meeting.

Coercive citations Reviewer citation requests can turn peer review into a transaction rather than an objective critique of the article.

Are peer reviewers influenced by their work being cited?

A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication We create vector graphics of model organisms and emerging biological research organisms to enhance our publications. We’re sharing these editable graphics under a CC0 license for other scientists to...

A free, open-access library of high-quality organism illustrations for science communication

Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology

📢 I'm hiring! 3-year postdoc in theoretical evolutionary ecology at University of Helsinki 🇫🇮 Apply: jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki-Postdoctoral-Researcher-in-Theoretical-Evolutionary-Biology/1348955157/
#AcademicJobs #Postdoc #EvolutionaryEcology #TheoreticalEcology #ScienceJobs #AcademicChatter

Cool! Remote control is the way to go. The fishing line is the worst object in the field!😱 (Well, unless you're a fish biologist, I guess 😊)

We've been teaching a course where students need to find a question, design an expmnt, collect field data, analyse, write it up and then assess each other through peer review. This is the first year when this fell apart due to AI use at all stages (but data collection) to replace critical thinking.

Some addition to my ever-growing reading list...

Ecological Perspectives on Aging Controlled settings may offer limited insight into the complexities of aging in natural and variable ecosystems. Artwork by Zahida Sultanova.

Controlled settings may offer limited insight into the complexities of ageing in natural and variable ecosystems, and why (and how) ageing patterns vary so widely across individuals, populations, and species.

We call for more research on ecology of ageing!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Excited for this one. Hannah’s research is top-notch and she’s a great speaker!

1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social

🚨🚨Job! 🚨🚨Permanent (75% time) job! We are a pretty awesome research group & seek a manager who deals with everything: personnel tasks, organizing retreats, preparing code for teaching / data structures for research... Fluency in German & English essential. stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de#/jgu/job/51527

I politely declined MDPI Birds’ “editorial board” invitation. Twice. No reply, just more invites. I now realise I was the academic equivalent of someone wiring money to a Nigerian widow... Lesson learned. Spam filter on.

Wheatears are very cool (and sometimes hard to ID in the field). This is an interesting paper describing the genetic background behind their colour variation. Good stuff for another daily avian hybridisation story @jenteo.bsky.social :)