Exciting new research published in @currentbiology.bsky.social by our guest scientist and former group leader @jmrko.bsky.social. The study highlights insights from connectomics research in songbirds. „Tunneling neurons“ open new perspectives on how adult neural circuits may regenerate.
🔊 Research analyst for bioacoustics position open with The One and Only Susan Parks, Syracuse Uni: www.sujobopps.com/postings/112...
🚨 Job alert!
#PhD in #Biomechanics × #Neuroscience to study birdsong 🎵🐤 @mecadev.bsky.social and @neuropsi.bsky.social
We are pre-selecting a candidate by April 15 to compete to InLife & IPV 2026 doctoral program (interview: May 20)
🔗 Full offer: sites.google.com/site/pauline...
Please share!
🎉New paper out from the lab, led by @baptistepiqueret.bsky.social: ant larvae chemically suppress the reproduction of their caregivers. bit.ly/4t8uZLG
An example of how social interactions are regulated at the molecular level. The work was made possible by the unique environment @mpi-ce.bsky.social
🐟+🐚 =🏠 Shell-dwelling cichlids are true underwater architects, instinctively transforming empty snail shells into protective nests. New research shows: They improve with practice, remember what they learned, and adapt to unusual conditions.
🔗 Press release: www.bi.mpg.de/news/2026-04...
Applications are now OPEN for 13 PhD fellowships in the Doctoral Programme in Cognitive and Brain Sciences at CIMeC, University of Trento, Italy!
📅 Deadline: May 7, 2026
🧠 Research fields: brain, neuroscience, cognition, language, neuroimaging, vision and more.
ℹ More info
🔗 phd.unitn.it/drcimec/
Zebra finches in Australia; one of the study organisms for the PhD
Dwarf mongoose staring at a camera in South Africa; one of the PhD study organisms
📢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
The greater honeyguide bird on a honeycomb on a tree stump. Photo by Nigel Dennis
A Swati honey-hunter whistling on a hollow fruit to recruit a greater honeyguide. Photo by Jessica van der Wal
In parts of Africa, greater honeyguide birds guide people to bees’ nests. Honey for the people; in return, wax and brood for the bird: a perfect win-win.
This 🧵 explores a remarkable, culturally sustained partnership between people of Eswatini and a wild bird. #BOU2026 #ornithology
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NeurodivergNet is a grassroots network founded by and for neurodivergent employees of the Max Planck Society. A place where people can connect & support one another, as well as a platform for collaboration on raising awareness and advocating for accessibility in the field of #neurodiversity.
We are looking for a new Vocational Training Manager for BioLab Technicians. The position will work for @mpiforbi.bsky.social as well as @mpibiochem.bsky.social.
❕ Apply until: April 29
❕ www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/43...
#hiring #jobalert #VocationalTraningManager #BioLab #Laboratory
Two Masters thesis position openings up on the lab website: activesensingcollectives.com/openings
Especially interesting perhaps if you're into acoustics, graphical design, realtime visualisations, and algorithms.
Please do spread the word and forward in your circles.
Female superb lyrebird. Photo: Wikimedia commons
Fig. 4 from the article: Duration of element types with age. Ambiguous elements were significantly shorter in older females than younger females. By contrast, effects of age on conspecific and mimetic element length were not significant.
Fig. 5 from the article: Mimicry of predator vocalisations and mimicry of non-predator vocalisations and their probability of occurrence.
New paper: Female superb lyrebirds show diverse vocal mimicry unrelated to age, but older females more often mimic predators, suggesting mimicry is fine-tuned for nest defence rather than sexual selection.
➡️ vist.ly/4x338
#ornithology #birds #mimicry #vocalisation #age
Pablo Villar et al discover male octopus mating arms are sensory organs used to find females, navigate internally to the oviduct & deliver sperm. From behavior to structure, these findings offer a framework for how sensory systems shape reproduction & species barriers
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Had a lot of fun the last couple of days while filming with NHK (Japan Broadcasting Company). Thank you for covering our research!
New #PhD on #bees (BeeHd?)! Despite the ad saying "UK Students only", a limited number of scholarships are available for international candidates. So please apply!
This work was led by freshly celebrated PhD Hanna Algora with vital contributions from @koivulakari.bsky.social @vmpakanen.bsky.social @jellybb.bsky.social, Kriszti Kupán and others
Nest failure in threatened #shorebirds has many reasons. Replacing eggs of vulnerable clutches with dummy eggs boosts nest survival of #Ruffs in grazed coastal meadows. New paper out 🎉 dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3... in @ecol-evol.bsky.social #conservation #ornithology
🤩 What a beauty! But boring for you, I guess. No sex role reversal in that species. 😂
Thanks, Christian! 😊
Have you ever asked yourself, how insect brains represent places? And whether insects do have place cells? Then move to Germany this summer and start your PhD in my lab. We conduct tetrode recordings from bumblebees that freely forage laboratory mazes. 🧠🐝#BeeSpace @erc.europa.eu @neuroethology.org
Very, very happy about receiving this grant!!! Thank you @hfspo.bsky.social for supporting us.
Today, we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science! At our Institute, 60% of scientists are women, and each brings a unique perspective, curiosity, and voice to science. We are proud to introduce some of our female researchers and share their personal insights and motivation.
1 lab. 2 days. 10 students. 🥼 🔬 🧪
Last week, we invited outstanding students from all over Bavaria who had qualified for the International Biology Olympiad. Our Maxlab was transformed into a hands-on biology training camp.
This is what future scientists look like: thinking, experimenting, exploring.
Who benefits from mating with multiple partners? Darwin suspected that in some cases, it may be the females rather than the males. A new long-term study on African coucals shows: when males provide all parental care, females can have more offspring by competing for and mating with multiple partners.
Most of us are familiar with the nightingale's song, but did you know there's more to it than just a melody?
Read more: doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
@danielavallentin.bsky.social @tpvogels.bsky.social @mpiforbi.bsky.social
Two weeks left to apply for our graduate school IMPRS-BI and join us as a PhD student! Find out more: imprs-bi.mpg.de
Very nice review of the neuroscience underlying bat #bioacoustics ⬇️
Illustration of female and male yellow warblers and their respective songs. On top, two duets are shown in spectrograms with male parts marked in red and female parts marked in yellow. On the left are three female songs and on the right are three different male songs. Illustrations are courtesy of Lena Gies.
Excited to share our new preprint!
Unlike the North American yellow warblers, females in Galápagos commonly sing and duet with their paired partners. Here, we tested possible functions with a playback experiment: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
🌧️📱 rain calls 📱🌧️
Cool study in @behavecol.bsky.social from Framond et al. (Brumm lab, @mpiforbi.bsky.social) of a poorly understood chaffinch call type
Based on playbacks + field studies they conclude these are female-directed alarm calls
academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
#prattle 💬
#bioacoustics
Pic taken last November in the South African Kalahari. Don't remember the specie's name 😬.
