I'll never forget visiting Kewalo Marine Lab decades ago to give a seminar, after which Prof. Mike Hadfield showed me a room full of fridges full of endangered land snails-for some species I think the only ones left were in that room. So I loved this #EarthOptimism www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/s...
Congrats @philtorres.bsky.social and @aaronpomerantz.bsky.social on the paper! I look for these decoy spiders whenever I’m in the rainforest and this is the best example I’ve found. #inverts
Cuyabeno Reserve, Ecuador 2022
Our nature note with @philtorres.bsky.social @aaronpomerantz.bsky.social et al. in
@ecol-evol.bsky.social was featured in @science.org #ScienceShots written by
@sahasmehra.bsky.social
#Cyclosa #decoy #spiders #evolution #Peru #Philippines
Thanks to all who tuned in to our Shark Week episode of #ExpeditionX!
We teamed up with an incredible group of scientists to uncover the secrets of the monster shark of Malpelo Island.
That was my discovery! Our minds were blown when this first one we found had 8 legs, one even used a giant spider leg from another spider as its decoy leg
Moss Landing, CA is a biological gem. Go kayak the Elkhorn Slough and you’ll see dozens of sea otters and harbor seals, an incredible variety of birds, and hundreds of nudibranchs in the sea grass.
Double crested cormorant and this chick is taking a deep dive for a meal… down its parent’s throat 😳
Perfect! Thank you
excellent thank you!
And here is the second largest piece of the moon ever found on Earth (!) just waiting for you on display at the Portland, Maine airport. What an epic mini museum they have there.
Currently working at an are about an hour east of Pittsburgh for the week- any recommendations for good nature spots to hit in my down time from you birders, herpers, bug enthusiasts out there?
Big business has big feelings about paying a bit more but here are the facts:
- We’re losing *working families* + billions in economic activity because of the cost of living crisis
- Under our plan, corporations + millionaires will still pay less than before the Trump tax cuts
Holy smokes! I've got the male too! I'm tearing up. Just heard from the scientist that described the new species and this handsome lad is the male. So awesome!
(Chrysometa chuchaqui)
The pileated woodpeckers helping decorate my yard. We use logs rounds to line the trails and entryway, I always love the countdown to see when the woodpeckers start making their mark.
My backyard has bigger banana slugs than your back yard
Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he's going out to buy an envelope: "Oh, she says, well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And see some great looking babies. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And I'll ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don't know. The moral of the story is — we're here on Earth to fart around And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And what the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And it's like we're not supposed to dance at all anymore."
Kurt Vonnegut man
My favorite hobby is finding tiny little camouflaged treasures in nature.
So much cuteness entered my life this week, excited to watch them all grow. Baby girl is named Fjora (like fjord + flora), and baby owl names are open to suggestions.
Big news for me this week: cute baby girl number two entered our lives this weekend, and a great horned owl nest with 3 baby owlets was spotted 5 minutes from my house. So many cute little ones around me it is overloading my heart.
A blue spotted salamander crawling along a dirt and gravel path.
Close up of the salamander's skin, with little blue snowflakes against a black background.
It's the best time of the year. Blue spotted salamanders are out, and they're the perfect animal
Listen to every word.
A new study found that U.S. butterfly populations dropped by 22% in just 20 years. Dr. Elise Zipkin and Dr. @nickhaddad.bsky.social join us to discuss what’s causing the decline and whether we can do anything about it.
Just in one year, just the clean air act, prevented hundreds of thousands of early deaths. The lowest possible estimate of the benefits found that benefits outweigh the costs by 3 to 1. The most likely estimate is 30 to 1. The high estimate is 90 to 1. Ninety. Nine Zero. www.epa.gov/clean-air-ac...
😂 you da best Alie can’t wait to give this a listen!
Measles high infection rate is the reason we have not yet been able to eradicate it. That rate means you need a very high vaccination rate to prevent outbreaks. It is possible, but not with current levels of institutional distrust.
Firing experts 🧪 who can identify agricultural pests 🐛 early on might not be the best thing if you really wanted to lower food prices. But maybe that was never the point ...
After seeing 10+ species of them I learned this weekend I may be obsessed with tropical tanagers. Saffron-crowned tanager and golden tanager, two surprisingly common birds amongst the mixed flocks of the Colombian cloud forest.
Some of the most spectacular hummingbirds I saw in Colombia over the weekend. Brown violetear, white-booted racket-tail, and the long-tailed sylph.
The birds of the cloud forests of Colombia are astounding. Had less than 24hrs to visit various hot spots outside of Cali this weekend, and wow did they show up.
