Gentle reminder that John Odling-Smee, who is now in his 90s (!) published his big update on #NicheConstruction last year.
It's open access and can be downloaded here: direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
( #pleasecite )
Francesco d'Errico, Ivan Colage', and I wrote a paper on the evolution of #collectiveintelligence, epistemic #nicheconstruction, and the material traces of #hominin alterations to informational landscapes.
Forthcoming in PTRS B!
Preprint 🔗👇
osf.io/preprints/so...
🧪🏺 #philsky #paleosky #evosky
OnlineFirst - "The wood storks of Lake Somerset: Multispecies landscapes of the Holocene/Anthropocene boundary event" by Zachary Caple:
#planetarytransition #colonialcapitalistinvasions #nicheconstruction #multispeciesethnography #landscapehistory #Florida
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Screenshot of the article header from Synthese, titled ‘Driftability and niche construction,’ authored by Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda and Grant Ramsey.
Organisms alter selective pressures in many ways. But can they also shape the drift probabilities of their populations? In our recent paper, we argue that they can—and, in doing so, we expand the scope of #nicheconstruction theory 📄👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #HPBio #evobio #ecology #HPS
Gianmaria Dani presenting at ISHPSSB 2025. He stands in front of a projected slide in a small lecture hall with wood-paneled walls. The slide reads: 'Tests for cognitive capacities were originally designed for animals. How to adapt these tests to be suitable for plants?' Several attendees are seated in the tiered audience.
Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda presenting at ISHPSSB 2025. He stands in front of a projected slide titled 'The Matrix Account of Niche Construction' with a stylized image of Morpheus from The Matrix. Alejandro is in a lecture hall with wood-paneled walls and a desk with conference materials and a computer.
We had a great time at #ISHPSSB2025! On the last day, Gianmaria Dani discussed methodological standards for investigating associative learning in🪴🌱, and @alejandrofabregastejeda.com & Grant Ramsey revamped the causal foundations of #nicheconstruction. We thank everyone who joined us! #HPbio #philsci
@uchicagopress.bsky.social's gives a good overview: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Central arguments use roles of #popgen, #quantgen, modeling, statistics in empirical research & theory, but provide context for #evodevo, #nicheconstruction, and organisms. 2/9
Diffusion of constructed resources and specialism promote facilitation in spatial systems
https://doi.org/10.1002/oik.11025
#Competition #Facilitation #Resources #NicheConstruction #Modeling #MetaEcosystem
Great workshop in Hanover to discuss the diverse ways individuals can use to increase their fit with their environment. #plasticity #habitatchoice #nicheconstruction #selection
A few years ago, @kevinlala.bsky.social & I put out a #nicheconstruction resource site stocked w/ beautiful examples, explanations, readings, glossary. The amazing @designscience.bsky.social just relaunched the site w/ an impressive new design!
www.nicheconstruction.com #evobio #philbio #evolution
@kevinlala.bsky.social has just slightly blown my mind. Not only #NicheConstruction but a whole different way of thinking about natural selection. I love going to conferences outside my comfort zone 😃🫠
Hi there. I am Professor of Behavioural and Evolutionary Biology at the University of St Andrews, UK. My interests include #evobio #humanevolution #animalculture #evolutionofmind #nicheconstruction #philsci #philbio. I am active in #antiracism and #edi.
Yilmaz et al (2024) on evolution of human salivary amylase gene: 'haplotypes with >3 AMY1 copies have significantly increased in frequency among European farmers over the past 4,000 years, potentially as an adaptive response to increased starch digestion'. #ehbea #evosky #nicheconstruction 🧪
Figure 3 from Kevin Lala article
"Understanding niche construction and phenotypic plasticity as causes of natural selection"
– new article by Kevin Lala, in Palaeontology.
rb.gy/q30fh7
#evolution #palaeontology #biology #constraints #plasticity #nicheconstruction
Picture of a young goat
The evolution of sheep and goat herding in the Levant arose through “the interplay of climatic-environmental fluctuations and human agency, the latter involving niche construction”
rb.gy/z6q45n
#evolution #biology #plasticity #nicheconstruction #domestication
Picture of dung beetles
Great paper on dung beetles that
"documents the complex interactions between plasticity, symbionts and niche construction, and highlights the usefulness of an integrative Eco–Evo–Devo framework"
doi.org/10.1242/jeb....
#evolution #evodevo #nicheconstruction #philbio #philsci #biology #plasticity
Life needs niche construction! "Without the capacity of a system to control its modifying or
adaptive environment, these environments would independently affect the system’s integrity"
doi.org/10.1007/s120...
#evolution, #nicheconstruction, #philsci, #philbio
Abstract of article
Development matters!
“the evolutionary causal factors grounding developmental biases are not entirely subsumable under the more widely accepted idea of an ecological ultimate cause such as selection”
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#evolution, #evodevo, #nicheconstruction, #philsci, #philbio
woodrat image
Coming soon @princetonupress.bsky.social
#evolution, #evodevo, #biology, #nicheconstruction, #evoevolving, #philsci, #plasticity
Coming soon @princetonupress.bsky.social , Lala et al. 2024. Evolution Evolving
#evolution, #evodevo, #biology, #nicheconstruction, #evoevolving, #philsci, #plasticity
Niche Construction Book front cover
Credit to John Odling-Smee, who went completely blind virtually overnight in his late 70s, yet nearly a decade later will publish a remarkably innovative and interesting single-author academic book on evolution. What an inspiration! Coming soon @mitpress.bsky.social
#biology, #nicheconstruction
Evolution Evolving front cover
“Once it is accepted that the evolutionary process evolves, it follows evidently that developmental mechanisms must matter to evolution; and, conversely, it is because development matters that evolution is evolving.” Lala et al. 2024. Evolution Evolving
#evolution, #evodevo, #nicheconstruction
Not just tents. What would Palaeolithic Allogenic Engineering look like? what scale would it be on? #nicheconstruction
