Out today in @royalsocietypublishing.org - we show that crab spiders (the ones you usually see ambushing pollinators on flowers 🕷️🌸) get worse at hunting if their eyes are covered!🫣 Sounds obvious? It's actually quite surprising, here's why... 👀 (1/8) royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...

New co-author paper. The angle a snake is viewed cnan have a remarkable effect on the camouflage benefits of its patterning! Hoping to follow this up more soon! doi.org/10.1093/behe...

New pre-print out, how behaviour shapes camouflage evolution for spiders! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

I am hiring a PhD student to join our group in Lund, Sweden working on an ERC-funded project to untangle color and polarization vision in some amazing crustaceans – minute water fleas and pugnacious mantis shrimp! Please forward this to promising students. Apply here: lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Well this is a big one the largest paper from my PhD is finally out! We show how direct lighting influences optimal camouflage! With shadows promoting the evolution of darker, striped patterns and countershading!! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

New paper out now! Biologically inspired warning patterns deter a passerine, Parus major, from digital turbine blades academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

Two identical squares in the Adelson checker block illusion look different, even though they’re the same. @slowfourier.bsky.social, Ken Scott-Brown and myself showed 123 people edited variants to test how context shapes what we see. Data + stimuli openly available. doi.org/10.1177/2041...

Do males strategically associate with mating partners, and how does social context influence their choices? Excited to share my first publication!🎉 It’s been an amazing journey and thanks to @lennartwinkler.bsky.social, John Fitzpatrick & all co-authors for your hard work! doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

Our BehaveAI paper has just come out! Easy & effective tracking & behavioural classification, even with tiny (2px), fast moving, camouflaged objects. Paper: doi.org/10.1371/jour... Download: github.com/troscianko/B... @uniexecec.bsky.social @kevinjgaston.bsky.social @jimamclgalloway.bsky.social

Work brilliantly led by #ECR @sammatchette.bsky.social With @nadia-hamilton.bsky.social @christiandrerup.com #JeroenSchneider @sandrawinters.bsky.social @marinebehavecol.bsky.social @camzoology.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social #predator #marine #fish #ocean doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

New bowerbird paper out, we asked whether male great bowerbirds care about the light environment around the bower where they display to females. Short answer: not really. What they do care about is having a display arena with strong visual contrast on the ground. 🐦 tinyurl.com/2v7rycdz

🚨NEW PAPER🚨 Need to #camouflage on the move? Easy - simply seek out something that's coloured like you and move along with it! 🐠 Read the latest #trumpetfish instalment here: tinyurl.com/4tb5h5hk @royalsociety.org #shadowing #predator #experiment #marine #movement

🚨NEW paper alert🚨 Latest instalment in the #trumpetfish story: colour polymorphic individuals choose to ‘shadow’ non-predatory fishes of similar colour, gaining them a hunting advantage Led by the wonderful @sammatchette.bsky.social Out today in @royalsocietypublishing.org doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Had a great first day at #ASABWinter2025! Many fascinating talks and intriguing posters. If you didn’t manage to swing by and see me and have any questions about the recent research I’ve been doing, please get in contact!

We are delighted to announce our second ECBB 2026 Plenary Speaker! 🥁 🥁 🥁 The amazing Professor Tim Caro! #ecbb #ecbb2026

Larger frogs are better mimics but are more risk-averse in a nontoxic poison frog #Aposematism #WarningSignals #Ampibian doi.org/10.1093/behe...

Very happy to see our opinion article out in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social today. 🥳 We ask whether sexual signals can influence the evolutionary trajectory of naturally selected adaptations, such as protective colouration, for better or for worse 🧐 1/n doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...

We hope everyone is getting excited for #ASABWinter2025 !   To kick off the conference on Dec 15, we will be having a public lecture by Prof. Innes Cuthill about an interdisciplinary approach to the study of camouflage. So make sure you’re not late ⏰

Do you work (/want to work) with caterpillars? Or sensory systems? Or BOTH?! Well good golly do we have the paper for you! We explain the senses that caterpillars have, what they use them for, and how anthropogenic sensory pollution might be messing it all up 🐛 doi.org/10.1007/s003...

Evaluating the roles of signaling and camouflage in the evolution of iris color in Tyranni passerines. Evolution doi.org/10.1093/evol...

BehaveAI is live! Our biologically inspired video analysis tool sees motion as colour. Track animals or objects, classify their behaviour, and handle complex natural scenes with ease. Semi-supervised annotation, no GPUs required, user-friendly, free & open source. Pre-print tinyurl.com/BehaveAI

Leaf? 🍃 Or katydid? 🦗 Our new @plosbiology.org paper sheds light on how these incredible mimics evolved their disguises, and what this reveals about how complex adaptations arise. We find that coordinated evolution between traits might be the answer… plos.io/4oUE741 1/n

#ISBE2026 Call for Abstracts is now open! Submit your abstract by 15 December 2025 on www.isbe2026.com @behavecol.bsky.social

Interested in vocal #communication? How animals provide referential #information about danger? Then see our 🌟NEW🌟 paper by brilliant ANU #PhD student Chun-Chieh Liao out today in @asab.org Animal Behaviour. 🎉👏 #birds #choughs #fieldwork #ECR With Rob Magrath and Rob Heinsohn doi.org/10.1016/j.an...

📢🦋 Our paper ‘Global selection on insect antipredator coloration’ is out and featured on the cover of @science.org We ran a huge experiment to find out how ecological context favours camouflage and warning colouration as antipredator strategies. 1/6 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Exciting news for #ASABWinter2025 ! 🚨Abstract deadline extension for Sept 12 !!!!🚨

🚨Our new paper is out NOW in @jexpbiol.bsky.social 👀 Here we show that cuttlefish use visual contrast cues to inform their 3D camouflage, but these contrast cues can derive from true background features as well as exposure to dynamic lighting patterns. 🦑🔆 🔗 doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

ICYMI : #ASABWinter2025 will take place from December 15-16, once again in lovely Edinburgh! Registration is now open 🎉 Abstract submission deadline for posters and talks is August 29 🏃‍♀️🏃🏃‍♂️ More information here: asabwinter.github.io/2025/

Winter ASAB @asab.org on *Sensory Ecology* register and submit your abstracts now (abstract deadline just a month away)! I'm organising the conference this year with @lauraakelley.bsky.social and Innes Cuthill Register & get more info here: asabwinter.github.io/2025/

Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

🔴New #trumpetfish content!🔴 This species is colour #polymorphic so we dove (pun intended) into how the relative abundance and saliency of each morph influences the #behaviour of their prey. Find out more via the link below! 🎺🐠 🔗 tinyurl.com/39vn5skp #behavioralecology

So very excited for the magnum opus of my #PhD to finally be out in @pnas.org. 🎉🎉 We demosntrate that mutualistic co-mimicking tropical butterflies not only converge in light microhabitat but, as a consequence, have also converged in visual system morphology! 1/n😀 www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

🚨 New paper alert! 👀 In our new opinion piece in TREE @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social, we propose #cephalopods as model systems to investigate the link between tactical #deception and #cognition in animals 🐙🦑🪄✨🧠 Read the paper here: 🔗 www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Was great to be involved in such an interesting paper, now published in @ecol-evol.bsky.social! dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

Why do imperfect mimics (such as many hoverflies) exist? We created 3D printed replicas of flies, wasps and our own custom intermediates and then "asked" various predators what they thought of our 3D stimuli. Read all about it here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨Our new paper is out NOW in @ecol-evol.bsky.social 👀 Here we show that prior exposure to dynamic illumination can have a persisting effect on the visual perception of 🦀, reducing their ability to detect predators even after the dynamic illumination has ended. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The flexibility of social learning and its conservation implications in mammals & beyond. New paper, led by Josh Arbon with fab collaborators Neil Jordan & @neeltjeboogert.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0136 @uniexecec.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social @royalsocietypublishing.org

Fantastic time at #ASABSpring2025! Some great talks, posters and fascinating discussions. Thanks @asab.org Looking forward to the Winter conference already!

I know you’re all sad #ASABSpring2025 is over, but you can put the #ASABWinter2025 dates in your diary: Dec 15-16 in Edinburgh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Theme is “How sensory information affects behaviour”

Super excited to be hearing about and discussing science for the next couple of days in Liverpool #ASABSpring2025

It's out! Read about how to combine advanced animal vision modelling and colour pattern analysis with comparative phylogenetic methods in arguably some of the most incredible critters in the ocean: doi.org/10.1111/1365.... Amazing work with amazing people! #colsci #micaToolbox #AnimalEcology

🍃New preprint alert!!🍃(maybe I'll start using this app more from now on 😂). Excited for my first piece of katydidling to be released into the wild. Feedback and comments, as always, are very welcome! @uniofstandrews.bsky.social 😊 1/n www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

The arms of an octopus are multifunctional and they can even sense light. Chang & Hale recently showed that when light hits the skin of the arm, it sends a signal all the way to their brain suggesting this feature might help camouflage themselves journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/... 🧵1/2

We have a new paper on mimicry and behaviour in poison frogs out now in @jevbio.bsky.social 🧪🌎 The non-toxic mimic Allobates zaparo mimics the bold behaviour of the poisonous Ameerega bilinguis, but is more likely to jump before physical contact from a predator academic.oup.com/jeb/advance-...

In our latest paper, we describe how the passing-stripe hunting display of the broadclub cuttlefish camouflages the hunting predator during the final moments of the attack. Read more here www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @drmartinjhow.bsky.social @jtroscianko.bsky.social @bristolbiosci.bsky.social

Just a few days left to sign up for our light pollution & insect declines workshop - FREE registration & meals - deadline for registration March 21st, and deadline for expert scan suggestions 22nd. www.visual-ecology.com/events/

📰Published📰 Animal transparency: How should we define form & function? 🧪🌎 fesummaries.wordpress.com/2025/01/31/a...

Scientists use VR + lab + field study to rewrite the rules of locust swarming 🦗🦗 Latest @science.org from first author @sercansayin.bsky.social and #Konstanz team ⬇️ @einatcouzin.bsky.social @icouzin.bsky.social @cbehav.bsky.social @uni-konstanz.de www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Check out these amazing cuttlefish. Stealth hunting taken to the extreme!!!

All (female) velvet ants are badass, but why do some species have conspicuous spots on their metasoma? New paper led by Vinicius Marques Lopez out today looks into this: doi.org/10.1002/ece3...