It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet 𝑅𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑎 𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑟𝑎, the chamois. This agile caprine inhabits rugged mountain terrain across Europe and parts of Asia, adapted for steep slopes and harsh alpine climates. #Systematics #TaxonomyTuesday Photo: Giles Laurent

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet 𝑆𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑎, the #angelshark. This critically #endangered species is a flat-bodied shark that resembles a ray, inhabiting sandy seabeds in the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean. #TaxonomyTuesday #Systematics #sharks Photo: Philippe Guillaume

We had a great mammalogy field trip this weekend with bat mist netting, small mammal trapping, track plates, and telemetry!

Today we celebrate two icons of biodiversity: The graceful and endangered freshwater dolphin. The acrobatic and vocal gibbon. From river currents to forest canopies, these species show us why conservation matters everywhere. #FreshwaterDolphinDay #InternationalGibbonDay

Happy #MoleDay! 🕳️🐾 Today we celebrate Avogadro’s number: 6.02 × 10²³ things… and one very determined mammal. Whether you’re counting atoms or digging tunnels, remember: science is everywhere! So grab your goggles and your sense of humor, and let’s celebrate moles! #Chemistry #BlueskyScience #STEMFun

Today we celebrate the elusive, high-altitude icon: the snow leopard🐆❄️ Solitary, stealthy, and stunning, these big cats remind us that conservation is as much about awe as it is about action. Protect the ghost of the mountains. #InternationalSnowLeopardDay #WildlifeConservation #BigCats

Happy #Wombat Day! I had the amazing chance to see these critters up close and personal in the wild on my sabbatical in Australia in 2019!

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑠, the red-backed bearded saki. This Neotropical #primate inhabits Amazonian forests and is recognized for its thick beard and strong jaws adapted for cracking hard seeds. #TaxonomyTuesday #Systematics #Primates #Mammals Photo: Allan Hopkins

Reminder that The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was built on Mill Creek Valley, a Black neighborhood. To clear land for construction, more than 20,000 residents, 95% of whom were Black, were displaced. Further, nearly 300 Black businesses were destroyed. www.pushblack.us/news/hidden-...

New in rodent forensics: Turns out Chicago’s viral “rat hole” in fresh concrete wasn’t a rat. It was probably an E Grey Squirrel! This paper is a love letter to curiosity. Sometimes science starts w/ a viral concrete smudge & ends w/ multivariate analysis. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet 𝑅𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠, the goldcrest. This tiny #passerine is Europe’s smallest #bird, at just 5–7g. Despite its size, it maintains high metabolic rates & is remarkably cold-tolerant, surviving harsh winters in coniferous forests. #TaxonomyTuesday #Systematics Photo: Alpsdake

Eclipses fool birds into thinking it's morning! Congrats to @rosvall-lab.bsky.social for this amazing work! Total solar eclipse triggers dawn behavior in birds: Insights from acoustic recordings and community science | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Our work on integrated pest management in orchards on mammals was featured in this new article! www.calstate.edu/csu-system/n...

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑢𝑠, the black rat. This globally distributed rodent is a classic tautonym and a key species in studies of #urbanecology, invasive biology, and zoonotic disease transmission. #TaxonomyTuesday #Systematics Photo: H. Zell

It’s National Badger Day! 𝑀𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑠, the European #badger, is a nocturnal omnivore known for its powerful digging and complex social structure. #Badgers live in setts and play key roles in soil turnover and ecosystem health. #NationalBadgerDay #Wildlife #Mammalogy

Look who came by for a chat! Maybe you'll hear what we talked about in a couple of months... Thanks @ologies.bsky.social and @alieward.bsky.social for a great conversation and visit to California State University, Long Beach

NEW CRITTER ALERT

Rest in peace, Dr. Goodall! I had the pleasure of meeting her and hearing her speak at a book signing as an undergrad about 25 years ago. I still treasure my signed copy of In the Shadow of Man. The world has lost a giant in the world of conservation and a fierce voice for all living creatures. 💔💔

It’s #NationalRaccoonDay! 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑦𝑜𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑟, the common #raccoon ( #trashpanda ), is a highly adaptable omnivore found across North America. Known for its dexterous front paws and intelligence, it thrives in both wild and urban habitats. #Wildlife #Mammalogy #Raccoon

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet Martes martes, the European pine marten. This agile #mustelid roams woodlands across Europe, known for its chestnut fur, bushy tail, and creamy throat patch. A classic tautonym in mammalian #taxonomy! #MartesMartes #CarnivoreEcology Photo: Dani Kropivnik

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet 𝐴𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑣𝑎 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑣𝑎, the red avadavat. This small, brilliantly colored estrildid #finch is native to open fields and grasslands of tropical South Asia. They have rounded black tails and the bill that is seasonally red. #Systematics #TaxonomyTuesday Photo: Shantanu Kuveskar

Look who came by for a chat! Maybe you'll hear what we talked about in a couple of months... Thanks @ologies.bsky.social and @alieward.bsky.social for a great conversation and visit to California State University, Long Beach

Today’s a double dose of adorable! 🎉 Save the #Koala Day🐨 🎉 Black-footed Ferret Day Two conservation champs, one epic high five. Let’s celebrate and protect these furry icons! 🌿💚 #KoalaDay #BlackFootedFerret #Wildlife #Conservation

It’s #WorldGorillaDay! #Gorillas are our close relatives, sharing ~98% of our DNA. These gentle giants live in cohesive groups led by silverbacks and play key roles in forest #ecology. #Primatology #GreatApes #Conservation

Some recent additions to my collection show how differences in locomotion styles create amazing diversity in limb morphology! Suspensorial sloths have gracile arms, fossorial tamanduas have short, thick bones to support large muscles. Giraffes have long limbs with cannon bones (fused metatarsals)!

Who doesn't love a good tautonym?!

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet 𝑅𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑎 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑎, the bohor reedbuck. This medium-sized #antelope thrives in moist grasslands and savannas across sub-Saharan Africa. Known for its shy nature and whistling alarm calls. #TaxonomyTuesday #Systematics #Wildlife Photo: Bernard DUPONT

🎉🌍 Today is a wild day for #wildlife lovers! 🐾 It’s a wild day for wildlife! 🦧 Int’l Tamarin Day 🐘 #Elephant Appreciation Day 🦦 #SeaOtter Awareness Week 🦏 World #Rhino Day From trunks to tails, let’s celebrate these amazing #animals and support their #conservation! 🌿💚 #WildlifeDay

🦊Happy National Fox Day!🦊 Did you know? 🧠 Foxes show advanced problem-solving skills. 🌍 The red fox has the widest geographic range of any wild canid. 🧬 Island foxes evolved rapid dwarfism. Celebrate by sharing your favorite fox pics! #EvolutionaryBiology #BehavioralEcology #WildlifeScience

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet Cyanicterus cyanicterus, the blue-backed #tanager. This dazzling #bird from the Guianas is the only species in its genus, which makes it monotypic and a tautonym! #Ornithology #Taxonomy #Birds Photo: Hector Bottai

I'm starting a new series called #TautonymTuesday featuring a species where the binomial is the same name for the Genus and species! First up is #Lynx lynx, the Eurasian lynx! This elusive felid is the largest of the four lynx species, found across Europe and Asia. #Wildlife #CarnivoreEcology

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet Martes martes, the European pine marten. This agile #mustelid roams woodlands across Europe, known for its chestnut fur, bushy tail, and creamy throat patch. A classic tautonym in mammalian #taxonomy! #MartesMartes #CarnivoreEcology Photo: Dani Kropivnik

It’s #TautonymTuesday! Meet Calotes calotes, the vibrant Indian garden #lizard. Native to South Asia, this arboreal agamid is known for its striking coloration and dynamic displays. A classic example of a tautonym in reptilian taxonomy! #Herpetology #CalotesCalotes Photo: Rehman Abubakr #Reptiles

Super cool new armored dinosaur from 165mya has been further described! #Spicomellus afer had spiked ribs and huge spikes projecting out of hits hips. It also sported a tail club with spikes and blade-like #weapons down the lateral surfaces, along with a spiked collar! #armor

New paper out today lead by @tsengzj.bsky.social where we test the 150-year-old hypothesis that the unique jaw torus in Nimravus is an adaptation to resist bite forces using FEA🦁🔪our results highlight some functional advantage of the torus, which are amplified at larger gape doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...

One of the best part of our annual meeting is getting to announce all of our society's annual awardees! This year, we inducted 5 new Fellows to our society. These fellows were all nominated by their peers for their distinguished contributions to the field. Congrats to all of them! 🎉🦆🐝🪹🐒🦜🎉

I'm starting a new series called #TautonymTuesday featuring a species where the binomial is the same name for the Genus and species! First up is #Lynx lynx, the Eurasian lynx! This elusive felid is the largest of the four lynx species, found across Europe and Asia. #Wildlife #CarnivoreEcology

Today we celebrate Lycaon pictus on World African Wild Dog Day! Known for its large rounded ears, long legs, and unique coat patterns, this social predator lives in packs and relies on cooperative hunting. Unlike other canids, it lacks dewclaws. #WildDogDay #Conservation Photo: Charles J. Sharp

Our #3Dprinted 1/4 scale #humpback whale skeleton is finally complete and hung up in our teaching classroom! My #mammalogy students printed the individual bones, and the #MarineMammalogy class painted and articulated the #skeleton with Dr. Jim Dines! It's about 11 feet long and looks amazing!

It seems that scientists got bored when they named some species -- The western lowlands gorilla: "Gorilla gorilla gorilla" Plains bison: "Bison bison bison" Northern European lynx: "Lynx lynx lynx" South African giraffe: "Giraffa giraffa giraffa" The roof rat: "Rattus rattus rattus"

We’ve got a curious new coworker at our Mukilteo terminal! This is Melvin, lovingly named by our Mukilteo terminal employees. He is an American Mink (Mustela vison) and has been spotted a few times in and around the employee stairwell and along the walkways.

Excited to be the lead feature on the CSU Long Beach home page right now, highlighting our mammal research activities and showcasing student research and our newest field project on small mammals! #CSULB #LongBeach www.csulb.edu/news/article...

This is an astounding act of pillage. Imagine this being your legacy: salting the earth that sprouted Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Car Talk, Sesame Street, This Old House, and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me.

Happy #GuineaPigAppreciationDay! Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) are social, vocal #rodents descended from wild South American species. They’re herbivores with continuously growing teeth and a unique digestive system that includes coprophagy! #Rodentia #Caviidae #SciComm

Happy #WorldChimpanzeeDay! #Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) share ~98.8% of our DNA. They live in diverse African habitats, from rainforests to savannas, and show incredible #intelligence, empathy, and tool use. #Primates #GreatApes #Conservation

Happy #WorldMeerkatDay! New research shows meerkats don’t just forage randomly. Individuals hold consistent positions in the group. Dom females lead but gain less weight; older meerkats shift to the sides. Social roles matter! doi.org/10.1016/j.an... #MeerkatBehavior #AnimalEcology

Join us!!! 2 (!) PhD positions on wild chimpanzees and bonobos in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group and Wildminds Lab!!! 🤩🤩🤩

So cool! The oldest evidence of a predator-prey arms race—from the Cambrian! Fossils of Lapworthella fasciculata show prey thickening their shells over time in response to predator attacks. Microevolution in action, over 500 million years ago! #Paleontology #Evolution www.cell.com/current-biol...