jungle bat, Panama

Grateful to get to know a few bats (and a woolly opossum) in Panama

Natural history on canvas: Brueghel knew about bird-eating noctule bats Just published in @pnas.org, OA for all eyes Led by the one-and-only @romero-vidal.bsky.social, with the amazing @elena-tena.bsky.social and Sonia Sánchez-Navarro @ebdonana.bsky.social LINK: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Lots of sperm whale action on the MBARI hydrophone in recent days. Check out the live audio stream here: www.mbari.org/project/soun... @mbarinews.bsky.social

Rocks falling from melting icebergs host deep-sea oases of biodiversity A ripple effect of climate change is providing habitat for corals, sponges and other Arctic animals. #marineecology www.nature.com/articles/d41...

To see how important US science is, consider measurements of changes in ocean heat content. US data are ~53% of the total. Over half! But removing the US data is worse than randomly removing 80% of the total data, because unlike other countries, the US makes measurements everywhere. 🧪🌊

As an ocean scientist, I'm frankly amazed at the attention the dismantlement of OOI has gotten, while the removal of the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer (our only Antarctic icebreaker) and the failure to replace the JOIDES Resolution (our only scientific drilling ship) were met with near silence. 🌊

The concluding paragraphs of this essay by Ted Chiang are particularly thoughtful.

Still early in the process of working through this collection on "World models in natural and artificial intelligence", but so far, finding these pieces very thought provoking: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsta/issue/3...

New paper in @pnas.org - using playback experiments we provide further evidence that bottlenose dolphins can use individual identity signals + social memory to guide decision-making. Female dolphins use individual vocal labels to track coercive males | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Researchers have identified superparamagnetic macrophages in the livers of rock pigeons to be crucial for magnetic sensing. The finding uncovers an unexpected role for immune cells in sensory perception and may fundamentally change our understanding of animal navigation. https://scim.ag/4nTQ3nq

When the North Atlantic ocean meets Ireland...

Our paper about how resource variability shapes the ecology of social information is out in this issue of TREE! This eco-evolutionary lens helps explain why collective sensing has evolved across such a wide range of lifeforms, from microbes to blue whales. www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Our paper about how resource variability shapes the ecology of social information is out in this issue of TREE! This eco-evolutionary lens helps explain why collective sensing has evolved across such a wide range of lifeforms, from microbes to blue whales. www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Is bigger always better? For social animals, group size is a dilemma: big groups face more internal competition, yet hold an edge over smaller neighbors. 33 years of data on 12 wild capuchin groups reveals how these forces shape behavior. Out today in *Nat Eco & Evo*: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Excellent inaugural lecture by Millie Chapman today at ETH Zürich on ‘Biosphere governance in the age of algorithms’. 🥳 Well done and big congratulations 👏 epl.ethz.ch @milliechapman.bsky.social @usyseth.bsky.social

Our recent paper on human-induced trait shifts and predator–prey interactions is on the cover of the May issue of Trends in Ecology & Evolution 😭😵‍💫 The paper is available open access here -> www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Finished the latest in @aptshadow.bsky.social 's "Children of..." series over the weekend. Spectacular exploration of interdependence in ecology, "bottom-up" and "top-down" intelligent design, cultural evolution, and the complex inner life of a stomatopod. Give it a read!

New for @undark.org: "What I Learned from Teaching Darwin" "For Darwin at least, science was a conversation between humans and nature, more than it was an industry. I wish that were true today, for all of us." undark.org/2026/04/23/o...

Midwater worms >> terrestrial worms. 😍 #tomopteris 🦑🧪🌊 #DesigningtheFuture3 @mbarinews.bsky.social @schmidtocean.bsky.social

This perspective of a galaxy siphonophore is incredible!!! Look at the spiral!! 🤩 🦑 @schmidtocean.bsky.social @mbarinews.bsky.social #Designingthefuture3

PLS RT📣 Two Postdoc jobs at #mpaib with Serena Ding on collective behavior of worms (Never seen a "wormuration"? That's them in green) 🪱 social dynamics of collective dispersal: bewerbermanagement.net/jobposting/2... 🪱 sensory ecology of worm towers: bewerbermanagement.net/jobposting/7...

Electric stealth through bidirectional signal suppression in electric eels and their knifefish prey CurrentBiology

Some favorites from Ray Troll's gorgeous "blue seas, green seas" California Current murals on the old NOAA building at Point Pinos in Pacific Grove, California

Evolution is amazing both for creating this spider and iNaturalist (which helped humans understand how remarkable this spider is)

Extraordinary footage of a sperm whale birth shows coordinated help from family and non-family members for hours after birth, social behavior usually associated with primates www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....

For millions of years the traits of predators and prey have dictated their interactions. In the Anthropocene, humans are altering these traits. In @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social, we explore how human-induced traits shifts reshape predator-prey interactions. tinyurl.com/TREEshifts

New paper in TREE co-led w @jennakohles.bsky.social: We explore how resource variability shapes the value of social information for maximizing resource gain & minimizing variance. This eco-evolutionary lens helps us explain why collective sensing emerges in dynamic ecosystems! 🧪 tinyurl.com/2rurcry7

This rocks

New paper in TREE co-led w @jennakohles.bsky.social: We explore how resource variability shapes the value of social information for maximizing resource gain & minimizing variance. This eco-evolutionary lens helps us explain why collective sensing emerges in dynamic ecosystems! 🧪 tinyurl.com/2rurcry7

3-year Independent Post-doc in Animal Behavior based at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama! Three positions, each including salary & a research budget. Applications due April, 15th. DM if you are interesting in developing a project with us! stri.si.edu/academic-pro...

DISI is an outstanding experience! Apply to keep shaping what makes this community so special!!

How and why does cognition vary so greatly between individuals and species? In @natrevbiodiv.nature.com, we propose the "Predatory Intelligence Hypothesis" which posits that the cognitive challenges associated with predator–prey interactions drive a cognitive co-evolutionary arms race rdcu.be/e5KIj

New paper on age-related reproductive tactics & success in humpback whales, published in Current Biology.🐳🧬 doi.org/10.1016/j.cu... #marmam @seamammalresearch.bsky.social @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social @clairenea.bsky.social @lrendell.bsky.social 1/7

I am hiring a research assistant (vampire bats), a Panama fieldwork coordinator (vampire bats), and also considering postdoc apps (social behavior, any species): socialbat.org/2026/02/19/h...

cognitive dissonance (2026)

This paper is amazing, an early fav of mine in 2026. But who "previously thought [humans] to be solitary decision makers"? Not the authors of this (again, outstanding!) study. From the intro of their structured abstract: "Foraging decisions... are, therefore, likely influenced by social information"

Fantastic opportunity to work with us at Shark Bay Dolphin Research 👇🏻

I love the ocean

Check out our paper which came out last year www.cell.com/current-biol...

We understand a great deal about how and why cooperation evolves, but what about its long-term consequences? Great to see our new review on this out now in @asn-amnat.bsky.social!

I love the ocean

I wrote about the late philosopher Brian Cantwell Smith, and his profound thinking about AI and the nature of intelligence. aiguide.substack.com/p/on-brian-c...

A photo I took in Monterey Bay was on the cover of @behavecol.bsky.social in late 2025! Killer whales are 1 of many case studies explored in our paper "Integrating space, time, and culture in animal conservation practice". tinyurl.com/2pnx2k36 Excited about more ongoing culture + ecology work...

Basque Country, Feb 2026

Very happy to see our ice-fishing paper on the cover of @science.org this week! 🎣🎉 We tracked large groups of Finnish competitive ice-fishers to study how social foragers use social information when searching for resources. 🐟 Link: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... (contact me for open access)

The High Seas Treaty enters into force tomorrow! What does this mean for our planet's largest living space? The influence of this agreement depends on humanity's collective capacity to observe, understand, and steward the open and deep ocean. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Looking forward to reading this! I'm lucky to be making a small contribution to the volume: a piece discussing the unique perspectives bio-logging has provided on blue whales' lives. Can't wait to learn from the rest of the articles as well!

🧪New preprint! tinyurl.com/mr7km2pv When & why do predators share social information? Blue whales produce foraging calls when prey (krill) are abundant & dense, conditions arising from physical oceanographic forcing across temporal scales. Variation in ocean physics shapes blue whale communication!

🧪New preprint! tinyurl.com/mr7km2pv When & why do predators share social information? Blue whales produce foraging calls when prey (krill) are abundant & dense, conditions arising from physical oceanographic forcing across temporal scales. Variation in ocean physics shapes blue whale communication!