Hot off the press! Check out our new paper on sleepy lizard aka shingleback skink fire cue discrimination led by @ecolojolly.bsky.social DM if you want a PDF.

Just out - our review of social learning in reptiles and its implications for animal culture. Part of a special issue on animal culture and conservation in a changing world. Happy to send a PDF if requested.

Our latest superb starling work in @nature.com. We observe long-term reciprocal helping relationships, and suggest reciprocity is an underappreciated mechanism promoting the stability of cooperatively breeding societies. Led by Alexis Earl and @gerrycarter.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Huge congrats to Jai Lake for submitting his PhD thesis on the mechanisms underpinning social complexity. A huge amount of work - Jai learnt a whole range of new skills in the process. Jai was cosupervised by Geoff While (Uni Tasmania), with help from Dan Hoops + colleagues at Columbia University.

Check out biologists Maddi Holmes and Kathy Potter from @muche-macquarie.bsky.social talking frog science at the Sydney Comedy Festival.

Very happy and humbled to have received this award. A huge thanks to all my wonderful colleagues @scienceanu.bsky.social and abroad who made this possible!

Members of the U.K. and international scientific community are invited to sign to show their support: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Public Statement on Recent Attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives Sincerely, the Executive Board of the ASIH (American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists) #TeamFish #TeamHerps #ASIH www.asih.org/2025-asih-ex...

Charles Darwin was born on this day in 1809. Happy birthday to the architect of natural selection and evolutionary theory - a true legend! Here he is as a youngster. We will be celebrating his birthday in our lab meeting today. #charlesdarwin #darwin #originofspecies #naturalselection

Ever wondered why some animals are social and others solitary? I was surprised by the link between animal behaviour and our own social structures New #EcolClips with @lizardlab.bsky.social m.youtube.com/watch?v=bfER... #ecology #biology #animals #behaviour #reptiles #nature #science #australia

Check out this amazing cartoon by Meghan Swan (IG: @deadpixelproductions) explaining tongue colour in the Australian blue tongue skink (blueys). It was such a pleasure collaborating on this project, which was part of a course at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Huge congrats to recent grads Dr. Victoria Russell and Dr. Yorick Lambreghts cosupervised by me, Geoff While and Erik Wapstra through the University of Tasmania. Both spent substantial time in the Lizard Lab at Macquarie University. Well done!

Check out our new paper led by Ko-Huan Lee and Stephan Leu: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Check out our cool new findings showing how developmental temperature and corticosterone have long term impacts on mitochondrial efficiency that coincide with consistent differences in body size through life! A fantatsic team effort doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

Check out our new paper "Effect of elevated incubation temperatures on learning and brain anatomy of hatchling and juvenile lizards" published online in Journal of Comparative Physiology B and led by Iván Beltran. @sherculanohouzel.bsky.social rdcu.be/d2So4

Christine Wilson (@keytarchris) is retiring from the Lizard Lab after 10 years service! Chris has helped with field work, ordering supplies, checking on animals on weekends and public holidays including Christmas. Chris has been a great friend and supporter of the lab and we can’t thank her enough!

Huge congrats to Rachel Wong for graduating with a Masters of Research! Rachel worked on quantity discrimination in water skinks, which we hope to submit for publication soon.

The Lizard Lab had a great week at ISBE in Melbourne a few weeks back. We had lab alumni, honorary and current members all give great talks! Well done everyone! #isbe2024

New paper on the 'leaping feats' of a hungry goanna (monitor) lizard and the potential impacts of goanna predation on nesting success in zebra finches, led by Marc Naguib.

Have just learnt Animal Cognition will be open access in 2024-Springer announced this with great excitement! But check the small print "The 2024 APC for Animal Cognition will be EUR 2690.00/ USD 3390.00/ GBP 2290.00." I'll publish elsewhere. @springer1842.bsky.social

Check out an unbelievable video of Gould's monitor (Varanus gouldii) gobbling down 5 zebra finch chicks at Fowler's Gap in arid western New South Wales, Australia. The video and details are on Simon Griffith's YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkyP... #herps

Can sleepy lizards (aka shingleback skinks) count? Check out our new paper just published in Behavioral Ecology!