Fluted Giant Clam on John Brewer Reef, on the #GreatBarrierReef 🪸 Giant clams are hermaphrodites, developing both male and female sex organs. #BiodiversityMonth #Australia

Brolgas at Corroboree Billabong #NT A member of the crane family, renowned for their spectacular courtship dances. (This photo isn't showing that...) #BiodiversityMonth #Australia

Just dipping a toe into the very diverse damselfish family (Pomacentridae) with this post. The Fishes of Australia website lists 161 species in Australian waters alone... "Nemo" being the most famous 🐠 fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/family/... #fish #reef #scicomms #biology #australia

It's International #FlamingoDay. Here are some American Flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) I saw in the Santuario de Fauna y Flora Los Flamencos near #Riohacha in #Colombia 🦩🇨🇴 By far the best #flamingo plumage, imho. Deeper pink, black wings 🤌 #ornithology #birds #biodiversity #nature #wildlife

The key information in this post is knowing the difference between Whitetip Reef #Sharks (not very dangerous) and Oceanic Whitetips (pretty dangerous) 🦈 What part of the ocean they're living in is a good place to start 🪸 🌊 #fish #biology #marine

I've just finished another #YouTube #video from an Australian #nationalpark: the Dandenongs 📹🥾 It's half an hour of... 🎶 Lyrebirds mimicking stuff 🪶 Kookaburras scary laughing 🌿 Very tall ferns 🌳 Even taller eucalyptus #biodiversity #botany #nature #wildlife #travel youtu.be/G2pZ8toLhI0?...

🌿 Our new study in @natplants.nature.com: Most European temperate forest plants are associated with semi-open, herbivore-shaped habitats—not closed-canopy #forests 🐎🌳🔆🌸 Highlights the need for trophic #rewilding in #conservation & need to avoid uniform dense #reforestation🌿 📄 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Not every #bird in #Australia is rainbow-coloured. But this Grey-headed Robin (Heteromyias cinereifrons) still makes for a nice photo... #ornithology

This latest #FishOfTheWeek post for the ASFB is a bit of an icon. Fastest fish in the ocean, the Sailfish 🐟💨

A Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia bicolor) I encountered in the #Dandenongs near #Melbourne. They like thick undergrowth, so it was nice to see one out in the open. #australia #wildlife #nature #marsupials #wallaby #macropods

I learned a #newword creating this post... Euryhaline: animals that live in both salt and fresh water. Northern #Australia is a world leader in euryhaline #sharks and #rays 🦈

Where were you when you saw your first wild #monotreme? #platypus #Malanda #AthertonTablelands #Australia #wildlife

Another day, another "international day"... UN Int. Day of #Forests, anyone? I recently went to the very rare mabi forests of northern #Queensland, where the famous Curtain Fig (Ficus virens) only survived because the ground is strewn with basalt boulders no one could be bothered to move...

It's #WorldFrogDay 🐸 I snapped this guy among the bryophytes of Beinn Eighe in the Scottish #Highlands. And shortly after (a while ago now) wrote this article on the differences between #frogs and #toads... 🤯 luke-lythgoe.bio/articles/fro... #biodiversity #nature #herpetology #anurans

As part of my gig doing #comms for @austsocfishbiol.bsky.social, I've launched a new #FishOfTheWeek series. People seem quite taken with the Spangled Emperor (Lethrinus nebulosus) today ✨🐟 #Australia #fish #biology #reefs #biodiversity

This Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) paused just long enough for a photo in the #Dandenongs just outside #Melbourne 🐦📸 Although it looks very similar to European Robins (Erithacus rubecula) of Christmas card fame, they are only distantly related. #birds #ornithology #birdsofaustralia

As well as being on my shortlist of potential wrestling names, "The Succulent Karoo" is an arid #biodiversity hotspot in #SouthAfrica and #Namibia. This article on #plant #poaching in E360 is critical reading for any tiny plant lovers... e360.yale.edu/features/sou... #succulents #extinction

It's #WorldWildlifeDay! And because it's important to appreciate the smaller #wildlife, here is a very pretty endemic Australian sea #snail with a fantastic name... The Pyramid Noddiwink (Nodilittorina pyramidalis) #marinebiology #beachlife #conchology #gastropods 📍 #RoyalNationalPark, #NSW

Have you voted for #EucalyptOfTheYear2025 yet? I was a bit basic and went for the tallest ones, Mountain Ash. But I had a lovely time walking among them in the #Dandenongs in January, so no regrets here... eucalyptaustralia.org.au/eucalypt-of-... #gumtrees #eucalyptus #botany #Australia #nature

Today is #WorldSeagrassDay, celebrating the flowering plants that dared to go back into the sea... 🌿🌊 📸 Helford Estuary, #Cornwall #biodiversity #botany #plants #wildlife #marine #seagrass

Saw a White-browed Hawk-moth (Gnathothlibus eras) in the garden 🦋 Big #minibeast with a 10cm wingspan. Got some close-ups of its hairy brow 📷 #australia #insects #entomology #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #lepidoptera #moths #mothsmatter

Got my #rocks off to some #geology at the weekend. White Blow (near #Ravenswood #QLD) is a house-sized lump of #quartz sticking out of the tropical savanna💎🌳 Formed 300 MYA, all the granite that formed around it has since eroded. White Blow is a conspicuous reminder of #Queensland's volcanic past🌋

I've been working on a #YouTube series, exploring the #wildlife and #ecology as I wander random #nationalparks in #Australia. The second episode is on the Hunter Wetlands, a natural gem sandwiched between a huge coal port and famous wine region... #birds #botany #badjokes youtu.be/5sXsGQ44Yx4?...

Most flashy name for a #dragonfly? My vote would be Zircon Flutterer (Rhyothemis princeps) Aussie odo-naturalists call it "Sapphire Flutterer". But another dragonfly in southeast Asia has that name, so @inaturalist.bsky.social lists it as Zircon Flutterer. 📸📍Ross River, #Townsville #entomology

💭 I thought: That's a strange moth... 👀 Then it started walking backwards! 🔎 Turns out it's a #planthopper, possibly Platybrachys...? #entomology #hemiptera #truebugs #insects #tropics #Australia #Queensland #nature #wildlife

"I guess this table's taken..." This Purple-winged Mantis (Tenodera australasiae), all 9cm of it, is one of several challenges finding a spot for #lunch at #JCU #tropics #australia #entomology #insects #alfrescodining #mantis

🌳 What's the second oldest #nationalpark in the world? 🪶 Why do so many shearwaters wash up on Aussie #beaches? 🎱 Are these #rockpools even safe? 🎬 Find out in the very first #biodiversity #video for my Biodiversions #YouTube channel 👇 youtu.be/ZQcn0CxIseg?... Share. Like. Subscribe. Etc. 🙏

"Flying foxes have done more for this country than you or I might hope to achieve." #bats #australia #biodiversity www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Sa...

Washed up in #Townsville: Portuguese Man O' War a.k.a. Bluebottle (Physalia physalis). A #hydrozoan rather than a "true jellyfish". But it floats around and stings you all the same. Back in the UK this would be a top scary thing in the sea. In #Australia it's mid-tier 🪼🦈🐊 #marine #biodiversity

It's staggering how our perception of oysters has changed over a relatively short period of time. It would be amazing to see them restored to their former numbers.

Flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) aren't the most beloved insects, but their larvae do a top job clearing up dead things and the adults are actually very attractive up close, I think. #entomology #insects #flies #biodiversity #nature #ecology

This Eastern Two-lined Dragon (Diporiphora australis) doing a classic pose for the camera 🦎📸 #wildlife #nature #biodiversity #hiking #australia

Wildlife spot of the day: this Eastern Treerunner Mantis (Ciulfina biseriata). Living up to its name, running up a tree. Until it spotted me and decided camouflage would keep it out of trouble... #mantis #insect #entomology

In Britain, conservationists affectionately refer to baby spoonbills as "teaspoons" 🥄 This one is an Australian adult though.

Ape-arently it's #WorldMonkeyDay (I know, monkeys aren't apes...) Here's a very striking Sykes' Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis albogularis) I photographed in Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park in #Zanzibar. They're a subspecies of Blue Monkey, presumably named for that gorgeous smokey fur. #biodiversity

Ready to scurry out into the sunlight of the weekend? This is an Australian Water Dragon (Intellagama lesueurii) #reptiles #lizards #herpetology

The Pebas System. I never knew. Seemed like a cool place... 🐊🌴 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul8U...

The scientific name for this #fungus is Phallus multicolor 🍄 #WorldSoilDay

Did you SPOT it's #InternationalCheetahDay today? I've been learning some FAST facts on the official website... internationalcheetahday.com#getinvolved And here's a cheetah I saw myself last year 🐆

The Figure Eight Pools in the Royal National Park south of #Sydney are among the most uncanny #geology. I've ever seen. Some guides say they're 3 metres deep... I didn't test it. ⚠️ Heed warnings around high tide and big waves, sadly lots of tourist fatalities associated with this site.

This is a tropical snapper, Lutjanus carponotatus, I saw off #Yunbenun #MagnegneticIsland It seems reef fish have MANY common names. This one goes by: Stripey Snapper, Spanish Flag Snapper, Dusky-striped Sea-perch, Gold-banded Sea Perch, Gold-stripe Sea-perch, Striped Seaperch, Stripey Sea Perch🐠

#Australia has 14 species of #cockatoo. Broadly, they come in white, black, pink or "gang-gang" colours. I've photographed 3: 🦜 Sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) 🦜 Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii) 🦜 Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (Zanda funerea) #birds #naturephotography

More #fish content. This is a Bluespotted Fantail #Ray (Taeniura lymma) foraging in the shallows at #FlorenceBay #Yunbenun / #MagneticIsland in #Queensland #Australia 🤿 ⚠️ Rated "potentially dangerous" in my @ausgeo.newsmast.social.ap.brid.gy guide due to venomous serrated spines on the tail.

Just wrapped up a week of #comms work with some great fishy people at #ASFB2024 For what it's worth, my top #fish encounter since moving to #Australia is this Broad Cowtail Stingray (Pastinachus ater) in *very* shallow water at #FlorenceBay on #Yunbenun #MagneticIsland @austsocfishbiol.bsky.social

I spotted this Magpie Moth (Abraxas grossulariata) in a campsite toilet block one morning last year ⛺🚽 Who says British #Lepidoptera aren't stunning? #moths #mothsmatter #insects #entomology #nature #biodiversity #naturephotography #wildlifephotography #wowzers

Us lot with spines think we're pretty important. But in terms of sheer variety of species, the #treeoflife is strongly unbalanced towards arthropods (~80%) I made this #chart on #canva which roughly illustrates #species broken down by phyla. #biodiversity #nature #taxonomy #science #biology

Today I stumbled across the Backyard Naturalist (algorithms aren't so bad...) Solidly entertaining 20 mins on #Aussie #flora, with an unexpectedly profound conclusion. #botany #plants #biodiversity #youtubefinds www.youtube.com/watch?v=idy9...

Cannot over-emphasise how much I enjoy PBS Eons. To think I almost missed the talk at #LymeRegisFossilFestival that put me onto it... This week's episode I learned how 50 million years of #dinosaur #fossils just went missing in eastern North America. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NcE...

"34,000 populations [...] reduced to a single number" Demystification of that scary 73% figure from this year's #LivingPlanetIndex. Lots of nerdy #maths to learn (arithmetic vs geometric averages, anyone?) and top analysis from @ourworldindata.bsky.social ourworldindata.org/living-plane...

Launching a new life on #Bluesky