with fellow artistic researchers @marjolijndijkman.bsky.social and Nele Möller, I organise Speaking Afield: interdisciplinary walks & discussions with academic and scientific researchers in the field of ecology & biology. Here a few weeks ago with @janverpooten.bsky.social in the Antwerp harbour.

Harmony in the hive? Think again! 🐝⚔️ Insect societies are famous for cooperation, but beneath the surface lies a brutal conflict over who gets to wear the crown! Our new review in Biological Reviews explores the evolutionary battleground caused by such caste fate conflict. 🧵

📣 New BBS preprint out now! 📣 "Models casting egalitarian societies as crucibles of equality perpetuate the factually uninformed notion that foragers are somehow more noble. Critiques portray egalitarianism as romantic fantasy. Neither characterization is wholly justified." doi.org/10.1017/S014...

Our special issue on Evolutionary Functions of Consciousness, coedited with Tecumseh Fitch and Adina Roskies, now online royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202... Contributions by (1) Irina Mikhalevich; (2) Eva Jablonka and Simona Ginsburg; (3) Nicholas Humphrey; (cont'd)

Fukano and Soga offered an interesting reply to our piece. We then had the chance to respond in turn. Our conclusion is clear: it's time to lay the biophilia hypothesis to rest once and for all. www.cell.com/trends/ecolo...

Are dance & infant-directed song human universals? Like many people, I've long thought so. But in a new paper in Current Biology, Kim Hill & I report that the Northern Aché (Paraguay) lacked both behaviors, likely losing them after cultural collapse. Open-access link: www.cell.com/current-biol...

Second essay on the question "Do Animals Make Art?" Two Major Origin Theories That Say “No Way!” Why the Enlightenment “Invention of Art” and the “Creative Explosion” Seem to Rule Out Animal Art—But Do They Really? open.substack.com/pub/janverpo...

Second essay on the question "Do Animals Make Art?" Two Major Origin Theories That Say “No Way!” Why the Enlightenment “Invention of Art” and the “Creative Explosion” Seem to Rule Out Animal Art—But Do They Really? open.substack.com/pub/janverpo...

👇 This is ‘Tools (v004)’, a .glb sculpture that is part of @digitalcoleman.art ‘s curation for ‘5x5 EARTH’. More info soon! (For these types of artworks, nfts are actually a good fit! I haven’t minted this much in years, though 😀). #3dscan #digitalart #tezos @objkt.com #stonetool #historyofthings

New commentary out in BBS! Archaeological objects like cave paintings, figurines, and musical instruments are often seen as early art forms uniquely tied to human symbolic cognition. But I've long been struck by how this view overlooks remarkable parallels in the animal world.

After a brief hiatus, the next commentaries to highlight are by @janverpooten.bsky.social and @ctennie.bsky.social, who both demonstrate that complex symbols are not a uniquely human hallmark, but are found throughout nature. www.cambridge.org/core/journal... www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

New commentary out in BBS! Archaeological objects like cave paintings, figurines, and musical instruments are often seen as early art forms uniquely tied to human symbolic cognition. But I've long been struck by how this view overlooks remarkable parallels in the animal world.

Do we love nature because it’s just in our nature? Probably not. Check out our latest article in TREE, where we make the case! authors.elsevier.com/a/1kZlOcZ3X3...

If you were to follow just one podcast about biology, physics—essentially life itself—this should be it. In Dunglish: I can’t recommend it enough. Latest episode:

Do animals make art? My friend (and PhD advisor) biologist/philosopher @janverpooten.bsky.social is on a quest to answer that question! Do follow his substack here, his first post is already wonderfully interesting: substack.com/home/post/p-... #evolution #artmaking #art #evolutionofart

Do animals make art? To introduce my book-in-progress on this topic, I’ve written a piece exploring this question. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. open.substack.com/pub/janverpo...

Animal Artefacts Challenge Archaeological Standards for Tracing Human Symbolic Cognition: http://osf.io/rhejm/