Social insects tackle pathogens with behaviours like grooming and the removal of infected individuals. These behaviours facilitate the evolution of larger more complex societies. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @mingpapilio.bsky.social @georgeshillcock.bsky.social @tomwscott.bsky.social

New paper is out! Disease is often seen as a cost of social life. But can it also shape how complex societies evolve? Here, we use mathematical models to study social immunity: collective disease defence in ants, termites, bees and other group-living insects. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Thoughtful review of The Paradox of the Organism book homunculusmusic.wordpress.com/2026/05/30/i... @tomwscott.bsky.social

New paper with @andygardner.bsky.social and @geoffwild.bsky.social in which we ask whether the ability to recognise relatives causes individuals to be more or less cooperative overall. doi.org/10.1093/evol...

New paper: "Kin-discriminating partner choice promotes the evolution of helping" with Tom Scott (@tomwscott.bsky.social) & Geoff Wild (@geoffwild.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/evol... @journal-evo.bsky.social #Image: #ChatGPT #Evolution #OA

I’m a bit late, but new paper out led by Thomas Aubier on the evolution of altruism by the greenbeard effect! (1/6) academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...

I'm excited to share our review on the #Evolution of kin discrimination, out now in @annualreviews.bsky.social! We aim to showcase the breadth of #KinRecognition mechanisms across diverse taxa, and explore life-history and ecological processes that promote #KinDiscrimination. doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Underground intelligence: Are plant-fungi networks about collaboration or competition? 🌳📢🍄📢🌳 A new study has investigated whether trees are altruistically warning their neighbours but its more likely a case of eavesdropping 👇 bit.ly/3CgDoHR 📷Tomas Munita @tobykiers.bsky.social

Are plants more likely to be ‘eavesdroppers’ than altruists when tapped into fungal networks? Read our new theory paper out today in @pnas.org w/ @stuwest.bsky.social @tomwscott.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... (photo T. Munita)

Write-up of our new paper on information transfer in plant-fungal networks: "Study shows plants are more likely to be ‘eavesdroppers’ than altruists when tapping into underground networks". www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-01... @tobykiers.bsky.social @stuwest.bsky.social

Evolutionary theory suggests that plants are unlikely to warn other plants about herbivore attack, via routes such as shared fungal networks (the 'wood wide web'). www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @tobykiers.bsky.social @tomwscott.bsky.social

New paper with @tobykiers.bsky.social and @stuwest.bsky.social on whether plants send signals through fungal networks to warn other plants of impending attack – theory suggests unlikely. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...