MSc internship / Field Assistant position available in our group!
Impact of urbanisation on avian reproduction 🐦🏙️ 🌳
Deadline: 7 Nov 2025
All details 👉 www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/...
Please share it around!
digital painting: a little egret hunts against the wind, wading through tall grasses
salt marsh
A tribute to a small patch of vegetation on a local beach that has driven everyone completely insane
In 1989, a scientist visiting the north of #Madagascar observed a gigantic, wholly black fossa investigating the interior of a tent. This inspired a later study of local knowledge about this animal. What do we know? A new article at Tetrapod Zoology ... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/10...
Cover of Mesozoic Art II.
Image from interior, Late Cretaceous scene.
Pages within, palaeoart and text.
Page within, palaeoart and text.
#MesozoicArtII is out now and showing the world what global #palaeoart/#paleoart looks like in 2025. Buy yours from @chiffchat.bsky.social today at www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mesozoic-... #books #dinosaurs #artbooks #art
🧪 ETHOLOGY: Picky or pragmatic? 🪰🌸
Crossley et al. show that three pollinating fly species differ in their innate colour preferences: Eristalis tenax loves yellow, while Calliphora stygia and Musca domestica show no strong bias—all prefer more saturated hues. doi.org/10.1111/eth.... #OpenAccess
A large Lirometopum cf. coronatum "Bastimentos" male, nearly fully grown. Also known as Pitbull katydids due to their massive heads and aggressive disposition. #katydid #grasshopper #insect #macro #nature #wildlife #bugsky
Look at her go!
#invertebrates 🌿
A thorn bug sculpture perched on a bumpy branch against a neutral background.
Finally found her a nice branch 🌿
Proceratosaurus babies looking up to momma
( #paleoart for Beast studio's upcoming project!)
here's my take: I think humans are really fucking good. inherently. I think we are amazingly kind and giving. and everything about the world we live in is an attempt to stop us from being that. I think our societies step in to stop us from being good. I think our culture punishes us. but we ARE good
being nice to bugs is hot
Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland. Fifth Edition: Fully revised and updated. A fully revised and updated edition of the bestselling photographic guide
A fully revised and updated edition of the bestselling photographic guide.
Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland (Fifth Edition) is available in the UK and publishes Oct 7 in North America. Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
#PUPNature #Nature #Dragonflies
Plate of 10 dorsal photographs of new Panabachia species, with scale bars showing each to be roughly 1mm in length. They are somewhat typical pselaphine rove beetles, short-bodied, brownish-orange, with short elytra and clubbed antennae. The species are as follows: A. Panabachia pahuma; B. P. pastazae; C. P. romeroi; D. P. salebrosa; E. P. urbana; F. P. carltoni; G. P. patera; H. P. vigilans; I. P. perdita; J. P. ambulans.
Male genitalia photos of nine new Panabachia species. Most have a thin and curved median lobe with coiled lateral accessory sclerites. Two on the bottom are more rounded with fimbriate apices, while a third at bottom right is asymmetrical with a coiled lateral plate. The species are as follows: A. Panabachia papallacta; B. P. ananay; C. P. cayambi; D. P. cryptica; E. P. caranqui; F. P. patera; G. P. vigilans; H. P. perdita; I. P. ambulans.
In her dissertation, @smunoztobar.bsky.social showed that there was a diverse radiation of Panabachia in high-elevation Andean páramo habitats (doi.org/10.3390/inse...).
Now most of these have proper names, with 22 species described in our latest paper, in ZooKeys: doi.org/10.3897/zook...
One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of three representative taxa along the right side, Wadotes hybridus (reddish brown cephalothorax with zig-zag stripey gray and white abdomen), Neon nelli (large-eyed gray jumping spider), and Antrodiaetus sp. (a large-jawed mygalomorph trapdoor spider, light tan with a reddish abdomen.
One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of four representative taxa along the right side, Centromerus denticulatus and Centromerus tennapax (both mostly golden brown with gray abdomen, both males with enlarged palps), Bathyphantes bishopi (dark brown cephalothorax, long legs, dark gray abdomen), Tenuiphantes sabulosus (golden cephalothorax, long legs, pale dark-striped abdomen).
One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of four representative taxa along the right side, Collinsia sp. and Collinsia oxypaederotipus (both with light brown cephalothorax, pale legs, gray-green abdomen, both males with enlarged palps), Ceraticelus laetabilis (stout, with brown cephalothorax and lighter brown abdomen, palps slightly enlarged), Ceraticelus fissiceps (orange cephalothorax with distinctly enlarged dark snout, lighter abdomen).
One fourth of a phylogenetic tree of southern Appalachian spiders, with photos of four representative taxa along the right side, Sisicus n. sp (not yet described, light brown round cephalothorax, with pale abdomen and legs, large male palps), Floricomus praedesignatus (dark tuberculate male cephalothorax, gray-green abdomen, pale legs), Blestia sarcocuon (anteriorly pointed cephalothorax, dark with long yellowish legs, impressive male palps), and Ceratinops carolinus (prolonged elevated, brown male cephalothorax, gray-green abdomen).
High elevation litter spiders of southern Appalachia show less local endemism than other arthropods - ballooning by spiderlings apparently overcomes geographic isolation. A great collaboration with @forthespiders.bsky.social & Ernesto Recuero
doi.org/10.1636/JoA-... (if paywalled write me for pdf)
official museum photo, side view on grey background “Because so many aspects of Greek life depended on the sea, a vase in the shape of a lobster claw is not surprising. It is, however, exceptional and may be a variant of the askos—a bag-shaped oil container provided with a vertical mouth and strap handle. The Dionysiac iconography of the lobster claw suggests that it was a novelty item used at symposia (drinking parties).”
official museum photo, top down view on grey background “Because so many aspects of Greek life depended on the sea, a vase in the shape of a lobster claw is not surprising. It is, however, exceptional and may be a variant of the askos—a bag-shaped oil container provided with a vertical mouth and strap handle. The Dionysiac iconography of the lobster claw suggests that it was a novelty item used at symposia (drinking parties).”
For #NationalLobsterDay: 🦞
Terracotta vase in the form of a #lobster claw
#AncientGreek, Attic, c. 460 BCE
Terracotta; red-figure
Metropolitan Museum of Art 23.160.57: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/251401
New at Tetrapod Zoology .... Mesozoic Art II, Palaeoart Portfolio for the 2020s tetzoo.com/blog/2025/9/...
Interspecific hybridisation in rhinoceroses: Confirmation of a Black x White rhinoceros hybrid by karyotype, fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and microsatellite analysis (Robinson et al., 2005): https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/40675883/Interspecific_hybridisation_in_rhinocero20151206-2746-nx3s5t-libre.pdf?1449472610=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DInterspecific_hybridisation_in_rhinocero.pdf&Expires=1758582551&Signature=D~~RYlfr9zibe6dkqnh8orIdGU7NOASDQ5mxGrr59gKaFk~NeE7CouHHP3yURHPDluJVn2-jAHiAeof5ukHk2M8O2b2LGf-K4wP3pj7AX5OXmMwEVXdi5EJxOl-XgDtD~wZeVj-KgKlij1UAxtzhMuo9e6O-AWEW7SsWRpZx24a8Cp~aw349AFXkZ~yNLBS2xQdGUn2l5MalRYMcOxlbp0ROiSOVQzhayi-4wUkw2YInGWO3HTLPA6HjbWSkzniAX55ijTxsEAumXB5Pf7TdP1vadzk8zUTHtZdhZnBzx~4JqXOzIhCBGHpVJa-Ihp4UhwyGK73yXFcjDrILogAa0Q__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA
For World Rhinoceros Day, I present this white x black rhinoceros hybrid. Concerns that hybrids would be infertile have been raised. Authors have urged unrestricted access to plenty of conspecific mates where both species exist or, if this is impossible, physically isolating the two species.
colorful digital illustration of a green and red mantis shrimp on a brightly colored abstract background. The shapes have sharp edges and plenty of texture.
it's (mantis) shrimp colors!!! ♥🧡💛💚💙💜
Small baby alligator in the sun on a lotus leaf, standing up as it faces the rising sun
Baby alligator in the morning sun.
Southeast Texas, September 2025
#Alligators #Herps #Reptiles #Photography #Wildlife #Nature #Babies #TexasStateParks #NaturePhotography
I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.
Big black spider on a brick wall.
I love spiders, and one of the most awesome we have here is the big, not native but now naturalised Segestria. Encountered this one on a wall tonight. I've been bitten by this species. It was not fun. Not fun at all.
Mesozoic Art II - edited by @sharkbitesteve.bsky.social and myself and featuring the incredible work of 25 cutting-edge palaeoartists - is out in just a few days. The ultimate must-have book on modern #palaeoart / #paleoart. Buy yours now ... www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mesozoic-... #books #dinosaurs
One of the ceratopsians would be cool.
A vaguely pinecone-shaped lizard (skink) with blunt tail and similar head. Coloration is predominantly black with yellow banding. It looks towards the camera with the body in profile. It's sitting on red sand/dirt with a small tuft of yellow vegetation. "Eastern Shingleback, photographed near Cameron's Corner in South Australia" CREDIT: Benjamint444, Wikimedia
Tiliqua rugosa is a species of blue-tongued skink native to Australia that has many names:
Shingleback
Bobtail
'Sleepy Lizard' & my favorite:
Pinecone Lizard.
Let's talk about the time a zookeeper's burnt lunch led to a discovery about how the sleepy lizard survives Australian wildfires.
Mesozoic Art II virtual gallery event is happening tomorrow, see you there! eventfrog.de/de/p/fuehrun...
PhD Alert! 😍 Our lab is hiring a PhD student to study how shrews shrink in winter and grow in spring. Yes, you read that right!
tinyurl.com/shrinkingshr...
Join us at the @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social, study a super cool animal, and join the @imprs-qbee.bsky.social community!
DM me for questions!
The book "Apes on the Edge: Chimpanzee Life on the West African Savanna" by Jill Pruetz on a colorful background. The cover is a picture of a young adorable chimpanzee hanging from a vine about a pool of water, with his lips just touching the ater and his reflection mirriored in the rippled pool
Profile view of boxer mix, in front of colorful coffee table stacked with books.
Time for a book review! Starting out with Apes on the Edge: Chimpanzee Life on the West African Savanna by Jill Pruetz (University of Chicago Press, 2025)! (1/11)
🧪🦊 #Primates #Booksky #ScienceBooks #BookReview
Chinzorig, T., Takasaki, R., Yoshida, J. et al. A domed pachycephalosaur from the early Cretaceous of Mongolia. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
