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drdave.bsky.social
Professor of Ecology, educator, maker | ecology, mistletoe, acoustics, conservation | updates on research, family & other beasts. Living on unceded Wiradjuri country #AwesomeBirds #WildOz
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A late stage Purple Emperor caterpillar perfectly mimicking half a Sallow leaf - the veins even line up. Fully fattened and about to perform the miracle of pupation, converting to a liquid soup in the pupa and then reassembling into a magnificent butterfly - amazing.

Good morning.

A great article on the potential for native bees in urban areas - this is one of the reasons that we have been experimenting with migratory beekeping with native stingless bees at the Australian Parliament. www.smh.com.au/environment/...

📝 The genetic prison that traps a ghost plant 🧵 doi.org/10.1002/pei3... Why would you make leaves that are all cost and no benefit? A ghost plant puzzle is solved. #Botany #PlantScience 🧪 #InBrief (1/10)

Tiny part.

🐙🌿🐍🐛 Nope, it's not a snake - it's the caterpillar of a sphinx moth (Hemeroplanes sp.)., found by our guides in Corcovado Natl. Park., Costa Rica. Normally the caterpillars blend with the vegetation, but if disturbed they twist their head upside down to reveal a "snake," and even wave around to--

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Morning all.

Best thing today happened yesterday with @judykirk.bsky.social - very curious #Rakali #BillabongCk #UpperBillabong

Hopetoun Falls in the Otways is gorgeous! So nice to see water flowing after a long dry spell.

Evening all. Sound right up if the jesus lizard is your jam.

We're delighted to announce the reappointment of @jwmorganecology.bsky.social and @markooiecol.bsky.social as Co-Editors-in-Chief of Australian Journal of Botany! Their continued leadership ensures the journal remains at the forefront of botanical research in Australia and beyond 🌱 📖

Getting there now. Companion paper now shaping up too. Evolutionary ecology of mistletoe fruit specialists over the last 30 million years lets goooooooooooooooooooo.

I see some people posting their strawberry moon photos from last night, so here is my humble contribution. Micrathena clypeata, sometimes referred to as the strawberry spider, is seen here spinning her moon-like egg sac. This is one of the photos from WildSumaco that I am most proud of.

So excited to share this paper, lead-authored by newly-minted Dr. Andrew Dreelin from my lab and @andyjboyce.bsky.social's with you all! 🧪 There's this paradox about prairie dog towns - many birds seem to love them, but they attract a lot of predators. 1/n authors.elsevier.com/c/1lFifmjMA3tq

Check out this issue of Phil Trans Roy Soc B called "Acoustic monitoring for tropical ecology and conservation." Several cool papers on different systems royalsocietypublishing.org/toc/rstb/202...

Good morning.

Here's a hot tip! Long term studies and monitoring of #threatenedspecies is a must to support decision making on adaptive #fire management strategies Something to remember this #WorldEnvironmentDay Read more here buff.ly/PfrEzQX @PacificConsBio.bsky.social

Nice analysis of the longest phenological record available, 1200+ years of cherry blossom (Sakura) in Kyoto. Showing blossom times have been shifting for 137 years in response to warming

Top of my list of missing native species we should be looking at reintroducing to Ireland? Lynx!! • Never attack people • Rarely attack livestock • Aren't pack animals • Help regulate deer • Help regulate smaller predators, like fox • Are a huge tourist draw • Are just GORGEOUS!!

The fish tank is a big hit with Pepper!

maybe my favorite paper I've written, I have a synthesis out today early access in @asn-amnat.bsky.social today that attempts to answer a simple but slippery question: what is an elevational range? doi.org/10.1086/737130

Huge congratulations to @antarcticsciaus.bsky.social Deputy Director and Chief Investigator, Professor of Climate Science Nerilie Abram (@scienceanu.bsky.social) 🧊 New Chief Scientist for the Australian Antarctic Program! @climatenerilie.bsky.social www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2025/au...

Here's a treat. Beautiful music by an Indigenous artist featuring the call of the butcherbird. Great video clip as well ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pdi...

3 paddocks west of Melbourne could be Australia's "most important" property. While it's worth millions to developers, it's also home to the only known population of Victorian grassland earless dragons. Experts are worried it's not adequately protected. au.news.yahoo.com/secret-hidde...

A monumental taxonomy unification effort has just been published - thanks to all those who've collaborated for years to make this happen! birdsoftheworld.org/bow/news/avi...

Do you have any papers that you keep coming back to, not because they are groundbreaking or revolutionary, but because they are so cool, so well-written and so well-done, basically examples of the kind of science we can all aspire to? I'll start with this one. doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Our paper about the flow of nocturnal bird migration through Colombia is finally out today in #ProcB! Using weather radars operated by the #IDEAM, we found that low variability in wind underlies a pace of migration that is far more gradual than at temperate latitudes. #Ornithology 📡🪶🇨🇴 🧵1/10

NEW SCIENCE! 🚨🚨🚨🧪🪶🌐 Our paper is now online at @natecoevo.nature.com! “Geographic redistributions are insufficient to mitigate exposure to climate change in North American birds”. We know birds are moving north with climate change, but what are the consequences? www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Morning all.

Rutaceae phytochemistry: The interesting numbing sensation of Sichuan pepper (Zanthoxylum spp.) is caused by hydroxy-α-sanshool, a fatty acid amide similar in structure to capsaicin from chili pepper. The chemical is found in the fruits (follicles). 📷: Ibán CCBYNCSA2 #Rutaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

There are only 242 #kakapo today, but they were once one of #NZ's most common birds and lived in all mainland forests. Lessons from fossils in a new study by @manaakiwhenua.bsky.social can help us find new habitat. #conservation www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379125001076 📸 S.Latimer

New species of Mn and Ni hyperaccumulating Virotia (Proteaceae) from New Caledonia's ultramafics. Like xkcd's influence in the taxonomic illustration plate /jk openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/TEL/article/...

What can 🧬 from 👻🦇💩 tell us about this Vulnerable species in the Pilbara? They generally have high gene flow but also show restricted dispersal for females within 10-20 km from the roost. Read the paper to find out more academic.oup.com/jhered/advan...

A day of meetings, but managed to snag an hour here and there to work on the big* paper on the evolution of mistletoe specialist frugivores. Discussion really taking shape—now I know what I want to say, the rest will be easy peasy squeeze the lemon. *not very big, but first treatment since 1991

good morning friends!! #wildoz 🪶🪶👩‍🔬🌿🌏

I never cease to be amazed by the "Queen of the Night" - the Sonoran Desert's night-blooming #cereus (Peniocereus greggii) - and how nearly all the desert's plants orchestrate a synchronous bloom. The whole deserts' worth of naturally growing cacti all bloomed last night!