Amanda Melin
@amelinlab.bsky.social
Professor of Biological Anthropology at University of Calgary. Co-director Santa Rosa Primate Project. Primate sensory ecology, molecular genetics and omics, foraging, behaviour, ecology and evolution. She/Her. www.amandamelin.com
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Happy New Year! Delighted and honoured to have our research featured in the top human evolution discoveries of 2025 by @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🎉!
The Top Human Evolution Discoveries of 2025, From the Intriguing Neanderthal Diet to the Oldest Western European Face Fossil
Smithsonian paleoanthropologists examine the year’s most fascinating revelations
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Happy New Year! Delighted and honoured to have our research featured in the top human evolution discoveries of 2025 by @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🎉!
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Final schedule for #ASABWinter2025 is up! We have some fantastic talks and posters ahead of us 🥰 ❄️ 🏴
asabwinter.github.io/2025/schedule/
asabwinter.github.io/2025/schedule/
November 20, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Final schedule for #ASABWinter2025 is up! We have some fantastic talks and posters ahead of us 🥰 ❄️ 🏴
asabwinter.github.io/2025/schedule/
asabwinter.github.io/2025/schedule/
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Come to Canada
Great news! We are looking for an NHP neuroscientist as the assistant professor level. We have no preconceived ideas -- looking for the most exciting research going. If you have any questions, please reach out. universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/...
Search Jobs - University Affairs
universityaffairs.ca
December 10, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Come to Canada
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Join us for Fall 2026. In our group, you can run studies from human behavior and neuroimaging, to large-scale NHP ephys, and join them up with a robust computational foundation. Bonus: you can help build the reading list.
The Sensorimotor Superlab with @gribblelab.org and @andpru.bsky.social is a unique place to work and learn. We are now accepting MSc and PhD applications for Fall 2026. Join our awesome team at Western University... For application instructions see diedrichsenlab.org and gribblelab.org/join.html!
Diedrichsenlab
diedrichsenlab.org
December 2, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Join us for Fall 2026. In our group, you can run studies from human behavior and neuroimaging, to large-scale NHP ephys, and join them up with a robust computational foundation. Bonus: you can help build the reading list.
Reposted by Amanda Melin
“In the badlands of western Canada, two species of lichen prefer making their homes on dinosaur bones instead of on the surrounding desert rock, and their distinct orange color can be detected by drones, possibly aiding future dino discoveries”
#scicomm
www.sciencenews.org/article/lich...
🧪
#scicomm
www.sciencenews.org/article/lich...
🧪
This bright orange life-form could point to new dino discoveries
Colorful lichen living on dinosaur bones reflect infrared light that can be detected by drones, which might lead to finds in remote areas.
www.sciencenews.org
December 3, 2025 at 12:42 AM
“In the badlands of western Canada, two species of lichen prefer making their homes on dinosaur bones instead of on the surrounding desert rock, and their distinct orange color can be detected by drones, possibly aiding future dino discoveries”
#scicomm
www.sciencenews.org/article/lich...
🧪
#scicomm
www.sciencenews.org/article/lich...
🧪
Reposted by Amanda Melin
🚨Two funded PhDs on the evolutionary ecology of antipredator colouration 🦋 with myself and Iliana Medina.
One in Swansea tinyurl.com/4thtbph6 deadline Jan 12th @crocus-dla.bsky.social
The other in Melbourne - deadline Jan 1st
Please share among potential students!
One in Swansea tinyurl.com/4thtbph6 deadline Jan 12th @crocus-dla.bsky.social
The other in Melbourne - deadline Jan 1st
Please share among potential students!
December 1, 2025 at 2:40 PM
🚨Two funded PhDs on the evolutionary ecology of antipredator colouration 🦋 with myself and Iliana Medina.
One in Swansea tinyurl.com/4thtbph6 deadline Jan 12th @crocus-dla.bsky.social
The other in Melbourne - deadline Jan 1st
Please share among potential students!
One in Swansea tinyurl.com/4thtbph6 deadline Jan 12th @crocus-dla.bsky.social
The other in Melbourne - deadline Jan 1st
Please share among potential students!
Please enjoy a small photo dump from the Dry Forest of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
December 2, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Please enjoy a small photo dump from the Dry Forest of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
We are interested in what capuchin monkeys can teach us about the evolution of sensorimotor intelligence and sensitive discriminative touch. Here, Luna demonstrates an excellent example of skilled hand use!
November 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
We are interested in what capuchin monkeys can teach us about the evolution of sensorimotor intelligence and sensitive discriminative touch. Here, Luna demonstrates an excellent example of skilled hand use!
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Postdoc position in individual-level incentives, social
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
files.newsletter2go.com
November 17, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Postdoc position in individual-level incentives, social
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
learning, and payoff-biased imitation shape group-level accuracy in complex prediction and decision-making tasks in Konstanz
files.newsletter2go.com/l3slzozn/s_i...
Reposted by Amanda Melin
“Experiments revealed that the plant’s odor is a near-perfect chemical match to the distress signals released by injured ants”
#scicomm
#sensoryecology
#mimetism
#mimicry
#chemicalcommunication
www.sciencenews.org/article/flow...
🧪 🌸 🐜 🪰 🐙
#scicomm
#sensoryecology
#mimetism
#mimicry
#chemicalcommunication
www.sciencenews.org/article/flow...
🧪 🌸 🐜 🪰 🐙
This flower smells like injured ants — and flies can’t resist it
A type of Japanese dogsbane releases a scent identical to wounded ants’ distress signal, drawing in scavenging flies that unwittingly pollinate it.
www.sciencenews.org
November 3, 2025 at 7:43 PM
“Experiments revealed that the plant’s odor is a near-perfect chemical match to the distress signals released by injured ants”
#scicomm
#sensoryecology
#mimetism
#mimicry
#chemicalcommunication
www.sciencenews.org/article/flow...
🧪 🌸 🐜 🪰 🐙
#scicomm
#sensoryecology
#mimetism
#mimicry
#chemicalcommunication
www.sciencenews.org/article/flow...
🧪 🌸 🐜 🪰 🐙
dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
Led by PhD Candidate @silviacarboni.bsky.social, our new paper explores the contributions of surface microbes to the production of odours in the scent glands of wild tamarins. A great collaboration with Dr. Alice Poirier and @fieldprojects.org #sensoryecology
Led by PhD Candidate @silviacarboni.bsky.social, our new paper explores the contributions of surface microbes to the production of odours in the scent glands of wild tamarins. A great collaboration with Dr. Alice Poirier and @fieldprojects.org #sensoryecology
The Scent Gland Microbiomes of Wild Tamarins Provide New Insight Into Microbial Contributions to Olfactory Communication
Our study investigated the microbiomes of suprapubic and sternal scent glands in two wild tamarin species to explore their putative roles in odor production and communication. Using metagenomic seque...
dx.doi.org
October 30, 2025 at 4:33 PM
dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
Led by PhD Candidate @silviacarboni.bsky.social, our new paper explores the contributions of surface microbes to the production of odours in the scent glands of wild tamarins. A great collaboration with Dr. Alice Poirier and @fieldprojects.org #sensoryecology
Led by PhD Candidate @silviacarboni.bsky.social, our new paper explores the contributions of surface microbes to the production of odours in the scent glands of wild tamarins. A great collaboration with Dr. Alice Poirier and @fieldprojects.org #sensoryecology
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Single antivenom nanobody protects against 17 different snakebites @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@andreaslaustsen.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@andreaslaustsen.bsky.social
Single antivenom protects against 17 different snakebites
Researchers immunized an alpaca and a llama with snake venoms, and combined some of the antibodies produced into a potent cocktail.
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Single antivenom nanobody protects against 17 different snakebites @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@andreaslaustsen.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
@andreaslaustsen.bsky.social
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Thrilled that our paper is out today in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
Sensory expectations shape neural population dynamics in motor circuits
Nature - Experiments with human volunteers and macaques show that expectations produced by probabilistic cueing of future sensory inputs shape motor circuit dynamics in order to increase the...
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Thrilled that our paper is out today in Nature!
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
www.nature.com/articles/s4...
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Excited to share our new paper on the #social #structure of Rwenzori #colobus multi-male, multi-female core units! We found 3 different patterns but close #male #relationships in all that were long lasting! Paper is behind a paywall but contact us if you want a pdf. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
October 21, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Excited to share our new paper on the #social #structure of Rwenzori #colobus multi-male, multi-female core units! We found 3 different patterns but close #male #relationships in all that were long lasting! Paper is behind a paywall but contact us if you want a pdf. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Amanda Melin
“There’s nothing more Canadian than the hockey game being interrupted to celebrate the Blue Jays heading to the World Series”
#Canada
#BlueJays
#WorldSeries
#Canada
#BlueJays
#WorldSeries
October 21, 2025 at 1:57 PM
“There’s nothing more Canadian than the hockey game being interrupted to celebrate the Blue Jays heading to the World Series”
#Canada
#BlueJays
#WorldSeries
#Canada
#BlueJays
#WorldSeries
Reposted by Amanda Melin
🚨🚨Job! 🚨🚨Permanent (75% time) job! We are a pretty awesome research group & seek a manager who deals with everything: personnel tasks, organizing retreats, preparing code for teaching / data structures for research... Fluency in German & English essential. stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de#/jgu/job/51527
stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de
October 17, 2025 at 7:38 AM
🚨🚨Job! 🚨🚨Permanent (75% time) job! We are a pretty awesome research group & seek a manager who deals with everything: personnel tasks, organizing retreats, preparing code for teaching / data structures for research... Fluency in German & English essential. stellenboerse.uni-mainz.de#/jgu/job/51527
Great week for Canadian Wildlife! This beauty Great Horned Owl is hanging outside my cabin ❤️
October 18, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Great week for Canadian Wildlife! This beauty Great Horned Owl is hanging outside my cabin ❤️
Reposted by Amanda Melin
For what seems like forever, I've wanted to know what benefits we get from our friends - or in other words, why these relationships evolved.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
Quality, quantity, and the adaptive function of social relationships
Affiliative social relationships have clear links to fitness in many species, yet
exactly why that is the case remains elusive. We unify theory from socioecology and
network science to set forth testa...
tinyurl.com
October 16, 2025 at 8:43 AM
For what seems like forever, I've wanted to know what benefits we get from our friends - or in other words, why these relationships evolved.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
Reposted by Amanda Melin
Social relationships are powerful predictors of fitness across social animals. But *why*?
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
October 16, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Social relationships are powerful predictors of fitness across social animals. But *why*?
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
In our new @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social paper, we outline testable predictions for why relationship quality and quantity adaptively vary across socio-ecological contexts.
tinyurl.com/55dnkeh7
Reposted by Amanda Melin
ICYMI Notre Dame Anthropology will be hiring a post-doc for 2026-2028. This is part of a university-wide initiative to support early career scholars. Deadline is Oct. 31...sorry for late notice.
apply.interfolio.com/171503
apply.interfolio.com/171503
Apply - Interfolio
{{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
apply.interfolio.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:22 PM
ICYMI Notre Dame Anthropology will be hiring a post-doc for 2026-2028. This is part of a university-wide initiative to support early career scholars. Deadline is Oct. 31...sorry for late notice.
apply.interfolio.com/171503
apply.interfolio.com/171503
Reposted by Amanda Melin
✨🔦Research Network Spotlight!🔦✨
@ctestard.bsky.social at Harvard University is the second recipient of a 2025-2026 Pilot & Feasibility award from our Research Network. Check out a description of Dr. Testard's project below.
@bartolomuccilab.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social @smacklab.bsky.social
@ctestard.bsky.social at Harvard University is the second recipient of a 2025-2026 Pilot & Feasibility award from our Research Network. Check out a description of Dr. Testard's project below.
@bartolomuccilab.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social @smacklab.bsky.social
October 14, 2025 at 3:27 PM
✨🔦Research Network Spotlight!🔦✨
@ctestard.bsky.social at Harvard University is the second recipient of a 2025-2026 Pilot & Feasibility award from our Research Network. Check out a description of Dr. Testard's project below.
@bartolomuccilab.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social @smacklab.bsky.social
@ctestard.bsky.social at Harvard University is the second recipient of a 2025-2026 Pilot & Feasibility award from our Research Network. Check out a description of Dr. Testard's project below.
@bartolomuccilab.bsky.social @jennytung.bsky.social @smacklab.bsky.social
Bobcat walked right across the road in front of me on my walk into campus this morning.
Oh, Canada! #urbanwildlife.
Oh, Canada! #urbanwildlife.
October 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Bobcat walked right across the road in front of me on my walk into campus this morning.
Oh, Canada! #urbanwildlife.
Oh, Canada! #urbanwildlife.
Reposted by Amanda Melin
“Taste and smell are so intimately connected that a whiff of well-loved foods evokes their taste without any conscious effort.
Now, brain scans and machine learning have for the first time pinpointed the region responsible for this sensory overlap in humans”.
www.sciencenews.org/article/brai...
🧪 🧠
Now, brain scans and machine learning have for the first time pinpointed the region responsible for this sensory overlap in humans”.
www.sciencenews.org/article/brai...
🧪 🧠
Brain scans reveal where taste and smell become flavor
The findings show the insula fuses taste and certain smells into the sensation of flavor.
www.sciencenews.org
October 11, 2025 at 2:17 AM
“Taste and smell are so intimately connected that a whiff of well-loved foods evokes their taste without any conscious effort.
Now, brain scans and machine learning have for the first time pinpointed the region responsible for this sensory overlap in humans”.
www.sciencenews.org/article/brai...
🧪 🧠
Now, brain scans and machine learning have for the first time pinpointed the region responsible for this sensory overlap in humans”.
www.sciencenews.org/article/brai...
🧪 🧠
Reposted by Amanda Melin
🚨 New paper! 🚨
🐒 White-faced capuchins experience high rates of infanticide.
🐒 Infanticide is costly to female reproduction.
🐒 Do females exhibit the Bruce effect (termination of pregnancy) to reduce these costs?
🐒 Spoiler: Nope!
Read more ▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🐒 White-faced capuchins experience high rates of infanticide.
🐒 Infanticide is costly to female reproduction.
🐒 Do females exhibit the Bruce effect (termination of pregnancy) to reduce these costs?
🐒 Spoiler: Nope!
Read more ▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 24, 2025 at 5:53 PM
🚨 New paper! 🚨
🐒 White-faced capuchins experience high rates of infanticide.
🐒 Infanticide is costly to female reproduction.
🐒 Do females exhibit the Bruce effect (termination of pregnancy) to reduce these costs?
🐒 Spoiler: Nope!
Read more ▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
🐒 White-faced capuchins experience high rates of infanticide.
🐒 Infanticide is costly to female reproduction.
🐒 Do females exhibit the Bruce effect (termination of pregnancy) to reduce these costs?
🐒 Spoiler: Nope!
Read more ▶️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...