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evolsara.bsky.social
@evolsara.bsky.social
130 followers 180 following 35 posts
When I'm not handling brains or old bones, you can find me lost in a book or getting inked with my favorite animals.
@paleo, @brains, @evolution
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evolsara.bsky.social
#2025SVP has begun! Starting strong with the awesome Paleoart Workshop 🎨🌴🦕

If you’re around, come check out our poster about an extinct ibis that basically tried to be a kiwi 🐦🥝
@evoneuro.bsky.social @aub-birdy.bsky.social

#2025SVP #paleoart #birds #extinct
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted
nicrawlencenz.bsky.social
This talk is tomorrow. It would be good to see you all there. bsky.app/profile/te-a...
te-ara-paerangi.community Te Ara Paerangi Com - Research Advocacy Capability @te-ara-paerangi.community · Oct 7
We'd love to have a huge turn out for Nic's talk. Please help spread the word. There are downloadable pdf adverts in the link below. They can be emailed or printed. If you work in a public space (e.g. Library) you could help by printing and posting one of the flyers. Ngā mihi nui!
October 13, 2025 at 7:01 AM
evolsara.bsky.social
A little chubby Quetzal 🎨
October 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
evolsara.bsky.social
Check out the trailer for the new documentary by amazing Elisabetta Palagi's team. It's a wonderful story of collaboration in the name of science 🦍🦧
youtu.be/Oy679UwNh_g?...
#Palagi #gelada #animal #behaviour
Bridges - Documentary Trailer
YouTube video by Alberto Alessi
youtu.be
September 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM
evolsara.bsky.social
23 years after this (amazing) book has been published, the Spix's Macaw is still not safe.
It is a story of hope and relentless dedication, but also a hard truth about how far humans will go to take what isn’t theirs.
#science #book #conservation #parrot #endangered
September 29, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted
extinctfineart.bsky.social
🦕 Let’s talk #MesozoicArtII!

I'm thrilled to announce a special online panel + virtual exhibition ahead of the book’s release! Join @tetzoo.bsky.social , @sharkbitesteve.bsky.social , featured artists, and myself on 19 September.

I am so excited already!

1/n

#Palaeoart #VirtualGallery #SciComm
Advertisement for two online events on 22nd August and 19th September. The upper one shows Mirasaura and 3D reconstructions. The panel speaker are Astrid O'Connor, Rick Stikkelorum, maybe Stephan Spiekman, and nova_studios. The lower one shows the cover of the upcoming book MesozoicArtII. Panel speaker are Darren Naish, Steve White and other artists
August 8, 2025 at 10:38 AM
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britishbirds.bsky.social
A life-sized bronze statue has been unveiled on the island of Papa Westray, Orkney, in memory of the last known Great Auk Pinguinus impennis killed there in 1813. The statue is an exact replica of the preserved remains of the bird, which are held by the Natural History Museum.
August 19, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Reposted
evoneuro.bsky.social
New project about to kick off in our lab on the Great Auk. We recently acquired CT scans of a beautifully intact Great Auk skull from the @tephrafan.bsky.social lab. Hopefully @evolsara.bsky.social and I will have a cool story for 2026!
#birds #skulls #ornithology 🪶🇨🇦🧪
A three dimensional reconstruction of the skull and beak of a Great Auk against a black background.
August 11, 2025 at 4:49 PM
evolsara.bsky.social
Check out this new interview of my PI about bird brains and his new book 🧠 🐦! It's a great look at how amazing these guys really are. 🐦‍⬛
evoneuro.bsky.social Andrew Iwaniuk @evoneuro.bsky.social · Aug 10
For anyone interested, here is a link to a CBC Radio interview this morning about our new book on bird brains and behaviour: www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

And the open access link can be found in my bio.

#birds #neuroskyence #neuroethology #Canada 🪶🇨🇦🧪🧠
A flyer for the book Bird Brains and Behavior: A Synthesis authored by Georg F. Striedter and Andrew N. Iwaniuk. The book cover features photos of a turkey vulture, song sparrow, and whimbrel as well as a drawing of an albatross brain.
August 10, 2025 at 6:01 PM
evolsara.bsky.social
🌴🐦 Ever heard of an ibis that lived in Hawaii but acted like a kiwi?

Discover the fascinating story of Apteribis, the flightless Hawaiian ibis that adopted a kiwi-like lifestyle. 🌙

🎙️ Check out our talk on Apteribis at #ICVM2025!!
@evoneuro.bsky.social @aub-birdy.bsky.social
August 7, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted
evoneuro.bsky.social
Mama and baby great horned owls today!

#Alberta #owls #birds #birding #wildlife 🪶
A largely grey great horned owl is perched in a tangle of cottonwood tree branches, looking slightly over its shoulder. A fledgling, still partially fluffy, great horned owl is perched on the trunk of a cottonwood tree and surrounded by green, leafy branches.
June 19, 2025 at 5:59 PM
evolsara.bsky.social
Bearded vulture, pencils on paper 🦅🪶
#bird #art #drawing #science #volture
June 13, 2025 at 11:24 PM
evolsara.bsky.social
Quick sketch of a channel-billed toucan 🦜
June 10, 2025 at 3:55 AM
Reposted
mfabbri.bsky.social
Glad to see the formal description of the Chicago specimen of #Archaeopteryx finally out in @nature.com! Troodontid and early bird features in the palate and evidence of tertiary feathers
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Chicago Archaeopteryx informs on the early evolution of the avian bauplan - Nature
Analysis of the 'Chicago' Archaeopteryx, a nearly complete and uncrushed specimen, reveals details of the skeleton, soft tissues and plumage of this taxon, providing information on the evolution to av...
www.nature.com
May 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted
devoevomed.bsky.social
I've written a Substack about the #ColossalBioSci #DeExtinction #DisInformation campaign; it's focused on polluting the information landscape, rather than the underlying science (except for species concepts, I talk about them)

open.substack.com/pub/devoevom...
The Extinction of Truth
Or, a Colossal Pile of Bullshit
open.substack.com
May 13, 2025 at 7:20 PM
evolsara.bsky.social
Turns out harriers don't only look like owls, but they hunt like owls too! 🦉
Check out the short version of our new paper at www.ulethbridge.ca/unews/articl...
Photo by Bob Bowhay
@evoneuro.bsky.social @aub-birdy.bsky.social
#harriers #bird #brain #evolution
May 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted
evoneuro.bsky.social
New paper out from our lab today!

@evolsara.bsky.social shows that harriers have expanded their auditory nuclei in a similar way to owls to enable them to calculate the position of prey by sound.

#birds #ornithology #neuroskyence 🧠🧪🇨🇦🇦🇺

doi.org/10.1111/joa....
A male Northern Harrier in quartering flight with its beak pointed towards the ground so that it can listen for prey. A figure from our paper showing: left: scatterplots of auditory nuclei size against brainstem volume for 9 species of hawks, including harriers. In both plots, the harriers have much larger volumes than what is expected based on their brainstem volume. middle: photos of sections taken through auditory brain nuclei of the Northern Harrier right: photos of sections taken through the auditory brain nuclei of a Cooper's hawk
April 30, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted
evoneuro.bsky.social
An almost perfectly spherical female Ruffed Grouse. Taken a few years ago near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta.

She had flown in to watch a male drumming and left after 20 min (i.e., she swiped left).

#birds #birding #grouse #Alberta #wildlife 🪶🇨🇦
A female ruffed grouse, brown and grey chicken-like bird, is fluffed up so that she is an almost perfect circle. Only her head and crest break up the circle. She is standing on a a tree trunk that is bent at approximately a 60 degree angle.
March 14, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Reposted
evoneuro.bsky.social
New paper out from the lab today! Here we show that digital reconstructions of brains from skulls can be used to estimate cerebral hemisphere & cerebellum volumes in birds.
#birds #paleontology #ornithology
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@aub-birdy.bsky.social
@evolsara.bsky.social
Avian telencephalon and cerebellum volumes can be accurately estimated from digital brain endocasts | Biology Letters
For studies of the evolution of vertebrate brain anatomy and potentially associated behaviours, reconstructions of digital brain endocasts from computed tomography scans have revolutionized our capaci...
royalsocietypublishing.org
January 22, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted
aub-birdy.bsky.social
Check out our latest paper validating telencephalon and cerebellum endocast measurements in birds 🐦🦅🦆🦃🪿🐦‍⬛ royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @evolsara.bsky.social @evoneuro.bsky.social
Avian telencephalon and cerebellum volumes can be accurately estimated from digital brain endocasts | Biology Letters
For studies of the evolution of vertebrate brain anatomy and potentially associated behaviours, reconstructions of digital brain endocasts from computed tomography scans have revolutionized our capaci...
royalsocietypublishing.org
January 22, 2025 at 6:36 AM
Reposted
kallieisweird.bsky.social
Hey friends! A few new rad ways to support the abortion access in #YQL and all of #alberta .

The first option potentially wins you one of six tattoo prizes: www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticket...

The second option looks SO FUN: www.eventbrite.ca/e/punks-for-...

Punks for Choice show on Feb 1 at The Slice
Punks for Pro-Choice Raffle 2025
Pro-Choice YQL needs your HELP!! Last year we were able to support 143 patients access reproductive healthcare. We also hosted 25 public info sessions/workshops/lectures/public outreach events to supp...
www.zeffy.com
January 21, 2025 at 1:29 AM
evolsara.bsky.social
One of the best books I've read on animals' sensory systems. Loved every page.
#book #science #sensorsystems
January 10, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted
aub-birdy.bsky.social
That's a wrap on #SICB2025 with @evolsara.bsky.social
January 8, 2025 at 1:56 AM
evolsara.bsky.social
Interested in convergent evolution, raptors and owls? I'll be presenting my first PhD dissertation chapter on Monday, January 6th! Come by to chat and grab some stickers!
#SICB2025 #Atlanta
January 4, 2025 at 2:10 AM
evolsara.bsky.social
Well, 2025 is already off to a great start... missed the first flight of the year. But hey, at least I had the extra time to finish this Barn Owl. Priorities, right?
#flightfail #2025Ibegyou #barnowl #pencils #birds
January 1, 2025 at 10:06 PM