Irene García-Ruiz
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irenegarciaruiz.com
Irene García-Ruiz
@irenegarciaruiz.com
Behavioural ecologist, Ph.D. • Researcher at the University of Neuchâtel.
Cooperation | Sociality | Sexual selection | Theoretical and empirical research
https://irenegarciaruiz.com/
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
ittle critters playing dead! 🐛🪲💀

I’ve been sick after a period of intense work but on the other hand I was able to slow down and draw something fun & relaxing… hope you folks enjoy it too!
November 24, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
Google Scholar is trying AI, and it's not too bad: scholar.google.com/scholar_labs... I like that it mainly ranks papers by relevance (and gives a quick assessment), and let you read the actual titles, etc...
scholar.google.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
📢Two fully-funded #PhD opportunities to work with us:

Topic: Social monitoring & manipulation

UK-domiciled black-heritage scheme: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6

NERC DLTP: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp

Cosupervisors: #PatrickKennedy @ljnbrent.bsky.social
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#bioacoustics #mammals #fieldwork
November 21, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
More on this phenomenon. (gift link)
They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
Scientists have observed mice helping each other when they encounter difficulties during birth, prompting a rethink of caregiving among rodents and other animals
Mouse 'midwives' help their pregnant companions give birth
Scientists have observed mice helping each other when they encounter difficulties during birth, prompting a rethink of caregiving among rodents and other animals
www.newscientist.com
November 20, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
For the first time, scientists have documented an unusual defense: Some species of arachnids build giant doppelgängers on their webs, creating a frightening deception that scares off would-be killers. https://scim.ag/487Myn0
November 12, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
November 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
Dispersion tests in generalised linear mixed-effects models - a methods comparison and practical guide
doi.org/10.32942/X23...
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
EXCELLENT graphic on the drain of scientific publishing! zenodo.org/records/1759...
November 15, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
Cleaning the scientific house: Rebuilding trust in science requires confronting the harms of ghostwriting | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Cleaning the scientific house: Rebuilding trust in science requires confronting the harms of ghostwriting
American science is under attack. Recent cuts to funding and staffing of federal agencies, layoffs of scientists, and rescission of billions of dollars in grants are unprecedented in US history and th...
www.science.org
November 3, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Another reason to love crows <3
1/7 Vocal mimicry, robots, and music

The ability to mimic sounds could be extremely common among corvids. Here, it has been found in 39 species (30%), but it is predicted that it could be present in around 82% of them.

(paper) link.springer.com/article/10.1...
November 11, 2025 at 3:33 PM
In other words, privatising the agency so research is capped and at the hands of private interest.
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 16d
A 62-page document written by billionaire Jared Isaacman outlines a sweeping, ambitious, and at times controversial plan for the space agency. https://cnn.it/3WKoFeS
November 11, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
Are humans really the only rational animals? Our NEW PAPER 🎉 out in @science.org suggests otherwise! In a large collaboration led with my joint first author @hanna-schleihauf.bsky.social, we show that “Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs” 🧵
Chimpanzees rationally revise their beliefs
The selective revision of beliefs in light of new evidence has been considered one of the hallmarks of human-level rationality. However, tests of this ability in other species are lacking. We examined...
www.science.org
October 30, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
We have an open PhD position (application deadline 9 January 2026) in "Theory of fitness landscapes" at @unibe.ch 🤓⛰️📊👩‍💻🎓: banklab.github.io/positions/

Please share widely!

#QueerInSTEM #DisabledInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #WomenInSTEM #CarersInSTEM #AcademicSky #HigherED
October 28, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I wonder how much the poor enrichment and treatment even affect medical results. They deserve better treatment, all animals do.
October 25, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
A 2024 study found that ants best humans at tests of collective intelligence.

Learn more on #WorldAnimalDay: https://scim.ag/42nMvQJ
October 4, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
Journals are considering doing identity checks to expose fake authors — but there are downsides

go.nature.com/4ngrUpa
How to spot fake scientists and stop them from publishing papers
Journals are considering doing identity checks to expose fake authors — but there are downsides.
go.nature.com
October 22, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
For a long time tool use was thought to be exclusive to #primates and #birds, but #wrasses use hard surfaces to crack open hard-shelled prey. Research using #CitizenScience, and supported by #FSBISmallResearchGrant, provides the first documented evidence of anvil use in several sps: bit.ly/4m6JKdx
Tool use by New World Halichoeres wrasses - Coral Reefs
A diverse array of animals has evolved the ability to use tools (e.g., primates, parrots, octopus, crabs, and wasps), but the factors leading to tool use evolution are poorly understood. Fishes could provide insight into these factors via comparison of ecological and morphological differences between tool-using and non-tool-using species. Anvil use is one example of tool use by fish: the fish holds a hard-shelled prey item in its mouth and strikes it onto a hard surface (anvil) to open it. To date, anvil use has been described in 26 of the > 550 described wrasse/Labridae species. Through a community science program called Fish Tool Use, 16 new observations of anvil use were collected in five species of a monophyletic group of wrasses called the New World Halichoeres. These new observations provide the first evidence of anvil use by Halichoeres brasiliensis, H. poeyi and H. radiatus, and the first video evidence of anvil use by H. garnoti and H. bivittatus. They extend the geographic range of known anvil use by wrasses to a new region, the western Atlantic, making this behaviour even more widespread than previously reported. Video analysis revealed that wrasses are flexible in their anvil use: They did not have a preferred side of their body, they cracked open a diverse array of prey on a variety of anvil types, and often used many anvils and striking points for the same prey item. More observations are needed to determine the evolutionary origin of anvil use behaviour, its ecological drivers, costs, and benefits.
bit.ly
September 11, 2025 at 12:30 PM
🧪
Paper & incredible science alert: Our assistant professor @laurastidsholt.bsky.social & a passionate team @elena-tena.bsky.social @ebdonana.bsky.social found proof for greater nocturnal #bats 🦇 preying on migratory birds 🐦 AND devouring them in flight! #bioacoustics
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 22, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
2025. Is academic research becoming too competitive? Nature examines the data. Success rates for Europe’s leading research grants are declining — some to single percentage points — as a surge in applications far outweighs the funds available. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Is academic research becoming too competitive? Nature examines the data
Applications for European research grants increased in 2025. Scientists say they’re feeling the competition.
www.nature.com
October 20, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
🚨Fully-funded PhD opportunity in my group🚨

🧬How does parental ageing shape the next generation?🐾

Find out by studying meerkats!

🧪Epigenetic clocks
✨Bioinformatics
📊Long-term data
🌍Kalahari fieldwork
💡Big evolutionary questions

Get in touch or APPLY NOW
Please share!
www.uea.ac.uk/course/phd-d...
October 17, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
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
October 16, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
❓ Want to join us?
📢 Fully funded #PhD for UK-domiciled Black heritage candidates
🐵 Biological market monitoring & manipulation in social animals #mongooses #macaques #fieldwork

👥 With me, #LaurenBrent & #PatrickKennedy
🎓 @bristolbiosci.bsky.social

ℹ️ www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

🙏Share widely
October 16, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Reposted by Irene García-Ruiz
Trying to work from home with my kids around
October 14, 2025 at 5:05 PM