Ivo Jacobs
LightNews LightNews
banner
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Ivo Jacobs
@ivojacobs.bsky.social
3.5K followers 1.3K following 340 posts
Cognitive zoologist investigating the evolution of animal cognition, particularly in response to fire (pyrocognition). Amateur wildlife photographer based in southern Sweden. More interested in rare behaviours than rare species.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Ivo Jacobs @ivojacobs.bsky.social · Nov 13
Welcome new followers to the Good Place!

If you're wondering what monkeys at bonfires and birds hunting at bushfires reveal about animal cognition and human evolution, my Aeon article is an accessible read. aeon.co/essays/how-a... 🧪

For the rest, I mainly post bird pictures (with a big backlog).
How animal uses of fire help to illuminate human pyrocognition | Aeon Essays
Far from being hardwired to flee fire, some animals use it to their own ends, helping us understand our own pyrocognition
aeon.co
ivojacobs.bsky.social
New preprint out!🧪🌍🔥

I observed 17 bird species at two prescribed fires in Sweden. They appeared to mostly ignore the fire, and some (such as this skylark) even sang through the smoke - an important comparison with birds from fire-prone regions (reviewed here).

www.authorea.com/users/102018...
January 19, 2026 at 4:48 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Egyptian gosling, nature's mowing machines
#photography #birds
An Egyptian gosling feeding on grass and flowers, two of its siblings napping in the background
January 18, 2026 at 2:10 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Regrettably, this post and the paper severely misrepresent our stance and arguments. I've posted our peer review response as a comment to this blog post, to provide interested readers with the full picture (after hopefully having read the published papers from all three sides).
January 13, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
explanimals.bsky.social
How do curiosity and surprise intersect following a violation of expectation? Read our paper here🔥
@auersperga.bsky.social @ivojacobs.bsky.social @elifduran.bsky.social
royalsocietypublishing.org Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 25d
Physio-behavioral manifestations of 'surprise' in two parrot species: kea (Nestor notabilis) and Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana): doi.org/10.1098/rsos... #RSOS #cognition
December 29, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
ivojacobs.bsky.social
New paper out! 🧪
On reconstructing dinosaur cognition through contemporary cognitive science - a primer on the function of neurons and cognition, the role of extant animals, thermobiology, tools, arms races, foraging, and model-based cognition.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
A graph comparing the number of neurons in the telencephalon of reptiles, birds, and two estimates for T. rex. Even the lowest of these estimates suggests the telencephalic neuron count of T. rex to be similar to that of a pygmy falcon or blackbird - several times more than the largest telencephalic neuron count of extant reptiles.
December 19, 2025 at 8:24 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
New paper out! 🧪
On reconstructing dinosaur cognition through contemporary cognitive science - a primer on the function of neurons and cognition, the role of extant animals, thermobiology, tools, arms races, foraging, and model-based cognition.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
A graph comparing the number of neurons in the telencephalon of reptiles, birds, and two estimates for T. rex. Even the lowest of these estimates suggests the telencephalic neuron count of T. rex to be similar to that of a pygmy falcon or blackbird - several times more than the largest telencephalic neuron count of extant reptiles.
December 19, 2025 at 8:24 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Magic, thermal imaging, and birds - it's got everything!
explanimals.bsky.social Gabriella E. Smith @explanimals.bsky.social · Dec 17
Excited to share that the second paper of my PhD is now published!

Kea but not cockatoos are susceptible to a bait-and-switch magic trick. And check out that thermal imaging! ❤️‍🔥

royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...
December 18, 2025 at 6:32 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Thrilled to be among the winners! 🪶📷🔥🌏
afe-fireecology.bsky.social Association for Fire Ecology @afe-fireecology.bsky.social · Dec 15
Animals and Fire Winner - "Firehawk" by @ivojacobs.bsky.social (5/7)
December 15, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
afe-fireecology.bsky.social
Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 AFE Photo Contest! 🔥🎉Read each photo's caption and see all the photos that were submitted this year by searching Photo Contest 2025 (or the name of the photo) at https://fireecology.org/photo-gallery (1/7)
December 15, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
marinapapa.bsky.social
📢We have a brilliant #PhD opportunity on collective animal behaviour across vertebrates! Deadline early 2026 so plenty of time to prepare, feel free to reach out for more info if you are interested in applying 👀

All details below👇
December 3, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
chriskrupenye.bsky.social
🚨Job Alert plz RT!

Johns Hopkins Psych & Brain Sciences is looking for a new colleague using behavioral or computational approaches to study cognition!

We are excited about many areas of (esp higher) cognition in human adults, children, or nonhuman animals

Open-rank

apply.interfolio.com/178146
December 2, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
carinanebel.bsky.social
Interested in #RaptorResearch and #MovementEcology? 🧪
The #AnimalEcology Lab at @utu.fi has an open #PhDposition!

We’ll be tagging WTEs with cutting-edge #GPS devices to study their early-life journeys.

Curious to learn more? See the advert: shorturl.at/HMZ84

#PhDOpening #PhDChat #BioLogging
December 1, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
ndersen.bsky.social
Come join the wonderful CogSci dep at Aarhus Uni, Denmark! Fantastic students, wonderful colleagues, and great work/life balance! We are looking for applicants with teaching experience in the field of computational modelling of cognitive and/or social processes.
international.au.dk/about/profil...
Assistant Professor, Associate Professor or Full Professor of Cognitive Science - Vacancy at Aarhus University
Vacancy at School of Communication and Culture - Linguistics, Cognitive Science and Semiotics, Dept. of, Aarhus University
international.au.dk
November 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
For the people in the back:
- String pulling isn't tool use.
- Categorising a behaviour as tool use doesn't inherently make it more interesting or "intelligent".
david-grimm.bsky.social David Grimm @david-grimm.bsky.social · Nov 17
A female wolf has been doing something unusual on the Central Coast of British Columbia. She's learned to pull crab traps up from the water, yanking on a rope to bring it to the surface. But is it tool use? Very fun story from @phiejacobs.bsky.social for @science.org
Have wild wolves learned to use tools?
Video captures a lone female pulling crab traps out of the water, but does it count as tool use?
www.science.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
wild-minds.bsky.social
PhD scholarship alert! Are you interested in cognitive evolution? Do you want to know how development influences cognitive traits? Do you love hanging out with birds in the forest? If the answer to these questions is yes, please apply to work with us! 1/2 🧪
www.wgtn.ac.nz/scholarships...
Ella holds a fluffy and sleepy looking toutouwai chick during banding and fits an orange band to its leg
November 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
christophvoelter.bsky.social
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.

All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
www.eva.mpg.de
November 13, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
biologylu.bsky.social
We're hiring! Post-doctoral fellow in evolutionary ecology w/focus on ecophysiology.
Uncover why global warming and heatwaves reduce reproductive success and cause excess mortality in wild birds. Work with @cyanistesnord.bsky.social 👏

Please apply no later than 25 November.
👉 lnkd.in/dkAh9jnc
November 5, 2025 at 7:30 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
A late galah for headless bird Halloween
#photography #birds
A galah perched on a branch with wing outstretched and head missing (because it's preening)
November 1, 2025 at 8:54 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Walk like an Egyptian (gosling)
#photography #birds
Side view of a small Egyptian gosling with a foot up, walking over a street
October 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Swan in heaven
#photography #birds
Close-up of a mute swan preening itself, showing only its head with closed eyes rubbing against a sea of white feathers
October 22, 2025 at 3:35 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Tufted duck is suspicious
#photography #birds
A male tufted duck, in black and white plumage, preens his back while floating on a lake, with the vibrant yellow eye halfway closed.
October 21, 2025 at 5:53 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Crashing wave of Egyptian goslings
#photography #birds
Eight brown-and-white Egyptian goslings on a small wave in a river facing the observer
October 20, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
stevebrusatte.bsky.social
Interested in fossils? Brains? Reptiles?

Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?

Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?

Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
Project | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership
The project advertisement
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk
October 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Fight club - Egyptian geese edition got an update: now with anime backgrounds
#photography #birds
Two geese flying low over a lake - one flying to the side of the frame and the incoming goose flying in from the top of the frame, ready to attack with wings spread and bill open. The background reflections on the lake form streaks of light.
October 12, 2025 at 3:11 PM