Joan Silk
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Joan Silk
@jbsilk.bsky.social
1.4K followers 170 following 260 posts
Evolutionary anthropologist, primate behavioral ecologist, and part-time baker.
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If, by chance, we get to come back in another form, I think I would like to be a cockatoo.
January 28, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Joe Henrich has won the Carty Award from the National Academy of Sciences: "Henrich’s fundamental contributions have transformed our understanding of how cultural evolutionary forces shape human behavior and psychology."
www.nasonline.org/award/john-j...
January 23, 2026 at 6:52 PM
And, science is the product of individual labor and passion. The impact of funding cuts on scientists:https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00091-0?WT.ec_id=NATURE-20260122&utm_source=nature_etoc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CONR_41586_AWA1_GL_DTEC_054CI_TOC-260122
January 22, 2026 at 2:14 PM
The data tell the story: US science is in crisis
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains
A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.
www.nature.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Joan Silk
twaring.bsky.social
Excited for the new Transmissions episode on ASU's Sarah Mathew on how human warfare evolved, and her fieldwork in Kenya.

Watch here:
youtu.be/eUqEcxf5uBQ?...

New Episodes monthly! Created by @ferylbadiani.bsky.social and @ahnisnaahsi.bsky.social

CC: @arizonastateuni.bsky.social
Transmissions Episode 2 with Dr Sarah Matthew
YouTube video by Cultural Evolution Society
youtu.be
January 13, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Just in case you need a visual: xkcd.com/1379/
4.5 Degrees
xkcd.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:40 AM
#GreatAdaptations The adaptive value of diversity www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
January 2, 2026 at 3:06 PM
#GreatAdaptations Intransitive strategies in lizards www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
January 2, 2026 at 3:04 PM
How exactly does this work? FEWER staff will get LESS outside help and this will REDUCE their workload. Color me skeptical. www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - NSF pares back grant-review process to ease workload
To ease the burden on a staff that has shrunk significantly since President Donald Trump took office, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is reducing the role of outside experts in reviewing...
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org
December 19, 2025 at 1:57 PM
#GreatAdaptations Because we all need a bit of levity these days.
rosemarymosco.com Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · Dec 15
Animals with misleading names. I'm seeing this go around as part of a viral tumblr thread so I thought I'd reshare it.
A comic called Animals with Misleading Names. There's an electric eel labeled "not an eel". There's a mountain goat labeled "not a goat." There's a maned wolf labeled "not a wolf." There's a king cobra labeled "not a cobra. Also, snakes are typically self-governing." There's a peacock mantis shrimp labeled "Not a peacock. Not a mantis. Also, not a shrimp." There's a horny toad labeled "Not a toad. Only thinks of you as a friend." There's a mayfly labeled "active through the spring and summer." There's an eastern kingbird labeled "found in the west. Many birds do not recognize its authority."
December 15, 2025 at 4:55 PM
#GreatAdaptations This is clearly a very early April Fool's joke
alexvont.bsky.social Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · Dec 8
So love wobbegongs. Everything is good about the wobbegong. Its name. Its flattened Oscar the Grouch face. Its frondy bits. Its lazy life as a hungry rug. And it’s a shark. Outstanding animal 10/10
jeffyoungblood.bsky.social Jeff Youngblood @jeffyoungblood.bsky.social · Dec 5
The Tasselled Wobbegong is a master of disguise that can eat a fish almost as big as itself in one gulp. It's classified as a shark, but when it lays on the sea floor it looks like a harmless rug if you manage to see it. But with powerful jaws and sharp teeth they are no fish to mess with.
December 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM
My bet is 2026 is going to look much worse. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:53 PM
It wasn't hard to see this coming, but even so it's hard to accept. Anyone know whether other divisions were affected?
caraocobock.bsky.social Cara Ocobock @caraocobock.bsky.social · Nov 26
All NSF SBE DDRIG solicitations have been archived and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Grants currently submitted will be processed, but as always, chances of funding remain very low. This means anyone aiming for the upcoming deadline will not be able to submit. 1/3
November 27, 2025 at 11:48 PM
#GreatAdaptations Sadly males may be able to impress females, but not see them.
sjportugal.bsky.social Steve Portugal @sjportugal.bsky.social · Nov 27
We had a new paper out yesterday in @royalsocietypublishing.org Biology Letters. About how the cranial feathers of male Golden and Lady Amherst’s Pheasants affect their visual fields. Nice to see it picked up The New York Times and Science. Paper link below.
November 27, 2025 at 11:38 PM
#GreatAdaptations Lethal intergroup aggression in chimpanzees has adaptive benefits (for the victors) www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
www.pnas.org
November 22, 2025 at 6:21 PM
#GreatAdaptations New data from a species that keeps teaching us more about how females hold their own in reproductive conflicts with males.
jbeehner.bsky.social Jacinta Beehner @jbeehner.bsky.social · Nov 19
Not all sexual swellings signal fertility. Some signal strategy. In our new Current Biology paper, we show how gelada females “fake it” during male takeovers—and why it works.
authors.elsevier.com/a/1m7%7E93QW...
November 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Reposted by Joan Silk
rebeccasear.bsky.social
Hard to think of a better epitaph for a scientist than this: “She inspired us to see the world with both rigor and heart”

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
In Memoriam Jane B. Lancaster (1935–2025), a Pioneer in Anthropology
Click on the article title to read more.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:14 AM
So very sad and so very unnecessary.
newyorker.com The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Nov 6
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Joan Silk
donmoyn.bsky.social
The elimination of USAID was an unforgivable moral atrocity that should haunt Trump, Elon Musk and Marco Rubio for the rest of their days and beyond
newyorker.com The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Nov 6
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 2:36 AM
More interesting data on Guinea baboons and more evidence of the diversity in social/mating systems among the awesome Papionins
biorxiv-behav.bsky.social bioRxiv Animal Behavior and Cognition @biorxiv-behav.bsky.social · Oct 28
Nested Male Reproductive Strategies in a Tolerant Multilevel Primate Society https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.10.27.684814v1
October 28, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Joan Silk
alexa63709.bsky.social
Post-doc position with James Higham at NYU looking at the effects that hurricanes have on aging and how sociality may mitigate these effects.

bioanth.org/jobs/post-do...
Post-Doctoral Associate - AABA
Note - while the position is available immediately, the start date is flexible. Interested applicants should just apply as soon as possible - we will evaluate applications on a rolling basis. Descri...
bioanth.org
October 24, 2025 at 1:50 PM
An interesting (and unusual) fission event in olive baboons.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Social patterns underlying a new group formation in olive baboons
In group-living animals, social and ecological challenges can push groups to fission into two or more ‘daughter’ groups. Here, we describe the demographic and social behavioral changes that were assoc...
journals.plos.org
October 23, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Lovely new data on how Himba women learn to breastfeed successfully.
October 22, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Did everyone but me know about CtrF to search PDFs?
October 20, 2025 at 5:23 PM
There are a lot of disappointed second year graduate students whose have already invested time and energy in preparing GFRP applications. There is no excuse for phasing in this new rule without prior notice.
itativcs.bsky.social lost to geometry @itativcs.bsky.social · Sep 26
🧪The NSF has made changes to the GRFP solicitation and eligibility TODAY that may change your eligibility! PLEASE read through the solicitation if you were planning to apply and speak to your mentors about the merits of applying: www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)
www.nsf.gov
September 27, 2025 at 3:34 AM