Lara Durgavich
@ldurgavich.bsky.social
Still tinkering. Still a primate.
Biological anthropologist. Mom. #SciComm enthusiast. I ❤️ animals & pop culture.
Biological anthropologist. Mom. #SciComm enthusiast. I ❤️ animals & pop culture.
Pinned
Lara Durgavich
@ldurgavich.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Lara Durgavich: An evolutionary perspective on human health and disease
How does your genetic inheritance, culture and history influence your health? Biological anthropologist Lara Durgavich discusses the field of evolutionary medicine as a gateway to understanding the qu...
www.ted.com
One time I did a TED talk:
www.ted.com/talks/lara_d...
www.ted.com/talks/lara_d...
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
Measles is a bellwether. Because it’s the most contagious vaccine-preventable disease, when vaccination rates drop, it’s the first to start spreading.
Now we’ve got mumps rolling up.
Expect more.
This is just the beginning of RFK Jr.’s successful infectious disease reintroduction plan.
Now we’ve got mumps rolling up.
Expect more.
This is just the beginning of RFK Jr.’s successful infectious disease reintroduction plan.
Maryland health officials warn providers about an upsurge in mumps cases
Maryland health officials are warning about an uptick in cases of mumps.
www.thebanner.com
February 14, 2026 at 11:34 PM
Measles is a bellwether. Because it’s the most contagious vaccine-preventable disease, when vaccination rates drop, it’s the first to start spreading.
Now we’ve got mumps rolling up.
Expect more.
This is just the beginning of RFK Jr.’s successful infectious disease reintroduction plan.
Now we’ve got mumps rolling up.
Expect more.
This is just the beginning of RFK Jr.’s successful infectious disease reintroduction plan.
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
Roses are red
And I guess love is nice
But I’ll feel much better
When we get rid of ICE
And I guess love is nice
But I’ll feel much better
When we get rid of ICE
February 14, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Roses are red
And I guess love is nice
But I’ll feel much better
When we get rid of ICE
And I guess love is nice
But I’ll feel much better
When we get rid of ICE
Post a fun pic of you & your sweetie for #ValentinesDay
February 14, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Post a fun pic of you & your sweetie for #ValentinesDay
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
I feel this way about pretty much all vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. You shouldn't be allowed to dump cyanide into municipal drinking water and you shouldn't be allowed to recreationally spread viruses around shared public spaces.
My most authoritarian opinion is that the MMR vaccine should be mandatory, with only medical (not religious or floofy) exemptions allowed. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
This Is How a Child Dies of Measles
When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak
www.theatlantic.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:09 PM
I feel this way about pretty much all vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. You shouldn't be allowed to dump cyanide into municipal drinking water and you shouldn't be allowed to recreationally spread viruses around shared public spaces.
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
Free the incarcerated children, burn these places to the ground, and prosecute every one those ICE/CBP rapists responsible.
"Some were as young as 13, and at least half of those taken in so far became pregnant as a result of rape, sources said."
The Trump administration is incarcerating migrant girls in, essentially, a forced pregnancy camp.
February 12, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Free the incarcerated children, burn these places to the ground, and prosecute every one those ICE/CBP rapists responsible.
T. Rex is extinct.
Now that Trump has established that you can repeal scientific facts, what fact are you going to repeal?
I'm going with "sugar rots your teeth."
I'm going with "sugar rots your teeth."
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
February 13, 2026 at 4:59 AM
T. Rex is extinct.
I still regularly listen to the soundtracks of Empire Records, Reality Bites, 10 Things I Hate About You, Can't Hardly Wait...
February 12, 2026 at 4:50 PM
I still regularly listen to the soundtracks of Empire Records, Reality Bites, 10 Things I Hate About You, Can't Hardly Wait...
*DISSOLVE*
But first, let's take a moment for the #2026MMM teaser trailer premiere! youtu.be/aK8CfWSZO4A
2026 March Mammal Madness Teaser Trailer
YouTube video by Katie Hinde
youtu.be
February 12, 2026 at 4:39 PM
*DISSOLVE*
Me trying to make sure I understand ancient DNA/paleogenomics in human evolution well enough to lecture my students about it tomorrow:
a woman is sitting at a desk with her hands on her head and says so much stuff
ALT: a woman is sitting at a desk with her hands on her head and says so much stuff
media.tenor.com
February 12, 2026 at 1:49 AM
Me trying to make sure I understand ancient DNA/paleogenomics in human evolution well enough to lecture my students about it tomorrow:
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
Idk I just feel like releasing this on Women and Girls in Science day with the top people being in the Epstein files and only THREE (3) women being in the top FIFTY...is on the nose.
www.forbes.com/sites/alexkn...
www.forbes.com/sites/alexkn...
Forbes 250: America’s Greatest Innovators
The Forbes Innovator 250: America's Greatest Innovators showcases the visionaries shaping our future. Find the full list of great minds and the mark they are leaving on our history.
www.forbes.com
February 11, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Idk I just feel like releasing this on Women and Girls in Science day with the top people being in the Epstein files and only THREE (3) women being in the top FIFTY...is on the nose.
www.forbes.com/sites/alexkn...
www.forbes.com/sites/alexkn...
Kids, man.
So happy to share that my last PhD chapter is finally out in Proc. B! We looked at chacma baboon offspring interference in grooming sessions between their mom and siblings, and asked whether these behaviours could represent jealous reactions.
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
Sibling interference in mother–offspring interactions reveals jealous reactions in wild baboons
Abstract. Whether non-human animals can experience complex emotions like jealousy remains debated. In humans, jealousy is particularly salient in sibships,
royalsocietypublishing.org
February 11, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Kids, man.
They just keep finding more ways to murder people.
FDA declines to review Moderna's mRNA flu shot
Under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Food and Drug Administration has taken an aggressive stance against mRNA technology.
www.nbcnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 12:10 AM
They just keep finding more ways to murder people.
I wrote about the Olympics
defector.com/which-other-...
defector.com/which-other-...
Which Other Olympic Mascots Could Italian Stoats Tina And Milo Slaughter In Cold Blood? | Defector
Apologies to all otters, ferrets, badgers, ferret-badgers, weasels, fishers, polecats, wolverines, martens, and grisons, but the mustelid of the moment is the stoat. The mascots of the 2026 Winter Oly...
defector.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:31 PM
I was listening to a podcast about Katharine Wright (sister of Wilbur & Orville) and looked up a pic to see what she looked like and at first glance thought it was Alanis playing dress up.
February 10, 2026 at 4:18 PM
I was listening to a podcast about Katharine Wright (sister of Wilbur & Orville) and looked up a pic to see what she looked like and at first glance thought it was Alanis playing dress up.
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
Anger and shame.
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Anger and shame.
I will also accept a commentator position, as I would then get to say things like “That was some amazing defense by Truffle!!” #PuppyBowl
I’ve decided what I want my next job to be & it’s Puppy Bowl Referee.
February 8, 2026 at 8:31 PM
I will also accept a commentator position, as I would then get to say things like “That was some amazing defense by Truffle!!” #PuppyBowl
I’ve decided what I want my next job to be & it’s Puppy Bowl Referee.
February 8, 2026 at 8:14 PM
I’ve decided what I want my next job to be & it’s Puppy Bowl Referee.
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
Wow, NBC edited out the audience booing JD Vance at the Olympics. And this is one of the few remaining news outlets NOT owned by right-wing billionaire Trump sycophants
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
NBC appears to cut crowd’s booing of JD Vance from Winter Olympics broadcast
The US vice-president, JD Vance, was greeted by a chorus of boos during when he appeared at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Wow, NBC edited out the audience booing JD Vance at the Olympics. And this is one of the few remaining news outlets NOT owned by right-wing billionaire Trump sycophants
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
S-tier reproducing
We found a 4th egg in #kakapo Waikawa's nest yesterday and found it was fertile. Waikawa has maintained her incredible 100% fertility record: 5 clutches of 4 fertile eggs in 4 breeding seasons. That's unmatched by any other kākāpō. #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds
February 7, 2026 at 9:57 PM
S-tier reproducing
This is the way. Always, everywhere, until the end of time.
LOL.... i wanted to hear JD getting booed at the Olympics and when i searched for it on YouTube i got this
February 7, 2026 at 9:49 PM
This is the way. Always, everywhere, until the end of time.
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
On a similar note, as Mamdani continues to notch W after W you’re going to start seeing opinion pieces about how this could never work in any city other than New York, etc., etc. Do not engage! It’s just entrenched power bullshit and that’s all! Don’t let them make that a conversation!
February 6, 2026 at 7:04 PM
On a similar note, as Mamdani continues to notch W after W you’re going to start seeing opinion pieces about how this could never work in any city other than New York, etc., etc. Do not engage! It’s just entrenched power bullshit and that’s all! Don’t let them make that a conversation!
Had a gummy and got super mad at the media & the patriarchy. Again.
February 7, 2026 at 1:57 AM
Had a gummy and got super mad at the media & the patriarchy. Again.
Reposted by Lara Durgavich
Shut them down and free the incarcerated kids and their families.
BREAKING: A young girl in immigration detention reportedly attempted to take her own life, at the same Texas facility experiencing a measles outbreak and where Liam Ramos was detained.
February 6, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Shut them down and free the incarcerated kids and their families.
I endorse this explanation as an evolutionary biologist
February 6, 2026 at 7:37 PM
I endorse this explanation as an evolutionary biologist
From @acyn.bsky.social (posted on X)
"Reporter: Do any of you have a favorite animal?
Child: My favorite one is a gold snake that can move. It has gold eyes, and it has a super-duper tail…
Reporter: Mr. Mamdani, the second question for you.
Mamdani: Yes. It’s also the golden snake."
"Reporter: Do any of you have a favorite animal?
Child: My favorite one is a gold snake that can move. It has gold eyes, and it has a super-duper tail…
Reporter: Mr. Mamdani, the second question for you.
Mamdani: Yes. It’s also the golden snake."
February 6, 2026 at 7:35 PM