Kai Caspar
@nomascus.bsky.social
Zoology lecturer @hhu.de | Armchair biologist | Focus on rodents underground and gibbons in the trees, also one of @themanybirds.bsky.social | Organismic vertebrate biology
Reposted by Kai Caspar
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!🙏
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
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!🙏
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!🙏
Reposted by Kai Caspar
Strong response to recent critiques of the sequence-struggle hypothesis. Chapeau!
For this reason, we wrote this comment, published yesterday. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
We reason that 1) their data supports rather than rejects the sequence hypothesis, as monkeys and chimps did not perform with any precision in these sequential tasks. 7/n
We reason that 1) their data supports rather than rejects the sequence hypothesis, as monkeys and chimps did not perform with any precision in these sequential tasks. 7/n
November 13, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Strong response to recent critiques of the sequence-struggle hypothesis. Chapeau!
Reposted by Kai Caspar
The twisted secret behind a chameleon’s oddball eyes | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
The twisted secret behind a chameleon’s oddball eyes
Coiled nerves allow the reptiles to move their peepers in multiple directions at once without moving their heads
www.science.org
November 12, 2025 at 6:26 PM
The twisted secret behind a chameleon’s oddball eyes | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪
Reposted by Kai Caspar
These orb-weaver spiders build FAKE SPIDER DECOYS in their webs, potentially to deter predators 🤯 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Cyclosa Menge, 1866 (Araneidae) Orb‐Weavers Build Stabilimenta That Resemble Larger Spiders
The orb-weaving spider Cyclosa longicauda from Peru constructs unique stabilimenta from detritus and silk that visually resemble a larger spider. This previously undescribed behavior likely functions....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:31 PM
These orb-weaver spiders build FAKE SPIDER DECOYS in their webs, potentially to deter predators 🤯 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Kai Caspar
November 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Kai Caspar
My advice for #2025SVP would be aimed not to students, who are excellent in our society and I am sure will do great but on senior academics. During Q&A, please resist the urge to grandstand or grill. Be polite, constructive, and supportive. That’s how we build a stronger, kinder community. #SVP2025
Many of our student attendees will be giving their first talk or poster this meeting! What advice you give them to help make it the best experience possible?
#2025SVP
#2025SVP
November 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Kai Caspar
🚨Another new paper alert!! 🚨
We present the first histological analysis of an ornithocheirid pterosaur tooth from Brazil’s Crato Formation, revealing exceptionally rapid tooth growth and thin enamel adapted for efficient replacement.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
We present the first histological analysis of an ornithocheirid pterosaur tooth from Brazil’s Crato Formation, revealing exceptionally rapid tooth growth and thin enamel adapted for efficient replacement.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Histology and fossil diagenesis of a pterosaur tooth from the Crato Formation (Lower Cretaceous of Brazil)
Pterosaur dental biology remains poorly understood despite its importance for comprehending feeding strategies and flight adaptations. Here, we present the first comprehensive histological analysis o....
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:39 PM
🚨Another new paper alert!! 🚨
We present the first histological analysis of an ornithocheirid pterosaur tooth from Brazil’s Crato Formation, revealing exceptionally rapid tooth growth and thin enamel adapted for efficient replacement.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
We present the first histological analysis of an ornithocheirid pterosaur tooth from Brazil’s Crato Formation, revealing exceptionally rapid tooth growth and thin enamel adapted for efficient replacement.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Kai Caspar
🚨New paper alert!🚨🤩
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - A regurgitalite reveals a new filter-feeding pterosaur from the Santana Group
www.nature.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:23 AM
🚨New paper alert!🚨🤩
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪⚒️Welcome the first filter-feeding pterosaur from Brazil: Bakiribu waridza, from the Araripe Basin!! 🥳
The new species is AWESOME and was discoverd inside a regurgitalite 😱🤍
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Kai Caspar
Ape discovered from offerings in the tomb of Lady Xia, the grandmother of the first Chinese emperor, turn out to be a kind of crested gibbon.
A new phylogenetic analysis of living gibbons and the mysterious subfossil taxon "Junzi", which is found to be a crested gibbon (Nomascus) and not distinct at genus level.
This tree topology of recent forms has now been repeatedly recovered 💪🏻
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
This tree topology of recent forms has now been repeatedly recovered 💪🏻
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
Genome sequences of extant and extinct gibbons reveal their phylogeny, demographic history, and conservation status
This study presents a comprehensive evolutionary history of gibbons by resolving their
contentious phylogeny, reclassifying an extinct species with ancient DNA, and identifying
a structural variant po...
www.cell.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Ape discovered from offerings in the tomb of Lady Xia, the grandmother of the first Chinese emperor, turn out to be a kind of crested gibbon.
A new phylogenetic analysis of living gibbons and the mysterious subfossil taxon "Junzi", which is found to be a crested gibbon (Nomascus) and not distinct at genus level.
This tree topology of recent forms has now been repeatedly recovered 💪🏻
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
This tree topology of recent forms has now been repeatedly recovered 💪🏻
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
Genome sequences of extant and extinct gibbons reveal their phylogeny, demographic history, and conservation status
This study presents a comprehensive evolutionary history of gibbons by resolving their
contentious phylogeny, reclassifying an extinct species with ancient DNA, and identifying
a structural variant po...
www.cell.com
November 10, 2025 at 5:23 AM
A new phylogenetic analysis of living gibbons and the mysterious subfossil taxon "Junzi", which is found to be a crested gibbon (Nomascus) and not distinct at genus level.
This tree topology of recent forms has now been repeatedly recovered 💪🏻
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
This tree topology of recent forms has now been repeatedly recovered 💪🏻
www.cell.com/cell/abstrac...
Reposted by Kai Caspar
The statistical fragility of animal cognition findings: a meta-meta-analytic reappraisal
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
The statistical fragility of animal cognition findings: a meta-meta-analytic reappraisal
ecoevorxiv.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:05 AM
The statistical fragility of animal cognition findings: a meta-meta-analytic reappraisal
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Reposted by Kai Caspar
November 6, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Kai Caspar
New at Tetrapod Zoology, a brief look at what's surely the world's best known extinct proboscidean: that Ice Age superstar the Woolly mammoth .... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/11... #mammoths #IceAge #Pleistocene #fossilmammals #elephants
A Woolly Mammoth Primer — Tetrapod Zoology
I’ve said before that proboscideans – the familiar group of placental mammals that includes living elephants and their many fossil relatives – have never been well served here at Tet Zoo…
tetzoo.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
New at Tetrapod Zoology, a brief look at what's surely the world's best known extinct proboscidean: that Ice Age superstar the Woolly mammoth .... tetzoo.com/blog/2025/11... #mammoths #IceAge #Pleistocene #fossilmammals #elephants
Reposted by Kai Caspar
Webinar: Associating hominin fossils with their burial environment, and hopefully each other by Ted Present on 17 November 2025, 10:30 am ET (NY) / 3:30 pm (UK) / 6:30 pm (Nairobi)
Zoom Meeting Link:
stonybrook.zoom.us/j/9433303798...
Meeting ID: 943 3303 7980 / Passcode: 686719
Zoom Meeting Link:
stonybrook.zoom.us/j/9433303798...
Meeting ID: 943 3303 7980 / Passcode: 686719
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.
stonybrook.zoom.us
November 4, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Webinar: Associating hominin fossils with their burial environment, and hopefully each other by Ted Present on 17 November 2025, 10:30 am ET (NY) / 3:30 pm (UK) / 6:30 pm (Nairobi)
Zoom Meeting Link:
stonybrook.zoom.us/j/9433303798...
Meeting ID: 943 3303 7980 / Passcode: 686719
Zoom Meeting Link:
stonybrook.zoom.us/j/9433303798...
Meeting ID: 943 3303 7980 / Passcode: 686719
Reposted by Kai Caspar
We are our best when we collaborate. 🧪🦠🔬🧬🌍🍄
This mural about the invisible #soil #biodiversity in Moers(🇩🇪) resulted from the collaboration between my friend Dr. Arne Schwelm, the people from sci:moers and the Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung under the artistic direction of #cokyone.
This mural about the invisible #soil #biodiversity in Moers(🇩🇪) resulted from the collaboration between my friend Dr. Arne Schwelm, the people from sci:moers and the Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung under the artistic direction of #cokyone.
November 2, 2025 at 12:44 PM
We are our best when we collaborate. 🧪🦠🔬🧬🌍🍄
This mural about the invisible #soil #biodiversity in Moers(🇩🇪) resulted from the collaboration between my friend Dr. Arne Schwelm, the people from sci:moers and the Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung under the artistic direction of #cokyone.
This mural about the invisible #soil #biodiversity in Moers(🇩🇪) resulted from the collaboration between my friend Dr. Arne Schwelm, the people from sci:moers and the Stiftung für Umwelt und Entwicklung under the artistic direction of #cokyone.
Reposted by Kai Caspar
MSc internship / Field Assistant position available in our group!
Impact of urbanisation on avian reproduction 🐦🏙️ 🌳
Deadline: 7 Nov 2025
All details 👉 www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/...
Please share it around!
Impact of urbanisation on avian reproduction 🐦🏙️ 🌳
Deadline: 7 Nov 2025
All details 👉 www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/...
Please share it around!
October 2, 2025 at 12:56 PM
MSc internship / Field Assistant position available in our group!
Impact of urbanisation on avian reproduction 🐦🏙️ 🌳
Deadline: 7 Nov 2025
All details 👉 www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/...
Please share it around!
Impact of urbanisation on avian reproduction 🐦🏙️ 🌳
Deadline: 7 Nov 2025
All details 👉 www.uni-bielefeld.de/fakultaeten/...
Please share it around!
Reposted by Kai Caspar
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
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” 🧵
Reposted by Kai Caspar
A 164.7 cm #rhino horn from #Yakutia sheds light on woolly rhinoceros morphology, longevity, and sexual dimorphism zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #permafrost #palaeoecology @davehone.bsky.social @amcell.bsky.social @elissazcameron.bsky.social @conservresearch.bsky.social
October 30, 2025 at 12:05 PM
A 164.7 cm #rhino horn from #Yakutia sheds light on woolly rhinoceros morphology, longevity, and sexual dimorphism zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #permafrost #palaeoecology @davehone.bsky.social @amcell.bsky.social @elissazcameron.bsky.social @conservresearch.bsky.social
The mammalogy course had luck with the marsupials at Zoo Duisburg today. Devils, koalas, macropods, wombats ...
October 29, 2025 at 4:47 PM
The mammalogy course had luck with the marsupials at Zoo Duisburg today. Devils, koalas, macropods, wombats ...
Reposted by Kai Caspar
Brittle star swimming! Love this movement.
October 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Brittle star swimming! Love this movement.
Reposted by Kai Caspar
Talk about an in-flight meal.
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
October 27, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Talk about an in-flight meal.
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
For the first time, researchers have captured rats hunting bats by grabbing them from the sky. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3Jqldmn
Reposted by Kai Caspar
Reposted by Kai Caspar
The Christmas Island shrew, Crocidura trichura, declared extinct 19 October 2025.
October 26, 2025 at 4:35 PM
The Christmas Island shrew, Crocidura trichura, declared extinct 19 October 2025.
"Prediction of color from melanosomes in fossil mammals merits caution"
Great to see some nuanced takes in this.
Great to see some nuanced takes in this.
High melanosome diversity exhibits weak correlation with color and environmental variables in the early evolution of therian mammals | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
High melanosome diversity exhibits weak correlation with color and environmental variables in the early evolution of therian mammals
Melanosome geometry in Jurassic and therian mammals reflected a limited color/environment link unlike that in dinosaurs.
www.science.org
October 26, 2025 at 10:13 AM
"Prediction of color from melanosomes in fossil mammals merits caution"
Great to see some nuanced takes in this.
Great to see some nuanced takes in this.