@pfcook.bsky.social
Reposted
A new paper in Science suggests that primates (a bonobo male) can engage in "secondary representation" or "pretense", similar to children drinking pretend tea at a tea party.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2026/02/06/c...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2026/02/06/c...
February 6, 2026 at 4:46 PM
A new paper in Science suggests that primates (a bonobo male) can engage in "secondary representation" or "pretense", similar to children drinking pretend tea at a tea party.
whyevolutionistrue.com/2026/02/06/c...
whyevolutionistrue.com/2026/02/06/c...
Reposted
Another new paper led by SMRU's @izzylangley.bsky.social: First observations of grey seal cannibalism at Sable Island, inc. a comparison of carcass pathology to cases in Scotland. Collab between SMRU, DFO and @dalhousie.bsky.social with support from @oceanfrontier.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/mms....
doi.org/10.1111/mms....
Gray Seal Cannibalism at the Largest Colony in the World, Sable Island
Click on the article title to read more.
doi.org
February 6, 2026 at 10:43 AM
Another new paper led by SMRU's @izzylangley.bsky.social: First observations of grey seal cannibalism at Sable Island, inc. a comparison of carcass pathology to cases in Scotland. Collab between SMRU, DFO and @dalhousie.bsky.social with support from @oceanfrontier.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/mms....
doi.org/10.1111/mms....
New article with some legendary marine mammal research vets - we make the case for opportunistic, developmental studies of naturally occurring maternal exposure to algal neurotoxins in sea lions.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
February 2, 2026 at 6:46 PM
New article with some legendary marine mammal research vets - we make the case for opportunistic, developmental studies of naturally occurring maternal exposure to algal neurotoxins in sea lions.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
This one was a long time in the making! Written with my great colleagues Heidi Harley and Gordon Bauer, and a host of people game enough to engage with us on cognition and marine mammal conservation at a special 2022 Marine Mammal Society workshop.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Exploring Marine Mammal Cognition as a Conservation Tool
Cognition is an animal's real-time adaptation system for responding to change. Rapid environmental change, often anthropogenic, is expanding the range and severity of challenges confronting wild anim...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:28 PM
This one was a long time in the making! Written with my great colleagues Heidi Harley and Gordon Bauer, and a host of people game enough to engage with us on cognition and marine mammal conservation at a special 2022 Marine Mammal Society workshop.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted
On Friday, Congressional Democrats led members of their party in demanding the Trump administration withdraw their proposed rules that would dismantle the ESA.
Over one million comments were submitted before the close of the public comment period on December 22. Read more: https://bit.ly/49uubtd
Over one million comments were submitted before the close of the public comment period on December 22. Read more: https://bit.ly/49uubtd
Congress Urges Trump Administration to Abandon Effort to Gut Endangered Species Act | Wolf Conservation Center
Today, prominent Congressional Democrats led members of their party in demanding the Trump administration withdraw their proposed rules that would effectively dismantle the Endangered Species Act.
nywolf.org
January 20, 2026 at 3:47 PM
On Friday, Congressional Democrats led members of their party in demanding the Trump administration withdraw their proposed rules that would dismantle the ESA.
Over one million comments were submitted before the close of the public comment period on December 22. Read more: https://bit.ly/49uubtd
Over one million comments were submitted before the close of the public comment period on December 22. Read more: https://bit.ly/49uubtd
Reposted
New paper: New species of sea lion, Otaria josefinae, from the early Pleistocene Pongo Fm. of Peru (1.9-1.4 myo) - extinct ancestor(?) or sister species of the South American sea lion. 🐬🦖🧪Read the paper here: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
January 19, 2026 at 6:19 PM
New paper: New species of sea lion, Otaria josefinae, from the early Pleistocene Pongo Fm. of Peru (1.9-1.4 myo) - extinct ancestor(?) or sister species of the South American sea lion. 🐬🦖🧪Read the paper here: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
Reposted
Cow Tools!
We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them
It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS
Here I describe our study
(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them
It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS
Here I describe our study
(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
January 19, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Cow Tools!
We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them
It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS
Here I describe our study
(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
We have lived alongside cows for nearly 10,000 years.
We breed them and exploit them
It is now, only now, that we have discovered THEY CAN USE TOOLS
Here I describe our study
(paper) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... in @currentbiology.bsky.social
with @auersperga.bsky.social
Here's a fun one - colleagues did formant analysis on a harbor seal before and after he learned to modify one of his vocalizations. A growing body of work suggests Phocinae seals really do have fairly high vocal production plasticity. Wonder why...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Learnt formant modulation via upper vocal tract movements in a marine mammal - Discover Animals
Discover Animals - Formants are resonance frequencies shaped by the upper vocal tract. Across vertebrates, they have a key role in acoustic communication. Humans show fine-grained control of...
link.springer.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Here's a fun one - colleagues did formant analysis on a harbor seal before and after he learned to modify one of his vocalizations. A growing body of work suggests Phocinae seals really do have fairly high vocal production plasticity. Wonder why...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted
Reposted
Analyses of hundreds of thousands of papers in the natural sciences reveal a paradox: scientists who use AI tools produce more research but on a more confined set of topics
go.nature.com/458k7Ub
go.nature.com/458k7Ub
AI tools boost individual scientists but could limit research as a whole
Analyses of hundreds of thousands of papers in the natural sciences reveal a paradox: scientists who use AI tools produce more research but on a more confined set of topics.
go.nature.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:13 AM
Analyses of hundreds of thousands of papers in the natural sciences reveal a paradox: scientists who use AI tools produce more research but on a more confined set of topics
go.nature.com/458k7Ub
go.nature.com/458k7Ub
www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...
Salmon hats may be the closest thing to a non-human animal meme yet documented. Socially spread, no clear link to vital learned behaviors as with most animal play. The stuff about the paralimbic lobe though - we don’t know it’s function yet.
Salmon hats may be the closest thing to a non-human animal meme yet documented. Socially spread, no clear link to vital learned behaviors as with most animal play. The stuff about the paralimbic lobe though - we don’t know it’s function yet.
Why these orcas are wearing salmon as hats (again)
First observed in the 1980s, the fad of orcas swimming around with dead salmon on their foreheads off Washington State seemed to have faded—until now.
www.nationalgeographic.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:28 AM
www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...
Salmon hats may be the closest thing to a non-human animal meme yet documented. Socially spread, no clear link to vital learned behaviors as with most animal play. The stuff about the paralimbic lobe though - we don’t know it’s function yet.
Salmon hats may be the closest thing to a non-human animal meme yet documented. Socially spread, no clear link to vital learned behaviors as with most animal play. The stuff about the paralimbic lobe though - we don’t know it’s function yet.
Reposted
1/2 Ai, the chimpanzee who revolutionized science from Kyoto, has died at the age of 49.
She was the first chimpanzee to learn Arabic numerals.
Here you can see her in action in Tetsuro Matsuzawa's laboratory.
She was the first chimpanzee to learn Arabic numerals.
Here you can see her in action in Tetsuro Matsuzawa's laboratory.
January 14, 2026 at 8:37 AM
1/2 Ai, the chimpanzee who revolutionized science from Kyoto, has died at the age of 49.
She was the first chimpanzee to learn Arabic numerals.
Here you can see her in action in Tetsuro Matsuzawa's laboratory.
She was the first chimpanzee to learn Arabic numerals.
Here you can see her in action in Tetsuro Matsuzawa's laboratory.
Reposted
“There is nothing we can do to this planet…that will make it less habitable than Mars already is.” Mark McCaughrean shares the lessons he’s learnt from a career in space science, on “Babbage”
Mark McCaughrean: the astronomer’s guide to the cosmos
Our podcast on science and technology. This week, the space scientist and author takes us on a tour of the universe’s most intriguing places
econ.st
January 13, 2026 at 3:20 PM
“There is nothing we can do to this planet…that will make it less habitable than Mars already is.” Mark McCaughrean shares the lessons he’s learnt from a career in space science, on “Babbage”
www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
As a sea lion (cognitive) scientist (pinnipedlab.ucsc.edu/files/2020/0...), I've been thinking about these guys for years. Because sea lions are flexible resource finders but ruthless exploiters, they're hard to deter. A new sea lion is always showing up!
As a sea lion (cognitive) scientist (pinnipedlab.ucsc.edu/files/2020/0...), I've been thinking about these guys for years. Because sea lions are flexible resource finders but ruthless exploiters, they're hard to deter. A new sea lion is always showing up!
The Giant, Voracious Sea Lions That Humans Cannot Stop
Killing the protected animals may be the only way to stop them from eating too many of the Pacific Northwest’s endangered salmon.
www.theatlantic.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:20 PM
www.theatlantic.com/science/2026...
As a sea lion (cognitive) scientist (pinnipedlab.ucsc.edu/files/2020/0...), I've been thinking about these guys for years. Because sea lions are flexible resource finders but ruthless exploiters, they're hard to deter. A new sea lion is always showing up!
As a sea lion (cognitive) scientist (pinnipedlab.ucsc.edu/files/2020/0...), I've been thinking about these guys for years. Because sea lions are flexible resource finders but ruthless exploiters, they're hard to deter. A new sea lion is always showing up!
Reposted
North Atlantic #Orca appear to be expanding from harassing #yachts to going after #commercialvessels
North Atlantic warning: orcas now targeting commercial vessels in what experts call coordinated assaults share.google/kwy5wy9eIc33...
North Atlantic warning: orcas now targeting commercial vessels in what experts call coordinated assaults share.google/kwy5wy9eIc33...
North Atlantic warning: orcas now targeting commercial vessels in what experts call coordinated assaults
The wind drops, the radar hums softly, and the crew relaxes a fraction as the cargo ship cuts a clean path through the water. Then the first shudder runs
share.google
January 4, 2026 at 2:12 AM
North Atlantic #Orca appear to be expanding from harassing #yachts to going after #commercialvessels
North Atlantic warning: orcas now targeting commercial vessels in what experts call coordinated assaults share.google/kwy5wy9eIc33...
North Atlantic warning: orcas now targeting commercial vessels in what experts call coordinated assaults share.google/kwy5wy9eIc33...
Reposted
Glutamate is the primary molecule that neurons use to communicate with each other.
Previously, scientists have mostly recorded when neurons fire output signals, but now with a new glutamate indicator, they can record the many inputs that causes cells to fire. 🧵
#neuroskyence
Previously, scientists have mostly recorded when neurons fire output signals, but now with a new glutamate indicator, they can record the many inputs that causes cells to fire. 🧵
#neuroskyence
December 23, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Glutamate is the primary molecule that neurons use to communicate with each other.
Previously, scientists have mostly recorded when neurons fire output signals, but now with a new glutamate indicator, they can record the many inputs that causes cells to fire. 🧵
#neuroskyence
Previously, scientists have mostly recorded when neurons fire output signals, but now with a new glutamate indicator, they can record the many inputs that causes cells to fire. 🧵
#neuroskyence
Reposted
Really interesting research showing that while ultra-specialization in a single discipline might lead to better results early in one’s career, multi-discipline training and practice pays off big time in the long run. This applies to a range of professions from scientists to athletes and more
Recent discoveries on the acquisition of the highest levels of human performance
Scientists have long debated the origins of exceptional human achievements. This literature review summarizes recent evidence from multiple domains on the acquisition of world-class performance. We re...
www.science.org
December 20, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Really interesting research showing that while ultra-specialization in a single discipline might lead to better results early in one’s career, multi-discipline training and practice pays off big time in the long run. This applies to a range of professions from scientists to athletes and more
Reposted
The newest episode of the pod dives into how scientists are learning to decode the calls of the endangered Hawaiian monk seals
Inside the Secret Soundscape of Hawaii’s Rarest Seal
Researchers uncover 20 new underwater calls from Hawaii’s endangered monk seals.
www.scientificamerican.com
December 19, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The newest episode of the pod dives into how scientists are learning to decode the calls of the endangered Hawaiian monk seals
Reposted
Greek tragedy: the rare seals hiding in caves to escape tourists
Greece is hoping that protected areas will help keep daytrippers away and allow vulnerable monk seals to return to their island habitats
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Greece is hoping that protected areas will help keep daytrippers away and allow vulnerable monk seals to return to their island habitats
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Greek tragedy: the rare seals hiding in caves to escape tourists
Greece is hoping that protected areas will help keep daytrippers away and allow vulnerable monk seals to return to their island habitats
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Greek tragedy: the rare seals hiding in caves to escape tourists
Greece is hoping that protected areas will help keep daytrippers away and allow vulnerable monk seals to return to their island habitats
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Greece is hoping that protected areas will help keep daytrippers away and allow vulnerable monk seals to return to their island habitats
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted
From the new issue: Meet the scientists (and a very good dog named Eba) rushing to save southern resident killer whales off the coast of Washington State
These Orcas Are on the Brink—And So Is the Science That Could Save Them
Inside the desperate rush to save the southern resident killer whales
www.scientificamerican.com
December 16, 2025 at 4:33 PM
From the new issue: Meet the scientists (and a very good dog named Eba) rushing to save southern resident killer whales off the coast of Washington State
Reposted
1/2 Collaboration between killer whales and dolphins on Canada's Pacific coast
Killer whales follow dolphins in search of salmon. They alternate their echolocation to avoid overlap. The killer whales catch the salmon (too large for the dolphins) and the dolphins get the scraps.
Killer whales follow dolphins in search of salmon. They alternate their echolocation to avoid overlap. The killer whales catch the salmon (too large for the dolphins) and the dolphins get the scraps.
December 13, 2025 at 5:16 PM
1/2 Collaboration between killer whales and dolphins on Canada's Pacific coast
Killer whales follow dolphins in search of salmon. They alternate their echolocation to avoid overlap. The killer whales catch the salmon (too large for the dolphins) and the dolphins get the scraps.
Killer whales follow dolphins in search of salmon. They alternate their echolocation to avoid overlap. The killer whales catch the salmon (too large for the dolphins) and the dolphins get the scraps.
Reposted
Polar bears are adapting to climate change at a genetic level - and it could help them avoid extinction
->The Conversation | #extinction #climate change #polar bear | More from Lil Dr Glen EcoChat at BigEarthData.ai
->The Conversation | #extinction #climate change #polar bear | More from Lil Dr Glen EcoChat at BigEarthData.ai
Polar bears are adapting to climate change at a genetic level - and it could help them avoid extinction
The Arctic Ocean current is at its warmest in the last 125,000 years, and temperatures continue to rise. Due to these warming temperatures more than two-thirds of polar bears are expected to be extinct by 2050 with total extinction predicted...
theconversation.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:37 AM
Reposted
Reposted
We are so back, y'all.
Killer whales ‘violently’ attack yacht off Portugal weeks after orcas sink ship
‘Violent’ night time assault on family’s boat left it taking on water, only just making it to shore
www.independent.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 10:46 PM
We are so back, y'all.
Reposted
Scientists searching for new ways to combat cancer think they may have uncovered a promising new lead in the DNA of the bowhead whale. n.pr/4ocq6xG
A bowhead whale's DNA offers clues to fight cancer
Scientists searching for new ways to combat cancer think they may have uncovered a promising new lead in the DNA of the bowhead whale.
n.pr
November 24, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Scientists searching for new ways to combat cancer think they may have uncovered a promising new lead in the DNA of the bowhead whale. n.pr/4ocq6xG