Gregory Kohn
@kohngregory.bsky.social
Professor specializing in bird social behavior and ethology. Enactive cognition, developmental systems thought, ontogenetic niches, organismal agency, ייִדיש. PI: Animal Social Interaction lab, kohnlab.wordpress.com
A story of a nest takeover in three panels.
November 16, 2025 at 10:51 PM
A story of a nest takeover in three panels.
A Southern Two-striped Walkingstick in the lab this morning. My favorite insect in Florida.
November 16, 2025 at 2:23 PM
A Southern Two-striped Walkingstick in the lab this morning. My favorite insect in Florida.
Most of the candidate-gene work on aggression in chimps hasn't held up in recent years. I'm a bit skeptical when people say species A has social qualities B built into it, mainly because variation within a species can sometimes be greater than differences between species.
October 28, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Most of the candidate-gene work on aggression in chimps hasn't held up in recent years. I'm a bit skeptical when people say species A has social qualities B built into it, mainly because variation within a species can sometimes be greater than differences between species.
Old Yiddish ornithology pamphlet published in the USSR at an unknown date (~1919). Titled "How Birds Build Nests" (
ווי בויען פייגלאך נעסטן) by M. Bres. Seems to be from a series called "Nature and People" (נאַטור און מענש). www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/...
ווי בויען פייגלאך נעסטן) by M. Bres. Seems to be from a series called "Nature and People" (נאַטור און מענש). www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/...
October 21, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Old Yiddish ornithology pamphlet published in the USSR at an unknown date (~1919). Titled "How Birds Build Nests" (
ווי בויען פייגלאך נעסטן) by M. Bres. Seems to be from a series called "Nature and People" (נאַטור און מענש). www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/...
ווי בויען פייגלאך נעסטן) by M. Bres. Seems to be from a series called "Nature and People" (נאַטור און מענש). www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/...
The problem is that innateness is not a neutral concept. It hinders our understanding of ontogeny by posing as a developmental explanation when it is not. Showing that a behavior is predictable across space and time is informative, but it does not reveal how it developed.
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
The problem is that innateness is not a neutral concept. It hinders our understanding of ontogeny by posing as a developmental explanation when it is not. Showing that a behavior is predictable across space and time is informative, but it does not reveal how it developed.
But studying development prospectively is grueling and time-consuming. It's rooted in natural history, and fell outside the emphasis on Popperian falsifiable hypothesis testing. This left an opportunity for sociobiology to overlook past critiques and reintroduce innateness into animal behavior.
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
But studying development prospectively is grueling and time-consuming. It's rooted in natural history, and fell outside the emphasis on Popperian falsifiable hypothesis testing. This left an opportunity for sociobiology to overlook past critiques and reintroduce innateness into animal behavior.
To truly understand the development of behavior, we have to observe the processes from the beginning. There is no way to predict what retroactive experiences might be causal. So we need to map out the details of the ontogenetic niches that capture a species' typical ontogenetic processes first.
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
To truly understand the development of behavior, we have to observe the processes from the beginning. There is no way to predict what retroactive experiences might be causal. So we need to map out the details of the ontogenetic niches that capture a species' typical ontogenetic processes first.
Non-obvious factors guide development. Their existence challenged the retroactive view of development. This view posits that the presence of seemingly non-learned yet prepared responses to the environment is itself evidence of unobserved innate origins.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Non-obvious factors guide development. Their existence challenged the retroactive view of development. This view posits that the presence of seemingly non-learned yet prepared responses to the environment is itself evidence of unobserved innate origins.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
In particular, they showed that all organisms are constantly interacting and learning from (in the broad sense) their environment. "Innate" behavior that emerges in the first few seconds after hatching still has a long developmental history. Experience is etched into the organism at conception.
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
In particular, they showed that all organisms are constantly interacting and learning from (in the broad sense) their environment. "Innate" behavior that emerges in the first few seconds after hatching still has a long developmental history. Experience is etched into the organism at conception.
At the same time, developmental psychobiologists showed that development is a radically non-linear, dynamic, and constructive process. This process depended on a network of reciprocal interactions between genes, the organism, and the environment, without prioritizing any of them.
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
At the same time, developmental psychobiologists showed that development is a radically non-linear, dynamic, and constructive process. This process depended on a network of reciprocal interactions between genes, the organism, and the environment, without prioritizing any of them.
From this, ethologists such as Patrick Bateson, Peter Klopfer, S. A. Barnett, and Jack P. Hailman showed how moving beyond the innate vs. learned dichotomy opened new avenues for investigating the evolution of behavior. Many of these research programs are now foundational.
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
From this, ethologists such as Patrick Bateson, Peter Klopfer, S. A. Barnett, and Jack P. Hailman showed how moving beyond the innate vs. learned dichotomy opened new avenues for investigating the evolution of behavior. Many of these research programs are now foundational.
These critiques (especially Lehrman's) convinced luminaries in ethology such as Niko Tinbergen--who pioneered the modern concept of innateness--that usage of innateness in animal behavior had reached its natural conclusion. Development overcame the dialectical opposition of innate vs. acquired.
October 3, 2025 at 7:29 PM
These critiques (especially Lehrman's) convinced luminaries in ethology such as Niko Tinbergen--who pioneered the modern concept of innateness--that usage of innateness in animal behavior had reached its natural conclusion. Development overcame the dialectical opposition of innate vs. acquired.
It's the 125th birthday of the Workers Circle (@workerscircle.bsky.social)! Along with their social justice work, they also published Yiddish educational materials. The only zoology textbook in Yiddish, “The life of Animals”/ דאס לעבען פון חיות, was published by the Workers Circle in the 1920s.
September 16, 2025 at 8:24 PM
It's the 125th birthday of the Workers Circle (@workerscircle.bsky.social)! Along with their social justice work, they also published Yiddish educational materials. The only zoology textbook in Yiddish, “The life of Animals”/ דאס לעבען פון חיות, was published by the Workers Circle in the 1920s.
Terrible picture, but it may be the best vagrant I’ve seen in my life. A Grey-tailed tattler, usually a bird of the pacific rim from Siberia to Australia was sighted at Huguenot memorial park in Florida.
September 14, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Terrible picture, but it may be the best vagrant I’ve seen in my life. A Grey-tailed tattler, usually a bird of the pacific rim from Siberia to Australia was sighted at Huguenot memorial park in Florida.
Today is the birthday of one of my favorite scientists, thinkers, and writers of all time, Stephen Jay Gould. He would have been 84 year old. “Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information; it is a creative human activity.” -S. J. Gould
September 10, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Today is the birthday of one of my favorite scientists, thinkers, and writers of all time, Stephen Jay Gould. He would have been 84 year old. “Science is not a heartless pursuit of objective information; it is a creative human activity.” -S. J. Gould
Really interesting study showing learning of tool use in carrion crows! www.cell.com/current-biol...
September 10, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Really interesting study showing learning of tool use in carrion crows! www.cell.com/current-biol...
Di Paolo et al also discussed how in species with nervous systems closure may occur in a sensory-motor levels (networks of self-reinforcing schemas that “act” to maintain themselves) allowing for agents to make motivations and goals that are somewhat decoupled from homeostasis.
August 10, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Di Paolo et al also discussed how in species with nervous systems closure may occur in a sensory-motor levels (networks of self-reinforcing schemas that “act” to maintain themselves) allowing for agents to make motivations and goals that are somewhat decoupled from homeostasis.
Behavior, far from being just merely a product of past evolution, is indeed a producer of it. Great to see such a justification of what Lloyd Morgan and Baldwin proposed. Also, it reminds me of this paper by Lister.
August 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Behavior, far from being just merely a product of past evolution, is indeed a producer of it. Great to see such a justification of what Lloyd Morgan and Baldwin proposed. Also, it reminds me of this paper by Lister.
Pseudomale bisexual courtship display in female Gouldian finch.
August 5, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Pseudomale bisexual courtship display in female Gouldian finch.
Not a bad find at the used book store, first edition signed Gene Wolfe book!
August 3, 2025 at 11:15 AM
Not a bad find at the used book store, first edition signed Gene Wolfe book!
Facultative sex differences are relatively common in animals. I frequently come across interesting examples in brief communications and short reports. Here's an example I particularly liked. In Bengalese Finches, male typical behavior can emerge in females when the social context is changed.
July 30, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Facultative sex differences are relatively common in animals. I frequently come across interesting examples in brief communications and short reports. Here's an example I particularly liked. In Bengalese Finches, male typical behavior can emerge in females when the social context is changed.
Ultimately, this means that I can use my birds to both produce data, and back it up.
July 28, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Ultimately, this means that I can use my birds to both produce data, and back it up.
