Max Körner
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
Evolutionary biology & Entomology, Gamer & Movie enthusiast. Enjoy critters with 4+ legs. Burying beetle researcher in Bayreuth, GER
Reposted by Max Körner
Hmm. Preparing to post about a group member's nice new paper on the evolution of cooperation (out in a couple of days time), I feel regret we did not include the presence of Batman in any of the model versions.
As someone studying unexpected events of all kinds, this was a funny (and unexpected) paper to randomly stumble upon: the presence of a man in a batman costume on a train makes passengers significantly more likely to stand up for a pregnant woman: www.nature.com/articles/s44... Good to know I guess.
November 24, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Hmm. Preparing to post about a group member's nice new paper on the evolution of cooperation (out in a couple of days time), I feel regret we did not include the presence of Batman in any of the model versions.
Reposted by Max Körner
After some years in the making, I’m happy to share our new paper on the benefits of care. By breeding 17 carrion beetle species, we show that parental protection and feeding both promote faster offspring growth. Thanks to Anne, Madlen, and all the fantastic coauthors academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
Parental care liberates juvenile growth: a common-garden test of the evolutionary benefits of care
Abstract. Effects on juvenile growth have long been considered an important benefit of parental care, but they have rarely been tested empirically. Protect
academic.oup.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM
After some years in the making, I’m happy to share our new paper on the benefits of care. By breeding 17 carrion beetle species, we show that parental protection and feeding both promote faster offspring growth. Thanks to Anne, Madlen, and all the fantastic coauthors academic.oup.com/evolut/artic...
Reposted by Max Körner
🌿 This Thursday:
Prof. Wilfert (Uni Regensburg), explores how global change impacts pollinators and their health — from land use to climate effects. 🐝
www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/bayceer/en/a...
@steigerlab.bsky.social
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
@uniregensburg.bsky.social
#Pollinators #Ecology
Prof. Wilfert (Uni Regensburg), explores how global change impacts pollinators and their health — from land use to climate effects. 🐝
www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/bayceer/en/a...
@steigerlab.bsky.social
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
@uniregensburg.bsky.social
#Pollinators #Ecology
November 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
🌿 This Thursday:
Prof. Wilfert (Uni Regensburg), explores how global change impacts pollinators and their health — from land use to climate effects. 🐝
www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/bayceer/en/a...
@steigerlab.bsky.social
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
@uniregensburg.bsky.social
#Pollinators #Ecology
Prof. Wilfert (Uni Regensburg), explores how global change impacts pollinators and their health — from land use to climate effects. 🐝
www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/bayceer/en/a...
@steigerlab.bsky.social
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
@uniregensburg.bsky.social
#Pollinators #Ecology
Almost back home from the fantastic ecological immunity workshop. Good times, super grateful to Sophie, Jens et al for organizing - already looking forward to the next one! So much fun and science and good conversations in just a few days. Cheers guys!
September 19, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Almost back home from the fantastic ecological immunity workshop. Good times, super grateful to Sophie, Jens et al for organizing - already looking forward to the next one! So much fun and science and good conversations in just a few days. Cheers guys!
Very proud and happy with @leo-theo.bsky.social and his poster presentation at the Ecological Immunity Workshop 2025 :) Excellent work Leon!
September 17, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Very proud and happy with @leo-theo.bsky.social and his poster presentation at the Ecological Immunity Workshop 2025 :) Excellent work Leon!
Reposted by Max Körner
Was so nice to present our research and @unibayreuth.bsky.social at this DZG meeting! Glad to be talking about parental care and how it interacts with offspring immunity 🎉
Expect our upcoming paper that deals with this cool topic!🪲 @max-evolbio.bsky.social and I had a blast working on it
#DZG2025
Expect our upcoming paper that deals with this cool topic!🪲 @max-evolbio.bsky.social and I had a blast working on it
#DZG2025
Kicked off our first behaviour session with 6 fascinating talks—covering everything from spiders, electric fish, and fossil insects to sex pheromones and how parental behaviour shapes immunity. 🌍🕷️🐟🪲
#DZG2025
@janka-p.bsky.social @andifischer10.bsky.social @leo-theo.bsky.social
#DZG2025
@janka-p.bsky.social @andifischer10.bsky.social @leo-theo.bsky.social
September 10, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Was so nice to present our research and @unibayreuth.bsky.social at this DZG meeting! Glad to be talking about parental care and how it interacts with offspring immunity 🎉
Expect our upcoming paper that deals with this cool topic!🪲 @max-evolbio.bsky.social and I had a blast working on it
#DZG2025
Expect our upcoming paper that deals with this cool topic!🪲 @max-evolbio.bsky.social and I had a blast working on it
#DZG2025
Reposted by Max Körner
New study on the effect of relatedness on larval cooperation in burying beetles: sibs boost growth, strangers boost survival. doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
Congrats to Paul Huber and Daniel Wittmann!
Congrats to Paul Huber and Daniel Wittmann!
Kinship as a double-edged sword: relatedness among burying beetle larvae enhances growth but increases mortality | Biology Letters
Theoretical and empirical considerations suggest that relatedness can have complex
effects on social life. While high relatedness may promote sibling cooperation and
altruism through indirect fitness ...
doi.org
September 16, 2025 at 3:00 PM
New study on the effect of relatedness on larval cooperation in burying beetles: sibs boost growth, strangers boost survival. doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
Congrats to Paul Huber and Daniel Wittmann!
Congrats to Paul Huber and Daniel Wittmann!
Reposted by Max Körner
Read the current issue of @jevbio.bsky.social here: academic.oup.com/jeb/issue
📸 Heiko Bellmann
Adult #Nicrophorus vespilloides #beetle in the act of feeding its
offspring atop a vertebrate carcass the beetles have monopolised.
📸 Heiko Bellmann
Adult #Nicrophorus vespilloides #beetle in the act of feeding its
offspring atop a vertebrate carcass the beetles have monopolised.
September 16, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Read the current issue of @jevbio.bsky.social here: academic.oup.com/jeb/issue
📸 Heiko Bellmann
Adult #Nicrophorus vespilloides #beetle in the act of feeding its
offspring atop a vertebrate carcass the beetles have monopolised.
📸 Heiko Bellmann
Adult #Nicrophorus vespilloides #beetle in the act of feeding its
offspring atop a vertebrate carcass the beetles have monopolised.
... And it's off to the second conference in a row, this time at the Werbellinsee! Really looking forward to lots of immunity at the EIW 2025! Big thanks to Sophie Armitage, Jens Rolff, and everyone else organizing!
September 15, 2025 at 2:42 PM
... And it's off to the second conference in a row, this time at the Werbellinsee! Really looking forward to lots of immunity at the EIW 2025! Big thanks to Sophie Armitage, Jens Rolff, and everyone else organizing!
Reposted by Max Körner
www.nickybay.com/ai-abuse-to-...
AI abuse on macrophotography and AI generation of incorrect captions. Here are examples compiled by wildlife photographer Nicky Bay.
AI abuse on macrophotography and AI generation of incorrect captions. Here are examples compiled by wildlife photographer Nicky Bay.
AI Abuse to Skirt Copyright Law - Macro Photography by Nicky Bay
In the past week, a number of prominent nature photographers showed how their photographs were being stolen and mangled into "AI-nonsense", deceiving countless others into believing the made-up storie...
www.nickybay.com
September 14, 2025 at 7:21 AM
www.nickybay.com/ai-abuse-to-...
AI abuse on macrophotography and AI generation of incorrect captions. Here are examples compiled by wildlife photographer Nicky Bay.
AI abuse on macrophotography and AI generation of incorrect captions. Here are examples compiled by wildlife photographer Nicky Bay.
Amazing talk by Daniela @roesslerdaniela.bsky.social on spider sleep and possible adaptive values of rem sleep stages. Never knew spiders have sleep phases that eerily look like dream states. Traumhaft!! I wonder how many other creatures feature this behavior... Or how many don't!
September 12, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Amazing talk by Daniela @roesslerdaniela.bsky.social on spider sleep and possible adaptive values of rem sleep stages. Never knew spiders have sleep phases that eerily look like dream states. Traumhaft!! I wonder how many other creatures feature this behavior... Or how many don't!
Great start to day 2 of #DZG2025 with babbling bats and Mirjam Knörnschild of @mfnberlin.bsky.social!
September 11, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Great start to day 2 of #DZG2025 with babbling bats and Mirjam Knörnschild of @mfnberlin.bsky.social!
Reposted by Max Körner
And #DZG2025 is officially open!
Great opening event at the @mfnberlin.bsky.social - what a stunning venue! We are looking forward to a great conference!
Great opening event at the @mfnberlin.bsky.social - what a stunning venue! We are looking forward to a great conference!
September 10, 2025 at 10:05 AM
And #DZG2025 is officially open!
Great opening event at the @mfnberlin.bsky.social - what a stunning venue! We are looking forward to a great conference!
Great opening event at the @mfnberlin.bsky.social - what a stunning venue! We are looking forward to a great conference!
After many attempts to get Beauveria fungi to actually harm and infect Nicrophorus beetles in order to test the beetle's social immunity mettle against such a threat we found that I was probably barking up the wrong tree. Check out Leon's paper to find out why!
Please enjoy our paper about how potential pathogens can affect burying beetle offspring - even to some surprising effects!
Was a pleasure to work with @max-evolbio.bsky.social and @steigerlab.bsky.social on my first paper as a #firstgen PhD student!
Was a pleasure to work with @max-evolbio.bsky.social and @steigerlab.bsky.social on my first paper as a #firstgen PhD student!
Through social immunity burying beetles protect their kids from diseases on their carcass. Can this protection ward off an insect pathogen? Researchers @steigerlab.bsky.social find out!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@leo-theo.bsky.social @max-evolbio.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@leo-theo.bsky.social @max-evolbio.bsky.social
July 30, 2025 at 12:17 PM
After many attempts to get Beauveria fungi to actually harm and infect Nicrophorus beetles in order to test the beetle's social immunity mettle against such a threat we found that I was probably barking up the wrong tree. Check out Leon's paper to find out why!
Reposted by Max Körner
Through social immunity burying beetles protect their kids from diseases on their carcass. Can this protection ward off an insect pathogen? Researchers @steigerlab.bsky.social find out!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@leo-theo.bsky.social @max-evolbio.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@leo-theo.bsky.social @max-evolbio.bsky.social
Surviving in the fast lane: no increased mortality, but faster growth for pathogen-exposed larvae of a family-living beetle
Abstract. Animal taxa exhibiting post-hatching care can be found throughout the animal kingdom. During this period, parents aggregate with their offspring
doi.org
July 18, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Through social immunity burying beetles protect their kids from diseases on their carcass. Can this protection ward off an insect pathogen? Researchers @steigerlab.bsky.social find out!
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@leo-theo.bsky.social @max-evolbio.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...
@leo-theo.bsky.social @max-evolbio.bsky.social
Reposted by Max Körner
🔬 Last week at the BayCEER Colloquium, Dr. Maximilian Körner gave us a fascinating glimpse into the social lives of Nicrophorus #beetles 🪲
A fascinating and insightful talk that sparked great discussions!
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
Are you ready for the next talk?🌿
#SocialEvolution #Ecology
A fascinating and insightful talk that sparked great discussions!
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
Are you ready for the next talk?🌿
#SocialEvolution #Ecology
June 30, 2025 at 5:33 AM
🔬 Last week at the BayCEER Colloquium, Dr. Maximilian Körner gave us a fascinating glimpse into the social lives of Nicrophorus #beetles 🪲
A fascinating and insightful talk that sparked great discussions!
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
Are you ready for the next talk?🌿
#SocialEvolution #Ecology
A fascinating and insightful talk that sparked great discussions!
@max-evolbio.bsky.social
Are you ready for the next talk?🌿
#SocialEvolution #Ecology
Reposted by Max Körner
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
April 9, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Biggest commitment to a 3 second joke I've ever seen
Reposted by Max Körner
Chores of a tropical worker bee: drinking excess condensation water inside the hive, then spitting it out at the hive entrance 💦 🐝
March 31, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Chores of a tropical worker bee: drinking excess condensation water inside the hive, then spitting it out at the hive entrance 💦 🐝
Water & sun at MEM25 lunch break ☕
March 18, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Water & sun at MEM25 lunch break ☕
Excellent first day (and finish) at MEM25 :) with @drdomain.bsky.social and @joskramer.bsky.social & @kathrinaotte
March 17, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Excellent first day (and finish) at MEM25 :) with @drdomain.bsky.social and @joskramer.bsky.social & @kathrinaotte
Here goes the 3rd Münster Evolution Meeting, finally made it here - third time's the charm!
March 17, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Here goes the 3rd Münster Evolution Meeting, finally made it here - third time's the charm!
There's a lot more of these on Joël's page, and even though I have no longer the pleasure of working with these animals to answer questions of family life and its evolution, I can still highly recommend checking them out!!
#EarwigFunFact 1/n - Male earwigs in the family Anisolabididae have two functional penises, while females have just one sperm-storage organ. Why two? If one breaks, they’ve got a spare! Nature’s backup plan. 😉
More info👉 https://buff.ly/4fQUFWB
Photo D. Morichon (https://buff.ly/3VgStzm)
More info👉 https://buff.ly/4fQUFWB
Photo D. Morichon (https://buff.ly/3VgStzm)
February 17, 2025 at 8:41 AM
There's a lot more of these on Joël's page, and even though I have no longer the pleasure of working with these animals to answer questions of family life and its evolution, I can still highly recommend checking them out!!