Catherine Sheard
@sheardcat.bsky.social
Fellow @ University of Aberdeen. Professionally: macroevolution, especially birds & languages. Personally: drinks too much coffee, plays too much D&D.
she/her
she/her
The haar has been a LOT this week.
(The sun doesn't set for another hour! It should be reasonably daylight right now! This is not reasonable daylight, friends.)
(The sun doesn't set for another hour! It should be reasonably daylight right now! This is not reasonable daylight, friends.)
November 7, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The haar has been a LOT this week.
(The sun doesn't set for another hour! It should be reasonably daylight right now! This is not reasonable daylight, friends.)
(The sun doesn't set for another hour! It should be reasonably daylight right now! This is not reasonable daylight, friends.)
Oi, stickleback researchers!
One of my PhD students is on a quest for lateral-view photographs of sticklebacks (like the one below, obvs not a stickleback). Any population/species, so long as the location and date of collection are known.
Does anyone know where we might find data like this?
One of my PhD students is on a quest for lateral-view photographs of sticklebacks (like the one below, obvs not a stickleback). Any population/species, so long as the location and date of collection are known.
Does anyone know where we might find data like this?
November 7, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Oi, stickleback researchers!
One of my PhD students is on a quest for lateral-view photographs of sticklebacks (like the one below, obvs not a stickleback). Any population/species, so long as the location and date of collection are known.
Does anyone know where we might find data like this?
One of my PhD students is on a quest for lateral-view photographs of sticklebacks (like the one below, obvs not a stickleback). Any population/species, so long as the location and date of collection are known.
Does anyone know where we might find data like this?
This is why we don't let the PIs make their own figures... #AccidentalaRt
November 4, 2025 at 6:06 PM
This is why we don't let the PIs make their own figures... #AccidentalaRt
Is it a range map of an ostrich? No. Is it a range map? YES.
(Because reasons, I think this is Accipiter brevipes)
(Because reasons, I think this is Accipiter brevipes)
October 21, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Is it a range map of an ostrich? No. Is it a range map? YES.
(Because reasons, I think this is Accipiter brevipes)
(Because reasons, I think this is Accipiter brevipes)
We are not making progress.
![A plot with an x-axis labelled "index" and a y-axis labelled "iter_read[[1]]". There are 13 equally-spaced dots along the y=x+4 line. It is not the range map of an ostrich.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2nmwqrtxrhn7quytgrobjai7/bafkreichlkxx3jrk243qk34c74rlh422shv5rqsghmwo62hne6gjokbb2a@jpeg)
October 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
We are not making progress.
Me: R, please plot for me the range map of an ostrich
R: You got it boss
R: You got it boss
October 21, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Me: R, please plot for me the range map of an ostrich
R: You got it boss
R: You got it boss
No context Thursday.
October 16, 2025 at 7:34 PM
No context Thursday.
Wiley's new 'suggested reviewer' screen, and the top suggestion. Said top suggestion is...THE SENIOR AUTHOR OF THIS MANUSCRIPT. Yeah, Wiley, I daresy he does have a conflict of interest.
(Though apparently he only 76% matches his own research?)
(Though apparently he only 76% matches his own research?)
October 14, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Wiley's new 'suggested reviewer' screen, and the top suggestion. Said top suggestion is...THE SENIOR AUTHOR OF THIS MANUSCRIPT. Yeah, Wiley, I daresy he does have a conflict of interest.
(Though apparently he only 76% matches his own research?)
(Though apparently he only 76% matches his own research?)
Day 4: quest completed (i.e., made it to Ballater, inside Cairngorms National Park). I learned from the mistakes of Days 1-3 and, in order, brought extra water (unneeded), brought an extra layer (very much unneeded), and brought caffeine with me (extremely appreciated...I might have a problem 😅).
October 12, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Day 4: quest completed (i.e., made it to Ballater, inside Cairngorms National Park). I learned from the mistakes of Days 1-3 and, in order, brought extra water (unneeded), brought an extra layer (very much unneeded), and brought caffeine with me (extremely appreciated...I might have a problem 😅).
Day 3. Decent elevation and some nice waterfalls. I was badly under-caffeinated, but at least the weather held.
October 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Day 3. Decent elevation and some nice waterfalls. I was badly under-caffeinated, but at least the weather held.
Day 2 (today) was much colder and windier, but at least it stayed dry!
October 4, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Day 2 (today) was much colder and windier, but at least it stayed dry!
My adventure this month is to walk from my flat to the nearest national park (in stages). Day 1, last weekend, was very sunny!
October 4, 2025 at 5:53 PM
My adventure this month is to walk from my flat to the nearest national park (in stages). Day 1, last weekend, was very sunny!
I'm sorry, that price is what now? (Looking 9 weeks in advance -- not, like, tomorrow.)
October 2, 2025 at 8:58 PM
I'm sorry, that price is what now? (Looking 9 weeks in advance -- not, like, tomorrow.)
I've finally started playing Blue Prince, and *man* this game is weird in the beginning. Super intriguing, though.
(Shout-out to @ineslauradawson.bsky.social , whose stream got me into this game, and who and whose partner in general have great gaming taste.)
(Shout-out to @ineslauradawson.bsky.social , whose stream got me into this game, and who and whose partner in general have great gaming taste.)
![the promo image for the game Blue Prince, featuring a watercolour[?]-like drawing of the front of a mansion, with the rest of the mansion sketched in behind, and mountains in the background. the image is very blue.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2nmwqrtxrhn7quytgrobjai7/bafkreibcnrsdc4pfilvbqonengunqhhdakmej3zl33hmzgrfju26scoy5e@jpeg)
September 14, 2025 at 9:49 PM
I've finally started playing Blue Prince, and *man* this game is weird in the beginning. Super intriguing, though.
(Shout-out to @ineslauradawson.bsky.social , whose stream got me into this game, and who and whose partner in general have great gaming taste.)
(Shout-out to @ineslauradawson.bsky.social , whose stream got me into this game, and who and whose partner in general have great gaming taste.)
Yup, nothing to worry about, totally secure behaviour by this data protection training company...
(Hilariously, the organisation that contracted this training is also the only organisation that has ever actually breeched my data in a problematic way. So.)
(Hilariously, the organisation that contracted this training is also the only organisation that has ever actually breeched my data in a problematic way. So.)
August 11, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Yup, nothing to worry about, totally secure behaviour by this data protection training company...
(Hilariously, the organisation that contracted this training is also the only organisation that has ever actually breeched my data in a problematic way. So.)
(Hilariously, the organisation that contracted this training is also the only organisation that has ever actually breeched my data in a problematic way. So.)
Good morning from a train that's actually running! Let's see if I can get to the Midlands vaguely on time.
August 5, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Good morning from a train that's actually running! Let's see if I can get to the Midlands vaguely on time.
It is WINDY y'all. (We're having a big storm in Scotland today.)
![A large branch of a giant tree that has fallen onto a cobblestone road (I watched some people chainsaw it so a bus could get through, then five minutes later saw a [much smaller] branch fallen onto a car)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2nmwqrtxrhn7quytgrobjai7/bafkreidr7xltjhxk4yo6vn5fz7oxn757q6vzprgx5gnnjdjcbdzvigegw4@jpeg)
August 4, 2025 at 6:20 PM
It is WINDY y'all. (We're having a big storm in Scotland today.)
After years of work, we were able to show, on this NEW BIRD TREE, that it's not dispersal per se that affects lineage diversification, but the interplay between flight, diversification, AND range size.
So, my beloved intermediate dispersal hypothesis? False. And the reality is so much cooler.
So, my beloved intermediate dispersal hypothesis? False. And the reality is so much cooler.
July 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
After years of work, we were able to show, on this NEW BIRD TREE, that it's not dispersal per se that affects lineage diversification, but the interplay between flight, diversification, AND range size.
So, my beloved intermediate dispersal hypothesis? False. And the reality is so much cooler.
So, my beloved intermediate dispersal hypothesis? False. And the reality is so much cooler.
But it's not obvious, right? Because dispersal and range size aren't interchangeable, and both are related to geographic context. And who knows how well birds fly, anyway, or even what the evolutionary of birds *is*.
Enter @sclaramunt.bsky.social (and amazing colleagues), who built a NEW BIRD TREE.
Enter @sclaramunt.bsky.social (and amazing colleagues), who built a NEW BIRD TREE.
July 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
But it's not obvious, right? Because dispersal and range size aren't interchangeable, and both are related to geographic context. And who knows how well birds fly, anyway, or even what the evolutionary of birds *is*.
Enter @sclaramunt.bsky.social (and amazing colleagues), who built a NEW BIRD TREE.
Enter @sclaramunt.bsky.social (and amazing colleagues), who built a NEW BIRD TREE.
There's this idea called the intermediate dispersal hypothesis, which states that the highest levels of lineage diversification will be found in 'intermediate' dispersers -- in birds, if you fly poorly, you'll be vulnerable to extinction, but if you fly well, gene flow will be maintained.
July 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
There's this idea called the intermediate dispersal hypothesis, which states that the highest levels of lineage diversification will be found in 'intermediate' dispersers -- in birds, if you fly poorly, you'll be vulnerable to extinction, but if you fly well, gene flow will be maintained.
July 30, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Last talk of the #BESMacro2025 conference! Emily Mitchell's plenary talk on early animal evolution
July 11, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Last talk of the #BESMacro2025 conference! Emily Mitchell's plenary talk on early animal evolution
Last of the #BESMacro2025 Aberdeen talks -- Tom Munro on parental care in fish
July 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Last of the #BESMacro2025 Aberdeen talks -- Tom Munro on parental care in fish
Next up at #BESMacro2025 : Charlotte Le Marquand on wader nest predation
July 11, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Next up at #BESMacro2025 : Charlotte Le Marquand on wader nest predation
Next up: Vivek Cyriac, on frogs in the Western Ghats
July 11, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Next up: Vivek Cyriac, on frogs in the Western Ghats