Amanda Melin

Animals often use bright colours and noxious odours together to warn predators to stay away. Using jumping #spiders as predators, this #RSOS study asked whether noxious odours would trigger aversions to high-contrast black-and-white stripes: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

I will be taking applications for one fully funded PhD student starting in September(ish) 2027 to work on one of 2 projects in @livingingroups.bsky.social and the @imprs-qbee.bsky.social Deadline for submission is Dec 1. imprs-qbee.mpg.de/133244/commu...

New research from #BiologyLetters finds that climbing is energetically demanding for bonobos, while moving through trees can be surprisingly efficient, offering clues to the evolution of bipedal walking in humans doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... | #Behaviour #Biomechanics #Evolution

Check out our new research on evolution of primate saliva, led by @willaguado.bsky.social @gokcumenlab.bsky.social @petarpajic.bsky.social

Simulate extensive range of selective [dis]appearance & ageing scenarios, life histories; explore published datasets; or analyze + diagnose your own data with sophisticated & comprehensive features, approaches, & models, which explain the mechanism & biology! Check out our shiny app, disappR!

Somehow this isn't getting covered in the US, but biodiversity hotspot Indonesia is burning. Fires bigger than our California wildfires. We need help buying hoses, equipment for the local people to become fire fighters because there isn't anyone else. coreborneo.com/wildfire-app...

A sensational piece in the Guardian by @willtullett.bsky.social on the value of a scent education. Get out there and smell things, people! It’s (often) good for your wellbeing. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

I’m looking to hire a postdoc to join our lab at UCLA! We study the genes, hormones, and cells that regulate social behavior in the African cichlid Astatotilapia burtoni (in a separate post we’re looking for a PhD student) @sbn-bsky.bsky.social 1/3

I am delighted to announce that The Department of Human Genetics at the University of Utah is continuing a multi-year recruiting initiative for multiple tenure-track faculty positions at the rank of Assistant Professor. Please share and consider applying! utah.peopleadmin.com/postings/208...

UMass Amherst Dept of Biology is hiring a TT faculty member in Evolutionary Biology! careers.umass.edu/jobs/assista... We have a diverse and wonderful dept - please consider joining us!

🦌💩🦠 PhD opportunity! I am recruiting a fully-funded PhD student at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to study the causes and consequences of gut microbiome variation in caribou. Start date is flexible. Please share!

Why do some sexually selected traits evolve faster than others? A new #ProcB study found that flashy male ornaments that are chosen by females generally evolve faster than weapons used in male–male combat: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Must-know numbers in human genetics -- As many of you know, I'm writing a free online textbook in human genetics. In this blog post I cover a key skill for genome scientists from that book: how to use mental math to figure out key genome properties. jkpritchard.substack.com/p/on-fermi-p...

Wildflowers along the Widowmaker Trail in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada. Please enjoy 🗻🌸❤️🍁

Grateful for the opportunity to present our recent publication on tamarin scent marking behaviour at ISBE2026 @isbe2026.bsky.social. Thank you to the organizers, all the great scientists who shared their research, and for the interest in our work! 🐒👃 doi.org/10.1002/ajp....

Check out our new paper! 🔗 nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

🚨New Study Out🚨 In #MolecularEcology we used a new method to measure #DNAmethylation NON-INVASIVELY in wild capuchin monkeys 🐒🧬 We show that epithelial gut cells from feces encode species, age and sex, and can be used to build #aging clocks, run EWAS, and more onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

It’s out! We show that fecal cellular DNA methylation profiles provide accurate molecular clock for age estimation in wild capuchins; age-associated differences in DNAm are relevant to development, membrane excitability, and control of cell cycle. New opportunities for epigenetic study in the wild!

New study 🚨🚨🚨 Using fecal samples collected over 17 years, we tracked antibiotic resistance genes in wild chimpanzees in Taï National Park; one of the last remaining chunks of primary rainforests in West Africa. Study out now in @isme-microbes.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1093/isme...

“The true number of insect species (globally) is at least 14 to 20 million…” Important work on insect biodiversity out of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica, leveraging DNA barcoding doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

New post in the Host-Parasite Interactions blog on screwworm- the good, the bad, the ugly. Arm yourself with knowledge! Written by Dr Ruyechan (PhD/ DVM). theparasiteblog.wordpress.com/2026/06/26/n...

Where are the robin’s eggs going? www.wbez.org/environment/...

No one does quality sister time like capuchins. Please enjoy some hand sniffing, courtesy of the tropical dry forest in Área de Conservación Guanacaste.

Does transparency make wings fragile? Investigating wing membrane thickness shows that facing conflicting optical and mechanical needs, wings have evolved thick opaque patches around thin transparent patches, like kite frame around fragile sail: Gomez et al. 2026 doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

It takes decades to see how climatic cycles interact with the social dynamics of animal societies. Now a 33-year dataset of 12 capuchin groups + satellite environmental data has an answer. @livingingroups.bsky.social @oddjacobson.bsky.social @bjjbarrett.bsky.social www.ab.mpg.de/857503/news_...

Spread the word! We are recruiting for 6 new research professors at UC Davis' California National Primate Research Center. Open rank, open area, but must leverage 🐒 resources. recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07561

Come and join our team! With an application deadline in 1 week, we're hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Ecology in the Department of Biology at University of Windsor: efhc.fa.ca2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid... @ibiouwindsor.bsky.social

One eye, two eyes: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This project (with Stacy Rosenbaum and Nick Grebe) began in the dark days of Covid, and is finally ready to share. We've built a living database of primate paternity data (52 species, 3000 paternities) and completed first wave of analyses of paternity distribution. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Todd with a Santa Rosa delicacy, squirrel tartare. Capuchins primarily eat fruit/seeds/insects but they are true omnivores. When the opportunity arises they will absolutely hunt bigger prey such as birds, lizards and mammals like this variegated squirrel

We are thrilled to announce that, thanks to the support of our institutional subscribers, all Royal Society subscription journals will be open access in 2026 through #S2O. Researchers can read all articles and publish #OpenAccess in our eight subscription journals for free buff.ly/4Lu9VpW

Ecological and social pressures drive same-sex sexual behaviour in non-human primates 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A new paper in @plos.org Complex Systems from my time at @nimbios.bsky.social with Nina Fefferman. We set out some ways of classifying rules for social learning and knowledge exchange in higher-order networks. doi.org/10.1371/jour...

New paper from our Rwenzori colobus & Sam Stead's dissertation. We examined female glucocorticoids & found a U-shaped distribution with unit size! Females also had increase to parturition & a decrease throughout lactation. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The latest ASAB newsletter is out! If want these sent to your e-mail, remember to sign up for the mailing list at asab.org/newsletters Read here:

“Male Andrea cuttlefish (Doratosepion andreanum) – quite drab to human eyes – use their birefringent arms to literally twist light, creating a highly conspicuous signal precisely tuned to cuttlefish vision.” #scicomm www.sciencealert.com/cuttlefish-l... 🧪 🐙 🦑

Our new paper is online! We found that 1) today's shark & ray diversity was already reached ~100Ma; 2) that the K/Pg extinction was not catastrophic; 3) that the max diversity was reached ~50Ma; and 4) that today's diversity is depleted compared to the past. www.cell.com/current-biol...

Happy New Year! Delighted and honoured to have our research featured in the top human evolution discoveries of 2025 by @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🎉!

Final schedule for #ASABWinter2025 is up! We have some fantastic talks and posters ahead of us 🥰 ❄️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 asabwinter.github.io/2025/schedule/

Come to Canada

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Join us for Fall 2026. In our group, you can run studies from human behavior and neuroimaging, to large-scale NHP ephys, and join them up with a robust computational foundation. Bonus: you can help build the reading list.

“In the badlands of western Canada, two species of lichen prefer making their homes on dinosaur bones instead of on the surrounding desert rock, and their distinct orange color can be detected by drones, possibly aiding future dino discoveries” #scicomm www.sciencenews.org/article/lich... 🧪

🚨Two funded PhDs on the evolutionary ecology of antipredator colouration 🦋 with myself and Iliana Medina. One in Swansea tinyurl.com/4thtbph6 deadline Jan 12th @crocus-dla.bsky.social The other in Melbourne - deadline Jan 1st Please share among potential students!

Please enjoy a small photo dump from the Dry Forest of the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

We are interested in what capuchin monkeys can teach us about the evolution of sensorimotor intelligence and sensitive discriminative touch. Here, Luna demonstrates an excellent example of skilled hand use!