Liam Dougherty

Why do animals fight? I’m recruiting a PhD student at Durham University to investigate the ecology, evolution and genes underlying aggression in fruit flies Funded PhD (UK students only). Details & how to apply 👇 www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Please share! #PhD #Evolution #BehaviouralEcology

A week left to apply for this postdoc! Join me in sunny (ish.. for now..) Stockholm to work on this ERC funded project exploring the intersection of sexual selection and epidemiology. We'll use guppies & worms, experimental epidemics, AI tracking, modelling, fieldwork su.varbi.com/what:job/job...

We used virtual mates and genetic algorithms to ask swordtail fish to design their ideal mate. Males all liked larger females but females did not share a clear preference for male appearance. Led by @kathrynbullough.bsky.social @grahancock.bsky.social in @royalsocietypublishing.org shorturl.at/rCeR2

Extremely topical PhD project on the effects of heatwaves on cognition, with @harrysiviter.bsky.social at @bristolbiosci.bsky.social, with @gaynorasmith.bsky.social and me as sidekicks 🐝🥵 gw4biomed.ac.uk/quantifying-...

Come join us, PhD and postdoc positions! Please spread! Supervisor @patricepottier.bsky.social (patricepottierlab.com), me as co-supervisor. Impacts of climate change on different life-stages in fish.🐟🧪 PhD web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/103... Postdoc web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/103...

New pre-print led by the amazing @patricepottier.bsky.social - very little evidence for evolution of life history traits in response to warming, even in insects. Rapid adaptation is unlikely to mitigate the continuing impacts of climate change 🔥🔥🔥

Very happy to see our paper just published in @molbioevol.bsky.social highlighted: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/... Probably my favourite paper to be a part of and really fun working with some great people! Bedbugs are very gross but also very cool! Paper here: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Our new paper is out! Congrats to all involved. Dosage compensation and meiotic sex chromosome inactivation are maintained under relaxed selection | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

I compiled a list of 350 #funding opportunities for #postdoctoral research #fellowships: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1J2M_tQgoqV4ivpfEClh9qs9f2KQN2O1G3Jpda2aoHfQ/edit?usp=sharing I realized I should share this again after mentioning it to some folks at the #EFP2026

📢 New work with @gonzalezlabbcn.bsky.social out now in Molecular Biology and Evolution! Transgenerational effects of heat shock 🥵 on gene regulation 🧬 and fitness-related traits in natural Drosophila 🪰 populations: academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

I'm looking for a lovely, talented PhD student, working on my ERC-funded project investigating the links between sexual selection and epidemic dynamics. The project uses guppies, worms, behaviour tracking, big experiments, and maths.. email me! Must have a masters! su.varbi.com/what:job/job...

Excited to share our new paper @royalsocietypublishing.org This one took what felt like endless maze trials. We found that even modest warming (~1°C) changed an ectotherm's behaviour such that it affected cognitive performance. Speeding them up and reducing decision accuracy.

@lajeunesselab.bsky.social has written the paper that meta-analysts were waiting for, and I can't recommend it more: Converting and Constructing Effect Sizes With the Response Ratio doi.org/10.1111/ele.... Go check it out (and use it!)

ICYMI: New online! The consequences of rising temperatures for animal fertility

Happy to be able to share our review of the consequences of rising temperatures on animal fertility, led by @rhondasnook.bsky.social with @liamdougherty.bsky.social and Claudia Fricke. Research is getting active in this area but there's still a lot of unknowns... rdcu.be/e7uGm

Amazing! Replication studies will now be accepted by Behavioral Ecology.

Happy to see our paper out now in the January edition of #Evolution 🧪 ! Using #drosophila in outdoor mesocosms, we found evidence for adaptation over a winter period and for putative trade-offs between resistance evolution and overwintering performance doi.org/10.1093/evol...

📰Published📰Warm waters undermine cryptic female choice🐟️ buff.ly/U6zrsZ4 🧪🌍

We're advertising a PhD project on how social isolation influences aggression in flies. Based at Durham, co-supervised by @clarahowcroft.bsky.social . Despite what the ad says, this is also open to international applicants! Any questions, shoot me a msg! www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

📢Out now in @jevbio.bsky.social, we tried to work out whether heat limits of survival or fertility are reflected in heat shock protein expression across Drosophila 🪰 species. The answer is, well, a bit. With the wonderful @chsmithson.bsky.social @ejduncan.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

We've got ISSUES. Literally. We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do? arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563 A 🧵 1/n

📣 PhD opportunity in my lab 📣 We're looking for a motivated student interested in the effects of thermal stress on animal survival and reproduction: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... Project is open-ended to allow student to define its direction depending on their interests Please share widely!

Wow! Our long-term collaborator and friend Martín Ramírez is the winner of the @royalsocietypublishing.org photo competition, with a SEM image from our joint research on spider silk!! royalsociety.org/journals/pub...

📢Out in the NEW issue of @animalecology.bsky.social is our hugely #collaborative paper: An integrative, peer-reviewed and open-source cooperative-breeding database (Co-BreeD) #mammals #birds #cooperation #openscience #datasets #alloparents Led by @benmocha.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/1365...

Cool paper suggesting that naturally higher body T˚ in birds leads to flu viruses originating in birds being pre-adapted to resist mammalian fever as a defence mechanism... Avian-origin influenza A viruses tolerate elevated pyrexic temperatures in mammals | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Since AI slop is again all over Scientific Reports, a thread on the economics of grey-zone publishing. Why does slop keep getting published? What does it mean for science? How can we stop this? Background readings: Understand the strain: tinyurl.com/2b6wxx5r Stop the drain: tinyurl.com/3jfscscy

We are happy to announce that registration for ISBE2026 is now open! We encourage you to register as soon as possible to take advantage of reduced fees and to plan your trip and accommodation in advance. Please read the information on www.isbe2026.com before proceeding with your registration.

Behavioural ecology in the 21st century..... www.nature.com/articles/s41... @asgriffin.bsky.social

We had a new paper out yesterday in @royalsocietypublishing.org Biology Letters. About how the cranial feathers of male Golden and Lady Amherst’s Pheasants affect their visual fields. Nice to see it picked up The New York Times and Science. Paper link below.

The Thermal Ecology Alliance is growing rapidly and we are now at 51 countries! Join here: www.thermalecologyalliance.org/participation

New paper out in @behavecol.bsky.social! Multiple studies show that sexually selected traits such as colours can reflect the presence of pathogens/parasites, but, can defensive coloration do the same? L. Schlippe Justicia, @carodittrich.bsky.social, O. Nokelainen & I tackled that question (1/3)

Join us! 🧬🪰🎉🔬 We are currently advertising two #PhD projects to study the #evolution, #development and #genomics of sexual traits in stalk-eyed flies. Deadline for applying is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. Get in touch for more info!

Interested in pursuing a PhD in animal mating behaviour and zoo conservation? Want to help understand whether mate choice can improve conservation breeding outcomes? I'm advertising a project with colleagues at the amazing Chester Zoo, see: tinyurl.com/47zjtj8e Please share!

🦋 How will #insects respond to #climatechange? A global review of 351 studies shows no consistent pattern. Some species expand, others shrink, partly due to varied #methodologies. Standardised approaches are crucial to predict future insect ranges. 🌐 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/ddi....

Do you get confused when reading meta-analyses? Our new paper offers a practical guide to help researchers understand, interpret, and use them properly. We also show that the insights meta-analyses provide are often overlooked by those who cite them.

I have a job opening in my lab. If you are interested in bird behaviour and predator prey interactions please take a look! werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Wa hoo! Our paper in Science is out today, revealing why some prey use conspicuous warning colouration while others use camouflaging colours. A huge global collaboration under incredible leadership by Iliana Medina and @wlallen.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA 10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)

Interested in evolutionary ecology and genetics? Check out this PhD position in Pau Carazo's lab in Valencia - we look forward to your application!

Perfectly timed to coincide with our Thermal Fertility Limit Special Topic Network meeting we’ve received a further 2 years of funding, thank you @eseb.bsky.social! And great work fellow leads @rhondasnook.bsky.social, @liamdougherty.bsky.social and Claudia Fricke.

Absolutely delighted to share that I have published my first first-author manuscript in #AnimalBehaviourJournal with @zen-of-science.bsky.social, @liamdougherty.bsky.social and Tabitha Beesley, where we looked at why male moths attempt same-sex mating! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Is it hot right now? YES!! (In most of Europe anyway) 🥵🥵🥵 Loving these new web applications developed for the UK 🇬🇧 by @roostweather.bsky.social and @edhawkins.org and Spain 🇪🇸 by @dargueso.bsky.social and AUS 🇦🇺 (original) by @mlip.bsky.social 🌍🧪⚒️🌡️📈 Links: istheukhotrightnow.com hoyextremo.com

Massive piece of work by @pietropollo.bsky.social and colleagues! Really encouraging paper showing that many EcoEvo meta-analyses are largely reproducible and replicable! doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

you might think N American species are getting common at their north range limit and rare at their south range limit as temps get warmer but you would be wrong new paper in GEB w/ @eliotmiller.bsky.social & Matt Strimas-Mackey, eBird Status & Trends ftw onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Divergent selection and plasticity increases reproductive isolation early during incipient speciation. Find our new meta-analysis on experimental speciation studies here: rdcu.be/ek019 🧪 @EvolOdonata.ecoevo.social.ap.brid.gy @pipdowning.bsky.social