Martin Whiting

Martin Whiting

@lizardlab.bsky.social

Professor of Animal Behaviour. Posts mostly about The Lizard Lab - research group investigating behaviour, ecology, evolution of lizards (mostly). https://whitinglab.com/ for research, members, photos, blog. All other links: https://linktr.ee/lizard_lab

389 followers192 following32 posts

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

New PhD opportunities in behavioural ecology at the University of Tasmania and Macquarie University working with Geoff While and Martin Whiting plus multiple international collaborators on lizard sociality and communication. Please spread the word! #phd

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

A huge congrats to Dr Jai Lake! Jai just gave his exit seminar at Macquarie on why lizards are social. To be slightly more precise, his PhD was about the mechanisms underlying sociality. Papers are submitted and in prep! Watch this space. Jai was cosupervised by Geoff While at Univ. Tasmania.

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

3-legged lizards can thrive against all odds, challenging assumptions about how evolution works in the wild theconversation.com/3-legged-liz...

theconversation.com3-legged lizards can thrive against all odds, challenging assumptions about how evolution works in the wildMost lizards probably don’t survive devastating injuries. But a new study documents 122 cases of limb loss across 58 species – these exceptions shine a new light on natural selection.
Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Just out - our review of social learning in reptiles and its implications for animal culture. Part of a special issue on animal culture and conservation in a changing world. Happy to send a PDF if requested.

Martin Whiting reposted

Dustin Rubenstein
@dustinrubenstein.com

Our latest superb starling work in @nature.com. We observe long-term reciprocal helping relationships, and suggest reciprocity is an underappreciated mechanism promoting the stability of cooperatively breeding societies. Led by Alexis Earl and @gerrycarter.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comA cryptic role for reciprocal helping in a cooperatively breeding bird - NatureA study of the cooperative breeding behaviour of superb starlings during 40 consecutive breeding seasons over 20 years reveals long-term reciprocal helping between both related and unrelated individua...
Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Huge congrats to Jai Lake for submitting his PhD thesis on the mechanisms underpinning social complexity. A huge amount of work - Jai learnt a whole range of new skills in the process. Jai was cosupervised by Geoff While (Uni Tasmania), with help from Dan Hoops + colleagues at Columbia University.

Martin Whiting reposted

Stephen Curry
@scurry.bsky.social

Replying to @scurry.bsky.social

Members of the U.K. and international scientific community are invited to sign to show their support: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.comOpen letter to the President of the Royal Society – time to stand up for your valuesIf you wish to show your support for the letter below regarding apparent inaction by the Royal Society in the face of breaches of its code of conduct by Elon Musk FRS, please sign below. I invite anyo...
Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Charles Darwin was born on this day in 1809. Happy birthday to the architect of natural selection and evolutionary theory - a true legend! Here he is as a youngster. We will be celebrating his birthday in our lab meeting today. #charlesdarwin #darwin #originofspecies #naturalselection

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Check out this amazing cartoon by Meghan Swan (IG: @deadpixelproductions) explaining tongue colour in the Australian blue tongue skink (blueys). It was such a pleasure collaborating on this project, which was part of a course at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

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Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Check out this amazing cartoon by Meghan Swan (IG: @deadpixelproductions) explaining tongue colour in the Australian blue tongue skink (blueys). It was such a pleasure collaborating on this project, which was part of a course at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

View full thread
Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Check out this amazing cartoon by Meghan Swan (IG: @deadpixelproductions) explaining tongue colour in the Australian blue tongue skink (blueys). It was such a pleasure collaborating on this project, which was part of a course at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

View full thread
Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

They are perhaps best know for their bright blue tongues but read the cartoon — the blue colour we see is not all it appears to be. The Lizard Lab tackled the question of why the tongue is so brightly coloured, and how that colour is produced.

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

To answer that question we are delving into collaborative projects with nanoparticle engineers and experts in robotics. This phase of the study is being led by Dr. Sergio Naretto. Stay tuned for more exciting results!

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Check out this amazing cartoon by Meghan Swan (IG: @deadpixelproductions) explaining tongue colour in the Australian blue tongue skink (blueys). It was such a pleasure collaborating on this project, which was part of a course at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Huge congrats to recent grads Dr. Victoria Russell and Dr. Yorick Lambreghts cosupervised by me, Geoff While and Erik Wapstra through the University of Tasmania. Both spent substantial time in the Lizard Lab at Macquarie University. Well done!

Martin Whiting reposted

Daniel Noble
@danielwanoble.bsky.social

Check out our cool new findings showing how developmental temperature and corticosterone have long term impacts on mitochondrial efficiency that coincide with consistent differences in body size through life! A fantatsic team effort doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

doi.orgFrom eggs to adulthood: sustained effects of early developmental temperature and corticosterone exposure on physiology and body size in an Australian lizardHighlighted Article: Incubation temperature and prenatal corticosterone exposure have independent sustained effects, but not interactive effects, on morphological and physiological traits in the delic...
Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

Christine Wilson (@keytarchris) is retiring from the Lizard Lab after 10 years service! Chris has helped with field work, ordering supplies, checking on animals on weekends and public holidays including Christmas. Chris has been a great friend and supporter of the lab and we can’t thank her enough!

Martin Whiting
@lizardlab.bsky.social

New paper on the 'leaping feats' of a hungry goanna (monitor) lizard and the potential impacts of goanna predation on nesting success in zebra finches, led by Marc Naguib.

onlinelibrary.wiley.comHigh nest failure in a zebra finch population and persistent nest predation by a monitor lizardEcology & Evolution is a broad open access journal welcoming research in ecology, evolution, and conservation science, and providing a forum for evidence-based views.

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