Valeria Mazza valmazza - Bluesky Statics

Please repost! We are looking for two field technicians to work on our deer mouse project in the Colorado Rockies this spring-fall. Learn about physiology, ecology, and evolution, all in one project! Not to mention that you get to be in the ⛰️. Reach out if you have any questions.

10.02.2026 20:59 — 👍 20 🔁 30 💬 0 📌 1

New paper out on the decision strategies of bumblebees. When using visual cues to make flower choices, they switch strategy with sensory context, learning as much as necessary, but as little as possible. Based on their training time, we propose a mechanism for this switch. tinyurl.com/2r9d4jrs 🌸🐝🧠

27.02.2026 14:54 — 👍 19 🔁 14 💬 1 📌 2

Redirecting

Is your cat truly happy? New research provides answers 🥼

We all think our cats are doing great 🐈 our study of 400+ caretakers found an average quality of life score of 89/100. But when we looked more closely, the picture was more nuanced

🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.ap...

#CatWelfare #AnimalWelfare #Cats

26.02.2026 08:02 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 2 📌 0

How and why does cognition vary so greatly between individuals and species? In @natrevbiodiv.nature.com, we propose the "Predatory Intelligence Hypothesis" which posits that the cognitive challenges associated with predator–prey interactions drive a cognitive co-evolutionary arms race

rdcu.be/e5KIj

26.02.2026 02:22 — 👍 44 🔁 22 💬 1 📌 1

🦎 Funded 4-year PhD position on Lizard Evolutionary Ecology in our lab at UCLouvain (Belgium)! Apply before 9 March! jobs.uclouvain.be/Personnelsci...

03.02.2026 13:50 — 👍 28 🔁 46 💬 0 📌 2

Entomology technician post in my lab in London (position is for 11 months starting August 2026). The work is about sentience and cognition in a variety of insect species. Thank you for sharing (and applying)! qmul-jobs.tal.net/vx/mobile-0/...

24.02.2026 15:19 — 👍 27 🔁 30 💬 0 📌 1

UZH: Professorship for Evolutionary Anthropology and Primatology We are seeking candidates in the field of Comparative Evolutionary Anthropology and Primatology for the Irene Staehelin Endowed Professorship at the University of Zurich. This position focuses on the ...

🚨 Job Alert: Professorship in Evolutionary Anthropology / Primatology at University of Zurich, focused on understanding evolutionary and cultural evolutionary foundations of gender-based inequality and violence, with research in non-human primates.

jobs.uzh.ch/job-vacancie...

19.02.2026 16:09 — 👍 17 🔁 23 💬 0 📌 0

A fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) sitting on pavement with forearms strethced out.

Are individuals with more flashy aposematic coloration bolder? We asked this question using fire salamanders! Check out our new study in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology:
doi.org/10.1007/s002...

19.02.2026 21:32 — 👍 7 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Hiring for 3 positions: Research Assistant, Field Research Coordinator, and Postdoc I am looking to hire 3 people into my lab this year. I am still doing the paperwork to get the jobs officially posted but I want to send the word out and screen potential applications right away. R…

I am hiring a research assistant (vampire bats), a Panama fieldwork coordinator (vampire bats), and also considering postdoc apps (social behavior, any species): socialbat.org/2026/02/19/h...

19.02.2026 21:30 — 👍 69 🔁 92 💬 4 📌 7

Investigating behaviour and badge size in House sparrows (International fieldwork internship/thesis) I am looking for a motivated Masters or HBO student to take part in the upcoming field season in the United Kingdom. Fieldwork will take place between April and May 2026 for 1.5 months on Lundy Island...

Looking for a student to develop a project on house sparrow behaviour and badge size! This project would include field work on the lovely Lundy Island in the Uk. For more information: nioo.knaw.nl/en/vacancies...

18.02.2026 13:41 — 👍 14 🔁 14 💬 0 📌 1

Sentience in cephalopod molluscs: an updated assessment This article evaluates the evidence for sentience – the capacity to have feelings – in cephalopod molluscs: octopus, cuttlefish, squid, and nautilus. Our framework includes eight criteria, covering b...

This open access paper in Biological Reviews offers an up-to-date synthesis of the scientific evidence on cephalopod sentience 🐙🦑

It considers 120+ studies using an 8-criterion framework:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

@zoophilosophy.bsky.social @birchlse.bsky.social

16.02.2026 18:58 — 👍 17 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 2

Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d

Looks like a cool idea @katelaskowski.bsky.social @joelpick.bsky.social

Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology url: academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...

13.02.2026 17:25 — 👍 8 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0

Flyer describing the Topical Collection, with an image of a cheetah and journal information. Full details in the link.

Excited to announce our Topical Collection at @ibe.pensoft.net on Individual‑based Conservation!

We aim to highlight approaches integrating individual heterogeneity into management and conservation practice.

Please submit, share, & reach out with any questions!

Details: ibe.pensoft.net/news/1106

10.02.2026 13:36 — 👍 3 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

So excited to see this recommendation coming from the Animal Sentience Committee, really hoping it leads to some real change in decapod protection
www.gov.uk/government/p...

05.02.2026 08:58 — 👍 25 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0

New #PhD on #bees (BeeHd?)! Despite the ad saying "UK Students only", a limited number of scholarships are available for international candidates. So please apply!

03.02.2026 15:50 — 👍 33 🔁 39 💬 0 📌 1

I am looking for a PhD student to join my new Socio-Eco-Evo group, hosted in Katie Peichel's Evolutionary Ecology Division @ University of Bern. We're offering a fully funded 4-year position, studying social plasticity and behavioral adaptation among stickleback in Greenland. Please share around!

02.02.2026 12:01 — 👍 72 🔁 86 💬 1 📌 2

Toy exploration in gifted word learner dogs and typical dogs - Animal Cognition Labelling has a pronounced effect on increasing infants’ attention to objects. At the same time, infants actively seek social cues when presented with novel objects and early signs of communicative in...

After years of working with Gifted dogs, this paper marks the end of that chapter for me 🐕

We compared gifted and typical dogs and found that what sets gifted dogs apart may not be curiosity, but their social motivation

Grateful to the dogs and their humans 💙

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

31.01.2026 15:00 — 👍 13 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Urban Lasius niger ants more readily accept low concentration sucrose solution than rural ants - Urban Ecosystems Urbanisation causes broad changes in biotic and abiotic factors, which are often detrimental to animals. While extensive attention has been focussed on food resources for pollinators, comparatively li...

Urban ants are less picky than rural ants when it comes to sugar solution. Maybe the aphids in cities produce poorer honeydew, reflecting the stress they, or their tree hosts are under?

New paper, with Stanislav Stukalyuk and @trigos-peral.bsky.social.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

30.01.2026 14:39 — 👍 10 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 2

PhD Scholarship

My Centre is a unique place to do a PhD in Philosophy, because you can be in constant contact with experts in veterinary medicine, psychology, zoology and policy and be part of a team united by a shared interest in animal minds. We now have our 1st ever PhD scholarship: www.lse.ac.uk/sentience/phd

30.01.2026 07:39 — 👍 142 🔁 77 💬 1 📌 6

📣 What if animals could help design their own worlds?

Join @zoophilosophy.bsky.social for Letting Animals Speak—a lecture on animal agency, ethics & animal-computer interaction.

📅 Feb 7 | Online | Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

29.01.2026 12:33 — 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 1

Junior research scientist in ecotoxicology of soil food webs CR26-AgroEcoSystem-2 - You will join the Sol&Tox team within the EcoSys (Functional Ecology and Ecotoxicology of Agroecosystems) joint research unit that studies agroecosystem functioning taking into account the biogeochemical processes, material and energy flows, and the functions of organisms interacting with their environment. You will draw on the skills within the unit to work on both abiotic and biotic processes. Your work will build on the research conducted on the fate of contaminants in the environment, organism exposure, and biological responses, and you will be able to draw on the various analytical platforms of EcoSys. You could also make use of the Ecosys experience on some specific soil biological species to set up experiments, as well as the modelling expertise of Ecosys and collaborators (INERIS, Paris-Saclay University, INRAE) to conceptualise the food webs studied experimentally.You will aim to develop an integrative approach to terrestrial ecotoxicology by working at the interface between the structuring of agricultural and peri-urban soil food webs, the propagation of direct and indirect effects linked to diffuse contamination of anthropogenic origin, and the ecosystem functions and services provided by the soils. You will aim to (1) understand how the contaminants spread within food webs, (2) characterise the propagation of the effects of contaminants within these webs via direct and indirect interactions between the different links in the webs, and (3) quantify the consequences of the structural changes of food webs on certain key functions provided by soil organisms (decomposition and recycling of organic matter, aggregation and porosity dynamics, circulation of water and air). You will thus be required to work on themes relating to the relationships between bioavailability of contaminants and their effects on the structuring of food webs, to conduct experiments on links between biodiversity and soil functioning, or even to identify tools to promote soil compartment resilience against chemical contamination. Your work will highlight tipping points beyond which soil functions can no longer be ensured optimally in the presence of diffuse contamination.You will join the Sol&Tox team within EcoSys, located on the Agro Paris Saclay Campus. The Sol&Tox team studies (i) the links between the fate of soil contaminants and their effects on soil organisms, and (ii) the effect of developments, changes in land use, product recycling, and practices on soil organisms and their function. You will complement the approaches on simplified food webs conducted in the laboratory using experimental approaches in semi-natural conditions from mesocosm to plot level. Your work on the understanding of mechanisms responsible for direct or indirect effects on food webs will complement the modelling work being developed within Ecosys to predict the impact of diffuse contamination of agroecosystems on different biological scales (individuals, populations, communities). You will draw on existing skills in laboratory experimentation within the joint research unit on some specific soil species (worms, springtails, enchytraeidae, ground beetles), as well as in modelling the fate of ecotoxicological effects of organic contaminants. You will complement this expertise through experiments and observations in the field to compare the organisation of complex food webs along anthropisation gradients, drawing more particularly on knowledge relating to soil food webs. You will benefit from the support of the isotope and analytical chemistry platforms to measure the transfers and bioaccumulation of pesticide compounds within food webs. Lastly, you will work with experts in soil science and function to measure the impact of structural variations of food webs on ecological soil functions and services.

A permanent junior research scientist position to work on the #ecotoxicology of #soil #foodwebs. Come join us in our new campus in Palaiseau @inrae-france.bsky.social & @agroparistech.fr !
Deadline for applications: March 5, 2026

jobs.inrae.fr/en/open-comp...

28.01.2026 08:56 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Selectus - Home

Job alert! The University of Zurich is hiring a professor for Evolutionary Anthropology and Primatology. Learn more here: www.appointments.mnf.uzh.ch/auth/Apply/0...

27.01.2026 16:25 — 👍 14 🔁 18 💬 0 📌 0

Sentience in cephalopod molluscs: an updated assessment This article evaluates the evidence for sentience – the capacity to have feelings – in cephalopod molluscs: octopus, cuttlefish, squid, and nautilus. Our framework includes eight criteria, covering b...

For those cephalopod lovers among you, our new updated review of the evidence for cephalpod sentience has now been published in Biological Reviews. (Sadly the picture is of birds rather than cephalopods, as this is the journal cover!)
doi.org/10.1002/brv....

21.01.2026 11:48 — 👍 51 🔁 18 💬 4 📌 3

There is still some time to submit for our Special Collection on social cognition and anthropogenic environments! We are looking forward to hear from you! link.springer.com/collections/... Please do get in touch if you have any questions.
#openaccess #socialcognition

20.01.2026 09:13 — 👍 8 🔁 10 💬 0 📌 0

No bull: This Austrian cow has learned to use tools First evidence for tool use in cattle includes a skill previously seen only in humans and chimpanzees

No bull: nice article about our study by David Grimm | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...

19.01.2026 18:41 — 👍 18 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0

@dingemanselab.bsky.social

Recently out in #animalbehaviour: Yuval Zukerman investigated Interindividual variation in tolerance behavior of #NubianIbex inhabiting human settlements and found that the way humans behave shapes the behavior of the ibex, leading to separate social cliques.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

18.01.2026 21:10 — 👍 5 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

Anyone who is an expert in #gutmicrobiome research is interested in collaborating with us to study #free-rangingdogs in India? Please get in touch!

13.01.2026 10:24 — 👍 0 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0

📣 Annual Meeting of the @ethoges.bsky.social 2026
🗓️ 18–21 Feb 2026 | 📍 Almtal, Austria
Join us in beautiful Grünau im Almtal for inspiring talks and lively discussions!
⚠️ Registration closes this week!
👉 univie.eventsair.com/etho26-dkcog...
@univie.ac.at

13.01.2026 12:34 — 👍 9 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 1

Dogs with a large vocabulary of object labels learn new labels by overhearing like 1.5-year-old infants Children as young as 18 months can acquire novel words by overhearing third-party interactions. Demonstrating similar learning processes in nonhuman species would indicate that the social-cognitive sk...

New research on Gifted dogs is out, in @science.org!

Huge congrats to SHANY DROR for her effort and this incredible achievement.

📄 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

09.01.2026 13:06 — 👍 31 🔁 8 💬 0 📌 5

Posts by Valeria Mazza (@valmazza.bsky.social)