Tomos Potter

This week's EGI seminar will be given by Prof Hanna Kokko @kokkonut.bsky.social from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz @unimainz.bsky.social on the role of time in avian trade-offs. All welcome in person in LT1 in LaMB @biology.ox.ac.uk 3.30pm on 6 March. Also live-streamed: details available ⬇️

This is not a laughing matter. No, stop sniggering. Go look for shags on the beach. Seriously.

So did Wales!

Decline in body mass in adult (left) and nestling great tits. In the nestling plot, the purple line represents all nestling and the green line those that recruited to the population as breeders. Their different slope suggest an increase in the strength of selection on nestling mass something confirmed in the MS by analysing the temporal trends in selection differentials (see link for further information)

We have published a new pre-print showing a decline in great tit adult and nestling mass of around 1 gram in 47 y. [rate of approx. -0.040 Hadanes] With @ellafcole.bsky.social, @devisatarkar.bsky.social, Sam. Crofts, @mcmahok.bsky.social & @sheldonbirds.bsky.social www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A perennial problem: bsky.app/profile/tomo...

They seem to be out by a hundred years or so!

And Daft Punk, of course!

YouTube video by Théophile Boutin Jacque(s) - Phonochose #1 : Live-looping à l'Amour

Shout out to previous holder of this esteemed award, the exquisite Jacques:

YouTube video by KEXP Angine de Poitrine - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

New “Francophone Musical Act Who Spent So Long in the Basement Perfecting Loops That They Became Supremely Weird” award goes to Angine de Poitrine.

Hats off to them! But they can keep theirs on.

Cannibalistic jellyfish with a vanishing anus are invading Venice | LBC Venice is being invaded by cannibalistic jellyfish from the Atlantic that are threatening the delicate balance of the lagoon's ecosystem.

Roses are red
Anyone for tennis?

Genetic representation at some point in the future can be measured at multiple levels of biological evolution, e.g. gene-level, individual-level, population-level. I tried to answer your first question, but not satisfactorily it seems, so I'm bowing out here. Thanks for the interaction.

But - if you are interested in allele frequencies over time (famously derided as "beanbag genetics" by Mayr) - you can do that too provided you can track the success of an allele over generations.

…and LRS also isn’t very useful in a growing population: the offspring that are born earlier will contribute more to its genetic representation in the future (through their own offspring) than those born later when the pop size is big (because their offspring are a smaller prop of the total pop)

e.g. Lots of folk (including me) have used lifetime reproductive success (LRS=total N offspring produced by the organism) to quantify its fitness. But this doesn’t account for its genetic representation in e.g. nephews and nieces…

That would be the population genetics approach (where there is less interest in the individual), but folk who are interested in the evolution of the phenotype (e.g quantitative genetics) or in the how evolution and ecology interact might take a more individual fitness approach.

An individual’s fitness is its genetic representation at some point in the future. Long-term datasets spanning several generations allow us to quantify individual fitness (and so its variance), although there is much discussion about the best way to do so!

bsky.app/profile/tomo...

Y Tylwyth Teg! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🧚

Best of the World 2026: Best wellness destinations Seaweed bathing in Ireland, a trek through Africa’s first designated wilderness quiet park—we asked National Geographic staff and contributors for their favorite places to escape the stress and noise ...

In 2010, my mum came up with an idea to re-establish the ancient 140-mile North Wales Pilgrim’s Way. Now National Geographic lists it as one of the world’s “best wellness destinations” for 2026! Mum died last year, I miss her loads. It’s so lovely to see her idea continue to grow. Very proud.

Cool! I will check this out

Of course! It did take me a while to get my head around the interface in MCMCglmm - I can see that figuring out a way that fits with lme4 syntax must be tricky. Thanks for the replies!

Fantastic picture! What a wonderful place.

Random effects structured by (inverse) relatedness matrix is great, but ideally would want capability to model multiple response variables i.e. trait and fitness (which I *think* goes further than recent developments?). @bbolker.bsky.social, any plans to extend glmmTMB into the realm of Quant Gen?

Hello! Does anyone know of any 'seed' type grants/awards within Australia (or potentially abroad if they fund research internationally) that contribute toward research only costs (not salary)??

Nice one Ben!

(absolute shitpost reply, sorry)

Because, very generally, we tend to put things on top of tables rather than underneath them? And “legends” underneath? Figures.

Shikhara Bhat joins the The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ (LFHCfS) Shikhara Bhat has joined the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists™ (LFHCfS). He says: I’m Shikhara Bhat, a theoretical evolutionary ecologist. I’m currently a PhD student at the Univer…

The greatest addition to my CV so far: I am now officially part of The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists

improbable.com/2026/01/14/s...

As the youngest of my siblings, I’m glad I’m not a Hoopoe

We are seeking to appoint four full-time field assistants to work on the Wytham Tit Project for 4-8 weeks in spring 2026. Two 8-week field assistants will join the nest monitoring team; duties for these posts will include (i) collecting standardised data from nest-box breeding populations of blue and great tits, (ii) catching and ringing parent birds, (iii) ringing nestlings, and (iv) inputting data collected in the field. These positions with run from approximately Tuesday 7th April to Monday 1st June. Successful candidates for these positions must have (or be qualified to obtain) a BTO permit to ring adult great tits and blue tits. A further two field assistants will be hired to support a project collecting behavioural (foraging) data for great tits breeding in the Wytham population. These roles will involve a significant amount of nightwork. Duties will include (i) setting up and calibrating electronic tracking equipment and nest box cameras in the field, (ii) mapping tracking equipment locations using GPS, (iii) helping with catching and ringing parent birds and fitting tracking devices, (iv) assisting with mistnetting to re-trap tagged parents, and (v) inputting data collected in the field. These positions with be approximately 7 and 4 weeks in duration, starting from 13th April and 4th May, respectively. Possession of a BTO ringing permit with misnet endorsement and driving license are highly desirable for these roles. All fieldwork will take place in Wytham Woods, near Oxford. All Successful candidates must be able to demonstrate skill and enthusiasm for biological research as well as experience of fieldwork under arduous conditions, and both lone work and working as part of a team. Due to the short-term nature of these posts, successsful applicants must already have the right to work in the UK. Salary & Accommodation: Field assistants will be paid at grade 5.2 (£17.37/hour). Contact eleanor.cole@Biology.ox.ac.uk

We are hiring at the Wytham Woods for the upcoming field season. 4 roles available. Please share with anyone who might be interested. #UKbirds #birdringing