Pushkar Wagh

Anuran assemblage in a rapidly urbanizing City in South Asia

For a deeper dive, please give it a read here: rdcu.be/eM1mX

Kudos to the fantastic team :D
Poster by Vidisha M. K.

04.11.2025 15:52 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Frogs and the city!

In a recent study, led by the amazing K. S. Seshadri, we looked at the anuran species composition across the heavily urbanized city of Bengaluru in India.
Our results suggest that the anuran assemblages in Bengaluru appear to be resilient to urbanization (at least for now!)

04.11.2025 15:52 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

He Studied Why Some Female Birds Look Like Males

"The project that was terminated was on this hummingbird, the white-necked jacobin....I suspect that it has something to do with studying a species that doesn’t fit the binary." Researcher @jjinsing.bsky.social interviewed by @carlzimmer.com #birds #nature #science #fundscience #nonbinary 🧪

31.10.2025 14:02 — 👍 146    🔁 52    💬 0    📌 4

Noise pollution and artificial light at night alter selection pressures on sexual signals in an urban adapter Abstract. Human-induced environmental changes can have major impacts on how individuals communicate. Species using sexual signals may experience especially

How do light and noise pollution impact selection on sexual signals? We tested mate attraction and bat predation on túngara frogs. Light and noise interact in complex ways, and light pollution shifts selection on male calling:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@andrewdcronin.bsky.social et al.

02.10.2025 10:08 — 👍 14    🔁 8    💬 0    📌 0

As forests are cut down, butterflies are losing their colours The insects’ brilliant hues evolved in lush ecosystems to help them survive. Now they are becoming more muted to adapt to degraded landscapes – and they are not the only things dulling down

"As forests are cut down, butterflies are losing their colours"

With amazing photos by @rgarciaroa.bsky.social, as always, also part of the research team.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

06.10.2025 17:30 — 👍 16    🔁 10    💬 0    📌 0

A white-fronted bee-eater (Merops bullockoides) decides whether to consume a warningly colored white-barred acraea butterfly (Telchinia encedon).

Researchers in Science report a globally replicated experiment that uncovers which factors explain the relative success of warning coloration and camouflage as antipredator color strategies.

Learn more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/4mBCl6i

25.09.2025 18:05 — 👍 64    🔁 11    💬 0    📌 0

‘Almost unimaginable’: these ants are different species but share a mother Ant queens of one species clone ants of another to create hybrid workers that do their bidding.

A common type of ant in Europe breaks a fundamental rule in biology: its queens can produce male offspring that are a whole different species

go.nature.com/4mOb5T9

03.09.2025 15:34 — 👍 290    🔁 130    💬 7    📌 65

"In our study, we find that urbanization speeds up tadpole development and increased behavioral plasticity. However, exposure to urban conditions also decreased tadpole size, which may cause adult frogs to become smaller and less attractive for mates"
Read the full paper here: buff.ly/FxGf8KD

16.07.2025 12:03 — 👍 20    🔁 9    💬 0    📌 0

A photo of six butterflies which depicts the many different colours and patterns of butterflies in the genus Morpho. The top left is Morpho menelaus, the top middle is Morpho helenor, the top right is Morpho cypris. On the bottom left is Morpho rhetenor, the bottom middle is Morpho sulkowskyi, and the bottom right is Morpho hecuba. Photo credit: Emilie Snell-Rood.

In her Perspective, Emilie Snell-Rood discusses the value of basic science, using the Morpho butterfly as an example of how this type of research has driven later innovation & highlights the value of government and institutional support for basic research

journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/...

26.06.2025 07:30 — 👍 10    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 0

New #RSOS paper investigating chemical defences and visual signals in a wasp #moth. Read more: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @hannahmrowland.bsky.social @amatageorgeii.bsky.social @liisahamalainen.bsky.social @kateumbers.bsky.social @mherberstein.bsky.social @jmappes.bsky.social

06.05.2025 09:02 — 👍 11    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0