Andy Dobson

A little armored one / turtle rabbit in the wild

The word armadillo is borrowed from Spanish and simply means “little armored one.” But an even better word for an armadillo, in my opinion, is the Nahuatl ayotochtli. It means “turtle rabbit.”

“The Zukunftskolleg Konnect Fellowships support early career researchers from Africa, Asia and Latin America, who do research that fits to one of the thirteen departments at the University of Konstanz.” www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...

We use a coordination game to study repeated emergence and abandonment of mutualistic interactions. The game reflects that mutualisms must be widespread to generate robust benefits. Mutualisms can collapse even in the absence of cheating and even if they would result in higher fitness. rdcu.be/eWnIc

No, they are only alienating a minority of entitled degenerates who think that chasing animals to exhaustion and throwing them live to be ripped apart by a pack of dogs is a bit of a laugh. This should have been confined to history just like bear baiting, dog fighting, and hare coursing long ago.

Screenshot of a tweet by James Tate reading, “An educated populace is a threat to power.” The tweet includes a quoted graphic stating that ICE is offering a $45,000 signing bonus and $100,000 starting salary, compared to a teacher earning $55,000 in their eighth year with a master’s degree, arguing that education has been intentionally defunded.

Our government’s priorities are entirely backward. And purposefully so.

On this day, a child was born who left an indelible mark on human history, transforming our understanding of the world. Famous for his long hair, he unraveled the mysteries of the heavens and brought light to the world.

Happy Birthday, Sir Isaac Newton.
(Born Dec 25, 1642, Julian Calendar)

@billbramhall.bsky.social

We are thrilled to announce the #launch of the Tom Lovejoy Conservation Fellowship #postdoctoral #research program!

Learn more here: lovejoycenter.arizona.edu/lovejoy-fell...

Intriguing! I wonder what same figure looks like for plants and fungi?

Rethinking how we talk about conservation—and why it matters Founder’s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. For a movement so often framed by loss—and confronting a particularl...

Thoughtful end of year piece by @rhettayersbutler.bsky.social about how we frame #conservation: “Less crisis, more agency.”
news.mongabay.com/2025/12/reth...

A person carrying a backpack crosses a footbridge in a hilly area. Text overlaid on the image says, “Out of Eden Walk is a 38,000 km walk across the world in the footsteps of our ancestors.”

✍️ Slow journalism requires public support. Out of Eden Walk is a nonprofit org, & we're raising funds for the journey ahead. Our Board is matching all donations at a 1:1 ratio up to $45k. As we walk into the Americas, pls consider a donation to keep us moving: www.outofedenwalknonprofit.org/campaign

Paddy Kalish OD shared this photo of reindeer eyes, showing a dramatic difference in eye color, probably dramatized, because the real effect is a eye-shine color, which is hard to represent.

So reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) can't fly, but they are VERY MAGICAL.

For example, their EYES CHANGE COLOR during the year & they're one of the few large mammals that can see UV. Golden brown in summer, deep blue in winter.

Let's talk about the unique visual adaptations of Rudolph and company.

To remember William Bond, you could listen to his powerful talk on behalf of grasses! It is a seminal lesson in savanna ecology. Personally, I also find it nice to hear his voice.

jgpausas.blogs.uv.es/2021/02/21/a...

🧪🌎🔥🌿🌳🪴🌐 #PlantScience #savanna

A great loss. A formidable and eloquent mind.

In the year of our Lord two-thousand-twenty-five, there are still shockingly diagnosable, legit never-before-seen-by-scientists new bird species out there to be discovered

The stock market's gains are being overwhelmingly driven by seven Big Tech companies who have invested heavily in AI, which has made tech oligarchs even wealthier.

But when that AI bubble bursts, the rest of us will be stuck holding the bag.

Be warned.

Chatbots behaving badly The world needs better insight on how LLMs are handling mental health crises

This week I have written about what goes wrong when chatbots engage with people with poor mental health and how we should think about the problem.

Chatbots behaving badly, by @natashaloder open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

1st Death Linked to ‘Meat Allergy’ Spread by Ticks A healthy 47-year-old man from New Jersey died abruptly four hours after consuming beef -- the first confirmed death from the "meat allergy."

newsroom.uvahealth.com/2025/11/13/1...

Really fantastic paper on spread of H5N1 influenza in North American birds.

Science under siege A new audio documentary from The Economist

The east wing of science is being demolished by the new administration.

Read my Substack about a new documentary I’ve made with Sandra Kanthal about the impact on biomedical scientists at Harvard.

open.substack.com/pub/overmatt...

FT graph showing massive UK public support for the opinion that it was wrong to vote to leave the EU.

Ah! Good morning, reality. And welcome. We’ve been expecting you…

Mysterious 'warm blob' breaks records in the North Pacific Ocean Temperatures have surged across a large area of the north Pacific - and scientists don't know exactly why.

The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to analysis:

www.bbc.com/news/article...

New work from @devisatarkar.bsky.social et al on how effects of climate variability- particularly more unusual events - depend on developmental stage & prevailing conditions in Wytham Woods great tits.

Longevity Conservation: Why we should protect old, wise and large animals

iucncongress2025.org/programme/lo...

Can you send a link for this. I'll try and come along virtually. Hope all good with you.

Paper for next weeks Biodiversity COP in AbuDhabi. Special issue of IUCN Parks. We need a UN Global Convention on Freshwater for humanity and biodiversity.
Parksjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/5.-DOBSON.PDF

New article in special issue of IUCN Parks journal for COP Meeting in Abu Dhabi next week. We need a UN driven Global Convention on Freshwater for Humans and Biodiversity. An ecosystems service with tangible value.
Parksjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/5.-DOBSON.pdf