Olivia Brooks

Evolution Benefits The Thieves A sneaky sea slug repurposes the chloroplasts it takes from its algae prey.

Not all partnerships are made in heaven! This Valentine’s Day, read our latest on a study from researchers at Harvard University, which characterizes a mischievous sea slug and its ability to steal cells from its algae prey. 🤯 #scicomm

Formatted version out at last! “Defensive colouration is not a reliable indicator of 🍄 infection in aposematic poison 🐸” academic.oup.com/beheco/artic... @klivvvienna.bsky.social @behavecol.bsky.social
👩🏻‍🔬🧪

The genetics, evolution, and maintenance of a biological rock-paper-scissors game Side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) play a biological rock-paper-scissors game in which three differently colored male morphs utilize alternative mating strategies. We identified the genetic basi...

The genetics, evolution, and maintenance of a biological rock-paper-scissors game | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Phytotelmata Schlippe Justicia et al. describe small pools of water created by plant structures called ‘phytotelma’ that serve as mini-ecosystems.

You all know how precious and fascinating Phytotelmata are, right?
Right?

by @biobiiana.bsky.social & team
www.cell.com/current-biol...

A letter to a young data analyst: learning before leaning on AI Abstract. Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping research, from coding to data analysis and manuscript preparation. For early-career researchers

Great article by Marissa Dyck on the importance of building a strong foundation in coding before leaning on AI as a coding tool. doi.org/10.1093/jmam...

Putting on my hat as @asn-amnat.bsky.social ASN President for a minute for a string of announcements, please share widely!!!

1. Student research awards are open for applications, to fund research expenses for 10 graduate students ($2000 each)
nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...

When a meal fights back!

I’ve only gotten distant looks at Yellow-crowned Night-heron adults, delighted to find one close! It’s trying to eat a crab but the crab’s got its beak pinched.

Super compressed video quickly moved to my phone from my camera (sorry!) just too excited to wait to share

Spatial variation in sexual size dimorphism and mating associations in the color polymorphic Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) - Oecologia Sexual selection due to mate preference for certain traits can maintain phenotypic diversity within populations and species. In taxa with discrete phenotypes, such as color polymorphic species, assort...

New paper from @maggiehantak.bsky.social and coauthors! Red-backed salamander sexual size dimorphism and mate associations vary by population. Salamanders are...complicated.
doi.org/10.1007/s004...

I had a great time speaking at Blacksburg Books about all things poison frogs! Thanks to everyone who came out!

‘Pirate lizards’ can adapt to survive on just three legs New study demonstrates why limb loss isn’t necessarily a death sentence

Biologists have long assumed losing a limb would be a death sentence for lizards, but a new study pokes a hole in this theory. https://scim.ag/49fjA5u

Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs Dinidorid stinkbugs were reported to possess a conspicuous tympanal organ on female hindlegs. In this study, we show that this organ is specialized to retain microbial symbionts rather than to perceiv...

Wow, nature is too cool! Structures on stinkbug hind legs that used to be interpreted as ears are actually chambers with fungi. The bugs coat their eggs in those fungi to protect them against parasitoid wasps. 🧪

Defensive fungal symbiosis on insect hindlegs | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Color me surprised! Waldron et al. (2025) studied the evolutionary consequences polymorphism in Plethodonts using a complete phylogenomic tree of of the family paired with morphometric analyses. She the results of this #AWNews at AmphibiaWeb.org

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
― Jane Goodall (1934-2025)

Drumming as a potential defense strategy against roost intruders in disk-winged bats - Mammalian Biology Roosting animals face frequent threats from intruders, including predators, competitors, and parasites, and have evolved a range of strategies to mitigate these risks. Here, we report the first eviden...

Small but not defenseless 🦇

In our latest paper, we describe a behavior in disc-winged bats that is endearing and a little fearsome. When threatened, these bats shake the leaf, producing a loud drumming-like sound. This display likely signals to predators that the bats are aware of their presence.

White-faced Storm-Petrel off Southern Nova Scotia for #SuperSeabirdSunday #Birds #Birding

Big fan of pitcher plants!

Genetic Characterization of the Cell Types in Developing Feathers, and the Evolution of Feather Complexity We used single cell sequencing to investigate the cell types of developing chicken feathers. From these data, we are able to describe the transcriptional profile of feather cell types, look at their ....

My feather cell type paper is finally out! doi.org/10.1111/ede.... We’ve packed a ton of stuff into this paper but I’ll go through some highlights in this thread!

The Common Midwife Toad (Alytes obstetricans) gets its name from its unique parental care. The male toads carry their eggs around with them on the legs.

📸 Diego González Dopico and Christian Fischer
learn more about the toad 🐸 at buff.ly/oJHHCYi

Very large, tall bluish grey bird with long neck and long pointy beak is standing in profile in shallow water along the edge of a pond. The bank behind the bird is covered in tall weeds with yellow flowers.

Great Blue Heron in full extension mode. Marsh dino 🦖 #birds 🌿

We need about 300 more scientists before we let teachers loose on the database!

Tell your colleagues, we need ya!

Sooo we know about placental mammals vs species like echidnas. But I learned today that fish can also have placentas?? In poeciliidae (guppies, mollies, etc) placentas independently evolved MULTIPLE times. In some fish, you can even see the umbilical cord-like structures that connect to the mother🧪

Juvenile Heermann's gull (very dark all over) in flight, flying over very very shallow water. Flying to the right maybe two feet off the ground. It's shadow is to the right. Just below the shadow is a reflection on the sheen of water.

Got this really cool, ghostly picture by accident the other day in Dillon Beach, CA. It is a Heermann's gull with both it's shadow and reflection.

#birds

A Sora rail sprints out from the safety of reeds in a shallow marshes. It has mottled brown and white feathers with a black face mask and a candy corn yellow beak. In its beak is a fairly large insect that it is taking back to feed its chicks. Its feet and legs are yellow with very long toes!

Soras are quite shy and spend the majority of their time lurking in reed beds. But what happens when you are hunting amongst the reeds, catch a bug, and need to take it back to your chicks … across an open gap?
YOU SPRINT FOR IT!
Those feet were made for that!
#Birds #photography #wildlife 🪶

Electroreception in treehoppers: How extreme morphologies can increase electrical sensitivity | PNAS The link between form and function of an organism’s morphology is usually apparent or intuitive. However, some clades of organisms show remarkable ...

Why do treehoppers look so weird?! Our latest paper, out this week in @pnas.org, suggests a perhaps unexpected reason - static electricity ⚡ We show that treehoppers can detect the electrostatic cues of predators and that their crazy shapes may boost their electrosensitivity! doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

Dung beetle and larvae taken by Huber et al.

Better together: sibling cooperation matters! Burying beetle larvae consistently benefited from growing up with siblings, both with & without parents. Huber et al. show that sibling interactions can play a key role in the evolution of family life. Read now!
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Don't jump to quick(silver) conclusions. In this week's #AWNews Kain et al. (2025) provide evidence that immune response in the presence of methylmercury can be highly variable in wild populations of amphibians. Read more at AmphibiaWeb.org

I think it's a Pisgah black-bellied salamander (Desmognathus mavrokoilius)

A small salamander perched on top of a mossy rock in a stream.

This salamander was doing her best impression of a mossy rock.

Adult garter snake sitting curled up on top of leaves on the forest floor.

Happy #WorldSnakeDay from this little pretzel of a garter snake.

Side view of the front third of a small snake held in hand, head facing left. The ground color is a light pink, and the scales are polished sand smooth, reflecting back the camera flash. The nose has a peculiar, chisel shape used for burrowing, and the eye is just a small dark spot with no distinguishing features.

#SnakeWeek: DeLalande's Blind Snake (Rhinotyphlops lalandei), South Africa. The enlarged rostral scale helps these snakes to push thru soil in search of termite and ant larvae. The eyes are simple light detectors for a snake that lives mostly underground. #herps #snakes #NaturePhotography 🌿