Jack H. McBride

CT Elected Officials: Support Abolishing ICE! Since the start of the second Trump administration, the Immigration & Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) has been responsible for the deaths of dozens of immigrants in their custody, and their fasci...

Snowed in today? Take this time to demand your representatives ABOLISH ICE! Send them emails using our tool. Then, call five friends and ask them to do the same.

Solidarity keeps us warm. Solidarity can melt ice! ❄️🌨️ link.ctdsa.org/abolishicele...

Ancient cremation pyre offers glimpse of tropical hunter gatherers' mortuary practices A new study coauthored by Yale paleoanthropologist Jessica Thompson provides evidence of the earliest intentional cremation in ancient Africa.

A new study co-authored by Yale paleoanthropologist Jessica Thompson describes a 9,500-year-old funeral pyre in southeastern Africa, offering rare insight into how early hunter-gatherers cared for their dead and what that reveals about social life long ago. #Yale

‘Sex reversal’ is surprisingly common in birds, new study suggests Survey of five Australian avians finds numerous discordant individuals, including a genetically male bird that had laid an egg

Sex-reversal in birds (genetically male/female but appear female/male) is surprisingly common. Best detail: A genetically male bird called a laughing kookaburra had recently laid an egg. (1/2)

By @phiejacobs.bsky.social on @science.org

Using stable oxygen isotopes to differentiate graminoid tissues ≈2.3 Ma.

Behavior drives morphological change during human evolution 🏺🧪
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Finds that changes in graminivorous behavior preceded corresponding changes in dental morphology by ~700,000 years.

Mapping nonhuman cultures with the Animal Culture Database - Scientific Data Scientific Data - Mapping nonhuman cultures with the Animal Culture Database

Happy to share our new paper introducing the Animal Culture Database in Scientific Data: We’re putting together a resource consolidating primary research on cultural behaviors in wild animal populations and how they’re affected by human activity (1/5) www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A furry, bat-like Dimorphodon hangs from a branch by its feet, backed by a lush forested landscape. A volcano belches smoke in the distance.

Today's random piece of nostalgic palaeoart: Roger Payne's Dimorphodon!

This image was formative for me! There was never a good reason to make pterosaurs so batlike, but this looks so good that you almost don't care. My child self certainly didn't know any better. (1/4)

Do you know much about Paraguay? Paraguay is a landlocked country in the heart of South America. From the Atlantic Forest to the Gran Chaco Paraguay is home to spectacular wildlife. But it's natural habitats are highly threatened by an incredibly high deforestation rate.

Dissent Is Not Grounds For Deportation The unconscionable, illegal arrests of Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, Badar Khan Suri, and other international scholars should alarm every one of us. Tell Congress to defend our right to free speech ...

The Trump administration is threatening all of our First Amendment rights by punishing students and scholars like Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk, and Badar Khan Suri for their protected speech.

Tell Congress: Our leaders must protect our right to free speech.

illustration of a female bonobo with baby

Starting to add color to the bonobos and loving how this illustration is coming up
#SciArt #mammals #art #bonobos

Were Twins the Norm in Our Primate Past? New research uncovers how the last common primate ancestors typically birthed twins until evolutionary pressures began to favor singletons.

Thanks to Sapiens for picking up our sci-comm piece on the evolution of twinning! https://www.sapiens.org/biology/twins-primates-human-evolution/ w/ @primatesjack.bsky.social funded by @leakeyfoundation.bsky.social

Fun to see our recent work on the landing page for Research at Yale today!

Ancestral state reconstruction (ASR) of litter size in Euarchonta. Litter size values are beneath the ASR. Warmer colors indicate smaller litter sizes, and cooler colors indicate larger litter sizes. Major clades are labeled.

Ancestral state reconstruction (ASR) of litter size in Boreoeutheria. Litter size values are beneath the ASR. Warmer colors indicate smaller litter sizes, and cooler colors indicate larger litter sizes. Major clades are labeled.

Litter size plays an essential role in mammalian evolution

The Evolution of Primate Litter Size 🏺🧪
Jack McBride @primatesjack.bsky.social , Tesla Monson @paleotesla.bsky.social
www.mdpi.com/2673-9461/4/...

Data supports last common ancestors of both primates and Haplorhini gave birth to multiples

Beautiful figures from our new paper, a work of epic proportions that spanned a decade. For anyone interested in African paleontology, taxonomy, evolution, or monkeys, I present….a papionin case study

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1481903/full

The Evolution of Primate Litter Size Litter size plays an essential role in mammalian evolution and is one of the most important factors determining whether an organism is deemed to have a ‘slow’ or ‘fast’ life history strategy. Humans a...

The Evolution of Primate Litter Size www.mdpi.com/2876530 #mdpihumans via @MDPIOpenAccess

I really enjoyed collaborating with @paleotesla.bsky.social and @us.theconversation.com on this article about our recent research into twinning and primate origins!

Lot more people seem to be coming here these days so a little update. Moved to New Haven, CT to start my PhD back in August and right before then the first paper with @paleotesla.bsky.social from my MA came out:
t.co/yvGLiLMs4q. Grateful for my time at WWU and enjoying my time at Yale!

I had a great time (and picked up an awesome silent auction win) at my first AABA Conference in Los Angeles #AABA2024 #losangeles
@paleotesla.bsky.social

@biologicalanth.bsky.social

No plans to yet, but I definitely hope to be back! Many more things I want to scan from the mammal collection!

Abstract accepted for AABA '24 in LA! Looking forward to sharing some of what I have been working on and meeting many more anthropologists! #AABA2024
Picture from the Smithsonian NMNH, Summer '23, credit:
@paleotesla.bsky.social

Meet the lab! From L to R, me! 2nd year MA students Jack and Tristen, UG extraordinaire Laura, and new 1st MA student Jewel! Here we are on our way to get a demo for the new desktop micro-CT that came in recently on our NSF-MRI grant (co-PI).

Abstract accepted for AABA '24 in LA! Looking forward to sharing some of what I have been working on and meeting many more anthropologists! #AABA2024
Picture from the Smithsonian NMNH, Summer '23, credit:
@paleotesla.bsky.social