Andrew K. Schulz, Ph.D.

Graphical abstract of linked paper. Elephant whisker tops are ovular, dense, and soft. Elephant whisker bases are ovular, porous, and stiff. This contrasts to most other mammals with whiskers that are circular and stiff throughout.

Elephant trunks can both rip down trees and gently pluck peanuts because their trunk whiskers contain a stiffness gradient, allowing them to sense fine contours and adjust their grip strength accordingly! 🧪

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thank you for highlighting our work!

Functional gradients facilitate tactile sensing in elephant whiskers Keratin composites enable animals to hike with hooves, fly with feathers, and sense with skin. Mammalian whiskers are elongated keratin rods attached to tactile skin structures that extend the animal’...

So great! Mechanical engineers study the physics of elephant whiskers. Unlike mice, elephants don’t whisk. The physics of their whiskers suggests they amplify touch.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Scientists have discovered one of elephants’ most sensitive secrets Researchers have studied rat and mouse whiskers, but these key organs for elephants have been largely overlooked.

How does an elephant peel a banana? The answer involves whiskers, a new study says.

Researchers have studied rat and mouse whiskers, but these key organs for elephants have been largely overlooked and may help explain their extraordinary dexterity.

Unique structure of elephant whiskers give them built-in sensing "intelligence" The material properties change gradually from base to tip for better navigation, more precise manipulation.

Unique structure of elephant whiskers give them built-in sensing “intelligence.” The material properties change gradually from base to tip for better navigation, more precise manipulation. arstechnica.com/science/2026...

YouTube video by Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Elephant whiskers exhibit material intelligence for touch sensing

The secret to the elephant's amazing sense of touch is in its unusual whiskers. The findings will be used in the development of new robot-assisted sensor technologies that mimic the stiffness of the #elephant tactile hairs.
www.mpg.de/26113474/ele... @mpi-is.bsky.social

An Elephant Is Blind Without Its Whiskers

Another story here-- congrats to the authors for their excellent science and broad attention!
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/s...

Hello world. One of my favorite fun facts to share about elephants…their trunks are covered in whiskers, with built-in intelligence! If that got your attention…check out our new paper in @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

How the elephant got its stiff whiskers Pachyderm whiskers are more flexible at the tip than the base, allowing elephants to complete delicate tasks with their incredibly strong trunks

On the sensitivity of elephant trunk whiskers that derives from their anatomy and mechanical properties; work by bsky.app/profile/schu... et al. :

www.scientificamerican.com/article/elep...
(with a little end statement from me)

Have you read ICB's issue 6 yet?

with Applied #ecoimmunology in #wildlife health and #conservation

& authors
@schulzscience.bsky.social

@karlycohen.bsky.social Cohen

@thomsanger.bsky.social Sanger

@cmdonatelli.bsky.social Donatelli

Stacy Farina

and more!

academic.oup.com/icb/issue/65/6

Just in time for the break - I'm excited that a review I've been working on with Florian Hartmann and their team has been published in Advanced Science. We highlight ecosystem-centered design in this work - open access! advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

An Autistic Academic — A Happy? Birthday My birthday is on November 19 and since I was a child I remember it being a strange time. Before college I don’t think I felt like I had a…

I forgot to post here, but here is my new medium blog post: medium.com/@SchulzScien...

Excited to have the opportunity to share my perspective on comparative biomechanics in a plenary at this year's SICB meeting. Grateful to my mentors/collabs/students for their support along the way, and very honored to receive the Gans Young Investigator Award!

An Autistic Academic — Mask Off Experiencing a day at work with and without masking as an autistic academic has made me realize how much energy it takes to keep that…

I wrote a new blog post about being an #AuDHD academic and what life is like with and without wearing a mask...I hope to post blogs more regularly going forward!

Recently returned from the Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellows Study Tour across Germany with people spanning six contents visiting over 20 Germany cities in 13 days. It was one incredible trip with friends that will definitely last a lifetime! #myfellowfellows

‼️ Attention ASB’ers! ‼️

Spread the word: The Postdoc Affinity Group will be at Il Tetto at Sienna Mercato (942 Penn Ave) Wednesday night starting at 7pm.

Swing by to meet up with fellow ASB postdocs. Can’t wait to see you there!

FYI: Senior PhD students interested in postdocing are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Manafzadeh has a nice ring to it!

✨Some news✨: after finishing my postdoc, I’ll be starting my lab as an Assistant Professor at Georgia Tech. Join us in Atlanta to study how joints work and where they come from!

The call for applications has just been released for #CV4Ecology2026!! This three-week intensive program trains ecologists and conservation practitioners to develop their own AI tools for their own data.

When: Jan 12-30, 2026
Where: SCBI @smconservation.bsky.social

An Autistic Academic This week, I read several articles highlighting the press conference of the HHS secretary declaring that autism is a growing “epidemic.”

This week has been tough for several reasons. I have been struggling to put it in words, but finally sat down and did some writing.

Hey Bluesky! @sicb.bsky.social 's Divisions of Comparative Biomechanics and Vertebrate Morphology are here! We're here to share any position opportunities and keep you updated on DCB and DVM activities. Give us a follow and feel free to send any postings our way.

Genome duplication in a long-term multicellularity evolution experiment - Nature In the Multicellularity Long Term Evolution Experiment, diploid yeast evolve to be tetraploid under selection for larger multicellular size, revealing how whole-genome duplication can arise due to its...

1/46 Hey folks, we have a new paper out on the MuLTEE. Strap in and I’ll tell you the story of how this “little paper on polyploidy” turned into the most data rich paper our lab has produced, largely thanks to the leadership and work ethic of @kaitong25.bsky.social.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Scaly-Tail Organ Enhances Static Stability during Pel’s Scaly-tailed Flying Squirrels’ Arboreal Locomotion - preLights What’s that on your tail? @sidneyleedham @LivEvoBiomech, and @james_charles90 review this exciting preprint which explores how the development of a scaly-organ at the base of the tail of flying squirr...

What’s that on your tail?

Sidney Leedham, Roger Kissane & James Charles review an exciting #preprint from @schulzscience.bsky.social & team exploring how the development of a scaly-organ at the base of the tail of flying squirrels helps them stick to trees.

prelights.biologists.com/highlights/s...

Thank you @gtpols.bsky.social for the thread on @schulzscience.bsky.social’s recent paper on collagen imaging of elephant skin!
🔬🐘🔬🐘🔬🐘

Hello! Making the jump from X along with many in the #science community. I'm a #biodiversity monitoring and #SciComm professional with a particular love for #conservation, #bioacoustics and #lemurs 🐒🔊🌳💚

Excited about collaborating with Ayah Ahmad and Maegan Tucker from Dynamic Mobility at Georgia Tech, our submission to #ICRA2025 is accepted.

If you're interested in bio-inspired robotics, modeling multi-materials in MuJoco, and more, check it out: dynamicmobility.github.io/ICRA2025-hop...

Stay tuned for news about the next round of the in-situ Jungle Biomechanics Lab! This NSF program brings early-career researchers out to the Amazon Rainforest to learn how to do interdisciplinary research in the field! UGs to postdocs are welcome to apply! bhamla.gatech.edu/project-blog...

🎯 How can we empower scientific discovery in millions of nature photos?

Introducing INQUIRE: A benchmark testing if AI vision-language models can help scientists find biodiversity patterns- from disease symptoms to rare behaviors- hidden in vast image collections.

Thread👇🧵

One more: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Elephant facial motor control Elephant trunk control involves huge numbers of facial motor neurons, cell size gradients, and motor foveae.

here is an example of this: www.science.org/doi/full/10....