Chiara Benvenuto

Shearing Tooth Morphology May Allow Sharks to Access Higher Trophic Levels at Smaller Sizes Predator morphology imposes limitations on prey selection due to biomechanical constraints, making some prey functionally inaccessible and thereby constraining predator trophic niches. We assessed ho....

Cutting teeth probably let smaller sharks get higher in the food web than those with grasping teeth. Awesome stable isotope study led by fabulous PhD graduate Sabrina Riveron!

@griffith.edu.au

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

BioTIME 2.0: Expanding and Improving a Database of Biodiversity Time Series Motivation Here, we make available a second version of the BioTIME database, which compiles records of abundance estimates for species in sample events of ecological assemblages through time. The up...

🚨New data paper/open data alert!🚨 BioTIME v2.0 is out now! We've expanded the database with improved spatial and taxonomic coverage, with a new R package! As always, free, public, and open acess :)

Paper:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Database:
biotime.st-andrews.ac.uk

Excited to share that we have just been awarded a NERC Pushing the Frontiers grant to work on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins. We will soon advertise a 3 year post-doc to join the team - drop me an email if you might be interested! Pls share widely 🙏🏻

The Hole in Peru’s Nazca Ridge National Reserve | Hakai Magazine By allowing fishing to persist in the protected area, biologists say the country’s new marine reserve fails to protect the unique Nazca Ridge ecosystem.

If you're a marine scientist interested in adding your name to a letter supporting the exclusion of industrial fishing in Peru's Nazca Ridge #MPA, please shoot me a DM. #PaperParks #Fisheries #30x30 #MarineConservation #MarinePolicy
🐟🦑🌏🌊🎣🪸

Some background here: hakaimagazine.com/news/the-hol...

Hand made table doily, shaped like a fish, orange and blue

Small things that make me happy. Grazie mamma! #Details #SeaHouse 🐟

The Local Organizing Commitee welcomes behavioral ecologists from across the world and of all career stages to enjoy a five-day meeting rich in top-notch science and ample networking opportunities in Turin (Italy), 20-24 July 2026.

Winter ASAB 2025 December 15th-16th Edinburgh ASABwinter.github.io/2025/ How sensory information affects behaviour Logo of a moth

Join us for #ASABWinter2025 in Edinburgh Dec 15-16 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Abstracts for posters/talks due Aug 29

More details here: asabwinter.github.io/2025/

Close up of a green anal fin of a cichlid showing a row of yellow, black-rimmed spots.

#Cichlids of the genus Haplochromis (and many of their relatives) have what are called ‚egg-spots‘ on their anal fin.
Thought to mimic eggs and to lead the female towards the genital opening of the male for fertilization inside the female‘s mouth, the story is more complex. 🧵 #ichthyology #fish

After the fight: post-contest acoustic signalling | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Animal contests often involve acoustic signals at different stages, but empirical work has primarily focused on usage before and during antagonistic interactions. Far less attention has been paid to p...

🎉NEW PAPER🎉 out today - our review in #ProcB about post-contest acoustic signalling. Started piecemeal and alone years ago, the brilliance and energy of #ECRs @josharbon.bsky.social & Amy Morris-Drake gave it impetus. ☺️

@royalsocietypublishing.org
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Which Kind of Science Reform What hope is there for science reform, if we can't agree on what to reform? Right now, principles are more important than practices.

How can we reform science? I have some ideas. But I am not sure you’ll like them, because they don’t promise much. elevanth.org/blog/2025/07...

📣 1 WEEK TO GO! 🐜

Leaf-cutting ants don’t just build nests; they build climate-controlled cities.
🎥 Watch the teaser for Prof. Flavio Roces’ talk on their environmental adaptations.

🗓️Tuesday 29 July – 14:00 GMT
📍Live on YouTube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=qORc...

Amazing news!!!! I did not know DecaNet @decanet.bsky.social was on BlueSky!!!! 🦀🦀🦀
www.decanet.info/index.php

Extensive Recombination Suppression and Genetic Degeneration of a Young ZW Sex Chromosome System in Halfbeak Fish Abstract. Sex chromosome systems have evolved independently across the tree of life, at different times in the past, and the evolutionary consequences of l

Xing et al. study sex chromosome evolution in two species of halfbeak fish, identifying a large sex-linked ZW region in Hyporhamphus sajori and a small sex-linked region on a different chromosome, with male heterogamety, in H. intermedius.

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf151

#evobio #molbio

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...

Multi-seasonal eDNA metabarcoding highlights a resurgence in fish diversity across a severely impacted estuarine ecosystem Aquatic ecosystems have been in an alarming state of decline for decades. Therefore, there is an urgent need for more accessible and rapid monitoring methods that will ultimately allow for restoration...

The second one has just been submitted there: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1....
Details info on both will be added very soon! In the meanwhile, enjoy the preprints!

Performance of eDNA capture methods for monitoring fish biodiversity in a hyper-tidal estuary Environmental DNA (eDNA) has become an established and efficient method for monitoring biodiversity in aquatic systems. However, there is a need to compare and standardise sampling methods across ecos...

It was an immense pleasure to work with Jake! If you are curious about his work, he hasa already two manuscript in BiorXiv. The first one will see the light in a journal very soon: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Jake holding his thesis with the internal and external examiner

Yesterday was a great day! @jjackman27.bsky.social succesfully defended his viva! Supervisors (@naiarasales.bsky.social @shrewgod.bsky.social Ilaria Coscia, Peter Robins, Andrea Drewitt, Andy Wolfenden & me) are super proud. Many thanks to the examiners @owenwangensteen.bsky.social & Mariana Lima

Latest pre-print led by @jjackman27.bsky.social on seasonal/monthly monitoring of fish diversity in the River Mersey, UK using #eDNA. Gives a great indication of the recovery in this once ecologically barren system, with the return of lots of key migratory species. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Look at this @vitaustin.bsky.social!

A swan sleeping on the river Irwell

Sleeping beauty 🦢

Recently, my book THEY CALLED US ENEMY was banned – again – in Tennessee. Book bans are out of control. Huge parts of American history are being restricted. To join me in standing up for the freedom to read, go to pen.org/action. @penamerica.bsky.social @topshelfcomix.bsky.social @idwpublishing.com

Map of sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea showing parts of it reached 30C such as off the coast of Calabria, and the islands of Majorca and Sicily. Below the map is a chart showing daily maximum temperature at a buoy next to Majorca where it reached 30C for the first time this early in the season.

Parts of the Mediterranean Sea reached 30C this week, much earlier than usual, raising fears for marine life.

For some areas, this is 6 or 7C warmer than usual at this time of year.

Our story with more maps by @markpoynting.bsky.social and me here:
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Phylogenetic hypotheses for Cypriniformes. (a) A phylogenomic study using 219 loci and 172 species; (b) phylogenetic study based on six nuclear loci and using 81 species

Biodiversity, Systematics, and Taxonomy of Ostariophysi (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii): What We Know Today After Three Decades of Integration of Morphological and Molecular Data.🐟🧪

mdpi.com/2673-6500/5/...

It's finally out! This paper took quite a while but I'm so excited to share now! For anyone who studies sex chromosomes, take note: we found a rare "slower X"! (dN/dS_X < dN/dS_Autos) 👀

Figure 1. Unbeatable sex allocation strategy of unconstrained females (r*) as a function of proportion of constrained females (p) under local mate competition with two foundresses colonising the patch. Shown are the result for Godfray’s (1990) erroneous diploidy solution (dashed grey line), our corrected diploidy solution (solid grey line), and our haplodiploidy solution (solid black line). Overlaid are results from individual-based simulations (discs).

New paper: "The consequences of constrained sex allocation in diploids and haplodiploids under local mate competition", with Chedhawat Chokechaipaisarn:

doi.org/10.1093/jeb/...

@jevbio.bsky.social

This is for you @vitaustin.bsky.social!

Oh @rominassbatista.bsky.social, look at this!!! 🐦

Opportunities — ASAB

🚨JOB alert🚨 Full-time Managing Editor role for @asab.org journal Animal Behaviour. Applicants must have animal #behaviour background; previous editorial experience would be ideal.
Apply by 31st July 2025.
#publishing #editor #job

More details: www.asab.org/opportunities

PLEASE share widely.

Second #InvasiveSpecies of my trip home, Paysandisia archon (the South American palm borer moth): so many of them in front of Genova Brignole station... 😞🌴🦋#LaMiaLiguria

Since 2016!!!!!!!! Thanks for the paper, Owen!