Amy Dunham

Inside a rusted pole, a large black tarantula with yellow hair sits in a defensive position. A hive of wasps swarms on its back, protecting its young.

The Hive Tarantula (Theraphosa vesparium) enters a symbiotic bond with a swarm of wasps, allowing them to build a colony on its abdomen. The spider protects the queen and larvae, and the wasps help feed it.
This mutualistic unit of tarantula and wasp is extremely territorial.

Photo looking down at a meadow with hundreds of yellow and red flowers.

Texas ground update.

A head on picture of a Parsons Chameleon standing next to two lichen covered leaves

Ahead of International #ChameleonDay here is a pic of a female Parson’s Chameleon (Calumma parsonii) looking like a lichen covered leaf

Environmental Science students @RiceUniversity learn a little bit about beekeeping during last class of the semester 🐝🐝

Rice University Ecology & Evolutionary Biology grad students enjoying a #PaintYourPhD workshop. #sciart

Our 1st Biodiversity Science-Policy 'starter pack' is now full (150 accounts). Access at: go.bsky.app/LjV86zg

There's a 2nd starter pack already filling up: go.bsky.app/GzM8eok

NB: these are mainly IPBES authors & stakeholders regularly engaged with IPBES work. Please follow & share widely! 🌍🧪

Purple Martin male perching on top of a Martin house

Two years in a row our Purple Martins have made first appearances on Valentines Day ❤️❤️❤️🐦 (Houston)

A frog in center frame, viewed from the side as it clings to a twig, diagonally with its head looking up to the upper right corner. The frog's belly is a stark white, and its back, head, and limbs are all black and covered with bright yellow oval spots. The eye is the same color as the belly, with a black pupil.

A White-bellied Reed Frog (Heterixalus alboguttatus) from near Ranomafana, Madagascar. Also called the Starry Night Frog ❤️ A species I had hoped to see on my visit, and I saw exactly one. This one. #herps #NaturePhotography #FrogFriday

We're relieved to hear from our friends at Centre ValBio that the #fire in Ranomafana National Park is finally out. Heavy rainfall finally came after months, ending an unseasonably long dry spell, and the community worked tirelessly each day to stop the fires from spreading.

A photo of Kory Evans, winner of the 2025 Carl Gans Award

Congratulations to Kory Evans @sternarchella.bsky.social, winner of this year’s @J_Exp_Biol sponsored Carl Gans Award at #SICB2025. His #biomechanics research examines the role of modularity in the evolution of the #fish skull. Don't miss his talk: 7 Jan at 13:30 in Marquis D

Please repost

red-bellied lemur eating fruit in a tree canopy

New paper led by former group member Jadelys Tonos! Simulations/empirical data reveal just a few trees bearing the most fruit in the landscape are critical for driving patterns of lemur movement & seed dispersal 🐒🥭🌱https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/1365-2435.14702

JOB OFFER: Postdoctoral researcher on biodiversity modelling and scenario development @ipbes.bsky.social @biodiversaplus.bsky.social @creaf.cat creaf.factorialhr.com/job_posting/...

Defaunation Increases Clustering and Fine‐Scale Spatial Genetic Structure in a Small‐Seeded Palm Despite Remaining Small‐Bodied Frugivores Anthropogenic pressures such as hunting are increasingly driving the localised functional extinctions of large- and medium-sized wildlife in tropical forests, a phenomenon broadly termed ‘defaunation...

Big picture: Biodiversity loss disrupts ecosystems. 🌳🐒 Defaunation weakens critical animal-plant interactions, jeopardizing tropical forest health and resilience. 🌿

🔗 Study: doi.org/10.1111/mec.17620
Authors: Lamperty et al., 2024
(5/5)

Defaunation doesn’t just affect large-seeded plants needing big animals like tapirs 🐾. Even "generalist" plants with small seeds and a range of dispersers can suffer. Losing long-distance dispersers alters forest dynamics in ways we’re only beginning to grasp. (4/5)

Why does this matter? When seeds aren't dispersed far:
📉 Gene flow drops
📈 Inbreeding risks rise
⚠️ Long-term resilience of plant populations may decline
(3/5)

Our study focused on Euterpe precatoria, a hyperdominant and small-seeded palm in Peru. Despite remaining small-bodied dispersers, seedlings in defaunated forests showed:
📍 Higher clustering
🧬 Increased genetic similarity
🗺️ Shorter seed dispersal distances
(2/5)

Defaunation Increases Clustering and Fine‐Scale Spatial Genetic Structure in a Small‐Seeded Palm Despite Remaining Small‐Bodied Frugivores Anthropogenic pressures such as hunting are increasingly driving the localised functional extinctions of large- and medium-sized wildlife in tropical forests, a phenomenon broadly termed ‘defaunation...

What happens to tropical plants when large seed-dispersing animals disappear? 🌱🌳 New study, led by former research grp member, Dr.JT Lamperty, shows that even small-seeded plants can be affected by defaunation (1/5)
🔗 Read more: doi.org/10.1111/mec.17620

👇👇

Image of the first page and abstract of the paper "The ecology of plant extinctions Author links open overlay panel Richard T. Corlett 1 2 Show more Add to Mendeley Share Cite https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2024.11.007 Get rights and content Highlights The fossil record suggests that climate change was the major driver of plant extinctions and regional extirpations from the Pliocene until recently, when anthropogenic habitat loss became dominant. Known recent plant extinctions are disproportionately few in comparison with well-studied animal taxa, but many more species are probably committed to inevitable extinction unless given targeted support. Recent warm-edge extirpations demonstrate the growing impact of anthropogenic climate change and show that predictions of massive climate-driven extinctions later this century are plausible. The proximate causes for population extirpations are still rarely known but are likely to be highly varied and both species and location specific."

An important review - The ecology of plant extinctions - "Recent warm-edge extirpations demonstrate the growing impact of anthropogenic climate change & show that predictions of massive climate-driven extinctions later this century are plausible" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 🌾🌎🧪🌐

Seeding success: Integrating seed dispersal networks in tropical forest restoration This review explores the potential of integrating seed dispersal networks in tropical forest restoration to enhance restoration outcomes. Combining zoocentric and phytocentric approaches when samplin...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The theme of our symposium is #Primates and Regenerating Forests: Futures in #Restoration.

If you or someone in your network has research they'd like to share on this topic, send me a message so we can get you involved in this work.

Hope to see you in Tana! 🐒🦍🦧🇲🇬 @ips-primatenews.bsky.social

A banner image of a brown lemur's face as it clings to a tree trunk next to a title in block letters reading "It's brown, it's stick, it's lemur poop." An inset includes the subtitle "Analyzing seed dispersal impacts on reforestation." Cursive text reads "By: Nayounghee Tuetkin." Title is from an undergraduate-authored article in Rice's Catalyst journal highlighting some of Eric's doctoral research.

That's one way to sum up my PhD research lol

Thanks to Rice undergraduate Nayounghee Tuetkin for writing and designing a cool story about my work in Madagascar. Check out her work and the features from other writers in the new edition of Rice's Catalyst journal!
ricecatalyst.com/catalyst-vol...

Eric wearing a face mask and holding a notebook in pen in a rainforest looking upward (toward unpictured lemurs) during research in eastern Madagascar.

I've been here a while but now that it's getting busy I should reintroduce myself!

I'm an ecologist & conservation biologist interested in restoring ecological interactions and supporting community-led stewardship 🌱🐒

I am currently privileged to work in Madagascar 🇲🇬 with incredible local partners.

Just moved over from twitter give me a follow if you want to see cool CT scans of fishes!

NSF makes you say who you got conflicts (coauthored) with. We (really just Jordan Matelsky) just built you a tool for that. Literally one click: bib.experiments.kordinglab.com/nsf-coa

UCSB EEMB is *thrilled* to be hiring a Terrestrial Global Change Biologist (asst prof level). Please apply by 1 Nov. I can't wait to welcome a new colleague into our vibrant and growing department! Please share widely! #unicornjob🦄 recruit.ap.ucsb.edu/JPF02500

We're hiring: Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Biology. Come join us: Excellent and supportive colleagues at a private university with a beautiful campus and great students! please RT
#RiceEEB #EEBjobs #phdchat #facultyjobs

apply.interfolio.com/152527

This is a dream job y’all 👇

RiceU is hiring Assistant Prof in Evolution in the Anthropocene! Great place to work, excellent students & wonderful colleagues. I'm search chair. Feel free to email/DM me with questions. Spread the word!
apply.interfolio.com/152527