Keller Kopf

Prep. Finished for a minor (cat. 2; likely 90 km/hr winds) cyclone here in Darwin.

Global body adopts policy to protect Earth’s old, wise and large animals | Charles Darwin University The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recognised Charles Darwin University-led research into the Earth’s oldest animals with the adoption of the ‘Longevity Conservation’ global...

Update: IUCN has approved a motion to adopt Longevity Conservation. www.cdu.edu.au/news/global-...

Thanks very much Dan

The application deadline for these has been extended (due to them being open an unreasonably short time initially, not b/c we got too few applications). Dust off your CV, friends. 🧪⚒️

A new special collection, released in the journal Wildlife Research @wildliferesearchj.bsky.social, published by @csiropublishing.bsky.social, showcases some of the amazing Indigenous-led and cross-cultural wildlife research occurring in Australia 🧪

Watch the full interview in the link below.

This is figure 5, which shows CIRBP overexpression extends lifespan and enhances DNA damage resistance in Drosophila.

The remarkably long lifespan of bowhead whales could be due to an increased ability to repair DNA mutations, according to research in Nature. go.nature.com/4hzvDN7 🌏 🧪

The not-so-little Murray cod that could: fish tracked swimming 900km along Australia’s biggest river system Fish named after Olympic swimming champion Ariarne Titmus was most recently tracked at a section of the mid-Murray, near Belsar Island

The not-so-little Murray cod that could: fish tracked swimming 900km along Australia’s biggest river system www.theguardian.com/environment/... 🧪🦑🌎🐠

Global body adopts policy to protect Earth’s old, wise and large animals | Charles Darwin University The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has recognised Charles Darwin University-led research into the Earth’s oldest animals with the adoption of the ‘Longevity Conservation’ global...

the IUCN have passed the Longevity Conservation motion put forward to them by @kellerfish.bsky.social and @pili-scotland.bsky.social and based on the paper we wrote on the value of older individuals in animal societies.
www.cdu.edu.au/news/global-...

Scientists say North Atlantic right whale population slowly increasing Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the most venerable of the leviathans now numbers 384, up eight from past year

The North Atlantic right whale, one of the rarest whales on the planet, now numbers an estimated 384 animals, up 8 whales from the previous year, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium.

Right whales were once hunted to the brink of extinction.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

The Victorian government’s decisions do a great disservice to expert’s time and carefully considered advice, and most importantly, the health of the places and wildlife we love.

Proud papa moment: my son J published a letter in the @nytimes.com today (in print tomorrow) on the need to think our definitions of autism.

📑 #NewReview by Boube et al. dives into the scientific literature around the Great Hammerhead Shark. Our understanding of its migratory behaviour and habitat use is changing.

👀 doi.org/10.1007/s111...

And then there were none: Australia’s only shrew declared extinct Australia’s only known shrew has been declared extinct. Its loss emphasises the need for national protection of Australia’s rare and unique wildlife.

Extinctions serve as important warning signs that something is very wrong in the environment. Will we finally heed these warnings? Our mental wellbeing and over half our economy depends on it. theconversation.com/and-then-the...

Attempted eradication of smallmouth bass promotes rapid evolution. Here's the study that is the focus of the Scientific American article: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

@scbeurope.bsky.social @society4conbio.bsky.social @science.org @altfws.altgov.info

@biodiversityguy.bsky.social @euanritchie.bsky.social @ljnbrent.bsky.social @pili-scotland.bsky.social @chrisjolly.bsky.social @charlesdarwinuni.bsky.social @rarlinghausfish.bsky.social @shoalorg.bsky.social @sharkscience.bsky.social @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social @fishconserve.bsky.social

Loss of Earth’s old, wise, and large animals Earth’s old animals are in decline. Despite this, emerging research is revealing the vital contributions of older individuals to cultural transmission, population dynamics, and ecosystem processes and...

Accompanying supporting evidence

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

Longevity Conservation: Why we should protect old, wise and large animals

iucncongress2025.org/programme/lo...

MOTION 113

If you are a voting member of the IUCN - please consider supporting our motion (113) for Longevity Conservation at the Congress this week
@iucnshark.bsky.social @aciucn.bsky.social @iucn-bctf.bsky.social @sscmarine.bsky.social

iucncongress2025.org/assembly/mot...

The disproportionate impact of the #megabiota on biodiversity and ecosystem processes

Dexter and Casper snoozing

Little surprise saltwater crocodile swimming off local Darwin beach; I did let the surf lifeguards and swimmers know!

A BIG congratulations to Dr Tegan Dedman for completing her PhD @charlesdarwinuni.bsky.social. Effects of sea level rise on the tropical freshwater wetland communities

Native megafauna (Bison bison) act as a surprising inhibitor of cedar tree expansion in a Great Plains grassland In the Central Great Plains of North America, fire suppression is causing transitions from grasslands to shrublands and woodlands. This woody encroachment alters plant community composition, decrease...

Bison inhibits tree growth in Great Plains. We should give wisent a better chance to do the same in German national parks.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

@sse-evolution.bsky.social just announced the following:

Call for Proposals: Research Synthesis Working Groups
The Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE) invites proposals for sponsored Research Synthesis Working Groups at the 2026 Evolution meeting (up to two in-person and one virtual). ...

Biodiversity modulates the cross‐community scaling relationship in changing environments Organismal abundance typically declines with increasing body size, with metabolic theory predicting a universal size–abundance slope of –0.75. Using protist microcosms across gradients of species ric...

Does body size predict abundance the same way in all environments, as predicted by the Metabolic theory of Ecology? Our new study challenges this assumption. Read it here: 📄 doi.org/10.1111/ele....

Separating Macroecological Pattern and Process: Comparing Ecological, Economic, and Geological Systems Theories of biodiversity rest on several macroecological patterns describing the relationship between species abundance and diversity. A central problem is that all theories make similar predictions f...

Classic macroecological laws-long held as signatures of biological systems-also emerge in economic and geological systems. The real signal lies not in the static universal patterns, but in how those patterns shift with scale 🌐🧪 #scaling #macroecology journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Cool... a global focus on three core traits of ectotherms: metabolic rate, development time and fecundity. ShareTrait: Towards interoperable and reusable individual trait-based data in ectotherms #OpenTraits #FunctionalTraits besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... 🧪🌐

YouTube video by Bill Sutherland's Conservation Concepts The Power of Art in Conservation

The Society of Wildlife Art have a wonderful project at Massingham Heath rewilding project, Norfolk. Here Amie Haslam and Brin Edwards explain the project. youtu.be/hiCQiSHuaG4?...