Centre for Evolutionary Biology at UWA

This afternoon, CEB talk was presented by @hasbeanbeetle.bsky.social, who is studying elytral melanisation as female ornamentation in seed beetles. The live beetle props entertained our audience! 🪲🐞

Aadhi is supervised by Dr Natasha Lebas, Assoc Profs Joe Tomkins & Jason Kennington, & Dr Rob Dugand

Attending the Australian Mammal Society meeting in Toowoomba. Great work from my two students Lucy and Cameron presenting their work yesterday!

Big thanks to the Australian Mammal Society and my amazing supervisor team for this great science 💕
@ausmammals.bsky.social
#AusMamSoc2025

Australia’s cutest mammal is now Australia’s cutest three mammals

Scientists have discovered that the kultarr – one of Australia’s most elusive marsupials – is actually three different species.

Cryptic Kultarr: Integrative Taxonomy Reveals Unrecognized Species of Carnivorous Marsupial (Dasyuridae: Antechinomys) in Arid Australia Conservation is impossible if we have not described all of the species we aim to conserve. This paper reviews the taxonomy of the kultarr (Antechinomys laniger) a small arid-zone specialist native to....

The kultarr is officially three species!
So proud of this work and a big thanks to Australia's amazing museum network and my great supervisor team
@kennytravouillon.bsky.social
@reneecatullo.bsky.social
@planigale.bsky.social
bakerecologylab.wordpress.com

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

Australia’s cutest mammal is now Australia’s cutest three mammals Scientists have discovered that the kultarr – one of Australia’s most elusive marsupials – is actually three different species.

and the conservation piece here: theconversation.com/australias-c...
Congratulations, Cam and the authors, on such a great discovery! 🐀🐭
@kultarrcam.bsky.social @kennytravouillon.bsky.social @reneecatullo.bsky.social @planigale.bsky.social bakerecologylab.wordpress.com

Cryptic Kultarr: Integrative Taxonomy Reveals Unrecognized Species of Carnivorous Marsupial (Dasyuridae: Antechinomys) in Arid Australia Conservation is impossible if we have not described all of the species we aim to conserve. This paper reviews the taxonomy of the kultarr (Antechinomys laniger) a small arid-zone specialist native to....

Read the full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/ece3...

At CEB meeting this afternoon, PhD student @kultarrcam.bsky.social discussed the findings of two new species of carnivorous marsupial kultarr (Dasyuridae: Antechinomys) in Arid Australia! 🐀🐭
@kennytravouillon.bsky.social @reneecatullo.bsky.social @planigale.bsky.social bakerecologylab.wordpress.com

New preprint about open science in eco-evo!
We sampled 110 journals, 550 articles, and assessed whether data and code are accessible: (1/5)
ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

#ScientificPublishing #OpenScience #ecology #conservation #EvolutionaryBiology #paleobio #systematics #archeology

Check out new #CEB paper by @gblackburn.bsky.social et al. that found that Western Australia magpies sing less when exposed to anthropogenic noise, but not necessarily louder. 🐦🚧
This may save energy, yet could cost social & territorial signals.
doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
#Bioacoustics #UrbanEcology

At CEB meeting this afternoon, PhD student Harriet Kate O’Roarty discussed her research project focusing on the sex-specific effects of #macronutrients on the Indian meal moth #life-history traits. 🥗🦋🪲🦗
Harriet is supervised by #LeighSimmons #YongFoo #NinaWedell

Our new paper, led by Masters student Holly, finds that magpies are capable of quantity discrimination, and this ability is affected by group size.

Can magpies count? 🦅 New CEB #cognition paper shows WA magpies pick the bigger food reward & birds from SMALLER groups out-count those in larger ones: first evidence that group size shapes quantity skills within a species #HollyHunter @gblackburn.bsky.social #BenjaminJAshton @mandyridley.bsky.social

Had a great run presenting in front of fellow CEB-ists! Onto the real thing tomorrow! 🐜💪🏼

@brainiants.bsky.social discussed her PhD proposal this afternoon where she plans to study variation in intraspecific cognition & its relation to complex behaviors, specifically combat and group foraging in Western Australian ants. 🐜 @mandyridley.bsky.social @notthebestsam.bsky.social #LeighSimmons

Beautiful drawing by the lead author @nirjana-dewan.bsky.social! Congratulations team #WJasonKennington #JosephLTomkins #RobertJDugand 🎉

Heroic heirs: evidence for sexy and competitive sons Abstract. Leks are the quintessential example of female mate choice, yet male-male interactions at leks may predominate. How, and how much, female mate cho

Do female choice and male-male competition work differently or the same? 👩‍❤️‍👨 🥊
A new study from CEB in @journal-evo.bsky.social using artificial selection on fruit flies suggests an alignment in the outcomes of mate choice and intrasexual competition. 🪰🚨
doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Heroic heirs: evidence for sexy and competitive sons Abstract. Leks are the quintessential example of female mate choice, yet male-male interactions at leks may predominate. How, and how much, female mate cho

Do female choice and male-male competition work differently or the same? 👩‍❤️‍👨 🥊
A new study from CEB in @journal-evo.bsky.social using artificial selection on fruit flies suggests an alignment in the outcomes of mate choice and intrasexual competition. 🪰🚨
doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Trade-off between anxious, predator-wary traits and fecundity mediated by their common dependence on the neuroendocrine system. Anxious, predator-wary individuals have low fecundity (red), and calm, less predator-wary individuals have high fecundity (blue). In havens the predominance of fecundity selection may rapidly select for high fecundity, less predator-wary individuals.

Hypothesis for the consequences of selection on fecundity in havens. If there is a trade-off between predator-wariness and fecundity (Fig. 1), differences in selection in ‘wild’ populations where predators are present, and ‘havens’ where predators are absent, will lead to the evolution of divergent phenotypes. The size of the circles represents the strength of selection acting on the population, with wild populations balancing predator anxiety and fecundity, whereas in havened populations fecundity is released from the trade-off by the absence of predators, and predator anxiety traits diminish under selection for fecundity. The phenotypes of the resultant populations are coloured to represent their bias/balance between anxious (red), predator-wary traits and fecundity (blue). Selective removal of low anxiety individuals for public facing conservation, and supplementation with anxious, predator-wary wild animals, may help ameliorate selection for fecundity in havens.

Congratulations to the authors!
#NatashaR.LeBas #JenniferRodger @rowanlym.bsky.social #JosephL.Tomkins #DominiqueBlache

🚨New paper alert! Predator-free havens breed the wild out of wildlife. LeBas et al. show that recognising the fecundity–anxiety trade-off can keep both booming numbers & predator wariness in threatened species—best of both worlds. 👉 doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...
#Conservation #Ecology #Evolution #WildOz

🎉 Huge congrats to PhD student @gabrielmelhado.bsky.social who received an award at the #ASABSpring2025 conference in Liverpool for presenting his research on how pharmaceutical pollution impacts the behaviour and immune system of our Aussie native rainbowfish.
Way to go, Gabriel! 🐠🔬

Logo of teh University of Western Australiam with a black swan on it

It made me think of the University of Western Australia and the wonderful time I spent there (too long ago)! @ceb-uwa.bsky.social

You have to visit us again! 😊😊

Darwin came to town!
@beetlebonking.bsky.social @brainiants.bsky.social @upama.bsky.social

#UWAOpenDay #EvolBio #EnvironmentalScience

Zoology stall has been busy today with so many enthusiasts around! Darwin was a big hit but stick insects won the race! 🐜🐟🦊
@jenkelley01.bsky.social @1jonevans.bsky.social @beetlebonking.bsky.social @upama.bsky.social

Come find us at the Ezone 207, Zoology stall for UWA Open Day today! Drop by to chat about all things animal behaviour, conservation, and evolutionary biology. Come find out what research at CEB is all about!

#UWAOpenDay #EvolBio #SaferPharma #EnvironmentalScience

PhD student Naledi April Matenge led today's CEB seminar on small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) in sperm that can play key roles as biomarkers for male fertility and embryonic development. 🧬
Naledi is supervised by @pebblemouse.bsky.social and @1jonevans.bsky.social

Long‐term effects of widespread pharmaceutical pollution on trade‐offs between behavioural, life‐history and reproductive traits in fish Chronic exposure to antidepressants can impact non-target animals, particularly the life-history, behaviour and reproductive traits of male guppies. Key findings include lower sperm velocity, reduced...

How does long-term (multigenerational exposure) by widespread pharmaceutical pollution affect the interplay between behavioural, life-history and reproductive
traits in fish? Open access paper now out in @animalecology.bsky.social:

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

PhD project on bird conservation at UQ with @martinemaron.bsky.social and April Reside. Student needed asap in 2025

Which topic intrigues you the most? Tell us below! 👇 👇🏽#EvolBio #UWA #WildlifeResearch