In the news

In BIOL2039 last week we were thinking about Dunbar’s number, which is that 150 is the number of people that one person can maintain stable relationships with. Matt Wisdom has suggested some reading for anyone who is interested in finding out more – Thinking Big: How the Evolution of Social Life Shaped the Human Mind by […]

Employability The British Antarctic Survey is hiring for their 18 month positions. These look very exciting. https://www.bas.ac.uk/jobs/working-for-bas/vacancies/]# BES Summer school opportunities for 1st and 2nd year students https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/learning-and-resources/career-development/summer-school/ UG Summer School for aspiring ecologists www.britishecologicalsociety.org Applications are now open for the 4th BES Summer School, taking place 16th – 20th July 2018! This year we […]

Brian Cox talks to David Attenborough about Darwin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yEX_OI0xbQ&list=PLg7f-TkW11iX-hEe9JczgXEy2Foc7Siut&t=1s&index=1&utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=standard   Charles Darwin and ZSL https://www.zsl.org/blogs/artefact-of-the-month/charles-darwin-zsl-london-zoo   Using his theory to make predictions http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:616416-1   Why Darwin Day is important http://crastina.se/darwin-day-celebrated-to-promote-public-understanding-of-evolution/   Evolution explained for primary school students http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2L3mmGh5hjbpXXBH1PPbd0y/charles-darwin-evolution-and-natural-selection   The origins of walking https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-01700-3   Darwin and DNA https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23130880-400-the-odd-couple-how-evolution-and-genetics-finally-got-together/?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=SOC&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1518439769   Speciation by hybridisation http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6372/224  

From Jack Dicks (thank you, Jack) – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/education-42243879/lost-words-as-children-stay-indoors Jack says” It is a sad reality i have started to notice myself…. 🙁 . Swedish children learn about nature from a young age for example what mushrooms they can pick and eat etc. Some Amazonian tribes have up to 300 words for the colour green which opens […]

Call for papers for 7th Mammal Society student conference, 27th April, University of Worcester http://www.mammal.org.uk/events/the-mammal-society-7th-student-conference/   Royal Institution Christmas lectures have an animal behaviour theme this year, communication http://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/2017-the-language-of-life?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy6DEs4qM2AIVSrvtCh1zKA_VEAAYASAAEgJd9fD_BwE   St Matthew Island reindeer population – 29 introduced in 1944, to a peak of 6000, to a population of 42 http://www.stuartmcmillen.com/comic/st-matthew-island/#page-4   Christmas tree science […]

Newest additions to the IUCN red list http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/latest-iucn-red-list-of-threatened-species-includes-asian-dolphin-and-finless-porpoise/   The effect of noise pollution on animal behaviour https://theconversation.com/how-noise-pollution-is-changing-animal-behaviour-52339   Dog memory http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/11/your-dog-remembers-more-you-think?utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=dogmem-9336   This is all over the popular press, http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42262908 ; https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/06/smuggled-fossil-very-weird-new-species-of-amphibious-dinosaur-halszkaraptor-escuilliei   Phenotypic plasticity – we mustn’t forget the importance of the environment in phenotypic expression. There is increasing evidence for its important […]

1st staff contributor of the week offering, from Mark Chapman “A light hearted look at wildlife (and also the only good thing to ever come out of the Daily Mail): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5053847/See-40-finalists-Comedy-Wildlife-Photography-Awards.html”   Yet another offering from Mark, so he gets the much-coveted title this week “New species of great ape: http://www.nature.com/news/newly-discovered-orangutan-species-is-also-the-most-endangered-1.22934” – congratulations and thank […]

Black-tailed godwit https://naturebftb.co.uk/2017/10/13/black-tailed-godwits/  

From infamous alumnus, John Poland “one of the biggest Hawfinch irruptions I’ve known in the UK at the moment, thanks to Storm Ophelia. Over 500 birds reported so far and still coming in. Some more info at http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/stuart-winter/869786/storm-ophelia-hawfinch-invasion-UK. Although I wouldn’t normally quote a tabloid as a source, the reporter (Stuart Winter) is actually a very […]

South Downs National Park Authority, research priorities for 2017/18 have been announced https://www.southdowns.gov.uk/discover/research/research-opportunities/ and provide opportunities for dissertation projects, contact Tanya Hibberd and Adam Brown at research@southdowns.gov.uk   Alumnus, Owen Middleton sent a link “A new research project, ‘Land Lines‘, is looking at the literary, social and cultural history of nature writing over the last […]