Josh Arbon
@josharbon.bsky.social
Social and cognitive evolution. Jackdaws, mongooses, meerkats. Postdoc at Bristol.
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
November 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Excited to introduce the Latent Layers Framework – now out in @behavecol.bsky.social – to help think through when and why network differences confound inference in (comparative) social network analysis! 🧵
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
tinyurl.com/3k3yahwy
Reposted by Josh Arbon
📢NEW paper out NOW in @asab.org Animal Behaviour on how a novel #call changes subsequent responses to #alarms in #fairywrens
🌟CONGRATULATIONS #NatalieTegtman on #first paper from #PhD
👥With #RobMagrath
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#animalcommunication #birds #fieldwork #ECR
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
🌟CONGRATULATIONS #NatalieTegtman on #first paper from #PhD
👥With #RobMagrath
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#animalcommunication #birds #fieldwork #ECR
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
November 24, 2025 at 4:30 PM
📢NEW paper out NOW in @asab.org Animal Behaviour on how a novel #call changes subsequent responses to #alarms in #fairywrens
🌟CONGRATULATIONS #NatalieTegtman on #first paper from #PhD
👥With #RobMagrath
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#animalcommunication #birds #fieldwork #ECR
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
🌟CONGRATULATIONS #NatalieTegtman on #first paper from #PhD
👥With #RobMagrath
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#animalcommunication #birds #fieldwork #ECR
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
📢Two fully-funded #PhD opportunities to work with us:
Topic: Social monitoring & manipulation
UK-domiciled black-heritage scheme: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6
NERC DLTP: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp
Cosupervisors: #PatrickKennedy @ljnbrent.bsky.social
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#bioacoustics #mammals #fieldwork
Topic: Social monitoring & manipulation
UK-domiciled black-heritage scheme: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6
NERC DLTP: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp
Cosupervisors: #PatrickKennedy @ljnbrent.bsky.social
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#bioacoustics #mammals #fieldwork
November 21, 2025 at 4:48 PM
📢Two fully-funded #PhD opportunities to work with us:
Topic: Social monitoring & manipulation
UK-domiciled black-heritage scheme: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6
NERC DLTP: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp
Cosupervisors: #PatrickKennedy @ljnbrent.bsky.social
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#bioacoustics #mammals #fieldwork
Topic: Social monitoring & manipulation
UK-domiciled black-heritage scheme: tinyurl.com/aja54nr6
NERC DLTP: tinyurl.com/4jfy47pp
Cosupervisors: #PatrickKennedy @ljnbrent.bsky.social
@bristolbiosci.bsky.social
#bioacoustics #mammals #fieldwork
Reposted by Josh Arbon
New paper on dolphin motor synchrony led by master's student Sam Hill-Cousins with a fantastic team of co-authors @danaipapageorgiou.bsky.social @emmachereskin.bsky.social @researchdolphin.bsky.social 🐬🐬🐬: Male dolphins use synchrony to both maintain and strengthen their social bonds
rdcu.be/eQ543
rdcu.be/eQ543
Allied male dolphins use synchronous displays to strengthen social bonds in a cooperative context
rdcu.be
November 21, 2025 at 3:30 PM
New paper on dolphin motor synchrony led by master's student Sam Hill-Cousins with a fantastic team of co-authors @danaipapageorgiou.bsky.social @emmachereskin.bsky.social @researchdolphin.bsky.social 🐬🐬🐬: Male dolphins use synchrony to both maintain and strengthen their social bonds
rdcu.be/eQ543
rdcu.be/eQ543
Reposted by Josh Arbon
One of the most fun projects to be part of!
Check also the motor displays of these males here: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Check also the motor displays of these males here: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
November 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
One of the most fun projects to be part of!
Check also the motor displays of these males here: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Check also the motor displays of these males here: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨
Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social
- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun
Deadline: 14/1/2026
Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social
- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun
Deadline: 14/1/2026
Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
November 21, 2025 at 2:31 PM
🚨RA/PhD position available in evolutionary neurobiology 🚨
Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social
- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun
Deadline: 14/1/2026
Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Working on a deep dive into circuit changes during mushroom body expansion in Heliconius butterflies @camzoology.bsky.social
- employment benefits
- 4 years funding
- 1000% fun
Deadline: 14/1/2026
Details:
www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/researc...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Complex dynamics of social learning in groups of wild Arabian babblers
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
November 21, 2025 at 6:46 AM
Complex dynamics of social learning in groups of wild Arabian babblers
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
#Bird #SocialCognition
doi.org/10.1093/behe...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
#MongooseMonday is here again 🎉
Dwarf mongooses track what their groupmates are up to in the day using #vocal cues, altering their #grooming in the evening.
They reward helpful hounds (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) & shun bullies (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...)
#bioacoustics #mammals #cooperation #conflict
Dwarf mongooses track what their groupmates are up to in the day using #vocal cues, altering their #grooming in the evening.
They reward helpful hounds (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) & shun bullies (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...)
#bioacoustics #mammals #cooperation #conflict
Experimental evidence for delayed contingent cooperation among wild dwarf mongooses | PNAS
Many animals participate in biological markets, with strong evidence existing for
immediate cooperative trades. In particular, grooming is often ex...
doi.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:28 PM
#MongooseMonday is here again 🎉
Dwarf mongooses track what their groupmates are up to in the day using #vocal cues, altering their #grooming in the evening.
They reward helpful hounds (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) & shun bullies (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...)
#bioacoustics #mammals #cooperation #conflict
Dwarf mongooses track what their groupmates are up to in the day using #vocal cues, altering their #grooming in the evening.
They reward helpful hounds (doi.org/10.1073/pnas...) & shun bullies (doi.org/10.7554/eLif...)
#bioacoustics #mammals #cooperation #conflict
Reposted by Josh Arbon
For your consideration, our paper about how we can build a better error culture around biologging is now out in Animal Behavio(u)r. A collaborative effort between researchers the veterinarians at @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Burden of a failed error culture in biologging
Driven by technological advancement and low cost, biologging has rapidly transformed the study of animal behaviour and ecology, providing unprecedente…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 18, 2025 at 8:47 AM
For your consideration, our paper about how we can build a better error culture around biologging is now out in Animal Behavio(u)r. A collaborative effort between researchers the veterinarians at @mpi-animalbehav.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Congratulations to Dr @euantheyoung.bsky.social who defended his PhD yesterday on 'Family matters: The role of trade-offs in shaping human life-histories and health' research.rug.nl/en/publicati... @rug.nl supervised with @erikpostma.bsky.social @lummaalab.bsky.social 🎉
November 18, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Congratulations to Dr @euantheyoung.bsky.social who defended his PhD yesterday on 'Family matters: The role of trade-offs in shaping human life-histories and health' research.rug.nl/en/publicati... @rug.nl supervised with @erikpostma.bsky.social @lummaalab.bsky.social 🎉
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Two weeks ago now @jennytung.bsky.social and I published a new review in Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, entitled “Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems.” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A thread below...
A thread below...
Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems
Immune genes show remarkably consistent evidence of selection, modification, and diversification across the tree of life. Parasites are a key force in…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Two weeks ago now @jennytung.bsky.social and I published a new review in Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, entitled “Evolutionary genetics meets ecological immunology: insights into the evolution of immune systems.” www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A thread below...
A thread below...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Fully funded NERC GW4+ PhD Opportunity - *Understanding The Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance by Migratory Birds*
Supervised by me, @stubearhop.bsky.social (Exeter) & Patricia Brekke (ZSL). Application deadline 8th January. Please get in touch for more info
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Supervised by me, @stubearhop.bsky.social (Exeter) & Patricia Brekke (ZSL). Application deadline 8th January. Please get in touch for more info
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
November 17, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Fully funded NERC GW4+ PhD Opportunity - *Understanding The Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance by Migratory Birds*
Supervised by me, @stubearhop.bsky.social (Exeter) & Patricia Brekke (ZSL). Application deadline 8th January. Please get in touch for more info
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Supervised by me, @stubearhop.bsky.social (Exeter) & Patricia Brekke (ZSL). Application deadline 8th January. Please get in touch for more info
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Exciting PhD opportunity to develop tech and software to record and understand wild animal behaviour. Fully funded by EPSRC DLA. Based at @uniexecec.bsky.social; co-supervised by Alex Thornton (@cornishjackdaws.bsky.social), @kjhockings.bsky.social and collaborators. Apply: tinyurl.com/5fr73snt
November 14, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Exciting PhD opportunity to develop tech and software to record and understand wild animal behaviour. Fully funded by EPSRC DLA. Based at @uniexecec.bsky.social; co-supervised by Alex Thornton (@cornishjackdaws.bsky.social), @kjhockings.bsky.social and collaborators. Apply: tinyurl.com/5fr73snt
Reposted by Josh Arbon
We're hiring! 🥳 Come and join our team in Lancaster - we're looking for two senior postdocs to work on corporate sustainability and restoration ecology. 🌳 🪸 ♻️ (1 of 2)
@lec-reefs.bsky.social @pentlandcentre.bsky.social @sci-tech-lancaster.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social
@lec-reefs.bsky.social @pentlandcentre.bsky.social @sci-tech-lancaster.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 9:22 AM
We're hiring! 🥳 Come and join our team in Lancaster - we're looking for two senior postdocs to work on corporate sustainability and restoration ecology. 🌳 🪸 ♻️ (1 of 2)
@lec-reefs.bsky.social @pentlandcentre.bsky.social @sci-tech-lancaster.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social
@lec-reefs.bsky.social @pentlandcentre.bsky.social @sci-tech-lancaster.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Huge congrats Andoni!
Congratulations to Andoni Sergiou for defending his PhD thesis today! And special thanks to @psmaldino.bsky.social and @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social for examining his thesis
November 12, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Huge congrats Andoni!
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Do you work (/want to work) with caterpillars? Or sensory systems? Or BOTH?! Well good golly do we have the paper for you! We explain the senses that caterpillars have, what they use them for, and how anthropogenic sensory pollution might be messing it all up 🐛 doi.org/10.1007/s003...
The sensory ecology of caterpillars - Journal of Comparative Physiology A
Caterpillars (larval Lepidoptera) are one of the most ecologically and evolutionarily significant taxa on Earth. As both feeders and food, they shape the dynamics of enumerate ecosystems on land. Key ...
doi.org
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Do you work (/want to work) with caterpillars? Or sensory systems? Or BOTH?! Well good golly do we have the paper for you! We explain the senses that caterpillars have, what they use them for, and how anthropogenic sensory pollution might be messing it all up 🐛 doi.org/10.1007/s003...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Super proud of @euantheyoung.bsky.social PhD work being featured in the NRC
Hoe meer kinderen een moeder krijgt, hoe minder lang ze zelf leeft. Tenminste, dat gold voor Finse moeders ten tijde van de Grote Finse Hongersnood. Deze en andere opmerkelijke feiten destilleerde Euan Young uit grote historische bevolkingsregisters.
buff.ly/Y1VNbQO
buff.ly/Y1VNbQO
De risico’s en voordelen van oudere broers en zussen
Jong Geleerd: Hoe meer kinderen een moeder krijgt, hoe minder lang ze zelf leeft. Tenminste, dat gold voor Finse moeders ten tijde van de Grote Finse Hongersnood. Deze en andere opmerkelijke feiten…
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Super proud of @euantheyoung.bsky.social PhD work being featured in the NRC
Reposted by Josh Arbon
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:57 AM
1/13 New paper out! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Historical records across thousands of women showed that mothers with more children had shorter lifespans during a famine, fitting an evolutionary explanation for why we age
@hannahdugdale.bsky.social
@lummaalab.bsky.social
@erikpostma.bsky.social
Reposted by Josh Arbon
A week before his defence @rug.nl, the publication of @euantheyoung.bsky.social's chapter on the lifespan cost of reproduction in @science.org Advances - with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social and myself - couldn't have been better timed! 👍 🥳 🥂https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz6422
November 10, 2025 at 12:39 PM
A week before his defence @rug.nl, the publication of @euantheyoung.bsky.social's chapter on the lifespan cost of reproduction in @science.org Advances - with @hannahdugdale.bsky.social, @lummaalab.bsky.social and myself - couldn't have been better timed! 👍 🥳 🥂https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adz6422
Reposted by Josh Arbon
3 year postdoc funded by @ukri.org NERC on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins is now live - please share widely 🙏 www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol
University of Bristol Beacon House Queens Road Bristol, BS8 1QU, UK Tel: +44 (0)117 928 9000 Contact us
www.bristol.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 9:43 AM
3 year postdoc funded by @ukri.org NERC on between-group cooperation in the Shark Bay dolphins is now live - please share widely 🙏 www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/de...
Reposted by Josh Arbon
BehaveAI is live!
Our biologically inspired video analysis tool sees motion as colour. Track animals or objects, classify their behaviour, and handle complex natural scenes with ease.
Semi-supervised annotation, no GPUs required, user-friendly, free & open source.
Pre-print tinyurl.com/BehaveAI
Our biologically inspired video analysis tool sees motion as colour. Track animals or objects, classify their behaviour, and handle complex natural scenes with ease.
Semi-supervised annotation, no GPUs required, user-friendly, free & open source.
Pre-print tinyurl.com/BehaveAI
November 6, 2025 at 10:09 AM
BehaveAI is live!
Our biologically inspired video analysis tool sees motion as colour. Track animals or objects, classify their behaviour, and handle complex natural scenes with ease.
Semi-supervised annotation, no GPUs required, user-friendly, free & open source.
Pre-print tinyurl.com/BehaveAI
Our biologically inspired video analysis tool sees motion as colour. Track animals or objects, classify their behaviour, and handle complex natural scenes with ease.
Semi-supervised annotation, no GPUs required, user-friendly, free & open source.
Pre-print tinyurl.com/BehaveAI
Reposted by Josh Arbon
I have some brilliant news to share! I recently received a DFG-funded Emmy Noether 6-year grant to establish my own group in Germany. I will soon be looking for a PhD student and a research assistant to join the team and investigate how the balance of power is maintained in animal societies.
November 5, 2025 at 4:34 PM
I have some brilliant news to share! I recently received a DFG-funded Emmy Noether 6-year grant to establish my own group in Germany. I will soon be looking for a PhD student and a research assistant to join the team and investigate how the balance of power is maintained in animal societies.
Reposted by Josh Arbon
Out 🌟TODAY🌟 in the #new volume of @asab.org #AnimalBehaviour, is latest #PhD chapter from the fantastic #Chun-ChiehLiao:
Functionally referential communication about danger in cooperatively breeding white-winged choughs
#fieldwork #experiments
With #RobMagrath #RobHeinsohn
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
1/
Functionally referential communication about danger in cooperatively breeding white-winged choughs
#fieldwork #experiments
With #RobMagrath #RobHeinsohn
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
1/
October 30, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Out 🌟TODAY🌟 in the #new volume of @asab.org #AnimalBehaviour, is latest #PhD chapter from the fantastic #Chun-ChiehLiao:
Functionally referential communication about danger in cooperatively breeding white-winged choughs
#fieldwork #experiments
With #RobMagrath #RobHeinsohn
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
1/
Functionally referential communication about danger in cooperatively breeding white-winged choughs
#fieldwork #experiments
With #RobMagrath #RobHeinsohn
doi.org/10.1016/j.an...
1/
What an opportunity!
I am looking for a postdoc to work in our long-term system of food-caching mountain chickadees in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The expected start is April 2026. Please see details here: chickadeecognition.com/positions
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).
If interested and qualified, please contact me directly (email on the website).
POSITIONS
default description
chickadeecognition.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:34 AM
What an opportunity!
Reposted by Josh Arbon
I'm very excited to go back to Oxford, where I did my undergrad, to talk about the group's recent work on jackdaws and what it tells us about the evolution of sociality and cognition!
Now that we're properly moved in & set up in the new Life & Mind Building, we're pleased to restart our tradition of Friday afternoon seminar speakers, kicking off with Alex Thornton of @cornishjackdaws.bsky.social at 3.30pm on 31 Oct. Also live streamed: see below for details. Corvid-themed for 🎃
October 28, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I'm very excited to go back to Oxford, where I did my undergrad, to talk about the group's recent work on jackdaws and what it tells us about the evolution of sociality and cognition!