Michael Haslam
@twigtechnology.bsky.social
Australian archaeologist, PhD, obsessed with tool-using animals. Steward at Skara Brae, Orkney | http://twig.technology | writing Intelligence Hallucinated with @abigaildesmond.bsky.social for Harvard Uni Press (2027)
🐒🦦🐙🐦⬛🐝🕷️🦧🐴🐠🪲🦜🐿️🐋🦀
🐒🦦🐙🐦⬛🐝🕷️🦧🐴🐠🪲🦜🐿️🐋🦀
Pinned
In October 2016, I filmed this wild New Caledonian crow making a probe tool to extract beetle larvae from candlenut trees.
It carefully trimmed the leaves and ends, testing its grip a few times, then flew off to use the tool. A well planned heist.
📽️ west of Mont Do, New Caledonia 🧪🪶🏺
It carefully trimmed the leaves and ends, testing its grip a few times, then flew off to use the tool. A well planned heist.
📽️ west of Mont Do, New Caledonia 🧪🪶🏺
Reposted by Michael Haslam
January 15, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
Eleven years ago today, one of my excavations in Laem Son National Park to retrieve archaeological macaque stone tools 🐒🏺🧪
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
January 15, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Eleven years ago today, one of my excavations in Laem Son National Park to retrieve archaeological macaque stone tools 🐒🏺🧪
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
Reposted by Michael Haslam
New bowerbird paper out, we asked whether male great bowerbirds care about the light environment around the bower where they display to females. Short answer: not really. What they do care about is having a display arena with strong visual contrast on the ground. 🐦 tinyurl.com/2v7rycdz
January 15, 2026 at 3:13 PM
New bowerbird paper out, we asked whether male great bowerbirds care about the light environment around the bower where they display to females. Short answer: not really. What they do care about is having a display arena with strong visual contrast on the ground. 🐦 tinyurl.com/2v7rycdz
Eleven years ago today, one of my excavations in Laem Son National Park to retrieve archaeological macaque stone tools 🐒🏺🧪
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
January 15, 2026 at 10:36 AM
Eleven years ago today, one of my excavations in Laem Son National Park to retrieve archaeological macaque stone tools 🐒🏺🧪
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
#Thailand #PrimateArchaeology #throwbackthursday
Reposted by Michael Haslam
Tomorrow is the first session of the 2026 edition of our online seminar on animal agency!
This session will be led by Lisa Yon and will explore ways to promote agency in captive animals (especially elephants!). 🐘
Hoping to see many of you!
www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
This session will be led by Lisa Yon and will explore ways to promote agency in captive animals (especially elephants!). 🐘
Hoping to see many of you!
www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
Seminar Agency between Biology and Philosophy 2025/2026
Here, you will find the 2025-2026 programme, and general information about our seminar. The introductory post can be found here.ProgrammeThis year, we will meet each second Wednesday of each month, fr...
www.animalinventiveness.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Tomorrow is the first session of the 2026 edition of our online seminar on animal agency!
This session will be led by Lisa Yon and will explore ways to promote agency in captive animals (especially elephants!). 🐘
Hoping to see many of you!
www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
This session will be led by Lisa Yon and will explore ways to promote agency in captive animals (especially elephants!). 🐘
Hoping to see many of you!
www.animalinventiveness.com/post/seminar...
Reposted by Michael Haslam
The volume on the iconography of Göbekli Tepe‘s pillars is finally out. Although the site is not unique any more, it still represents the largest corpus of Early Neolithic (9th/10th millennium BC) imagery. This is largely due to the work of Klaus Schmidt, who passed away far too early in 2014.
January 13, 2026 at 8:09 PM
The volume on the iconography of Göbekli Tepe‘s pillars is finally out. Although the site is not unique any more, it still represents the largest corpus of Early Neolithic (9th/10th millennium BC) imagery. This is largely due to the work of Klaus Schmidt, who passed away far too early in 2014.
Reposted by Michael Haslam
This bobtail squid burrowing into the sand is already adorable, but please watch till the very end!
It sticks out its little arms and earnestly sprinkles sand over itself 🦑𓂃◌𓈒𓐍
It sticks out its little arms and earnestly sprinkles sand over itself 🦑𓂃◌𓈒𓐍
January 12, 2026 at 12:03 PM
This bobtail squid burrowing into the sand is already adorable, but please watch till the very end!
It sticks out its little arms and earnestly sprinkles sand over itself 🦑𓂃◌𓈒𓐍
It sticks out its little arms and earnestly sprinkles sand over itself 🦑𓂃◌𓈒𓐍
“Several versions of models scored above diagnostic thresholds, and all showed levels of worry that in people ‘would be clearly pathological’, say the authors.”
I checked for a heartbeat in my kitchen utensils. None found. In people that ‘would be clearly pathological’. Time to panic.
🧪⏲️🥣🍽️😱
I checked for a heartbeat in my kitchen utensils. None found. In people that ‘would be clearly pathological’. Time to panic.
🧪⏲️🥣🍽️😱
Researchers who put major AI models through four weeks of psychoanalysis got haunting responses, from "abuse" to "fears of failure"
go.nature.com/49pxLU3
go.nature.com/49pxLU3
AI models were given four weeks of therapy: the results shocked researchers
Chatbots put through psychotherapy report trauma and abuse. Authors say models are doing more than role play, but researchers are sceptical.
go.nature.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:05 PM
“Several versions of models scored above diagnostic thresholds, and all showed levels of worry that in people ‘would be clearly pathological’, say the authors.”
I checked for a heartbeat in my kitchen utensils. None found. In people that ‘would be clearly pathological’. Time to panic.
🧪⏲️🥣🍽️😱
I checked for a heartbeat in my kitchen utensils. None found. In people that ‘would be clearly pathological’. Time to panic.
🧪⏲️🥣🍽️😱
Reminder that you can be the official guardian and oracle of an ancient stone tomb that predates the Giza Pyramids.
Or enlist as a Ranger of the North (yes like Aragorn) on a spectacular windswept isle.
We’re hiring at the Tomb of the Eagles. Closing date 18 January 🏺🏛️
Or enlist as a Ranger of the North (yes like Aragorn) on a spectacular windswept isle.
We’re hiring at the Tomb of the Eagles. Closing date 18 January 🏺🏛️
Work with us
We are happy to announce that we are now advertising three (3) paid positions at the Tomb of the Eagles for 2026. The positions are a Heritage Manager who will oversee day-to-day running of the site…
tomboftheeagles.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Reminder that you can be the official guardian and oracle of an ancient stone tomb that predates the Giza Pyramids.
Or enlist as a Ranger of the North (yes like Aragorn) on a spectacular windswept isle.
We’re hiring at the Tomb of the Eagles. Closing date 18 January 🏺🏛️
Or enlist as a Ranger of the North (yes like Aragorn) on a spectacular windswept isle.
We’re hiring at the Tomb of the Eagles. Closing date 18 January 🏺🏛️
Reposted by Michael Haslam
This is such a cool finding--the oldest direct evidence of poisoned arrows. Poisoned hunting weapons were a game-changing innovation for our ancestors. Absolutely incredible that researchers found traces of plant toxins on these tiny arrowheads from 60,000 ago 🤯🏹 🧪
Humans Made Poisoned Arrowheads Thousands of Years Earlier Than Previously Thought
The use of poison on arrows marked a revolution in human hunting technology—new evidence suggests it happened tens of thousands of years earlier than previously known
www.scientificamerican.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:45 PM
This is such a cool finding--the oldest direct evidence of poisoned arrows. Poisoned hunting weapons were a game-changing innovation for our ancestors. Absolutely incredible that researchers found traces of plant toxins on these tiny arrowheads from 60,000 ago 🤯🏹 🧪
Reposted by Michael Haslam
I just stumbled upon featherbase, a database of feather pictures from a bunch of bird species.🪶
So pretty!
www.featherbase.info/zh/home
So pretty!
www.featherbase.info/zh/home
January 6, 2026 at 9:57 PM
I just stumbled upon featherbase, a database of feather pictures from a bunch of bird species.🪶
So pretty!
www.featherbase.info/zh/home
So pretty!
www.featherbase.info/zh/home
Reposted by Michael Haslam
If you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇
I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦
doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)
I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦
doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)
CORVIDATA: A global dataset of morphology, ecology, sociality, and life-history in Corvidae - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - CORVIDATA: A global dataset of morphology, ecology, sociality, and life-history in Corvidae
doi.org
January 6, 2026 at 10:40 AM
If you work on corvid ecology, behaviour, cognition, or conservation, this might be useful for you 👇
I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦
doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)
I’ve just published CORVIDATA in Scientific Data 🐦
doi.org/10.1038/s415... (1/4)
Reposted by Michael Haslam
Happy New Year! Delighted and honoured to have our research featured in the top human evolution discoveries of 2025 by @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🎉!
The Top Human Evolution Discoveries of 2025, From the Intriguing Neanderthal Diet to the Oldest Western European Face Fossil
Smithsonian paleoanthropologists examine the year’s most fascinating revelations
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Happy New Year! Delighted and honoured to have our research featured in the top human evolution discoveries of 2025 by @smithsonianmag.bsky.social 🎉!
Reposted by Michael Haslam
Lovely archaeology & heritage opportunities on South Ronaldsay. Two seasonal rangers and a site manager. 🏺
Want a heritage job? In beautiful usually-there’s-not-this-much-snow #Orkney?
As part of our community project to reopen the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles to visitors, we now have three paid positions advertised for 2026.
For more info follow the link. Applications close 5pm, 18 January.
🏺
As part of our community project to reopen the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles to visitors, we now have three paid positions advertised for 2026.
For more info follow the link. Applications close 5pm, 18 January.
🏺
Work with us
We are happy to announce that we are now advertising three (3) paid positions at the Tomb of the Eagles for 2026. The positions are a Heritage Manager who will oversee day-to-day running of the site…
tomboftheeagles.co.uk
January 5, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Lovely archaeology & heritage opportunities on South Ronaldsay. Two seasonal rangers and a site manager. 🏺
Want a heritage job? In beautiful usually-there’s-not-this-much-snow #Orkney?
As part of our community project to reopen the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles to visitors, we now have three paid positions advertised for 2026.
For more info follow the link. Applications close 5pm, 18 January.
🏺
As part of our community project to reopen the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles to visitors, we now have three paid positions advertised for 2026.
For more info follow the link. Applications close 5pm, 18 January.
🏺
Work with us
We are happy to announce that we are now advertising three (3) paid positions at the Tomb of the Eagles for 2026. The positions are a Heritage Manager who will oversee day-to-day running of the site…
tomboftheeagles.co.uk
January 5, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Want a heritage job? In beautiful usually-there’s-not-this-much-snow #Orkney?
As part of our community project to reopen the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles to visitors, we now have three paid positions advertised for 2026.
For more info follow the link. Applications close 5pm, 18 January.
🏺
As part of our community project to reopen the Neolithic Tomb of the Eagles to visitors, we now have three paid positions advertised for 2026.
For more info follow the link. Applications close 5pm, 18 January.
🏺
Reposted by Michael Haslam
#ProjectAnimalia continues.
769: Blue spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma)
A beautiful ray, with a dangerous tail.
#sciart #dailyart #animalart #scientificillustration #medart #illustration #animalart #ray
769: Blue spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma)
A beautiful ray, with a dangerous tail.
#sciart #dailyart #animalart #scientificillustration #medart #illustration #animalart #ray
January 4, 2026 at 5:29 PM
#ProjectAnimalia continues.
769: Blue spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma)
A beautiful ray, with a dangerous tail.
#sciart #dailyart #animalart #scientificillustration #medart #illustration #animalart #ray
769: Blue spotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma)
A beautiful ray, with a dangerous tail.
#sciart #dailyart #animalart #scientificillustration #medart #illustration #animalart #ray
You’ll never convince me that Euclid, the #ESA space telescope capturing the structure of the universe, isn’t just a big bellows camera 🔭🧪📷
January 4, 2026 at 4:14 PM
You’ll never convince me that Euclid, the #ESA space telescope capturing the structure of the universe, isn’t just a big bellows camera 🔭🧪📷
January 3, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
NEW #Neolithic axe-heads from the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney. One of the most iconic tools of Europe's first farmers, macroscopic wear analysis reveals they were treated in diverse ways, used for cutting wood, chiselling stone, scraping hides and more.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
January 2, 2026 at 8:13 AM
NEW #Neolithic axe-heads from the Ness of Brodgar, Orkney. One of the most iconic tools of Europe's first farmers, macroscopic wear analysis reveals they were treated in diverse ways, used for cutting wood, chiselling stone, scraping hides and more.
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
Reposted by Michael Haslam
At year’s end, Angus (the horse that lives beside Skara Brae) briefly becomes a sun-unicorn 🦄☀️🏺
December 31, 2025 at 10:13 AM
At year’s end, Angus (the horse that lives beside Skara Brae) briefly becomes a sun-unicorn 🦄☀️🏺
At year’s end, Angus (the horse that lives beside Skara Brae) briefly becomes a sun-unicorn 🦄☀️🏺
December 31, 2025 at 10:13 AM
At year’s end, Angus (the horse that lives beside Skara Brae) briefly becomes a sun-unicorn 🦄☀️🏺
Reposted by Michael Haslam
Last preprint of the year from our group led by Meredith Carlson of UC Davis, showing white-faced capuchins exhibit material selectivity of hammerstone mass according to material properties www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
White-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator) exhibit selectivity for stone tools
Over the last few decades, the developing field of primate archaeology has used archaeological methods to reconstruct primate behaviors, especially tool use. We expand the possibilities of primate arc...
www.biorxiv.org
December 30, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Last preprint of the year from our group led by Meredith Carlson of UC Davis, showing white-faced capuchins exhibit material selectivity of hammerstone mass according to material properties www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Reposted by Michael Haslam
December 30, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Michael Haslam
December 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
December 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM