SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
@smruecophys.bsky.social
180 followers 210 following 9 posts
Research group at the Sea Mammal Research Unit, University of St Andrews, studying the ecology and physiology of diving animals. Lead by Dr. Chris McKnight and Dr. Jo Kershaw.
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Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
smruinstrument.bsky.social
🎉 Exciting to see this paper published using @smruinstrument.bsky.social tags to study diving behaviour and physiology of free divers! Congrats to the authors! 👏🔬📡 @smruecophys.bsky.social @chrismcknight.bsky.social

Read the paper here: www.cell.com/current-biol...
smruecophys.bsky.social
New @seamammalresearch.bsky.social & @smruinstrument.bsky.social research out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social, using #NIRS integrated into SMRU phone tags to measure the diving behaviour and physiology of the most incredible human divers - the all-female Haenyeo

www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
seamammalresearch.bsky.social
Fascinating new research led by @smruecophys.bsky.social researcher @chrismcknight.bsky.social
smruecophys.bsky.social
New @seamammalresearch.bsky.social & @smruinstrument.bsky.social research out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social, using #NIRS integrated into SMRU phone tags to measure the diving behaviour and physiology of the most incredible human divers - the all-female Haenyeo

www.cell.com/current-biol...
smruecophys.bsky.social
New @seamammalresearch.bsky.social & @smruinstrument.bsky.social research out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social, using #NIRS integrated into SMRU phone tags to measure the diving behaviour and physiology of the most incredible human divers - the all-female Haenyeo

www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
meps-ir.bsky.social
🦤🌐🧪
Minke whales feeding in the Jacques Cartier passage over summer are predominantly pregnant females. From 2007–2015 pregnancy rates remain stable despite fluctuating prey availability, suggesting some resilience to environmental change
@smruecophys.bsky.social
@seamammalresearch.bsky.social
Minke whale snout protruding from the sea surface
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
nicholaswu.bsky.social
New paper in @nature.com led by @patricepottier.bsky.social! We demonstrated global vulnerability of amphibians to warming, threatening 10% of >5,000 species examined. How did we do it? See thread🧵

Paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
ellengarland.bsky.social
🐳 UPCOMING BOOK ALERT 🐬
The Evolution of Cetacean Societies

Edited by @darrencroft.bsky.social @andrewfoote.bsky.social @stephanielking.bsky.social and myself

Preorder available now
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

#whale #dolphin #animalbehaviour
smruecophys.bsky.social
We're pleased to share our work at @seamammalresearch.bsky.social, published in @science.org last week, showing that seals perceive circulating oxygen levels to adjust their diving behaviour. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
plosbiology.org
When did the lubricated joints that allow our skeleton to swivel, rotate and bend evolve? @crumplab.bsky.social explores a new @plosbiology.org paper by @neelimasharma.bsky.social &co that pinpoints their origin to the earliest jawed vertebrates 🧪 Paper: plos.io/3CTC8La Primer: plos.io/4kkhXa6
Left: A phylogeny of chordates, flanked by images of a lamprey, a placoderm, a brown shark, a longnose gar and a hawksbill turtle. Agnathans such as lampreys lack synovial joints. The first putative evidence of synovial joints in the fossil record is in early gnathostomes such as the antiarch placoderm fish that lived during the Silurian and Devonian periods. Modern gnathostomes such as cartilaginous fishes (i.e., chondrichthyans such as the brown shark), bony fishes (i.e., osteichthyans such as the longnose gar), and limbed vertebrates (i.e., tetrapods such as the Hawksbill turtle) possess synovial joints in their jaws, fins/limbs, and other locations. All images used are freely available without copyright restrictions. Top right: a typical agnathan joint is shown where glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans are uniformly distributed across the cartilages (blue) that are connected by fibrous tissue (olive). Bottom right: a typical gnathostome synovial joint is shown where surface cartilage has a unique proteoglycan composition from the underlying cartilage and bone, and a fluid-filled cavity separates adjacent skeletal elements.
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
pnas.org
Yellow-breasted capuchins use stones as nutcrackers, often inadvertently creating sharp-edged flakes, like those associated with early hominids, in what the authors suggest is a possible mechanism for the emergence of hominin stone tools. In PNAS: www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
exetermarine.bsky.social
Great new paper from one of our alumni Joanne Morten and Exeter Marine's Dr Lucy Hawkes!

#seabirds #AcademicSky 🦤🦑🧪🌐🌍
birdlifemarine.bsky.social
🚨NEW OPEN ACCESS PAPER🚨details how we delineated six #MarineFlyways using #seabird #tracking data & novel analytical methods

➡️ doi.org/10.1111/geb.70004

🧪 #ornithology #migration #BLScience
@birdlifeglobal.bsky.social

We are grateful to GOBI @iki-germany.bsky.social for funding the project

🧵1/5
Infographic map showing the six marine flyways (Atlantic Ocean Flyway, North Indian Ocean Flyway, East Indian Ocean Flyway, West Pacific Ocean Flyway, Pacific Ocean Flyway, Southern Ocean Flyway) in a spilhaus projection, and the general direction of travel by migratory seabirds
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
jappliedecology.bsky.social
New blog post: Seals avoid an operating tidal turbine 🦭

Important implications for developers & regulators, as lower numbers of seals close to the turbine at higher flow speeds during operation decreases the potential for fatal collisions & injuries 📉🌎🧪

🔗 appliedecologistsblog.com/2025/02/06/s...
Seals avoid an operating tidal turbine
Authors of a recently published study discuss how their research discovered that seals exhibit avoidance of turbines during operation. This finding is important for industry developers and regulato…
appliedecologistsblog.com
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
jessmontabaranom.bsky.social
We wrote a wee blog post detailing the findings of our most recent study @seamammalresearch.bsky.social and why the results are important! Give it a read below ⬇️
jappliedecology.bsky.social
New blog post: Seals avoid an operating tidal turbine 🦭

Important implications for developers & regulators, as lower numbers of seals close to the turbine at higher flow speeds during operation decreases the potential for fatal collisions & injuries 📉🌎🧪

🔗 appliedecologistsblog.com/2025/02/06/s...
Seals avoid an operating tidal turbine
Authors of a recently published study discuss how their research discovered that seals exhibit avoidance of turbines during operation. This finding is important for industry developers and regulato…
appliedecologistsblog.com
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
masonyoungblood.bsky.social
Andy Whiten and I wrote a @science.org perspective about a cool new study from @inbalarnon.bsky.social @simonkirby.bsky.social @ellengarland.bsky.social et al! They found humpback whale song has language-like statistical structure, using methods inspired by infant language learning 🐋🎶 Links below ⬇️
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
ellengarland.bsky.social
We uncovered the same statistical structure that is a hallmark of human language in whale song, published today in Science. @inbalarnon.bsky.social @simonkirby.bsky.social @jennyallen13.bsky.social @clairenea.bsky.social @emma-carroll.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
seamammalresearch.bsky.social
SMRU researchers are appealing for the public to help us understand why UK Harbour seals are in steep decline news.st-andrews.ac.uk/archive/st-a...
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
ukirsc.bsky.social
Anais Bliault presents the ventilatory adjustments of seals to physiological disturbance
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
britishecologicalsociety.org
How do you spot a leopard? Listen to its roar🐆

Research led by ‪@jonathan-growcott.bsky.social shows for the first time that leopards have unique roars, meaning individuals can be identified through bioacoustic monitoring, a potentially significant advance in leopard conservation.

Leopards reveal their identity through a distinct roar
Scientists reveal how leopards' unique roars aid conservation in Tanzania, using cutting-edge technology to track and protect these big cats.
www.earth.com
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
phoca-sapiens.bsky.social
Do you work in wildlife health & conservation? We are seeking participants for an online survey of practitioner/researcher attitudes to parasite conservation. Open to all roles and experience levels. DM me for more info and links.

Please help us reach as many folk as possible by reposting. 🧪🌍🪱🪰🦟
A pile of lurid yellow semi-liquid feces from a grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) sits on a wet black rock. The feces are full of white parasitic worms (helminths, probably anisakids). 🪱
smruecophys.bsky.social
Some more of our lab’s recently published work - @eva-mariab.bsky.social used #NIRS and underwater arterial blood sampling to investigate depth-dependent effects on cardiovascular and blood oxygen regulation during freediving

t.co/tB6iZ5y0Xm
Reposted by SMRU Ecophysiology Lab
science.org
Among the most agile of flying creatures, dragonflies have evolved to perform quick aerial maneuvers both to attract mates and to catch prey midair.

Now, researchers have documented and explained a unique stunt the insects perform so quickly most people never see it. scim.ag/40mKKBI