Our paper on the evolution of sociality in cat-like carnivores, has not only been fully published now but also got the cover!
Although it appeared in early view a few months ago, the paper is available here doi.org/10.1111/jzo.... and represents Izzy Scully's Mres project from a few years ago.
Second single from our upcoming Adfeilion live album has just been released: Altar of the Oak, with the first part of the story included
open.spotify.com/album/3pzUwi...
Our results also have implications for the welfare of captive birds. Masturbation is often considered an abnormal response to captivity, but we show that masturbation is very much a natural behaviour that should not usually be discouraged or 'treated' by vets 2/3
www.swansea.ac.uk/press-office...
Masturbation is also a 'Darwinian puzzle', a trait that at first glance seems to present a fitness disadvantage, e.g. wasting time, energy, other resources, and opportunities. We find links with mating system that suggest ways that masturbation may have evolved.
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Awesome to see our bird masturbation research feature on Mock the Week, now I just have to wait on a reptile, venom or evolution question to come up on Curious Cases so @daraobriain.bsky.social can get me on as a guest to disturb him, with science, once again!
Our new paper just published today, and one that has been in the works for ~12 years now! Although the evolution of masturbation is a topic that immediately generates a slew of innuendos and puns, it's both an important and biologically interesting subject. 1/3
Paper here: doi.org/10.1002/ece3...
Just after my own 9-year-old managed to join Adfeilion's Cardiff gig in Fuel on Saturday, an article on us for the local Swansea Edit magazine was released were the writer also brought her 12-year-old to our Swansea Arena gig: online.fliphtml5.com/anwtl/njcz/#...
Our new natural history note reporting evidence for interactions between these cute little geckos and buthid (dangerously venomous) scorpions in Morocco.
doi.org/10.33256/hb1...
Article for @theconversation.com on our new paper (with Chloe Heys, Matilda Brindle, and Tom Price) on the evolution of masturbation in birds, with a focus on the implications of this for the welfare of captive birds
doi.org/10.64628/AB....
Check out our new paper on the role of stories in attitudes of people to snakes in rural Uganda, and how a narrative workshop can improve preventative behaviours without necessarily reducing fear of snakes: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Paper also available at www.academia.edu/166829751/A_...