Royal Society Publishing

The present does not reflect the past: geographic mismatches between fossil and modern records are widespread across the tree of life doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Ecology #Evolution #Palaeontology

How do red admiral butterflies navigate across Europe? This #JRSocInterface study reveals they rely mainly on the Sun and other visual cues in the sky to maintain their seasonal migration direction. doi.org/10.1098/rsif... |#Biophysics #EnvironmentalScience

Resource availability and predator cues shape within- and transgenerational reaction norms doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #ProcB #Ecology #Evolution

The vertebral column played an important role in #dinosaur #evolution. This #RSOS study shows that the early evolution of dinosaurs was predominantly characterized by “stealing” vertebrae from their trunk and adding them to their necks and hips: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

Laughter is contagious, but does hearing it change how we learn? In this new paper from #BiologyLetters, researchers tested this in orangutans by asking them to learn and remember which materials contained hidden food rewards doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... | #Behaviour #Cognition #Evolution

New research from #BiologyLetters: Persistent effects of experimental heatwave duration on population dynamics doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... | #Ecology #ClimateChange

New research from #JRSocInterface: Delayed introduction, transmission variation and susceptible dynamics explain spatial asynchrony during Republic of Korea's large pertussis outbreak doi.org/10.1098/rsif... | #ComputationalBiology #Pertussis

This #ProcB study identifies ancient protein traces in 60,000-year-old ochre-rich sediments from South Africa, offering new insights into early human material culture and how ochre may have been used. doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #MolecularBiology

How much do hungry chicks really tell their parents? This #RSOS paper studied begging in spotless starling nestlings, combining observations in wild nests with controlled laboratory tests: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

New research from #ProcB: Evolution of neurometabolic frugality in harvester ants doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Evolution #Neuroscience #Physiology

Cooperation is essential for many social systems, yet it is often challenged by individual conflicts of interest. This #JRSocInterface study investigates how different decision-making behaviors influence cooperation under punishment mechanisms doi.org/10.1098/rsif... #ComputationalBiology #Evolution

Exploitation of host mating behaviour by a parasitoid fly doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... | #BiologyLetters #Behaviour #Ecology

Animals often use bright colours and noxious odours together to warn predators to stay away. Using jumping #spiders as predators, this #RSOS study asked whether noxious odours would trigger aversions to high-contrast black-and-white stripes: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

Complexity begets simplicity: self-supervised learning for palaeontological images with few or no labels doi.org/10.1098/rsif... | #JRSocInterface #Astrobiology #ComputationalBiology #Evolution

How do facial movements influence perceived confidence? This #ProcB study finds that eye closure and raised brows make speakers appear more confident, while lowered brows and tightened eyes signal doubt. doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Behaviour #Cognition

Urbanization affects bird species unequally, and understanding why is a key question in ecology. Researchers examined eight life history and ecological traits across 431 North American bird species to identify factors associated with urban tolerance: doi.org/10.1098/rsos... #RSOS

How do age and social interactions shape infectious disease spread? This #JRSocInterface study combines age-specific contact patterns and individual variation in contact numbers to improve disease modelling. doi.org/10.1098/rsif... | #Biomathematics

Caribbean Islands facilitated the colonization of Western Hemisphere barn owls, yet experienced rampant extinction doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #ProcB #Ecology #Evolution #Taxonomy

New research from #BiologyLetters: Cuttlefish use the negation of dead prey to judge food value in foraging decision doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... | #Behaviour #Cognition

Black rice owes its deep colour to anthocyanins, powerful antioxidant pigments, but extracting them sustainably has been difficult. This #RSOS study has developed a green alternative. Read more: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

Our recent study found that the barn owls of the Americas originated in the Caribbean. Barn owls from the Old World first reached the Caribbean, then spread to the Galápagos and across the American continent. Caribbean was also home to at least six known extinct Tyto species doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Consistent diversity loss but divergent functional responses of freshwater biofilms to salinity and nutrient enrichment across climatic regions doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #ProcB #Ecology #Microbiology

New paper in @royalsocietypublishing.org Phil. Trans.R.Soc. B 🦈🌊 Our biomechanical model & field evidence reveal how shark size, buoyancy, and energy-saving opportunities in upwelling currents may shape the fine-scale distribution of shark species. Paper: royalsocietypublishing.org/rstb/article...

Soft robotics frequently draws inspiration from the efficient locomotion of caterpillars. To improve bioinspired designs, this #JRSocInterface study investigates how surface roughness affects caterpillar crawling doi.org/10.1098/rsif... | #Biomathematics #Biomechanics

In this new paper published in #BiologyLetters, researchers tested whether beetles use shininess to locate other beetles by setting up glossy and matte traps and model beetles in the wild. doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... | #Behaviour #Ecology

New research from #ProcB: Calcification patterns of a foundation species reveal resilience to environmental change in southern California over the 20th century doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Ecosystem #EnvironmentalScience

#OpenBiology welcomes applications from candidates interested in taking on the Preprint Editor role at the journal. To apply, please submit your application via our form by Friday 30 October 2026: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsob/pages/f...

New research from #JRSocInterface: A multi-objective sequence engineering framework for rational genetic vaccine design doi.org/10.1098/rsif... | #Bioinformatics #SyntheticBiology

New paper from our lab! 🐒 Does experience shape disease avoidance in macaques? Those from groups that had lived through a deadly outbreak were less likely to eat food on a feces-marked surface—even though the virus spread through bites, not food. doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

A new theropod #dinosaur has been named from the Early Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, UK. The new species belongs to a group called Megaraptora and this is the first time they have been discovered in Europe: doi.org/10.1098/rsos... @cretaceous-cass.bsky.social #RSOS

#RSOS in @thetimes.com | A new megaraptoran dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation, UK, and its implications for theropod evolution and biogeography: doi.org/10.1098/rsos... www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

Why can small rule violations sometimes spiral into widespread rule breaking? In this experiment with 750 participants, researchers found that people were more strongly influenced by others who violated a rule than by those who followed it. doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #ProcB #Behaviour #Cognition

Are you an astronomer or a physicist with an interest in #exoplanets? Join us in Birmingham for a residential scientific meeting on the topic of finding Earth twins. You can also apply to present a poster at the meeting: royalsociety.org/science-even...

Cracking the fertility code: a new comprehensive #OpenBiology review of biomarkers and functional measures supports a shift towards a more comprehensive, biomarker-driven framework for the evaluation and management of infertility: doi.org/10.1098/rsob... #CellBio #DevBio

#ProcB in @newscientist.com | Hearing shapes: the Bouba–Kiki effect in adult domestic dogs: doi.org/10.1098/rspb... www.newscientist.com/article/2593...

New research from #ProcB: Evidence for cortisol production in a shark doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Physiology #Corticosteroids

New big collaborative paper out in @royalsocietypublishing.org Biology Letters. "Frequency of plastic occurrence varies across phylogeny but not ecology in seabirds". Title says it all really. Congrats @saverygo.bsky.social and @nhcooper123.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article...

When imitation meets exploration: quantifying social efficiency deficits (SED) in vaccination behaviour doi.org/10.1098/rsif... | #JRSocInterface #Biomathematics

Our new paper is out on Proceedings B! royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article... We reveal how environmental lighting and the biological clock shape swim strategies in larval zebrafish 🧵

In this blog post, authors of the recently published #RSOS paper, 'Catastrophising and meaning-making after stressful life experiences', tell us more about their research: royalsociety.org/blog/2026/10... #psychology

New #RSOS paper: Wind conditions shape co-migration fidelity in trans-Saharan birds at a Mediterranean stopover site. Read more: doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

Just out: Avian cholera (not highly pathogenic avian influenza) as primary cause of mass mortality of Adélie penguins at the Danger Islands, Antarctica. Diagnosis by combination of molecular analyses, microscopic analysis and histological molecular localization techniques. doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Interested in joining the #RSOS editorial board? We seek enthusiastic & engaged Associate Editors who will perform a range of valuable tasks for the journal and the communities it serves. The application deadline is 30 October 2026. Find out more: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/pages/e...

New research from #ProcB: Change in the demographic dynamics of a spatially structured population of a colonial waterbird after a perturbation affecting a large colony doi.org/10.1098/rspb... | #Ecology

New research from #BiologyLetters: Ploidy is associated with multielemental reorganization across soft and mineralized body compartments doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... | #Ecology #SystemsBiology

Fresh from the oven! 🐒 Another chapter of my PhD is out in Royal Society Open Science! Rain and wind influenced the activity of Nyungwe’s montane chimpanzees, yet their daily feeding and resting rhythms remained broadly similar. 📖 doi.org/10.1098/rsos...