Amy Fleming in the Guardian (23 Oct 2019) reported on a study of sex bias in natural history collections by Dr Natalie Cooper from the Natural History Museum in London (NHM). Dr Cooper’s group investigated sex rations in over 2 million bird and mammal specimens from the NHM, the American Museum of Natural History, the Field… Read More Why sexist bias in natural history museums really matters
Coiro and Pollak in a 2019 reviewed 432 articles examining the effects of infection during gestation on the behavior of offspring. They found that research preferentially studied male offspring. Of these studies, ~40% examined only male offspring, 40% examined both female and male offspring, and <3% examined only female offspring (many studies did not report… Read More Gender bias in experimental neurosciences
In May 2019, Rebecca M. Shansky wrote that outdated gender stereotypes influence neuroscience research, especially that using laboratory animals. The stereotype is that circulating ovarian hormones make data more variable. However meta-analyses of studies in both mice (Prendergast et al 2014) and rats (Becker et al 2016) showed no differences in variability between the sexes. … Read More Are hormones a “female problem” for animal research?
Olga Khazan in the Atlantic (17 Dec 2019) reports on a December 2019 BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) article on ‘gender differences in how scientists present the importance of their research’. The data suggest that male authors more often report that their work is ‘unique’, ‘novel’, or ‘excellent’ than female authors. But that is not… Read More Male scientists are their own hype men
Song is not just for males — The Female Bird Song Project The conventional wisdom regarding bird song is that males sing to attract mates or declare territories and that females do not sing. But female birds do sing. Singing females occur throughout the tropics and temperate regions. Among the common feeder birds are female… Read More Song: not just for males — Female Bird Song Project
s4 SICB Austin- Why reproduction shouldn’t take a backseat…. Here is a link to the SICB blog post about our symposium. s4 SICB Austin- Why reproduction shouldn’t take a backseat….
This is where we put a precis of the testosterone and cuddling, testosterone and baby crying work
Longevity may be a consequence of grandmothering. Continued life after reproduction may be adaptive when post-reproductive individuals increase the reproductive success of their extended kin. As Kristen Hawks suggests ‘grannies have a lot to offer their grandchildren” (Hawkes 2004). By subsidizing grandchildren, grandmothers enhance the fertility of their daughters. In other words, more robust elders… Read More Grandmothering — Dr Kristen Hawkes
Maternal Care? Let someone else do it! — Dr Kathleen Lynch Birds display a diverse array of parental care strategies. Dr. Kathleen Lynch examines one of the rare forms of care; giving up on care altogether. For 1% of avian species, females abandon maternal care altogether and lay their eggs in the nests of another… Read More Maternal care? Let someone else do it –Dr Kathleen Lynch
The hyena watcher — Dr Kay Holekamp A Smith College alumna, with a PhD from University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Kay Holekamp has studied hyenas in Kenya since early 1988. As a result of her work we now have a much improved understanding of hyena biology in particular female reproduction and behavior. Her research focus… Read More The hyena watcher — Dr Kay Holekamp
Thanks to Mario Valdebenito Rodas and Zoe Baker for website design.
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