Dr David Hocking

Curator of Vert. Zoo & Palaeo at @tasmuseum | Adjunct Researcher @MonashBiol & @EvansEvoMorph | Views my own | he/him | Ask me about #Seals #Whales & #Fossils!

[Dr David Hocking @DPHocking]

#NaturalHistory collections are a vital resource that allow the public to connect with our rarest and most #EndangeredSpecies.

By digitising collections, we can create educational resources that give our objects a new life outside of the museum.

[TMAG @tasmuseum]

There's just over a week left to make a tax-deductible gift to our Annual Appeal for 2022! Help us ignite a lifetime of curiosity and enrichment. Donate here: https://t.co/eHbzF1juIN

[Dr David Hamilton @davidghamilton1]

🚨 Some quoll-ity research for your Friday! 🚨

Devil declines caused by facial tumours are having a knock-on effect on spotted-tailed quolls, with quolls moving around & dispersing much less from areas with lower devil densities

Nice summary here -

https://t.co/eXX2yQ5khD

[Prof. Mary-Anne Lea @icetempete]

Devastating to consider the possibility of avian influenza spreading throughout sub-Antarctic elephant & Antarctic fur seal populations in addition to seabirds. Thanks to all the expert teams characterising the disease & trying to mitigate the spread.

[Jack Ashby @JackDAshby]

What an interesting study, revealing yet another environmental cost of the colonial project:
DNA research shows that a rare UK bat declined 330-550 yrs ago, coinciding with when old-growth trees it nested in were being felled for empire-builiding ships:
https://t.co/y2KUCEWrbW

[BirdLife Australia @BirdlifeOz]

The latest Australian Threatened Bird Index (TBX) was released today at the Australasian Ornithological Conference and reveals that threatened birds in Australia declined by an average of 60% between 1985 and 2020.

Read more here: https://t.co/9pqsjnTJd9

#AOC2023

[Brian Beatty @Vanderhoofius]

Just heard that Ewan Fordyce passed, what a huge loss for our field…. Ewan kept high expectations, kept us all on our toes, and was a gentleman about it all. I only wish I’d had more time with him.
(Wish I had a better picture of him..)

[Rob Harcourt @RobHarcourt]

Devastating news

[Prof. Mary-Anne Lea @icetempete]

“The (Bird Is.Antarctic fur seal) pop’n has recovered very impressively throughout the 20th century when seal hunting was banned. But 21st century changes to the abundance of krill in the Southern Ocean are now threatening these iconic animals all over again.”   @JaumeForcada

[Dr Robbi Bishop-Taylor 🦋 @SatelliteSci]

A new continental bathymetry dataset for Australia, replacing the existing 250 m layer from way back in 2009! 🎉🤯

Lots of amazing improvements - including improved coastal bathymetry from our #DigitalEarthAU's Intertidal Elevation models!

Download here:
https://t.co/gt4y9CujEc

[Dr David Hocking @DPHocking]

- White-faced heron
- Black-faced cormorant
- Great cormorant
- Galah
- Long-billed Corella
- Yellow-tailed black cockatoo
- Black currawong
- Turbo chook
- Green rosella
- Noisy miner
- Ducks* (*assorted)
- Kookaburra
- Starling
- Blackbird
- Goldfinch
- Sparrow

[Dr David Hocking @DPHocking]

2023 Spring school holidays #BirdTally:
- Crested tern
- Pacific gull
- Kelp gull
- Silver gull
- Sooty oystercatcher
- Pied oystercatcher
- Tasmanian thornbill
- Yellow wattlebird
- Yellow throated honeyeater
- New Holland honeyeater
- Pallid Cuckoo (call only)

[Dr David Hocking @DPHocking]

- Fan-tailed cuckoo (call only)
- Black-faced cuckooshrike
- Brush Bronzewing
- Superb fairy wren
- Welcome swallows
- Forest Raven
- Grey fantail
- Grey shrikethrush
- Striated pardalote
- Magpie
- Masked lapwing
- Female Robin (scarlet?)
- Wedge-tailed eagle
- Black swans

[Dr David Hocking @DPHocking]

2023 Spring school holiday #MammalTally:
- Aussie fur seals
- Bottlenose dolphins
- Platypus
- Echidna
- Forester Roo
- Bennett’s wallaby
- Pademelon
- Long-nosed potoroo

[Isabella Reeves @bellaa_reeves]

Killer whales that once cooperatively hunted #whales with whalers may be extinct!

Our latest research used aDNA methods and Indigenous knowledge to provide new insights into the origin and fate of the legendary #killerwhales of Eden 🇦🇺.

See here https://t.co/VSmA8HDDPi (1/6)

[Karen Stockin @karen_stockin]

A pleasure to collaborate with @bellaa_reeves and the whole team on this special mahi - a great example of how powerful #IndigenousKnowledge and #aDNA can be - @NatSciMassey, @MasseyUni - graphic but the amazing @emmaluck22

[Christian A. Sidor @ChristianSidor]

Our paper on the fossil record and geology of the Triassic Fremouw Formation of Antarctica came out today. w/J McIntosh, B Hammer, N. Smith, P. Makovicky, N Tabor @_megwhit_ @paleo_hank @DrFossilhunter @Koskinonodon
Free reprints here: https://t.co/HvvoAEgIG6

[Blue whale news @bluewhalenews]

Remarkable engineering to deploy suction tags onto blue and fin whales from hexacopters, 21 of 29 whales successfully tagged, with average flight time of just 2 min 45 sec, and much less disruption and threat of danger to the whale and the people.
https://t.co/c7QBxjvkFs

[Carolina Loch @LochCarolina]

New paper on morphological disparity and enamel ultrastructure in odontocetes, from @MaryViglino work in NZ a few years back

#womeninSTEM #LatinasinSTEM #oralbiology #dentistry

https://t.co/ThRfyWaKnB

[Dr. Vanessa Pirotta @VanessaPirotta]

Like #roadkill, #vesselstrike is very much a global problem for large creatures like #whales.

#Science provides an opportunity to understand #whale movements so that we can better protect them in Australian waters. Ongoing research is critical. https://t.co/4B0RmA2n6n

[Dr Emily Scicluna 🌏 @DrDunnart]

Fantastic presentation on #thylacine #skullmorphology by @WeisbeckerLab 💀🐺
@DSRovinsky @AxelHNewton @AJ_Pask
#skull #morphology #marsupial #carnivore @AusMammals #ams2023

[Joanna Sumner @joanna_sumner99]

Thrilled and incredibly grateful to have received a 2024 #ChurchillFellowship! I'll visit Wildlife BioBanks in Europe & US using cryopreservation in conservation. We must conserve native habitat, but we need solid back-up plans too. @museumsvictoria
https://t.co/kPXPo6O9wf