Tecumseh Fitch
@tecumsehfitch.bsky.social
Professor of Cognitive Biology at the University of Vienna, interest in the evolution of music, language, art and consciousness. And a musician and artist on the side...
Snow has come to Lower Austria!
#art #painting
Our first snow of the season. This is a watercolor I did of our local castle, Burg Kreuzenstein.
Very simple palette: ultramarine and indanthrene blue with burnt sienna. The key trick was spraying the still-wet paint to get that sweeping snow look...
#art #painting
Our first snow of the season. This is a watercolor I did of our local castle, Burg Kreuzenstein.
Very simple palette: ultramarine and indanthrene blue with burnt sienna. The key trick was spraying the still-wet paint to get that sweeping snow look...
November 24, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Oh yes… white spots will be next. And their teeth are probably already smaller.
😊
😊
November 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Oh yes… white spots will be next. And their teeth are probably already smaller.
😊
😊
Scary data from the long-term study of wild chimpanzees at Ngogo: lethal attacks on neighboring groups (almost exclusively by males) increased female fertility and offspring survival in their own group. “Demonic males” indeed…
After the Ngogo chimpanzee group killed 21 members of neighboring groups and expanded their territory by 22%, female birth rates more than doubled and infant survival increased sharply—showing clear fitness benefits from intergroup killing. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/TKmf50XuPjY
November 22, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Scary data from the long-term study of wild chimpanzees at Ngogo: lethal attacks on neighboring groups (almost exclusively by males) increased female fertility and offspring survival in their own group. “Demonic males” indeed…
1 New paper from my former PhD student Raffaela Lesch's lab used a citizen science database to show that urban racoons, who are rapidly becoming less afraid of humans, also have shorter snouts than wild-type rural racoons.
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
November 22, 2025 at 11:01 AM
1 New paper from my former PhD student Raffaela Lesch's lab used a citizen science database to show that urban racoons, who are rapidly becoming less afraid of humans, also have shorter snouts than wild-type rural racoons.
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
2. Nice writeups in the BBC:
bbc.com/news/article...
and Scientific American:
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
bbc.com/news/article...
and Scientific American:
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
Cuter and closer: Raccoons may be on their way to becoming America's next pet
The rubbish raiders are showing reductions in snout length, a sign of early domestication, researchers say.
bbc.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:00 AM
2. Nice writeups in the BBC:
bbc.com/news/article...
and Scientific American:
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
bbc.com/news/article...
and Scientific American:
www.scientificamerican.com/article/racc...
2 This is consistent with our "neural crest/domestication syndrome" hypothesis that the shorter snouts of domesticated animals is developmentally linked to the ultimate selective force underlying domestication: increased tameness: academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
The “Domestication Syndrome” in Mammals: A Unified Explanation Based on Neural Crest Cell Behavior and Genetics
Abstract. Charles Darwin, while trying to devise a general theory of heredity from the observations of animal and plant breeders, discovered that domestica
academic.oup.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:59 AM
2 This is consistent with our "neural crest/domestication syndrome" hypothesis that the shorter snouts of domesticated animals is developmentally linked to the ultimate selective force underlying domestication: increased tameness: academic.oup.com/genetics/art...
3 The causal linkage is due to the joint origins of many tissues implicated in domestication syndrome - in this case the adrenal glands and HPA axis (reduced for tameness), and the bones and muscles of the face (reduced as a side effect) - from the embryonic neural crest.
November 22, 2025 at 10:58 AM
3 The causal linkage is due to the joint origins of many tissues implicated in domestication syndrome - in this case the adrenal glands and HPA axis (reduced for tameness), and the bones and muscles of the face (reduced as a side effect) - from the embryonic neural crest.
New paper from my former PhD student Raffaela Lesch's lab used a citizen science database to show that urban racoons, who arerapidly becoming less afraid of humans, also have shorter snouts than wild-type rural racoons.
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
November 22, 2025 at 10:57 AM
New paper from my former PhD student Raffaela Lesch's lab used a citizen science database to show that urban racoons, who arerapidly becoming less afraid of humans, also have shorter snouts than wild-type rural racoons.
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
Link: rdcu.be/eRcpT
Reposted by Tecumseh Fitch
Interested in the evolution of human language? Check out our new paper in @science.org where we synthesize latest findings and outline a multifaceted, bio-cultural approach for studying how language evolved. Super proud of this work, and hoping it leads to exciting new research! tinyurl.com/ykacvanp
November 21, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Interested in the evolution of human language? Check out our new paper in @science.org where we synthesize latest findings and outline a multifaceted, bio-cultural approach for studying how language evolved. Super proud of this work, and hoping it leads to exciting new research! tinyurl.com/ykacvanp
Tired of posting about my much-derided brain painting for the Phil Trans cover... here's a watercolor painting I did last year of my father in law. Paint on paper: No ChatGPT was used, just an old black-and-white photo:
November 21, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Tired of posting about my much-derided brain painting for the Phil Trans cover... here's a watercolor painting I did last year of my father in law. Paint on paper: No ChatGPT was used, just an old black-and-white photo:
Good idea - I didn't think of that : )
I actually thought setting the record straight with Sam, and sending him the original artwork, might elicit an apology or something. No dice.
I actually thought setting the record straight with Sam, and sending him the original artwork, might elicit an apology or something. No dice.
November 21, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Good idea - I didn't think of that : )
I actually thought setting the record straight with Sam, and sending him the original artwork, might elicit an apology or something. No dice.
I actually thought setting the record straight with Sam, and sending him the original artwork, might elicit an apology or something. No dice.
Yep, I'm one of those old-school academics who actually uses email to communicate. When I was young I even used a TYPEWRITER and sent LETTERS!
Those were the days... when academics were respectful of their colleagues, and of the truth. Sigh
When I was really young we rode dinosaurs to school...
Those were the days... when academics were respectful of their colleagues, and of the truth. Sigh
When I was really young we rode dinosaurs to school...
November 21, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Yep, I'm one of those old-school academics who actually uses email to communicate. When I was young I even used a TYPEWRITER and sent LETTERS!
Those were the days... when academics were respectful of their colleagues, and of the truth. Sigh
When I was really young we rode dinosaurs to school...
Those were the days... when academics were respectful of their colleagues, and of the truth. Sigh
When I was really young we rode dinosaurs to school...
Actually, the concept is that vertebrate brain anatomy is highly conserved across deep evolutionary time.
And that perhaps, just perhaps, consciousness is too. That's the point of the whole issue.
OK, I'm just a humble evolutionary biologist not a professional artist... I did my best....
And that perhaps, just perhaps, consciousness is too. That's the point of the whole issue.
OK, I'm just a humble evolutionary biologist not a professional artist... I did my best....
November 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Actually, the concept is that vertebrate brain anatomy is highly conserved across deep evolutionary time.
And that perhaps, just perhaps, consciousness is too. That's the point of the whole issue.
OK, I'm just a humble evolutionary biologist not a professional artist... I did my best....
And that perhaps, just perhaps, consciousness is too. That's the point of the whole issue.
OK, I'm just a humble evolutionary biologist not a professional artist... I did my best....
Me: Tecumseh Fitch. Read the "About the cover" caption... its all open access!
November 21, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Me: Tecumseh Fitch. Read the "About the cover" caption... its all open access!
That was my first thought - so I offered the job to my go-to scientific watercolor artist (who has done other art for my science). Sadly she was too busy to take it on, under deadline, so I did it myself. ChatGPT was used only to create the "Victorian engraving" styling - I didn't expect such ire.
November 21, 2025 at 7:54 PM
That was my first thought - so I offered the job to my go-to scientific watercolor artist (who has done other art for my science). Sadly she was too busy to take it on, under deadline, so I did it myself. ChatGPT was used only to create the "Victorian engraving" styling - I didn't expect such ire.
My art is not "AI slop"
I am very proud of this artwork, based on my own watercolors and drawings. It IS scientifically accurate, based directly on the work of the great comparative neuroanatomist Glenn Northcutt (and inspired by Georg Striedter's wonderful book). ChatGPT did the styling only...
I am very proud of this artwork, based on my own watercolors and drawings. It IS scientifically accurate, based directly on the work of the great comparative neuroanatomist Glenn Northcutt (and inspired by Georg Striedter's wonderful book). ChatGPT did the styling only...
November 21, 2025 at 7:49 PM
My art is not "AI slop"
I am very proud of this artwork, based on my own watercolors and drawings. It IS scientifically accurate, based directly on the work of the great comparative neuroanatomist Glenn Northcutt (and inspired by Georg Striedter's wonderful book). ChatGPT did the styling only...
I am very proud of this artwork, based on my own watercolors and drawings. It IS scientifically accurate, based directly on the work of the great comparative neuroanatomist Glenn Northcutt (and inspired by Georg Striedter's wonderful book). ChatGPT did the styling only...
As Sam Mehr knows, this cover was the product of a lot of hard artistic work: I did all the artwork that underlies it and only used ChatGPT for the finishing touches
(he knows because I sent him an email clarifying it after he posted, to which he never responded...).
My artwork isn't "AI Slop"!
(he knows because I sent him an email clarifying it after he posted, to which he never responded...).
My artwork isn't "AI Slop"!
November 21, 2025 at 7:41 PM
As Sam Mehr knows, this cover was the product of a lot of hard artistic work: I did all the artwork that underlies it and only used ChatGPT for the finishing touches
(he knows because I sent him an email clarifying it after he posted, to which he never responded...).
My artwork isn't "AI Slop"!
(he knows because I sent him an email clarifying it after he posted, to which he never responded...).
My artwork isn't "AI Slop"!
My art is not "AI slop"
I am very proud of the artwork on the cover of our recent Phil Trans issue on consciousness. It was the product of 10+ hours of hard artistic work on my part, drawing, painting, and interacting with ChatGPT to try to get something in the style of an old Victorian engraving.
I am very proud of the artwork on the cover of our recent Phil Trans issue on consciousness. It was the product of 10+ hours of hard artistic work on my part, drawing, painting, and interacting with ChatGPT to try to get something in the style of an old Victorian engraving.
November 21, 2025 at 7:35 PM
My art is not "AI slop"
I am very proud of the artwork on the cover of our recent Phil Trans issue on consciousness. It was the product of 10+ hours of hard artistic work on my part, drawing, painting, and interacting with ChatGPT to try to get something in the style of an old Victorian engraving.
I am very proud of the artwork on the cover of our recent Phil Trans issue on consciousness. It was the product of 10+ hours of hard artistic work on my part, drawing, painting, and interacting with ChatGPT to try to get something in the style of an old Victorian engraving.
The goal was a scientifically accurate but aesthetically appealing cover, capturing the fundamentally conservative nature of the vertebrate brain over millions of years of evolution. The brains by themselves weren't enough, so I decided little figures of the animals to clarify this message.
November 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
The goal was a scientifically accurate but aesthetically appealing cover, capturing the fundamentally conservative nature of the vertebrate brain over millions of years of evolution. The brains by themselves weren't enough, so I decided little figures of the animals to clarify this message.
I am very proud of the artwork on the cover of our recent Phil Trans issue on consciousness. It is based on watercolor paintings and ink drawings on paper I did myself, based on published diagrams by recognized experts on comparative brain anatomy (detailed in the caption which it seems no one read)
November 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
I am very proud of the artwork on the cover of our recent Phil Trans issue on consciousness. It is based on watercolor paintings and ink drawings on paper I did myself, based on published diagrams by recognized experts on comparative brain anatomy (detailed in the caption which it seems no one read)
My art is not "AI slop"
I'd been thinking about joining Bluesky for a while, but it's ironic that I finally joined NOT to combat right-wing propaganda or AI-generated nonsense, but to defend myself and my own artwork which has been widely labelled, and derided, as "AI slop" on this platform...
I'd been thinking about joining Bluesky for a while, but it's ironic that I finally joined NOT to combat right-wing propaganda or AI-generated nonsense, but to defend myself and my own artwork which has been widely labelled, and derided, as "AI slop" on this platform...
November 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
My art is not "AI slop"
I'd been thinking about joining Bluesky for a while, but it's ironic that I finally joined NOT to combat right-wing propaganda or AI-generated nonsense, but to defend myself and my own artwork which has been widely labelled, and derided, as "AI slop" on this platform...
I'd been thinking about joining Bluesky for a while, but it's ironic that I finally joined NOT to combat right-wing propaganda or AI-generated nonsense, but to defend myself and my own artwork which has been widely labelled, and derided, as "AI slop" on this platform...