Ivo Jacobs
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ivojacobs.bsky.social
Ivo Jacobs
@ivojacobs.bsky.social
3.5K followers 1.3K following 310 posts
Cognitive zoologist investigating the evolution of animal cognition, particularly in response to fire (pyrocognition). Amateur wildlife photographer based in southern Sweden. More interested in rare behaviours than rare species.
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ivojacobs.bsky.social
Ivo Jacobs @ivojacobs.bsky.social · Nov 13
Welcome new followers to the Good Place!

If you're wondering what monkeys at bonfires and birds hunting at bushfires reveal about animal cognition and human evolution, my Aeon article is an accessible read. aeon.co/essays/how-a... 🧪

For the rest, I mainly post bird pictures (with a big backlog).
How animal uses of fire help to illuminate human pyrocognition | Aeon Essays
Far from being hardwired to flee fire, some animals use it to their own ends, helping us understand our own pyrocognition
aeon.co
ivojacobs.bsky.social
For the people in the back:
- String pulling isn't tool use.
- Categorising a behaviour as tool use doesn't inherently make it more interesting or "intelligent".
david-grimm.bsky.social David Grimm @david-grimm.bsky.social · 5d
A female wolf has been doing something unusual on the Central Coast of British Columbia. She's learned to pull crab traps up from the water, yanking on a rope to bring it to the surface. But is it tool use? Very fun story from @phiejacobs.bsky.social for @science.org
Have wild wolves learned to use tools?
Video captures a lone female pulling crab traps out of the water, but does it count as tool use?
www.science.org
November 18, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
wild-minds.bsky.social
PhD scholarship alert! Are you interested in cognitive evolution? Do you want to know how development influences cognitive traits? Do you love hanging out with birds in the forest? If the answer to these questions is yes, please apply to work with us! 1/2 🧪
www.wgtn.ac.nz/scholarships...
Ella holds a fluffy and sleepy looking toutouwai chick during banding and fits an orange band to its leg
November 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
christophvoelter.bsky.social
Fully funded #PhDposition in Comparative Cultural Psychology @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social.
We will use touchscreen experiments & eyetracking to study mental simulations in nonhuman apes & human children across different cultures.

All info here: www.eva.mpg.de/career/posit...
Please share / apply!🙏
Positions available - Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
www.eva.mpg.de
November 13, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
explanimals.bsky.social
Intrigued by animal innovation and avian cognition? My PI Dr. Megan Lambert is advertising a new shiny PhD position studying innovation in kea parrots! Info attached 🤩🦜
For inquiries: [email protected]
November 11, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
biologylu.bsky.social
We're hiring! Post-doctoral fellow in evolutionary ecology w/focus on ecophysiology.
Uncover why global warming and heatwaves reduce reproductive success and cause excess mortality in wild birds. Work with @cyanistesnord.bsky.social 👏

Please apply no later than 25 November.
👉 lnkd.in/dkAh9jnc
November 5, 2025 at 7:30 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
A late galah for headless bird Halloween
#photography #birds
A galah perched on a branch with wing outstretched and head missing (because it's preening)
November 1, 2025 at 8:54 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Walk like an Egyptian (gosling)
#photography #birds
Side view of a small Egyptian gosling with a foot up, walking over a street
October 23, 2025 at 3:23 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Swan in heaven
#photography #birds
Close-up of a mute swan preening itself, showing only its head with closed eyes rubbing against a sea of white feathers
October 22, 2025 at 3:35 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Tufted duck is suspicious
#photography #birds
A male tufted duck, in black and white plumage, preens his back while floating on a lake, with the vibrant yellow eye halfway closed.
October 21, 2025 at 5:53 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Crashing wave of Egyptian goslings
#photography #birds
Eight brown-and-white Egyptian goslings on a small wave in a river facing the observer
October 20, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
stevebrusatte.bsky.social
Interested in fossils? Brains? Reptiles?

Want to study how reptile (particularly squamate) brains and senses changed over time?

Want to be part of an international team studying the evolution of cognition?

Then apply for our Univ of Edinburgh PhD project!

e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk/project?item...
Project | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership | E5 Doctoral Training Partnership
The project advertisement
e5-dtp.ed.ac.uk
October 16, 2025 at 11:11 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Fight club - Egyptian geese edition got an update: now with anime backgrounds
#photography #birds
Two geese flying low over a lake - one flying to the side of the frame and the incoming goose flying in from the top of the frame, ready to attack with wings spread and bill open. The background reflections on the lake form streaks of light.
October 12, 2025 at 3:11 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
APA is offering paid editorial fellowships for early-career researchers. 🧪

I was the editorial fellow at Journal of Comparative Psychology last year and I can highly recommend it!

www.apa.org/pubs/journal...
www.apa.org
September 28, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
mothprof.bsky.social
I have a job opening in my lab. If you are interested in bird behaviour and predator prey interactions please take a look! werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...
Vacancy — Postdoc Position in Decision Making in Birds
Are you an expert in animal behavior? Do you have experience working with birds? The Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) is looking for a motivated researcher to investigate the ro...
werkenbij.uva.nl
September 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Ivo Jacobs
animbehsociety.bsky.social
Do you love research & writing & all things animal behavior? Well our journal, Animal Behavior, recruiting up to 5 (count em!) new Associate Editors!

Editors serve three-year terms beginning January 2026. If you're interested, email Exec Editor Scott Sakaluk ([email protected]) by Oct 31!
ron burgundy from parks and recreation says " you 'd be a fool not to pick me "
ALT: ron burgundy from parks and recreation says " you 'd be a fool not to pick me "
media.tenor.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:01 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Don't disturb the wild boarlet lakeside siesta
#mammals #photography
Two little wild boars, seen through thick foliage with a lake in the background, having a nap against a tree
September 19, 2025 at 5:48 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Tiny dinosaur in the form of a long-tailed tit early in the blueish morning
#photography #birds
A long-tailed tit perched on a leafy branch, seen from the side in blue morning light
September 17, 2025 at 6:53 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Celebratory galah! 🪶
A galah, in its typical pink and grey plumage, poses on a dead branch with wings spread and fluffy head crest raised.
September 16, 2025 at 6:03 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Befuddled Egyptian gosling
#photography #birds
Close-up of a small Egyptian gosling, in white-brown plumage, on the ground looking towards the viewer.
September 15, 2025 at 6:39 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
The bread thief is ever watching from afar
#photography #birds
A carrion crow with a piece of bread in its beak on a grass field, being watched by another crow far away as a blurry, dark shape
September 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Egyptian gosling
#photography #birds
A fluffy, brown-white gosling stepping out of a river, with head turned sideways and one foot off the ground.
September 10, 2025 at 6:05 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Starlings are always unbelievable
#photography #birds
An adult common starling seen from behind, with its head turned sideways towards the camera, showing its iridescent spotty plumage while standing in a grass field.
September 9, 2025 at 6:20 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Great crested grebe parents with their four grebelets
#photography #birds
Two adult grebes on a lake, one preening in the foreground, the other surrounded by two swimming offspring and two on its back, on of which curiously looking at a sibling.
September 8, 2025 at 6:02 AM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
Preening coot trying to distract me from its feet
#photography #birds
A Eurasian coot perched on a submerged stick on a lake while preening, its eye closed and bill under the wing.
September 7, 2025 at 3:59 PM
ivojacobs.bsky.social
New ballet coming soon: Coot Lake

#photography #birds
An Eurasian coot skipping over the surface of the lake captured at high frame rate, as if it's hovering over its reflection with a splash of water where it stepped.
August 29, 2025 at 6:19 PM