@micromelling

@DickieFelton Circle tonight, stalls tomorrow! Enjoy!

Waiting for a refill of their Royal Robin Mix 🤣 #giddygatefarm instagram.com/p/CNnrdLJpcmbv…

A couple of blue tits loving their new bird feeder. A jackdaw and magpie free zone! #giddygatefarm instagram.com/p/CNnrI_AJVEjP…

One of today's visitors, a chaffinch loving the Royal Robin Mix #giddygatefarm instagram.com/p/CNnqcCsJeT1G…

Let’s turn good news into great news! @CadburyUK, please make #TwirlOrangeForever 👇

A Bat CATastrophe? @RobynAnneGrant & @drkirstyshaw blog about the impact of domestic #cats on #bats: buff.ly/2O1Gnab

There is a Bat CATastrophe going on! Find out more in our new paper in @Ecol_Evol about how we used forensic DNA analysis to find cat DNA on lots of bat wing tears: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10… @ran777no @drkirstyshaw @GaryDougill @micromelling @_BCT_

Our latest paper in @Ecol_Evol uses forensic🧬analysis to investigate 🦇wing tears and the impact of 🐱predation: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10… #BatCATastrophe @ran777no @RobynAnneGrant @WildwoodTrust @micromelling @GaryDougill @d_killick @MMUEcolEnv @MMU_Research @MMU_NATSCI @_BCT_

Bat box finally up. The local cats will need stilts to get up there! 🦇

5/5 #WBTC1 #Conserve4 Forensic 🧬 analysis can complement 👀data, potentially giving a more accurate estimation of 🐱 predation on 🦇. Thanks to #MMUBatResearch @ran777no @robynannegrant @micromelling @garydougill and all the #batrehabilitators

4/5 #WBTC1 #Conserve4 We then looked at 11 short tandem repeat markers in the 🐱🧬(similar to those used in crime scene investigation in humans) and were able to produce partial 🧬profiles for 1/3rd of samples. This could be used to link predation events to individual 🐈🐈‍⬛

3/5 #WBTC1 #Conserve4 Using real-time PCR (a sensitive detection technique), we looked for the presence/absence of 🐱🧬. We found 🐱🧬 in 2/3rds of wing swab samples. There were no significance differences due to the species, age or gender of the 🦇

2/5 #WBTC1 #Conserve4 We asked #batrehabilitators in 🇬🇧 to take swabs of injured wings from 🦇 in their care. The majority were Pipistrellus pipistrellus. The wings showed a variety of injuries including holes and tears – check out @robynannegrant in #EvoBeh1 from Wed for 📷

1/5 #WBTC1 #Conserve4 🐱predation upon 🦇species has been reported to have significant effects on 🦇populations in both 🏞️ and 🏙️ areas. Can forensic 🧬 analysis tell us ‘whodunnit’? #BatCATastrophe @MMUEcolEnv @_BCT_ @mammal_society @wildwoodtrust

Congratulations to @LPat012 who successfully defended her PhD today #proudsupervisor with @micromelling @captain_ion @Alexander_Iles and Kathryn Whitehead! 🥳 @MMU_NATSCI @MMUEngage @MMU_Research

Check out our latest paper looking at bat wing tears and flight 🦇🦇 @micromelling @MMUEcolEnv @EcolGenLab @MMU_Research

1/5 #WBTC1 #EvoBeh2 Bat wings are thin, delicate and prone to tearing. Thousands of bats with wing tears are admitted to rescue centres annually in the🇬🇧. But how do we measure their effect on flight? And when are bats ready for release? @MMUEcolEnv @_BCT_ #BatCatastrophe

Thanks to @ran777no @GaryDougill @micromelling @drkirstyshaw for their help in the project, and read more in our paper here: academic.oup.com/jmammal/articl… in J.Mammalogy @Mammalogists

5/5 #WBTC1 #EvoBeh1 So why more tears in the plagiopatagium? We propose that cats are targeting bats bodies and their claws are tearing the wing. This is also confirmed by #batcarer observations. Sad, but great work by @ran777no @_BCT_ #BatCatastrophe 🦇🐱

4/5 #WBTC1 #EvoBeh1 Material testing P.pipistrellus wings showed that the plagiopatagium was not weaker than the other wing sections. Although tears here are likely to take longer to heal.