Dr David Hamilton
@drdevildave.bsky.social
Conservation Equollogist | Lutruwita, Tasmania | Tasmanian devil advocate & accidental quoll scientist, posting mainly science & quoll puns
Fully appreciate a sustained feral cat suppression program, but this seems like a case of correlation rather than causation… I suspect devil numbers are rebounding due to lower DFTD prevalence, which will also help suppress cat populations - so still good news! www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...
Tasmanian devils the winner from feral cat trapping effort
A successful feral cat trapping effort in northern Tasmania leads to a spike in the devil population.
abc.net.au
Paper pun goals! "I knew you were truffle when I walked in" is a magnificent title for a paper about baiting for mycophagous (fungi-eating🍄) mammals (like this long-nosed potoroo!)
Dr Meg Edwards@alittlebitmeg.bsky.social · 5mo agoTruffle oil is where it’s at if you want to increase detection duration at camera traps! Well done to Georgia for getting her first publication out, completed as part of her undergraduate studies! #australianmammalogy #wildlife @ausmammals.bsky.social connectsci.au/am/article/4...
Tasmanian Devil Average Birthday also seems like a good day to highlight a new paper from Dr Douglas Kerlin, which uses different field measures of devil tooth development & wear to estimate age - besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Integrating multiple field measurements in a Bayesian parallel regression framework to estimate Tasmanian devil age
The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial, endemic to Tasmania, that is threatened by a transmissionable cancer. This paper introduces a novel method to incorporate multiple measures of devil si....
besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Happy Tasmanian Devil Average Birthday, to all those who celebrate! 🥳 Devils have an annual mating season, which goes from late Feb until late April. That means, on average, devil joeys are born on 1st April. So if you wish a devil Happy Birthday today, you’ve got a good chance of being correct!
Random Delightful Fact of the Day - Eastern quolls go grey as they get older! A juvenile (~6 mths old) on the L, & a 4 yr old on the R (Worth noting that 4 yrs old is oooooold for an eastern quoll)
It's bizarre. I can think of at least 3 scientific publications that predict (i.e., model) the uncontrolled explosion of deer across Tas. None of them were referred to in the report. weirdddd
“No anticipated” except by all of us that have been saying for ever that the #feral #deer management plan is pathetic. 🌎 #wildoz www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
'Not anticipated': New survey shows deer population boom in Tasmania
The first survey for feral deer in Tasmania in five years reveals an unanticipated increase of nearly 20,000 to the population.
abc.net.au
“Not anticipated”, if you’ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years… www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10... Feral deer are a huuuuge problem in Tasmania that’s only getting worse. Legislation catching up with reality would be a good start - incredibly, they’re still a partly protected species…
'Not anticipated': New survey shows deer population boom in Tasmania
The first survey for feral deer in Tasmania in five years reveals an unanticipated increase of nearly 20,000 to the population.
abc.net.au
The measure for how excellent a city is should be how quickly you can see something wonderful. It took less than an hour after arriving in #Hobart for @drdevildave.bsky.social and me to see a #platypus, which is of course the most wonderful thing there is. #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz
As part of eastern quoll translocation work, we use supplementary feeding stations that are meant to exclude Tasmanian devils. The devils disagree…
I'm guessing this is probably very well worth the read! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Ecology needs a causal overhaul
Ecology has yet to embrace causal inference, yet most questions in ecology are causal. Despite the common use of terms that imply causation, such as “shapes”, “drives”, or “impacts”, many studies shy...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Quoll beans!! These tiny eastern quolls are only around 5 weeks old, & just starting to get their spots
#GardensforWildlife members, here is a survey just for you! Your garden is the missing link in a new @utas.edu.au Honours research project. Honours student Millicent Biggs is studying how backyard gardens support #Tasmanian #wildlife. Start the survey here: lnkd.in/gChGeTAa
Please enjoy this antechinus sproinging* away * technical term
The kultarr is officially three species! So proud of this work and a big thanks to Australia's amazing museum network and my great supervisor team @kennytravouillon.bsky.social @reneecatullo.bsky.social @planigale.bsky.social bakerecologylab.wordpress.com onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Cryptic Kultarr: Integrative Taxonomy Reveals Unrecognized Species of Carnivorous Marsupial (Dasyuridae: Antechinomys) in Arid Australia
Conservation is impossible if we have not described all of the species we aim to conserve. This paper reviews the taxonomy of the kultarr (Antechinomys laniger) a small arid-zone specialist native to....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
You can date a display of Australian mammals by whether the distribution maps recognise recent extinctions. Eastern #quolls went extinct in mainland Australia in the 1960s, but they're still on this historic display at @hunterianglasgow.bsky.social Zoology Museum. #taxidermy #extinction
Busy start to #ICCB2025 - sharing @tasland.bsky.social ten year fauna camera data set - pre & post-fire at Five Rivers. Huge shout out to coauthors including @drdevildave.bsky.social & Jo Potts
📣 New quoll science, looking at the genetic outcomes of a translocation of eastern quolls in Tasmania! 🧪🧬 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧵Thread below ⬇️
Come chat about quolls, puns, and finding any excuse to draw animals for science at my poster at #ICCB2025 Monday at 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM in Great Hall 3 & 4 See you there!
Society for Conservation Biology Oceania@scboceania.org · last yr.Who else is presenting at #ICCB2025 ? So many exciting talks and posters in the program! Repost this slide and let us know when / where to find you!
Dasyurid feet of various sizes! 👣 Tasmanian devil Spotted-tailed quoll Swamp antechinus
#WhereWhereWedgie 🦅 surveys near Hamilton today - - 6 (!!) x wedge-tailed eagles - 1 x white-bellied sea-eagle - 1 x brown falcon - 200 cockatoos!! An excellent day for science! @catmyoung.bsky.social @clawkins.bsky.social #citizenscience 🌿🪶🧪 #Tasmania #conservationscience
That awkward moment when you catch a devil pooping on camera… In all seriousness, Tasmanian devils make latrines, where lots of individuals will poo in the same area. Then any devil wandering along can have a sniff, & know who’s around 💩 @tasland.bsky.social
Chat GPT tells me - If an echidna were casting a vote in the 2025 Australian election—motivated by instincts to protect its habitat, ensure clean air and water, and avoid human-caused extinction—it would most likely lean toward the Greens. Make good choices today Australia! #auspol
Dr David Hamilton@drdevildave.bsky.social · last yr.Has anyone asked the echidnas their views on this election? 🎤
Has anyone asked the echidnas their views on this election? 🎤
An exciting adventure in the forest with First Dog on the Moon. Moss! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I went to an ancient rainforest with 90 artists and lived! Despite my endless cynicism I had a lovely time | First Dog on the Moon
I saw the world’s tallest moss and camped beneath a 500-year-old myrtle tree
theguardian.com
There’s antechinus, & there’s ANTECHINUS!! Antechinus are small (usually…) relatives of the Tasmanian devil. This chonk of a male was caught at Inala Jurassic Garden, for quick samples to help out with vaccine research for Devil Facial Tumour @wildimmunity.bsky.social Pic- @catmyoung.bsky.social
Quoll AND devil alert! I’ve got better phone reception so can upload #CameraTrap videos. Video 1/6 is a spotted tailed quoll. Dasyurus maculatus is listed as Near Threatened by IUCN Red list and in Australia the population in #Tasmania #Lutruwita is Vulnerable #marsupial #WildOz #quollity
