George Olah
@georgeolah.bsky.social
Conservation Geneticist | ARC DECRA Fellow, The Australian National University | Documentary Filmmaker | Co-founder @wildlifemessengers.org | parrots | Peru | Indonesia | https://georgeolah.com
The Huaulu people, scientists, and local Indonesian authorities worked together to protect the endangered salmon-crested cockatoo by replacing hunted feathers in sacred ceremony headdresses with naturally shed ones - A rare win for both nature and tradition! 🧪 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/...
Indigenous-led conservation helps save endangered cockatoo
An Indigenous community in Indonesia has found a way to protect one of the world's rarest cockatoos without abandoning a centuries-old sacred tradition, offering a new model for conservation.
reporter.anu.edu.au
How do you protect an endangered cockatoo when a sacred Indigenous ritual requires its feathers? 🦜 We are thrilled to share our new paper in the Journal of Ethnobiology @journals.sagepub.com detailing a biocultural solution on Seram Island, Indonesia. 🏝️https://doi.org/10.1177/02780771261463246
Sacred Rituals and Endangered Birds: A Biocultural Approach to Cockatoo Conservation on Seram Island, Indonesia - Dwi Agustina, Dudi Nandika, Rury Eprilurahman, Dwi Sendi Priyono, George Olah, 2026
The Huaulu tribe of Seram Island, Maluku, maintains the sacred Cidaku ritual, in which young men traditionally prove their passage to adulthood by hunting the E...
doi.org
Ancient DNA from colourful feathers suggests live parrots were transported across the Andes in pre‑Incan Peru, revealing complex long‑distance trade networks, reports @natcomms.nature.com: spklr.io/63327EHL8d #EvoBio #PaleoSky
Back to the wild! 🦜 We’re in the Aru Islands researching the illegal parrot trade. We have sampled confiscated cockatoos for genetic and isotope tracking, before releasing them back into the forest alongside BKSDA Maluku, the regional nature conservation agency. 🌿
On Aru, over 170 years since Alfred R. Wallace stepped on shore here and wrote his paper On the Natural History of the Aru Islands, a pioneering work on island biogeography. 🏝️🗺️
On the ground in Tanimbar! 🦜 Alongside our local team & the wildlife police, we’re surveying locally captured parrots kept as pets. Testing these birds for diseases is a vital part of our research programme, helping to safeguard both people and wild parrot populations. 🌿🇮🇩
It is great to be back in the Moluccas, Indonesia, this time conducting a research project on parrots, genetics, and the wildlife trade. I’m grateful for all my local collaborators and the funders (ARC and Fundación Loro Parque) to make this investigation a reality. @arc-gov-au.bsky.social
@paleodnaunizar.bsky.social @dnatimetravel.bsky.social @acadresearch.bsky.social @kingsforensics.bsky.social @natcomms.nature.com
Nature Portfolio@natureportfolio.nature.com · 5mo agoLive parrots were transported over the Andes for their feathers in ancient Peru, according to research in Nature Communications. Analysis of still-colourful feathers found in a Ychsma-era tomb suggests a complex and widespread economy that predates the Incan empire. go.nature.com/4umFAnh 🏺 🧪
15 Jahre dauertes das Forschungsprojekt von @georgeolah.bsky.social - jetzt wurden Daten veröffentlicht. www.deutschlandfunk.de/schon-vor-de...
Uralte Papageienfedern geben Handelsrouten aus der Vor-Inka-Zeit preis
Papageienfedern begeisterten schon in der Vor-Inka-Zeit. Forscher konnten anhand von uralten Grabbeigaben einem Papageienhandel auf die Spur kommen.
deutschlandfunk.de
Our study featured in @science.org written by Christina Larson. @dnatimetravel.bsky.social @paleodnaunizar.bsky.social @anufennerschool.bsky.social @iucaunizar.bsky.social @acadresearch.bsky.social @kingsforensics.bsky.social
Science Magazine@science.org · 5mo agoOn Peru’s arid coast, some ancient elites signaled their power and standing by wearing headdresses festooned with brilliantly colored feathers from birds found in distant rainforests. A new study reveals how they acquired these showy ornaments more than 800 years ago. https://scim.ag/4sJOOZf
Ancient DNA and other clues from feathers found in modern Peru hint that the ancient Ychsma culture imported birds from the distant Amazon go.nature.com/4rWhOge
Live parrots were carried across the Andes before the Incas’ rise
Ancient DNA and other clues from feathers found in modern Peru hint that the ancient Ychsma culture imported birds from the distant Amazon.
go.nature.com
Parrots, ancient DNA, and a long trek across the Andes! 🦜🧬🏔️ Check out the video summary for our latest @natcomms.nature.com paper by @wildlifemessengers.org. We discovered pre-Inca societies transported live Amazonian parrots from the rainforest to the Pacific coast: youtu.be/Vb5eoTaGLO0
Ancient DNA reveals a pre-Inca trade of live parrots
YouTube video by Wildlife Messengers
youtu.be
🦜🏔️ How did vibrant Amazonian parrot feathers end up in a desert tomb on the Pacific coast of Peru 1,000 years ago? Our new paper on @natcomms.nature.com reveals they didn't just trade feathers, pre-Inca societies transported live macaws and parrots across the Andes!👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Ancient DNA and spatial modeling reveal a pre-Inca trans-Andean parrot trade - Nature Communications
Here, the authors combine ancient DNA, stable isotopes, and computational modeling to study colorful feathers from a pre-Incan tomb in Peru. They identify four species of parrots, which were likely ca...
nature.com
Scientists Discover Tiny Spiders Who Build Big 'Decoys' For This Clever Reason https://www.thedodo.com/daily-dodo/scientists-discover-tiny-spiders-who-build-big-decoys-for-this-clever-reason
Scientists Discover Tiny Spiders Who Build Big 'Decoys' For This Clever Reason
Why do you think they build them?
thedodo.com
Authors of new paper on Orb-Weaver #spiders building 'fake spiders' in their webs discuss their work in this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDyS...
Spider Art or Survival? 🕷️ The Mystery of Cyclosa's Fake Spiders | Video Abstract
YouTube video by Wildlife Messengers
youtube.com
Our nature note with @philtorres.bsky.social @aaronpomerantz.bsky.social et al. in @ecol-evol.bsky.social was featured in @science.org #ScienceShots written by @sahasmehra.bsky.social #Cyclosa #decoy #spiders #evolution #Peru #Philippines
Science Magazine@science.org · 9mo agoFor the first time, scientists have documented an unusual defense: Some species of arachnids build giant doppelgängers on their webs, creating a frightening deception that scares off would-be killers. https://scim.ag/487Myn0
VERY EXCITED to see a special little spider I discovered in Peru make it to the big screen. Check out The Secret Lives of Animals episode 3 on Apple TV.
In our new paper with @philtorres.bsky.social @aaronpomerantz.bsky.social et al. published in @ecol-evol.bsky.social we describe the mystery of an orb-weaving spider (Cyclosa sp.) 🕷️ and why they possibly construct larger "spider-shaped decoy" in their webs. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Cyclosa Menge, 1866 (Araneidae) Orb‐Weavers Build Stabilimenta That Resemble Larger Spiders
The orb-weaving spider Cyclosa longicauda from Peru constructs unique stabilimenta from detritus and silk that visually resemble a larger spider. This previously undescribed behavior likely functions....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
