Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒

@marspidermonkey

Primatologist. Biological anthropologist. Recovering academic. Mammal Madness fan. Dog mom to the cutest rescue dog. Expertise in social relationships and stress in monkeys, apes, & humans, and the systemic inequities in academia & science. She/her

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Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· 27d

Apparently, today is BOTH #WorldChimpanzeeDay and #WorldOrcaDay! Something female chimps and orcas have in common is they both experience menopause! They also have rich social lives and a reliance on culture to solve ecological problems! Pics are female chimps I studied at the North Carolina Zoo!

Female chimpanzee Ruthie at the North Carolina Zoo. Ruthie is sitting in the grass, and has a thinning hair on top of her head with that stands up in a wiry bristle.

Two chimpanzees in graww at the North Carolina Zoo, walking toward the left. On the right is mother Gerre, and the left is infant Genie.

Hind end of Maggie the chimpanzee at the North Carolina Zoo, showing off her sexual swelling. She is in the grass walking away from camera, and her pink sexually swelling is round and full.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· 27d

It is so easy to record dogs being cute at any given moment that there is no need, EVER, for people to share AI-generated dog content. Benny is judging you.

Boxer mix lying on bedding looking dismayed.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 11

My neighbor got this great pic of a monarch visiting my garden! #bloomscrolling 🌱

Monarch butterfly on pink swamp milkweed.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 11

I had a lovely day kayaking today! No actual pictures of the experience, because I had my phone securely stored for safe keeping.

Set of orange/yellow and blue/green kayaks.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 9

I was getting worried because my swamp milkweed had been blooming but I hadn’t seen any monarchs visiting visitors to my garden yet… But this morning I saw a monarch and swallowtail! No pics of them but it was cool seeing a yellow swallowtail emerge from the yellow flowers. #Bloomscrolling 🌱

Swamp milkweed stalks with pink flowers.

Yellow black-eyed Susan’s and evening primrose.

Black eyed Susan’s with purple echinacea.

Black eyed Susan’s with pink swamp milkweed flowers.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 9

I happen to know a chimp named Kendall, so that name choice makes me giggle!

Michelle in front of zoo glass, with make chimpanzee right behind her shoulder.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 7

Last time I went it was awesome, lots of humpbacks as well as some Risso’s dolphins!

Risso’s dolphin dorsal fin with rake marks

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 7

Despite that, I really loved the book, and I think it’s a really great read for anyone who loves orcas or who wants to understand the complicated relationship that humans have with them. It also concludes with some advice on the best ways to ethically observe orcas in the Pacific Northwest! (10/10).

Cover of "Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us" by David Neiwert against a colorful backdrop. The cover is a beige color, with a stylized black-and-white orca drawing across the lower part of the cover. The title is in a black, calligraphy-style font, with the subtitle in smaller teal text below it, and the author's name is in black text below the orca. At the top is a quote from Gabriella Cowperhwaite, Director of Blackfish: "One of the most comprehensive works to date for anyone who has become entrhalled by this magnificent animal."

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 5

Sometimes Benny feels better holding my hand, but then it turns into claws digging into my arm.

Dog on bedding with paw over human’s hand.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 5

It’s better with meds, but he is so over it!

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 5

He woke up and he does not like the booms.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 4

He is out cold!

Boxer mix sleeping with among toys, bedding, and a laptop keyboard in the background.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 3

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book, as it was a great exploration of the role of anthropogenic pressures on shaping wildlife, and really highlighted the huge progress that a small group of dedicated people can make. (10/10)

Cover of the "The Death and Life of Monterey Bay: A Story of Revival" by Stephen R. Palumbi and Carolyn Sotka against a colorful backdrop. The cover is a photo of an otter in the water in the foreground, with the distant shoreline across the very top. The title is in large orange font under the shoreline, where the reflection of the water is whitish, with the subtitle in smaller black text right above where the water has more shades of blue. The authors names are at the very bottom in white text, undernearth the otter.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 2

I was away for a week and my wildflower garden started to explode! The black-eyed Susan’s and evening primrose, and purple milkweed are blooming and the echinacea and and swamp milkweed is just starting! #bloomscrolling 🌱

Black-eyes Susans with milkweed that’s almost ready to bloom.

Purple milkweed in a cage to protect them.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 1

Is this enough pinnipeds?

Tons of sea lions and possibly some seals hauled out along a harbor breaker wall.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jul 1

I think this is the most boopable snoot, but I’m very biased!

Boxer mix lying on bedding with his nose close to camera.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 30

Wrapping up Pride Month with a few more readings! This one is still on my TBR list, but @anthrofuentes.bsky.social book Sex is a Spectrum addresses why sex cannot be reduced to a binary! (27/n) 🧪🏳️‍🌈 #PrideMonth

Cover of Sex is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary, by Agustin Fuentes. The over is blackm, with the words of the title sideways across the cover of the book in an rainbow ombre, with "Sex is A" on the left side, and "Spectrum" on the right side. The subtitle is in smaller white text in between "is" and "a" and the author's name is the same small white text between "Sex" and "Is"

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 28

I love the color of robin’s eggs.

Half of robin’s eggshell sitting in the grass.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 25

😱 If you see this, post a haunted house 😱

Welsh stone castle with round tower, multiple turrets, and tall stone walls on the edge of a body of water.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 23

Humpback whale earrings go well with my favorite whale dress!

Michelle wearing blue sleeveless whale print dress, with a teal background and whale shapes in dark blue and light blue dolphins, wearing silver humpback whale earrings.

Close up of shoulder with sleeveless whale print dress and silver humpback whale earrings.

Close up of shoulder with sleeveless blue whale dress and silver humpback whale earrings

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 21

Some of my purple milkweed is blooming! #bloomscrolling 🌱

Purple milkweed plant, with pinkish-fuscjia flower clusters, among clover, swamp milkweed, and other plants.

Purple milkweed blooming, with fuschia flower clusters clusters, among other green vegetation.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 21

Made my first berry cobbler of the summer!

Berry cobbler, with uneven coverage of topping on the berry mix in the dish.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 19

Good timing, I am actually reading about humpbacks right now!

Page from Asha de Vos “Whales, an Illustrated Biography” with a drawing a humpback whale fluke, with a caption noting it’s the fluke of a young Arabian Sea Humpback Whale.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 18

Yes! My dog is EXCELLENT at that particular form of communication:

Boxer mix lying in rug, with one paw and his head resting on human’s black sock. He’s looking up with adorable puppy dog eyes, thanks to the muscles on his forehead.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 16

New pretties from @peculiarityshop.bsky.social!

Silver dangling humpback whale earrings. Each earring has two humpbacks, one bigger and one smaller, swimming together.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 15

Benny affirms that verdict!

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 9

I enjoyed reading this book, but finished the book feeling really discomfited about some of its subject matter. It’s clearly aimed at inspiring us to care about octopus, but doesn’t grapple with the implications of how that care should move us. (12/12)

Cover of Sy Montgomery's "The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness" against a colorful backdrop. The cover has shades of blue around the edges, fadingto white in the center. The central image is a purple octopus, with a head with no clear eyes and eight arms waving in different directions. The title is orange text at the top in the shape of an arc, with the subtitle underneath in smaller blue letters above the octopus. The author's name is under the octopus in similar orange font to the title, and below, in the same blue text as the subtitle, it says "Author of The Good Good Pig." At the upper right, is a seal stating it is a National Book Award finalist.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 6

PSA that this clown is trolling and screenshotting scientists posting about queerness in nature to his 488 followers. I made the mistake of trying to engage, but clearly I should have blocked him immediately!

Screenshot from Chris Pool of a post about pride month and clownfish transition, complaining about being blocked after trolling it and calling it anti scientific.

Screenshot from Chris Pool, calling Michelles’s post of a Scientific American infographic of the intersex spectrum.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 4

Happy #PrideMonth! To celebrate, I'm starting a thread of readings on queerness in animals/evolution, and keep adding throughout the month. I'll include a mix of writing for popular audiences as well as some scientific articles and book recommendations! 🧪 🏳️‍🌈 (1/n) Nature has ALWAYS been queer! 🌈

Graphical abstract with a drawing of two bonobos copulating on branches with greenery in the background, and a researcher wearing a pride mask sitting with a clipboard observing.

In the upper right text box above the researchers's head, the text has "Are bonobos just gal pals? (in bold), with bullet points:--same-sex "sociosexual" behavior is often treated as social rathan than sexual, --we overn overlook social functions in mixed-sex sexual behavior, --we should study social and sexual functions across all sex pairings!"

In the bottom left, under the bonobos, is another text box, with the bolded text: "LGBTQ+ scientists provide a situated perspective that expands our understanding of social and sexual behavior within queer frameworks."

The graphical abstract is from Graham and Rodrigues (2026), "Just Gal Pals! The Differential Treatment of Sexual Behavior Among Nonhuman Great Apes,'" in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology.

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒@marspidermonkey· Jun 4

Here’s my buddy with his bestie!