🦀 🦞 🦐 Research alert‼️A special issue about arthropod paleontology was recently published in the Journal of Paleontology, honoring the late Dr. Rodney Feldmann. Specimens from the UA Museums' paleontology collection were also used. Read the short news story here: tinyurl.com/bdwp3v2j #FossilFriday

Green epidote from an old teaching collection. It was fun to see minerals that trained geologists in the past. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Love this short opinion piece on “mechanical bypass” in analogy to “spiritual bypass”.

So reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) can't fly, but they are VERY MAGICAL. For example, their EYES CHANGE COLOR during the year & they're one of the few large mammals that can see UV. Golden brown in summer, deep blue in winter. Let's talk about the unique visual adaptations of Rudolph and company.

New paper out! 🧪 On reconstructing dinosaur cognition through contemporary cognitive science - a primer on the function of neurons and cognition, the role of extant animals, thermobiology, tools, arms races, foraging, and model-based cognition. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Another cool paper, glad to see it finally out: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Figuring out the range of error that exists, & factors influencing offsets, between growth marks and ontogenetic age remains a challenge for estimating growth curves from bone histo data. More work like this is needed.

Cool new paper documenting intraspecific variation in the skeleton of Iguana. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... Would love to see more like it. There are recent examples of paleos naming new taxa that could have benefited from this sort of assessment of morphological variation.

Guess the Gem Tuesday!! What do you think these gems are? Hint: it’s made up of spheres. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Fluorite crystal looking as cool as ice. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

I wrote a piece for @theconversation.com about the top dinosaur discoveries of 2025, featuring Zavacephale, Istiorachis, Spicomellus, Nanotyrannus and Huayracursor. Research from @tweetisaurus.bsky.social @valdosaurus.bsky.social, Lindsay Zanno and more: theconversation.com/the-best-din...

🪿✨Calling all birders! ✨🪿 Help contribute to the Auburn Christmas Bird Count on Wed, 12/17! Learn more on our website: 🔗 aumnh.auburn.edu/citizen_scie... #aumnh #auburnuniversity #ornitology #birdwatching #citizenscience #christmasbirdcount #cbc #audubon #fieldworkfriday #fromthefieldfriday

The K/Pg extinction created a buffet for open-ocean fishes. A new paper shows that Pelagiaria underwent an adaptive radiation following the extinction based on new jaw shapes to fill the vacuum @knapprew.bsky.social @evoswami.bsky.social @sternarchella.bsky.social academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

Just a beautiful fold!! I hope even non-geologists can appreciate the beauty of what pressure can do to a rock. #FoldFriday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Fiery topaz from Minas Gerais, Brazil!! Helped by some dramatic lighting. The region is known for its pegmatites, a rock type made of large crystals that can sometimes get massive!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

It is also grossly ironic to use faulty data to cut the statistics program. www.dailynebraskan.com/news/unl-use...

It's over. Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut. www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...

This Megarachne may not actually be a spider, but my spidey senses are still pretty scared of it. #FossilFriday⚒️🧪

Been looking for her and her husband’s mineral collection, if anyone has any info. #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

This is a skull of one of the biggest duck-billed dinosaur species, Edmontosaurus regalis. #FossilFriday⚒️🧪🦖

Guess the Gem time!! What mineral do you think this gem is? Hint: in the past gems of this mineral were called rubies, though now the term refers to corundum. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Great little crystal of bright orange scheelite. It would be surprisingly heavy if you held it due to the tungsten in this mineral. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick. Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.

The decisions we make in public policy have consequences. And when regional decisions intersect with global ones, climate change can exacerbate poor choices. The converse is true as well poor global decisions can have negative impacts on regional & local conditions. 🧪🔌💡☀️💨💧🔋

Here in Canada, our Prime Minister still believes in this fantasy. australiainstitute.org.au/post/this-ca...

Guess the Gem!! What mineral do you think these two gems are? Hint: the blue one is irradiated and heated to get that colour. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Some had difficulties with the link of my previous post. Here is the full link: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧪🌿🌎🦊 #wildlife #MovementEcology #uqar

Have you ever heard of this mineral? Pachnolite was discovered in Greenland and the name translates to frost stone, which is a very cool name. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

🐺 Advantageous snow conditions – in terms of snow depth and density – are among the most important features of the winter landscape for two apex predators, regardless of hunting strategy. Read the full paper here ➡️ buff.ly/pXSMNRK

Become our colleague! - 2yr Postdoctoral position in Palaeo-population genomics at the Center for the Human Past (UU) @humanpastcenter.bsky.social 🧪 Great place to work at (ok, I am biased), integration with archaeologists and linguists + pretty flexible research topic www.uu.se/en/about-uu/...

The metamorphic mineral staurolite with its distinctive penetration twinning forming a cross. It’s positively delightful!! #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death. Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written." Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating. 🧪🧬🧫

As cool and cute as sabre-toothed tigers are, at least I don’t have to fear staring down the maw of Smilodon populator these days. #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪

Ah yes!! Another bacon specimen!! This time it’s banded aragonite. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

BEHOLD the GARgantuan Alligator Gar!!! This is the largest Alligator Gar I’ve encountered; at over 7 feet 10 inches (240 cm) and approximately 55 inches in girth, its weight is estimated at 300 pounds (136 kg)! A true river monster, among the largest caught, tagged and safely released! #GarWeek

Big congrats to Lindsay Zanno and James Napoli on their Nature paper today demonstrating the presence of small bodied tyrannosaurs in the Hell Creek (distinct from T. rex). Very cool stuff, and some nice histo + growth data supporting the result!

Another Tuesday Guess the Gem!! What mineral do you think these gems are? Hint: their streak would be red. #GuessTheGem #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪💎

Another bright mineral!! The element sulphur makes these beautiful crystals. Be careful, sometimes the warmth of your hand can cause these sensitive crystals to crack. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

Bacteria 🦠 🧫 play a crucial role in how animals become fossils! Read about how decay experiments demonstrate that bacteria from the gut dominate the thanatomicrobiome (the internal microbiome of decay) and probably control fossilisation in our new paper! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

first pachycephalosaurid from the Late Cretaceous Two Medicine Formation: effects of the Western Interior Seaway on North American pachycephalosaurid evolution url: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a... #ThunderDome

It’s Geodiversity Day & Mineral Monday!! So I wanted to show you a rare mineral called carletonite, which is usually bright blue but seen here with a pink zonation. It was discovered here in Canada, at the mineral species rich Mont Saint-Hilaire. #GeodiversityDay #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky ⚒️🧪

🚨FOUR tenure track positions in my dept @ucalgary.bsky.social @ucalgaryscience.bsky.social in applied & computational geophysics, subsurface geochemistry, sedimentary geology, and sustainable soil science. careers.ucalgary.ca/search/jobs?... (please reskeet widely!) #academicsky 🧪⚒️🇨🇦

A brilliant palaeontologist, Dr Tsogtbaatar, is facing a tough battle and needs help with medical expenses. Please consider donating or sharing the link: every bit truly helps. Thank you!

Happy 120th Nameday, Tyrannosaurus rex and Albertosaurus sarcophagus!

Joseph Montferrand is a legendary French-Canadian folk hero. A logger who stood up for Francophones, his legend has grown with tales of his strength. Also known as Big Joe Mufferaw, he inspired the Ottawa Redblacks' mascot Big Joe. This is his story. 🧵 1/12

🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪 Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674

At long last, Beth Zaiken’s spectacular He’ll Creek mural is permanently installed in the Sue gallery!

Take a pause from the stress in choosing your votes for Mineral Cup and refresh your palate with this fluorescent bright orange coral-like halite. Minerals are just so cool. #MineralMonday #GeoscienceBluesky #MinCup25 ⚒️🧪

Real skull of Sue the T. rex!! Did you know the one on the full display is a cast that removed the distortion due to crushing that we see here. #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪🦖

FAMM will be particularly useful for researchers seeking to use inter-disciplinary techniques to understand how #Arctic #marine #mammals will respond to the current #ClimateCrisis Open-Access Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... 🧵 🦴/🦴