Napoli, J. G. (2026). Resolving the “ontogeny problem” in vertebrate paleontology. Paleobiology, 1–30. doi:10.1017/pab.2026.10105 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

You may have heard about the OMB rule change that will put politics over federal grants. However bad you think it is? It's probably worse. Thanks to @theverge.com for letting me report this one out. There is still time to comment. bit.ly/4v2X4nQ

And of course you can still comment until July 13. Here's where: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20... You might be like "ugh why what does it matter they're gonna to it anyway we're all doomed" and dig further into bedrot. But it matters and here's why:

"Today, the work of the National Academies helps Americans stay safe, educated, and healthy while defining an agenda for future scientific discoveries," writes Neil H. Shubin in a new #ScienceEditorial. https://scim.ag/4oN1gGN

This review was inspired by my recently started Turtle Origins Research Group @smnstuttgart.bsky.social and @unihohenheim.bsky.social funded by a @dfg.de Emmy Noether Grant, which will deal more with this subject. So much more to come! For now, please enjoy: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Exclusive: The National Science Foundation is trimming this year’s budgets for hundreds of its traditional basic science programs by roughly 20% to 30%, even though its overall budget is down just 3%. https://scim.ag/4xY2KCm

😕 🧬 🧪 🤷🏼

Drivers of variation in head shape and bite force in monitor lizards academic.oup.com/biolinnean/a...

Don’t reach for ChatGPT Images or Nano Banana as your first option when creating scientific images There are multiple free and open-source images, icons, and tools for creating scientific illustrations. #plantscience @stephenturner.us blog.stephenturner.us/p/free-open-...

Please consider taking action… @standupforscience.net www.standupforscience.foundation/policy-and-a... #ScienceSky #TechSky #EngineeringSky #MedSky #MathSky #GreenSky 🧪

The strong collective response of the science community to the proposed OMB rule has demonstrated the broad unity that’s possible when we all work together. We'd do well to apply this same level of activation to the larger assaults on science and democracy. My new post: blog.ucs.org/gretchen-gol...

Our official guide to help you write a public comment on the OMB-2026-0034 is here: zurl.co/XgyzA Submit your comment and take additional actions here: zurl.co/RiDuv #StandUpForScience #OMB #Vought #SaveScience #FundScience

So weird that the Trump Administration is pushing for “Gold Standard Science” (TM) while dismantling all the systems in place that would actually facilitate that.

Call your reps -- blue, red, purple, it doesn't matter -- about the proposed OMB science funding rule. The house can stop this. Let them know it matters for your district.

ICYMI -- this is a big deal, and we have a limited time to comment. We need everyone, including (especially!) non-academics to 1) make public comments, 2) write op eds, 3) contact your elected representatives, and 4) ask societies and advocacy groups to speak out against this and mobilize members.

Russell Vought, Director of the OMB, has issued a set of proposed changes that would dramatically alter federal grant funding. However, we can each take action to prevent these from taking effect. Here's how, a 🧵 🧪 1/n www.science.org/content/arti...

Washington is getting a friend!!!! I figured with all of the shows I've been doing in California, and two more quickly approaching, I should spread the love.

Great ?, let's run through it 🧵 Content won't matter to Russ Vought's OMB, they're not on the level. Possibly a large enough number of sufficiently powerful actors submit comments opposed, their combined *political power* could cause Vought to retreat. But it won't be prose that does it

Several people have asked for possible content and structure for comments regarding the proposed OMB regulations. With some suggestions from others, I have posted on example (as a Word document) for downloading). jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g... I hope this is helpful.

Our paper on turtle origins is finally out in Current Biology, with two major implications for our understanding of reptile evolution 🐢 #Paleontology #Turtles #Evolution www.cell.com/current-biol...

🚨New Pub!🚨A new pan-shinisaur lizard (Anguimorpha) from the lower Campanian of Villeveyrac (Hérault, France)🦎🇫🇷by Jansen et al. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The tech industry is gutting our public science infrastructure and hijacking the NSF to be their own R&D department. Not paying taxes is apparently not enough; they need both hands in our pockets. (There’s nothing wrong with funding those fields; it’s funding them only at the expense of others).

The Planetary Society American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Other organizations wishing to endorse the letter may do so, here:

My fellow naturalists, I figured out how to break google AI.

Early draft of our new Tylosaurus miniskull. Lots of little changes to make but this is easier for me to make edits on rather than pointing to a computer screen

SHARE SHARE SHARE youtu.be/ms5DzHgDbN4?...

Phylogenetics is one of the fundamental building blocks of paleontology, but it is arguably the most esoteric and least accessible of them. Confusion over and reproducibility of methods is one major source (1/5) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

I dunno man, a 62-foot-long octopus seems hard to imagine. Curious to see what the discourse around this one will be.

Been thinking marine-reptiley thoughts today. Here's one of my latest #paleoart efforts along that line: Tylosaurus proriger. The colour is based on fossil colour data, although it's far from certain that this animal was black and countershaded. Print link: www.markwitton.co.uk/product-page...

i love seeing monitor lizards swim yesssss go my brave mosasaur cousins you're doing them proud!! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0nO...

There were awards for climate science and plenty in the life sciences. There were a bunch in artificial intelligence but not an absurd number. I would say this is the best news in the federal grants space in the past year.

Hi! I'm not here very often, but I just launched my brand new lab website! I'm also hiring a !!! three-year !!! Postdoc. Interest form link can be found under "The Team" section. (Current domain name is temporary haha. FormorphologyLab dot com coming soon!) badger-mustard-h5jf.squarespace.com

Thinkin about Chuckwallas today. Their main defense strategy is to squeeze into cracks in rocks and then inflate themselves so predators can’t pull them out 📷Polly Conrad

Out today in Antarctic Science: a description of the first vertebrate assemblage from the middle member of the Triassic Fremouw Formation of Antarctica. New occurrences of Procolophoonidae and Prolacerta, as well as updated paleoenvironmental interpretations! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Decoupled phenotypic constraints framed by respiratory adaptation in the rise of land vertebrates | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Geophysicists say there is an increased risks of destructive floods and wild fires due to climate change. A guy who thinks he was teleported to a Waffle House says there's nothing to worry about. For busy Americans, it can be hard to know who to trust.

I am shocked to see this language from the NSF. “The U.S. National Science Foundation's Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request reflects a strategic alignment of resources in a constrained fiscal environment while eliminating woke and weaponized grant programs that previously funded radical DEI projects.”

tl;dr: NIH is running at about 60% of pre-Trump levels and NSF is running at about 20% of pre-Trump levels of funding-outlays (some directorates far below even that). Utterly catastrophic. An unforced disaster for U.S. society, and the world

This is so, so well-articulated.

What is going to make university degrees worthless isn’t niche subjects like languages or the entire human past, it’s charging to teach people “content-creator” skills they can learn on the can

Always repost outstanding lizards. A+ walking lichens 🦎

Allow me to introduce you to Sonselasuchus cedrus, a new bipedal, beaked and herbivorous crocodile-relative that lived during the Late Triassic in North America #paleoart #sciart

And as you think about whether our collections could support your research, a (somewhat incomplete) list of taxa in the Ento collection is here- but if you don’t see a group you’re interested in, please email us! docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Undergrad and graduate students! Could your work benefit from visiting one of the NHMLAC’s collections? Apply for our Collections Study Award, due Apr. 1. I’d love to have students make use of our Entomology collection! Details here: tinyurl.com/bdduefsy

April 1 deadline for @nhm.org Student Collections Study Award. Get $$ to spend time collecting data in our collections, including @tarpits.org Open to: - current undergraduate and grad students - *not* local to Los Angeles (international applicants welcome) More: nhm.org/student-coll...

Seven years of my life were spent preparing this animal!

the #openaccess paper can be found here! www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Happy International Women's Day 💐 Did you know, for every 7 men in palaeontology, there are ~3 women. Women make up 25-35% of global vertebrate palaeontological publishing output. And are most likely to study mammals, while men, reptiles.

🦖 Free Webinar: 200 Years of Vertebrate Paleontology in South Asia Join Dr. Advait Jukar for a fascinating look at the history and future of vertebrate paleontology in South Asia. 📅 March 11 | 12-1 PM ET 🔗 Register: anatomy.org/ANATOMY/Meet...

This is really interesting. There is evidence for strong natural selection on titin (striated muscle elastic component) in snakes and other Squamata/Toxicofera -- especially in wide-gaped snakes. Which makes sense biomechanically. link.springer.com/article/10.1...