Our abstract for #PalAss25! If you are a delegate, come by and say hello. Full abstract booklet: palass.org/sites/defaul...

Pleased to share that I’ll be presenting some research at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association. See you at @thepalass.bsky.social!

This is a Gary Kaiser’s ‘The Inner Bird’ appreciation post. If you’re interested in avian anatomy and evolution, this book is a beginner’s bible.

Blue-footed Booby & Blue-necked Tanager for friendsofabracadaver on tumblr, who donated doubles for a double batch! Thank you! For more info on the #Waymakers challenge + to donate for a bird: act.theyoungcenter.org/a/birdsbeyon... All funds support immigrant kids! 🎨🪶 #BirdArt #SciArt

Walking with dinosaurs on the Isle of Wight, southern England.

That’s one big ammonite! The keel section of a giant ammonite, with enormous ammonitic sutures clearly visible, from the Grey Chalk of Yaverland Beach, Sandown Bay, Isle of Wight, southern England.

Sublime views of the Weald rocks and chalk today at Yaverland Beach, Isle of Wight, southern England.

The visually-beautiful Wessex Formation of the Wealden Sub-basin, Wealden Group, Isle of Wight, southern England.

Support a New Dinosaur Museum and Science Park on the Isle of Wight - Sign the Petition! chng.it/GCNX2rwKnt via @UKChange

Some more urban palaeontology.

Common British #birds as seen along The River Cam; grey heron (Ardea cinerea) and mute swan (Cygnus olor).

My time in Cambridge, doing work on the stilt-legged pan-anseriform Presbyornis.

Very excited to announce my new book (which I've been quietly working away on for the last few years) is available for pre orders! All information and how to order is through this link- crowdfunder.co.uk/p/iowfossilbook

The old Cavendish Laboratory, @cam.ac.uk, where the electron and the neutron were discovered, the structure of DNA revealed, and the atom was split.

☺️

Ouch.

Ouch.

Please repost and share on your networks! We want this to be the biggest, best ICVM ever, and truly international and diverse!

Happy to announce a short reference handbook I’ve been authoring for well over a year! It’s currently in the proofreading/copyediting stage, and should be available somewhat soon.

Many thanks for today’s excellent seminar given by the wonderfully witty @tetzoo.bsky.social!

Some urban palaeontology.

And the coolest birthday present award goes to: (The red-throated loon, Gavia stellata, in its winter plumage).

The feathers of living birds; an eerie parody of those that came 150-million-years-prior. This is a significant must-read: doi.org/10.1186/s128...

A new addition; I foresee this will be my personal bible.

The Whitby Mudstone Formation and Ravenscar Group between Whitby Beach and Saltwick Bay, North Yorkshire.

Dinosaur footprint of the Ravenscar Group, between Whitby beach and Saltwick Bay, probably made by a small theropod. There were more in the surrounding blocks, so they likely represent a trackway. Unsure of the exact horizon, could be the Saltwick Formation.

Always nice to make a new friend during fieldwork.

The impressively massive lower jaws of a bowhead whale, standing tall over Whitby.

The patchy marine fossil assemblages of north Robin Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire. Lower Jurassic, ~195-million-years-old.

The beautiful Middle Jurassic fossil Ginkgo leaves of the Ravenscar Group, Scalby Ness North Bay, Yorkshire.

Made a friend looking for fossils on the Isle of Wight.

The Lower Grey Chalk of Yaverland Beach, Isle of Wight, southern England. ~95-million-years-old.

The Wealden Group of Yaverland Beach, Isle of Wight, southern England. ~125-million-years-old.

A find today from the Lower Limestone of Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland. Stigmaria plant root, ~326.5 million years old.

SAPS! Had an absolutely wonderful weekend at Edinburgh for the FIRST EVER SAPS CONFERENCE!!! Such an honour to be a part of what will no doubt be an essential event for undergraduate students interested in palaeontology.

My lecture plus others this weekend at SAPS 2025.

Fossil cast of the soft-shelled turtle Trionyx, with the unfortunate marks of what was probably its last encounter… (indicated by red arrows).

7 days to go until the Student Association of Palaeontological Societies 2025 conference. If you’re around, feel free to come and see my presentation on the multiple independent origins of avian flight in the Mesozoic!

The spirally-coiled foraminifera Gyroidina under the scanning electron microscope. How quaint!

Pi day. How irrational.

Delighted to announce that I will be presenting at SAPS 2025 in Edinburgh from 29th-30th this month, unravelling the mysteries of avian evolution and revealing the latest research on the dinosaur’s conquest to dominate the skies!

Inspecting the Lower Lias limestone of Charmouth West, Jurassic Coast.

Looking for #fossils on the #dorset coast, southern England.

The beautiful Blue Lias of the Dorset coast, southern England.

Fishy business.

Airpenning Wealden fossils today.

This #FossilFriday, my first attempt at a fossil cast!

Seeing more and more evolution-deniers on social media spouting rhetorical nonsense, and something has become very clear to me: it’s not that they don’t believe in evolution, but more that they just don’t understand it. Science educators are profoundly important.

This White Rock Sandstone on the Isle of Wight represents ancient sediment trampled by dinosaurs, 130 million years ago. This “dinoturbated” block in particular shows a three-toed impression.

Spent time today looking at specimens of the tiny, boot-like trilobite Peronopsis.