also, my wife @jennakissel.bsky.social used to teach swimming to kids and is now a librarian and also helps with the MMM education stuff so she is just the awesomeness and so much cooler than I am #2026MMM

NEXT UP: #1 Seed Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) vs Seed #9 Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei)

Of all the things I could have spent my evening on, I did this. #2026MMM #2026mmm

#2026MMM #2026mmm #BoneyardDivision #TeamGilaMonster Art by Valeria Pellicer @veppart.bsky.social

Last Up!!!: 3-seed Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum) vs 14-seed Siberian Salamander (Salamandrella keyserlingii) #2026MMM #2026mmm

i was just thinking the other day how much MMM makes me miss Michelle #2026MMM

NEXT UP: 6-seed Southern Grasshopper Mouse (Onychomys torridus) vs 11-seed Uropygi (Mastigoproctus giganteus) #2026MMM #2026mmm

"After all, science may be serious—but scientists do not always have to be." This line could also be a tag for #2026MMM #2026mmm

I have a paleoanthropology joke but it is really old

given the state of things right now I am really happy to get messages from students who got into grad school! seeing those emails is such a ray of light

i kinda think successfully navigating some academic journal's manuscript submission sites should count as part of the peer review process. Or at the very least there should be confetti or something once you finally get the pdf built and the whole thing uploaded :)

Dogs really like it when kids read Calvin and Hobbes to them! #2026MMM

#2026MMM #LibraryDivision #TeamNileCrocodile Art by Charon Henning @oddangel.bsky.social

I met with AI data labelers in Kenya who are organizing their colleagues to fight the brutal working conditions and horrible pay given to the workers at the "bottom of the AI supply chain." They believe the NDAs they've signed are unenforceable so are speaking out: www.404media.co/ai-is-africa...

The library needs a new sign: unattended children will be told poop hippo facts 🤣

#2026MMM if you liked our money-themed artwork tonight, it's available as stickers in the Erminea shop! 100% of the proceeds go towards supporting the MMM art team! ermineainc.org/shop/

As someone who has written about the evolution of warfare (and peacefare) I co-sign this! #2026MMM

makes sense...It has been established that orangutans are skeptical of changes in their cages (Simon & Garfunkel 1967) and thus would be on alert here. #2026MMM

#2026MMM #MoneyDivision #TeamBeechMarten Art by Olivia Pellicer @opellisms.bsky.social

#2026MMM #MoneyDivision #TeamAsianElephant Art by Mary C. Freisner @maryfreisner.bsky.social

she also joins a lot of my zoom meetings...including one with the Provost who made a special notice of giraffe in the background #2026MMM

my thought process on this skeet: can i find a use for the LHC/Marten thing? i'm not so sure....but i can say it brought a 'paws to things' so i better find an excuse so i can use that! #2026MMM

NEXT UP: 2-seed Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) vs. 15-seed Beech Marten (Martes foina) #2026MMM

probably has a secret power in which they use their cuteness to befuddle their enemies #2026MMM

It is week 1 of #2026MMM and also marks my 10th year as a narrator which is wild! Learned abt the adorableness of the bear cuscus, weirdness of the crypt-keeper wasp, beauty of Aphrodite fish, amazingness of the leaf slug, oh & did i mention adorableness of the bear cuscus!

Even USAID that HAD BEEN the leading purchaser of food grown by American Farmers, helped support wildlife protection by investing in people, parks, & communities in the ecotourism sector. THESE ESSENTIAL USES OF THE PUBLIC ENDOWMENT HAVE BEEN AND ARE BEING DISMANTLED #2026MMM

i mean, i might have wondered a few minutes ago where all the new mmm posts were cause i had been searching for #2025MMM instead of #2026MMM and was super confused about why i didn't see anything new....

Love the reminder that it is not wrong to find joy when and where we can. Even just playing a game, reading a book, or thinking about simulated animal battles in #2026MMM it can be a tool to help save the world and know there is good there

How I feel about my spring semester sabbatical:

Ok this is giving me so much joy today. And for record mine is probably "remember, we're in the Itchy lot" (cause i and my kids say it almost every time we park somewhere big) or the line right before that: "let us never speak of the shortcut again"

Awe..... #2026MMM vibes here

Hooray for science! #2026MMM

Pretty cool news out of that *other* ASU :) 🧪 . This will be really interesting to watch the formula used!

Happy Valentine's day @jennakissel.bsky.social !

Me, watching the Mel Brooks documentary:

An evening prayer for any parents like me whose kiddos have been out of school due to snow (at 9 days in a row of no in person school for mine...) "As my kids lay down to doze, I pray tomorrow the school won't close"

NPR covering the Olympic mascots who are stoats! This is clearly an attempt to win over the coveted #2026MMM crowd (though oddly NPR missed the #StoatsAsMeasurement metric....) www.npr.org/2026/02/02/n...

"Their papers have provided fodder for racist posts on social media and white nationalist message boards that have been viewed millions of times"

But this is my answer:

I ask myself that every day...

One of my favorite moments as a parent was when my oldest daughter was learning to read and she'd read Calvin and Hobbes and laugh so much.

Having to check the local newspaper to see what movies were playing at the theater and the times they start......

As the academic semester is about to start and folks are finishing their syllabus, it is of course time for a new hominin fossil to drop.... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Really liked this piece! Gonna share with my students and colleagues....

A social network for paleoanthropologists, called HominIn.

How I'm walking out of 2025

just to brag for a moment: my students are freaking awesome

This sheds so much light on a really hot topic and will ignite a lot of discussion debate :) www.nature.com/articles/d41...

i made this for my bioanth students cause i like them to know that i apparently have way too much time on my hands :) (thanks to the youtube channel Film Learnin for the tutorial!)