‼️Research Alert + #FossilFriday‼️ New paper by Cruz et al. @thepalass.bsky.social about the role that ornamentation plays in drilling predation by gastropods in deep-water ostracod prey. Turns out that ornamentation did not deter predation but did influence predation behavior. doi.org/10.1111/pala...

Tree space mapping made easy: Map landscapes of phylogenetic trees in TreeDist without installing R! ms609.github.io/TreeDist/app/ (Allow a minute for the app to load.)

Back home after a fantastic week of fieldwork in the Middle #Jurassic of Portugal 🇵🇹🐚 Tiring days, but incredibly rewarding ones. Working alongside the international M-JET team in the field has been a great privilege ⛏️🪨 Looking forward to studying the samples and bringing news soon!

Mazon Monday #338: Howellitubus whitfieldorum… The Mazon Creek Worm That Wasn’t #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #annelid #worm #pennsylvanian #carboniferous #polychaete The… https://esconi.org/2026/08/mazon-monday-338-howellitubus-whitfieldorum-the-mazon-creek-worm-that-wasnt/

Mazon Monday #338: Howellitubus whitfieldorum… The Mazon Creek Worm That Wasn’t

The history of Mazon Creek paleontology is filled with fossils that have been reinterpreted as new species when new information became available. Animals have been moved from one group to another, species have been renamed, and some fossils once thought to represent animals have turned out to be something else entirely. There are even some, like Tullymonstrum gregarium, whose place on the tree of life is still being determined. Another particularly interesting story is Howellitubus whitfieldorum. Howellitubus whitfieldorum was described by Eugene Richardson Jr. in the 1956 Fieldiana paper "Pennsylvanian Invertebrates of the Mazon Creek Area, Illinois - Marine Fauna". Richardson described it as an annelid worm of class Chaetopoda and family Serpulidae.

esconi.org

No Bergmann's rule for megalodon: "regressions yield positive slopes..contradicting... Bergmann’s rule..nursery designation explains a substantially greater proportion of body size variation.." Should we be surprised for a global predator? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... 🧪⚒️ #Paleobio

Gerbe et al. (2026-08, PalZ) 「古生代前期の寄生生物に潜む多様性：オルドビス紀のオルステン型の舌虫類（シタムシ）からの新たな知見」 Hidden diversity in Early Palaeozoic parasites: new indication from Orsten-type Ordovician pentastomidans (tongue-worms) doi.org/10.1007/s125...

Our latest: Xinyuan Meng @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social describes Bataspis crux, expanding galeaspid (jawless fish) disparity with a bat-like head adapted for dynamic lift. Xinyuan's study was aided by @ferronhg.bsky.social Davide Pisani, Zhikun Gai and myself. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Happy to present the latest work from my PhD as an advance article in @journal-evo.bsky.social today! David Evans and I present an analysis of feeding mechanics in an ontogenetic series of the hadrosaurid Corythosaurus, the first of its kind in dinosaurs. A thread [1/12] doi.org/10.1093/evol...

Ontogenetic changes in the cranial biomechanics of a crested hadrosaurid dinosaur

Abstract. Mesozoic ecosystems differed from the present in the abundance of large-bodied herbivores that grew through several feeding envelopes, raising th

doi.org

This #FossilFriday I’m sharing a lovely#Ediacaran Hiemalora from Conception Bay North #Newfoundland. A rather atypically wiggly one. They are most likely holdfasts of something, but it’s a bit of a mystery what. They are known from about 570Ma to 550Ma This one is from the Trepassey-Fermeuse Fmn.

#wormwednesday!

ESCONI@esconi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Mazon Monday #330: A New Mazon Creek Worm #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #Carboniferous #Pennsyvanian While you were getting ready to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, a new fossil polychaete from Mazon Creek was being introduced to the world! esconi.org/2026/07/mazo...

We’re looking for a talented museum conservator to join our team! Reporting directly to the Senior Conservator, they’ll be responsible for the preservation of the Museum’s large and diverse collections of artifacts and specimens. Full job details: https://manitobamuseum.ca/conservator/

If you zoom in on an aquatic insect, you might see a mite! These larval mites were on the underside of a giant water bug specimen. As parasitic larvae, they attach to and feed on the blood of their host. Once they're nymphs, they drop off the host and become active hunters, looking for smaller prey.

Years ago I was able to visit a museum with this fantastic model of the Cambrian worm Ottoia! Interpreted to have been an early priapulid worm ("archaeopriapulid") ! They had a lovely model of it! #wormwednesday

Mazon Monday #330: A New Mazon Creek Worm #fossils #paleontology #MazonCreek #MazonMonday #Carboniferous #Pennsyvanian While you were getting ready to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, a new fossil polychaete from Mazon Creek was being introduced to the world! esconi.org/2026/07/mazo...

Coming to you live this #FossilFriday from the Cleveland Member of the Ohio Shale Formation.

Spiky Productid Brachiopod #paleoart #brachiopod #3danimation #Blender3D #SciArt

If you're into brachiopods, or just brachiopod curious, here is an article on brachiopods that I helped write (a little bit, Sandy Carlson did most of the heavy lifting and cat-wrangling) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #paleontology #evolution #brachiopod

Brachiopoda 2025: A review and update

This review article on brachiopods is intended to serve several different research communities. First, those who do not study brachiopods — provide th…

sciencedirect.com

When did liverwort oil body cells originate? Here, Susan and I provide quantitative evidence that they emerged by at least the Middle Devonian (~390 Ma!), shedding light on a key anti-herbivory defense mechanism of early land plants!

New Phytologist@newphyt.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Homology of the dark cells of Paleozoic liverworts with the specialized oil body cells of modern liverworts (Marchantiophyta) Tremblay and Mercadal nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/BWYYSE...

Apsopelix anglicus, a Cretaceous fish from Kenville, Manitoba. Fossils like this provide a glimpse into the marine ecosystems that covered much of central North America around 80 million years ago. #Fossils #Paleontology #Cretaceous #NaturalHistory #Museum

While drilling for rocks in Two Creeks, Manitoba, this tiny tooth plate was discovered within a rock core sample. About 350 million years old, this fossil comes from a group of cartilaginous fish known as the Holocephali and is a rare example of a fossil from the Carboniferous Period. #FossilFriday

Another #FossilFriday offering from recently uncovered #Ediacaran rocks at #InnerMeadow of #Newfoundland! :)

Duncan McIlroy@dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Happy #FossilFriday from the #Ediacaran of #InnerMeadow. This week i would like to share something newly uncovered & new to the site large deep disks, and the charniid #Rangeomorphs Trepassia sp and Charnia gracilis lying next to one another as they have for 551 million years. What a privilege!

Head of the replica of Bruce, the largest mosasaur ever discovered. An incredible sight at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre. #Mosasaur #Paleontology #Fossils #Manitoba

The fossil of a pliosaur, laid out almost exactly as it was found. The remarkable preservation of the skull and jaws contrasts with the rest of the skeleton, which was scattered by currents and scavengers. #Paleontology #Fossils #Pliosaur #Sharks

The largest trilobite ever found: Isotelus rex. This specimen is 72 cm long. I finally saw it! 😀 Photographed today at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg. #Trilobite #Fossil #Paleontology #Evolution #ManitobaMuseum

It's very difficult to work out the relationships between spiral cleaving phyla. With interesting implications for their origins and the interpretation of Cambrian fossils. Work by @anaserrasilva.bsky.social. Supported by @leverhulme.ac.uk.

Ana Serra Silva@anaserrasilva.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Now officially out in @elife.bsky.social! See how @maxjtelford.bsky.social and myself approached resolving spiralian relationships. doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Was pleasantly surprised to find a new exhibit featuring some interesting #fossil displays at Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg. Some really neat pieces on display and beautiful artworks, definitely worth checking out. #FossilFriday

Read the first review in our new special collection- Perspectives on the Systematics of Fossil Organisms: Challenges and Opportunities. A decade after Deuteropoda – insights into the systematics, evolution and dynamics of Cambrian euarthropods by Ortega-Hernández. 🔗 buff.ly/r4sZQez #PaleoSky

Ortega-Hernández (2026-06, Journal of Systematic Palaeontology) 「Deuteropoda提唱から10年：カンブリア紀の真節足動物の体系学，進化，動態への洞察」 A decade after Deuteropoda – insights into the systematics, evolution and dynamics of Cambrian euarthropods doi.org/10.1080/1477... 出版！ Now published!

A decade after Deuteropoda – insights into the systematics, evolution and dynamics of Cambrian euarthropods

The systematics and evolution of Cambrian euarthropods have undergone a major transformation in recent years owing to the continued discovery of new species from sites with exceptional preservation...

doi.org

Hoyaboya@hoyaboya1.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Ortega-Hernández (2026-04 preprint, PaleorXiv)（オープンアクセス open access） 「Deuteropoda提唱から10年：カンブリア紀の真節足動物の体系学，進化，動態への洞察」 A decade after Deuteropoda – insights into the systematics, evolution and dynamics of Cambrian euarthropods doi.org/10.31233/osf...

Happy #FossilFriday which is this week brought to you from the #Ediacaran MUN Surface in @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social . The exceptional preservation that characterizes that surface is well seen in this ? #culmofrons. A #rangeomorph with branches showing only one 1/2 of the biserial form.

Apparently there no exceptions to the Cambrian Explosion: "the early appearance of a differentiated stenolaemate crown group indicates a still deeper origin for the bryozoan stem lineage than was first apparent." doi.org/10.1038/s415... 🧪⚒️ #Paleobio #Geology #EvoBio