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Andy Farke

@andyfarke.bsky.social
2.7K followers 1.4K following 758 posts

Paleontologist, educator, museum person, open science person, homebrewer, spouse, parent. Homebrewing blog at andybrews.com he/him

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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This was the second time I've been contacted by actual scientists - some of the observations in my field area were of interest to state biologists! For my part, I just enjoy spotting cool animals.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
ambiguous whiptail, which may represent a newly introduced species from outside of the area - my particular part of LA County is not well documented
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
That feeling when your iNaturalist observation turns out to be extra extra interesting to some experts in the field...
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Bruce S. Lieberman @bruceslieberman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
A thoughtful, excellent write up by @richardconniff.bsky.social on the very sad situation @sternbergpaleo.bsky.social museum #paleontology #palaeontology #naturalhistory richardconniff.substack.com/p/another-na...
richardconniff.substack.com
Another Nature Museum Faces Death
Kansas is killing a centerpiece of state and world history. Follow the money.
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Museum of the Rockies @museumoftherockies.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Happy #FossilFriday! Specular #fossils of #Brachylophosaurus have been discovered in the #Cretaceous Judith River Formation of #Montana. This is a complete skull (#MOR794) and a section of skin impressions (#MOR1071 8-98-003) from this duck billed #dinosaur.
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Kiersten Formoso, PhD(epressed) @formorphology.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hi! My World View in Nature Reviews Biodiversity was published today! Read about my three main aims when educating people about topics in natural history. www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
Three ideas to inspire curiosity in natural history education
Nature Reviews Biodiversity - Natural history can captivate the minds of all manner of people for a multitude of reasons, but a shifting media landscape demands adaptation from public educators....
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John P. Friel, Ph.D. @friel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Check out this lovely profile of the University of California, Davis’s Peter Wainwright, whose lifelong fascination with fishes inspired a remarkable career in research and teaching. Peter was my postdoc advisor years ago when he was at Florida State University, and is awesome dude and mentor.
ucdavis.edu
Among the Academies: A Lifelong Fascination With Fish
For Peter Wainwright, the academic path was simple: he simply followed his fascination with fish.“I dare say there wasn't a lot of deep thought about what direction I should go in my life,” he said. “...
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Brandon Bishop @brandontbishop.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
" In contrast to body fossil patterns, most mass extinctions, including the end-Permian event, are weakly expressed in the bioerosional ichnogenus record, whereas the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary shows the most pronounced decline." K-Pg event was *bad* bad.
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The Neotoma Paleoecology Database @neotomadb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
🌿 Neotoma Outreach | Explore Neotoma Data with R 💻 The neotoma2 R package provides an R-based interface to the Neotoma Paleoecology Database, helping researchers retrieve, structure, explore, visualize, and analyze palaeoecological data programmatically. open.neotomadb.org/neotoma2/
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BoneJ @bonej.org · 01/10/2026
📢 Out Now in BoneJ+: Improved 3D skeletonisation performance, on Intel GPUs. Compiler optimisation is back on, giving 🔥 10× 🔥 speedup. Special mention to Windows, whose flakiness exposed buggy behaviour of the unoptimised OpenCL kernel. You *might* have to update your graphics driver 🤷‍♂️
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I am pretty disappointed by the lack of public acknowledgment from the American Alliance of Museums about the situations at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel (which was AAM-accredited!) & the Sternberg. There are lots of museum crises right now, but these are particularly serious.
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Paleontological Research Institution @prinstitution.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Teacher Resource Day is this Saturday at the Museum! PRI's annual Teacher Resource Day has tables full of free fossil and geological specimens and other educational materials for teachers to use in their classrooms. The event is free and exclusively for teachers. See you there!
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Z. Jack Tseng @tsengzj.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Vert paleo curator gig at LSU; see recently published "Vertebrate Fossils of Louisiana" for a preview of the collections and potential projects that can be developed: repository.lsu.edu/spmns/5/
repository.lsu.edu
Vertebrate Fossils of Louisiana
By Suyin Ting, Lorene E. Smith, Connor D. White, et al., Published on 01/01/25
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Freimuth WJ, Lively JR, Zanno LE (2026) Reassessment of the Early Cretaceous North American “troodontid” Geminiraptor suarezarum as a therizinosaurian and mosaic evolution of coelurosaurian maxillae. PLoS One 21(9): e0356471. doi.org/10.1371/jour...
doi.org
Reassessment of the Early Cretaceous North American “troodontid” Geminiraptor suarezarum as a therizinosaurian and mosaic evolution of coelurosaurian maxillae
The only recorded member of the bird-like Troodontidae from Early Cretaceous North America is Geminiraptor suarezarum, known from an isolated maxilla recovered from the Suarez Site bonebed of the basa...
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Tapani Hopkins @tapani-hopkins.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is undramatic, but invaluable, work. How do we know what belongs to which species? - By comparing to the types, the specimens used to describe the species. So where are those types? - Erm can I get back to you, I think someone saw the type of X 50 years ago somewhere in Germany..
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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🚨Postdoc job alert: Come work with my paleontology & evolution group in Edinburgh! Researcher in Cognitive Evolution Over Deep Time. You'll study how brains & neurons have evolved over time, and predict neuron count in extinct species! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DTC355/p...
jobs.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Cognitive Evolution over Deep Time at The University of Edinburgh
Apply for the Postdoctoral Research Associate in Cognitive Evolution over Deep Time role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
It's also why I always remind folks to be careful when talking w/potential donors about institutional needs--any donations are great, but unrestricted donations are usu. best. Someone's passing comment ("it would be so nice to have this program!") can end up as a well-funded institutional albatross.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Yep. All gifts, especially sizable ones, come with strings attached. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it also means that soliciting and accepting donations can be dicey.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I also recognize that professional organizations can't comment on everything, and strongly worded statements are just that, but also it matters to this AAM member to know that *our* organization is paying attention.
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Xavier A. Jenkins @semifossorial.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Out today: We show that Westlothiana lizziae or "Lizzie," described 35 years ago as the world's oldest reptile - is not a stem amniote at all, but a stem tetrapod. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The part and counterpart of the holotype specimen of Westlothiana. Paleoartistic reconstruct of Westlothiana by Jacob Schick based on our new data
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Earlier this morning, I sent an email to the Advocacy & Government Affairs team at AAM, requesting them to take *some* form of action. I think AAM does a good job on many things, but the apparent silence around two *major* closures is a bit disconcerting.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I am pretty disappointed by the lack of public acknowledgment from the American Alliance of Museums about the situations at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel (which was AAM-accredited!) & the Sternberg. There are lots of museum crises right now, but these are particularly serious.
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Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New paper! Brandon Kilbourne conducted a huge data collection effort for the limb muscle architecture (masses, fascicle lengths, pennation angles; thereby PCSAs) of mustelid mammals. We found conspicuous relationships with morphology and locomotor mode. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Muscle architecture in mustelid mammals: anatomical proxies for muscle function and their relation to locomotor habit - BMC Ecology and Evolution
Background Though skeletal adaptations for locomotion in mammals are well documented, possible limb adaptations in terms of muscle architecture have received far less study. Examining mustelid mammals...
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Ugh, yep. I remember visiting a major LA-area museum--the signage by each piece was composed of words I knew, but the order in which they were presented was gibberish. I'm not a stupid person, but wow, the intent of that signage sure seemed to be to show how smart the curator was.
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Thomas Cullen @thomascullen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
With all the news of museums being closed and/or defunded, I feel the message of our paper on the importance of natural history research (and the collections housing those specimens) is just as relevant (or more) today as it was when it was published. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
cover page of the linked paper
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Serjoscha Evers @sirjoscha.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New paper: doi.org/10.1002/ar.7... 🐢 In this paper, our team around Scott Bellotti describe multiple crania and mandibles of Plesiobaena antiqua, a Campanian baenid turte, assess intraspecific variation, and discuss the significance of this variation for baenid taxonomy.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Mojave Desert sunsets are some of the most beautiful in the world!
sunset with clouds brilliantly lit up with oranges and purples
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I'm seeing a lot of statements that universities are inherently risky as parent organizations for museums, or that universities are inherently bad as parent organizations. Please don't forget that stand-alone and government-funded museums have a HUGE share of problems and risks, too!
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Terry McGlynn @hormiga.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I became a biologist because of a museum exhibit. Real artifacts tell stories that are more powerful than anything we can get from scrolling. They are part of our engine for training the next generation of scientists. 🧪 scienceforeveryone.science/the-awesomen...
scienceforeveryone.science
The awesomeness of museums
Genuine artifacts tell the richest stories that fill our souls. And they fuel the scientific enterprise.
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Abeeha Tariq @abeehatariqart.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I’m so proud of this actually
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Raven Amos (Spoopy Edition)🎨🐦‍⬛ @alaskanime.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
I must have been added to some starter packs - hello, new followers! I am a paleoartist taking an on-again-off-again hiatus from drawn #artwork to take care of family members - in the meantime, I make sun catchers! alaskanime.etsy.com/?etsrc=sdt&ref=seller-platform-mcnav&section_id=53007571
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Boak & Bailey (Jess & Ray) @boakandbailey.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
BLOG POST: Does your AI-generated beer app actually contribute something? Is it meeting a real need, or providing new information? Or did you just get excited about being able to make something with zero effort? boakandbailey.com/2026/09/ai-h...
boakandbailey.com
AI has made it easier than ever to make apps nobody asked for
We’ve been inundated lately with AI-written press releases about AI-built tools and websites focused on beer and pubs. Who is asking for this?
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Mr. Escher A. Bug, MSc @escherbug.art · 25/09/2026
As a taxonomist I will always be a little miffed that people who make comics are cartoonists and people who make cartoons are animators and people who make jokes on stage are called comics
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Paleontological Society @paleosoc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
PaleoArt Highlight!🦕 🌲This week we have this fantastic poster featuring the Hell Creek Formation's Triceratops prorsus! 🎨Thank you to @graysev.bsky.social for sending in this impressive piece! Submit paleoart here: tinyurl.com/PSPaleoArt🔗
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Liz Covart @lizcovart.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I’m teaching a workshop this weekend about how historians research. #Skystorians, what are your favorite or most important research tips and tricks? What is your favorite method for finding archives and archival material?
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Corey Callaghan @coreytcallaghan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Do you use #iNaturalist data in research—or advise students who do? We put together a practical guide to using iNaturalist data in scientific research, covering how to access, acquire, analyze, and attribute the data, with examples in R and Python. Paper: doi.org/10.1093/bios... #ecology
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Yep. This always comes from the very best of places, but is never a long-term solution. It's rarely even a short-term solution, even in the optimal situation.
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Brittney Elizabeth Stoneburg @brittandbone.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I've worked for a natural history museum for 11 years at this point (man, yikes) and while it is sad, it isn't surprising to see two major institutions facing closure this year.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Yes!
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Fossils as cultural heritage: Scientific, commercial and legislative issues - Fanti - 2026 - Geology Today - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Fossils as cultural heritage: Scientific, commercial and legislative issues
Fossils are among the principal sources for understanding the history of life through ‘Deep Time’ and can inform projections of biotic responses to environmental change. Despite a widespread recognit...
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
From @peerj.bsky.social - Let them fight: using finite element analysis to determine combative evolutionary drivers of ceratopsian (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) horns peerj.com/articles/217...
peerj.com
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Aaron Kufner @akufner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This one has been a long time coming! I'm happy to share that another chapter of my PhD has been published! In this one, I'm shaking up the taxonomy of North American metoposaurids. This work was largely done in museum collections, and more on that below. peerj.com/articles/217...
A figure with maps showing the distribution of metoposaurid occurrences in Upper Triassic outcrops of western and eastern North America (centered on the USA). The approximate chronostratigraphic ranges of the now five recognized species are plotted, and line drawings of all of the potentially or definitively diagnostic holotypes of North American metoposaurids are included.
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Skye McDavid @skyemcdavid.com · 23/09/2026
I have digitized 四川脊椎动物化石 / The Vertebrate Fossils of Sichuan by He Xinlu (1984) and uploaded it to @archive.org. Useful reference for the fossil record of Sichuan (including today's Chongqing). archive.org/details/he-1...
archive.org
四川脊椎动物化石 / The Vertebrate Fossils of Sichuan
四川脊椎动物化石何信禄编著The Vertebrate Fossils of Sichuan by He Xinlu (Chengu College of Geology)Sichuan Scientific and Technological Publishing House, 1984
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Dr. Rich B @morphometrich.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This would be a major loss for science, paleontology, and the general area in Hays, Kansas, which is a literal hotbed of Cretaceous Paleontology. I am seeing a couple of trusted sources confirming this, but I am hoping this is just a panicky post from someone and will not come to pass.
hayspost.com
Sternberg Museum future in question
" /> By CRISTINA JANNEYHays PostAn employee of the Sternberg Museum of
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Long confused with a certain museum on a high school campus, too...as I have had to state many times, we have no connection with the Government of Melmac or the Imperial Intergalactic Trade Federation
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Dr. Adeene Denton @spacewhalerider.com · 22/09/2026
Geologists made up for this classic blunder by first creating a prequel (the Ancestral Rocky Mountains) and naming several excellent mountain-building epochs (Laramide Orogeny, etc.)
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The tarantulas are afoot! This little fellow was on my front porch when I got home...by coincidence, wandering across Permian-aged fossil footprints from the Coconino Sandstone.
black and dark brown tarantula walking across orangish-tan sandstone slab with raised fossil tracks
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Me too! My sense in looking at these kinds of things (which happen semi-regularly in the museum world and elsewhere) is they are either too optimistic, or assume a steady-state system of incoming cash and then run into trouble when economic headwinds occur, or hope for donors that never materialize.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Maybe? Or perhaps even best for non-emergency stuff, or "emergency" versus "EMERGENCY". This is an area I don't have a ton of experience in, so can't speak too authoritatively.
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Very true! The Form 990 can often be a good guide here (although hard to interpret)...esp. if there is massive shortfalls year to year.
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