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Kenneth De Baets

@djbirddanerd.bsky.social
745 followers 1.1K following 303 posts

Paleobiologist @ibe-warszawa.bsky.social into cephalopods, parasites, funny tees and movies; Paleontology/Evolution Section Editor @PeerJLife ; previously @palaeofau. Avatar after Jacek Yerka also on @djbirddanerd@ecoevo.social

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Reposted by Kenneth De Baets
Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
If you missed it last week, we published the largest ever study on emerging infectious diseases. Not really in vogue right now, but the next pandemic will come sooner than you think. Key lessons: nature-based solutions where you can, health system strengthening always. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
The anthropogenic fingerprint on emerging infectious diseases
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Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 19h
Very excited to see this new review article, 'The Fossil Record of Bioerosion,' by Mark Wilson, @nhmbryozoa.bsky.social, & others! Published online in Journal of Paleontology (@paleosoc.bsky.social) & #OpenAccess. Looking forward to diving in & reading it later.
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 21h
I'm actually impressed the review process seemed swift enough for this name to still reference the current arc
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Iñaki Ruiz-Trillo @multicellgenome.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
#Evolution can innovate without inventing. Cell type families can retain ancient regulatory “vocabularies”, while individual cell types evolve by reshuffling how those motifs are combined. @natecoevo.nature.com New cell types from old regulatory words. We like this! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
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PARADIVE UW @paleoparadive.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🦠 We're hiring a 2-year postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Warsaw, to join the PARADIVE lab: euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/469223
euraxess.ec.europa.eu
Assistant Professor (post-doc) - Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw (WB-KG-15/2026)
The position of Assistant Professor in the programme/project/undertaking The impact of mass extinctions on parasite diversity and evolution.
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
#Fossils #PoopScience
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Reassessment of #Miocene putative #coprolites from Poland suggests a biogenic origin and probable #squamate (reptilian) producers: peerj.com/articles/217... @peerj.bsky.social supported by size/morphology, surface striations, hair-like inclusions and associated putative reptile remains #paleobiology
Six Miocene coprolite fossils (A–F) shown alongside modern reptile faeces (G–L) for comparison. The fossils are irregular, flattened, dark-brown masses; specimen C has a distinctive striated surface texture. The modern samples come from an iguana, a Madagascar boa, a boa snake, and a tortoise, appearing as similar brownish, segmented or lumpy droppings. Panels M and N are microscope photos of hair-like structures inside specimen A, each marked with a yellow line showing the thin-section cut. Scale bars: 1 cm for the specimens, 100 µm for the microscope views. See: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21755/fig-2A grid of small vertebrate fossils from Bełchatów, Poland (scale bars 1 mm). Highlighted putative reptile finds: A, a possible reptile tooth crown shown from two sides; B, a crocodile tooth, slender and pointed; G, a rounded osteoderm (bony skin plate) in dorsal and ventral view; and N, a putative squamate bone fragment shown in three orientations. The remaining panels show mammal and amphibian remains: bat and hedgehog teeth, a possible frog bone, rodent incisors, and numerous mole and shrew-like insectivore teeth (Desmanella, Plesiosorex, Talpinae, Plesiodimylinae), plus a lagomorph tooth and a desman molar. Scale bars: 1 mm. 10.7717/peerj.21755/fig-3Thin-section and electron microscope images of probable coprolites from Bełchatów, Poland. A and B show entire thin sections of two coprolites — pale, elongate slices with darker internal material. C and D are optical microscope views of the coprolite matrix; E and F are backscattered electron images of the same, showing scattered pale inclusions in a darker groundmass. G, H, and I are SEM close-ups revealing clusters of siderite and iron oxides/hydroxides — granular, bright mineral aggregates labelled "Sd" and "FeO(OH)" — in the coprolite matrix. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.21755/fig-5
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UNITED24 @u24.gov.ua · 28/09/2026
russia struck the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv. Employees of the academy attempted to jump from the windows, as flames engulfed the building. russia rejoices in killing people who make this world a better place, while its war criminals turn cities to ruins.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
My former colleagues, Mark Cane and Stephen Zebiak, were the first to successfully predict El Niño more than a year in advance in the late 1980s. Now we’re really good at it, and know the consequences. It’d be irresponsible for governments not to take action. Read this from my buddy Jeff Shaman.
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Super El Niño Comes Bearing One Gift: Time to Prepare (Gift Article)
There’s still time to prepare.
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Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
J. Alroy's (johnalroy.bsky.social) article on the unreliability of the coverage-based rarefaction; also known in paleontology as the SQS subsampling, in estimating species richness. Use other techniques folks... nsojournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...
Violin plots (Adler et al. 2025) showing diversity estimates yielded by seven estimators when applied to data simulated under three distributions.
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beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Three panel comic. Panel 1: a horseshoe crab watches as a variety of prehistoric creatures swim towards an ethereal light. An ammonite calls back to the crab, “come on, horseshoe crab! We’re all evolving!” Panel 2: the horseshoe crab stays in position and replies, “nahh that’s crazy” Panel 3: the horseshoe crab is superimposed in front of a future premonition: a rather miserable-looking human slouched in the glow of a desktop computer. The horshoe crab swims away and says, “good luck tho”
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PaleoGalli @paleogalli.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
O destino do suposto vômito de plesiossauro dos depósitos deltaicos do Jurássico da plataforma norueguesa www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
The fate of supposed plesiosaur vomit from Jurassic delta deposits offshore Norway | Geological Magazine | Cambridge Core
The fate of supposed plesiosaur vomit from Jurassic delta deposits offshore Norway - Volume 163
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Christoph Bautz @christophbautz.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Am 9. Oktober passiert ein Schulterschluss, auf den wir lange hingearbeitet haben. Die Erneuerbaren-Branche geht zusammen mit der Zivilgesellschaft auf der Straße. Die Botschaft ist klar: Wir wollen Planungssicherheit & Tempo beim Ausbau der Erneuerbaren – keine neuen fossilen Abhängigkeiten.
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Richard Dearden @euphanerops.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Fan of weird end-Permian-surviving fossil sharks? Check out our preprint describing the first endoskeletal fossils of Carnian jalodontiform Keuperodus brodiei. #FossilFriday doi.org/10.64898/202... Led by Ryan Tokeley (no bsky), based on his great masters project work @nitroshutter.bsky.social
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Russell Garwood @russellgarwood.co.uk · 15/09/2026
Interested in how species diversity is split between major animal groups? Here is the infographic for you! 🧪⚒️🦀🦑 #evosky
An infographic showing the number of described and estimated species for major animal groups. There are more insects than anything else. Of the remaining groups, arachnids and nematodes are the most diverse.
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George Smiley @mc2020.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/... #LIHOP
haaretz.com
Netanyahu got an explicit warning before Oct. 7. He didn't brief security chiefs
In September '23, UAE President bin Zayed called Netanyahu to deliver a harsh warning. Netanyahu did nothing. An extensive investigation, conducted for a new book, reveals the PM's failures surroundin...
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Harriet B. Drage @harriedrage.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Interested in fossil arthropods, palaeoecology, dispersal, and interesting methods? 🦀 🌎 I'm hiring a 4-year, fully funded PhD student at the University of Geneva as part of my European Research Council (ERC) grant. Deadline: 16th October. Reach out if any questions! www.unige.ch/sciences/ter...
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 03/09/2026
Soundscapes of ancient forests are made possible through reconstructions of the sound-producing structures of insects from the Jurassic period. These ancient relatives of today’s katydids lived in what is now Inner Mongolia, China. In PNAS: ow.ly/xee550ZISxP
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Dr. Or M. Bialik |📚|🔬|🌊|⚒️ @obialik.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
We also get to have some cool stuff from time to time - anyone wants to know how Jurassic insects sounded like? Because now we know. 🧪 Link: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.26151…
Reconstruction of main vibration of the stridulatory wing cells based on FEA models of nine fossil wing geometries. Deflection maps indicate relative minimum (blue) and maximum (red) deflection of the involved wing cells (see color scale). The quality factor Q (peak width at −3 dB) is measured from the fundamental frequency (dashed red line).
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Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Wonderful world of cephalopod evolution in deep time... " Here we provide an overview of some exciting fields in cephalopod research, where (in our biased opinion) the most impressive advances have been made." 🧪⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio #EvoBio www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Morphological changes during the evolution from bactritids (top) to the first and slightly derived Devonian ammonoids and changes in ecology.
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John Alroy @johnalroy.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
Phylogenetic relatedness predicts spatial co-occurrence in Neotropical bats and birds. A new paper by Anikó Tóth with Kate Lyons, Drew Allen, and me. Includes Drew's great new method of inferring interaction processes based on co-occurrence data. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Effects of phylogenetic distance, niche overlap and habitat alteration on spatial co-occurrence patterns in Neotropical bats and birds | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Ecological interactions influence which species can coexist locally, but assessing the effects of interactions on species distributions at landscape to regional scales has proven challenging. Here, we...
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Interpreting Biotic Interactions in the Fossil Record: Evidence and Evolutionary Significance #paleobiology #paleobiology #fossils #ecology #evolution #EarthHistory #biodiversity
doi.org
Interpreting Biotic Interactions in the Fossil Record: Evidence and Evolutionary Significance
Fossil biotic interactions (fBIs) provide a critical but underutilized window into the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of life through time. Unlike modern ecological data, the fossil record captu...
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
#Cephalopod #paleobiology and #evolution: new #insights, rising #problems, and #perspectives: doi.org/10.1017/jpa.... #paleontology #fossils #ammonoids #coleoids #nautiloids #openaccess
doi.org
Cephalopod paleobiology and evolution: new insights, rising problems, and perspectives | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core
Cephalopod paleobiology and evolution: new insights, rising problems, and perspectives
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Attention Philadelphia! We're hosting a rally to demand that Drexel University maintain The Academy of Natural Sciences Museum open to the public. Join us on Tuesday morning at 10am in front of the academy. Please spread the word, we need all hands on deck! RSVP here: luma.com/1qwnrqz2
A dinosaur on a white background with the text SAve the academy of Natural sciences museum rally Tuesday Sept 8 10am in front of the academy 1900 ben Franklin Parkway. "Tell Drexel University "Keep the museum open!" with the logos for Philly Science Action, Skype a Scientist, and Green Philly
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Rachel Warnock @rachelwarnock.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Elegant study on experimental taphonomy, links to broader discussions about phylogeny and molecular dating led by @taphonomist.bsky.social - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Jessica McKenzie @jessimckenzi.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The country’s oldest natural science research institution and museum will close its doors at the end of the month.
nbcphiladelphia.com
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University to close museum on Sept. 30
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will close its museum in Philadelphia on Sept. 30, 2026, NBC10 confirmed.
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beetle moses @beetlemoses.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Two panel comic. Panel 1: breaking news drone footage of an overturned truck with a giant barrel in place of a cargo bed, floating in a body of water. A fire truck and some locals surround the scene. On screen text reads: “BREAKING; Whisky truck crashes into Loch Ness” Panel 2: the Loch Ness monster is facedown in a bush, totally passed out. A local Scot security guard is passing by in a golf cart. He exclaims, “Crikey— what’s this!?”
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Akrotelm 🌾 @akrotelm.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Es ist wirklich ein besonderes Vergnügen telefonisch Kontakt zu diesen "Landwirtschaftsbetrieben" herzustellen. Man landet in irgendwelchen Notariaten und niemand weiß von nix...
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Natalie Metzger @thefuzzyslug.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I think they might be biased #InverteFest
a sketch of a plump leech with a smile in their suckhole mouth wiggling and saying “hooray for parasitism!”
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Rebecca Sear @rebeccasear.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Ghent University members are asking for support, so its institution can investigate Cofnas as its regulations require, and because: "appeals to absolutist academic freedom as a guise for pursuing racist and pseudoscientific research threaten the integrity and credibility of research as a whole"
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kate bush’s husband @airbagged.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
RIP TO ONE OF THE GREATEST TO EVER DO IT
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Rest in peace: Dolly Parton
archive.org
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Dr Claire Asher @claireasher.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
What happens to our used clothes after we donate them to charity? Every year, over 90 million tonnes of textiles waste is produced globally, but less than one per cent of that is recycled or reused. My latest for @sciencefocus.bsky.social: www.sciencefocus.com/science/clot... 🧪
sciencefocus.com
You really don't want to know what happens to your donated clothes | BBC Science Focus Magazine
You may want to hold onto and repair that damaged outfit
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J Pardo @jdpardo.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Couple thoughts on the recent resurgence of "scientific" racism. 1) This is usually treated as a science=head/humanities=heart problem. It is increasingly clear that this is a false framing. Lot of major players are emerging within the humanities (esp phil. depts). Biosci is largely steering clear
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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 24/08/2026
This piece is great and I wish to staple it to several scientists' foreheads. And while it's about the creation of text, I think it also applies to writing codes, since many (for example, cosmological) codes are publicly available, which means LLMs have vacuumed them up.
carlsonlab.bio
The only reason you’ll ever need not to write with AI — The Carlson Lab
Over the last year, our lab has been developing a policy on AI use. To do this, we did three main things: We read a lot of academic publications and tech news. We set up an #ai channel on our la...
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DMZ - NEWS @dmz.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Die SVP und die Neutralität: Wenn Geschichte zur politischen Glaubensfrage wird www.dmz-news.online/2026/08/23/1...
dmz-news.online
Die SVP und die Neutralität: Wenn Geschichte zur politischen Glaubensfrage wird
Die SVP hat sich am Samstag in Baar praktisch geschlossen hinter die Neutralitätsinitiative gestellt. 368 Delegierte stimmten dafür, eine Person enthielt sich
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Veeloxxy Bites @the-episiarch.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Cymbasoma is a little monster with a bizarre life cycle - as juveniles they grow inside the body of polychaete worms until they come bursting out like a chestburster. As adults, they have no mouth and they must find a mate. 🧪 dailyparasite.blogspot.com/2025/11/cymb...
dailyparasite.blogspot.com
<i>Cymbasoma</i> sp.
Floating amidst the ocean's plankton is a tiny monster, it has no mouth and it must mate, after which it will give birth to a new generation...
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roterote @roterote.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Here is the full suspension letter from UGent that was sent to Nathan Cofnas, it shows ample reason for his suspension and potential termination. Including breach of contract, using the University of Ghent’s name and legitimacy to promote his racial supremacist views and causing reputational damage.
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American Rivers @americanrivers.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
The Endangered Species Act long protected species by preventing “harm” to their habitat. But the administration recently changed the definition of “harm” to exclude protected species' "habitat", leaving these places vulnerable to destruction. 🐟 Learn more: www.americanrivers.org/2026/08/the-...
americanrivers.org
The Endangered Species Act No Longer Includes Protection of Habitat
For more than 50 years, the Endangered Species Act has protected species from going extinct and disappearing from our planet forever. Animals and plants alike have benefited from these protections, an...
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Charles Thistlethwaite @charlest.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Rising atmospheric CO2 levels, which have increased dramatically since the Industrial Revolution from 280 parts per million (ppm) to the current 425 ppm, may be altering human blood chemistry with potentially dangerous consequences. #climatechange time.com/article/2026...
time.com
How Climate Change Is Messing With Your Blood
Our blood chemistry is changing as carbon emissions rise, reveals a new study.
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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 20/08/2026
Dawn of the dinosaurs demonstrates early diversification bursts and a potential role for neutral dynamics during major evolutionary radiations: doi.org/10.1098/rspb... #ProcB #evolution #palaeontology
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Cieplejsze oceany, mniejsze zwierzęta. Przełom w badaniach nad efektem Liliputa
serwisnaukowy.uw.edu.pl
Cieplejsze oceany, mniejsze zwierzęta. Przełom w badaniach nad efektem Liliputa - Serwis Naukowy UW
Gdy oceany się ogrzewają, niektóre zamieszkujące je organizmy stają się mniejsze. Najnowsze badania pokazują, że ten zapisany w skamieniałościach wzorzec powtarza się od setek milionów lat. Czy powinn...
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Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD @arghavansallesmd.medsky.social · 19/08/2026
“Have you tried putting it in Claude?” No, I have not. I am not interested in outsourcing my brain to an algorithm that steals from everyone and makes stuff up while also requiring so many resources it’s hastening the climate apocalypse.
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Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
🧬 A new genome assembly of Echinomermella matsi, an enigmatic, body cavity parasite of the green sea urchin, will help illuminate the biology of this poorly understood marine species. 🪱 Find more in the June issue of #G3journal 🔗 buff.ly/10KlTwF 📷️ credit: @holovachov.bsky.social
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Simon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
This #etymology #map is awesome! The word 'shark' in various European languages. The English term comes from an old word for villain. Didn’t know that. Source: buff.ly/2LgiJn2
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
I recently did a cover illustration that didn't make it, but go read the paper if you're interested! It's really fascinating. #Art #SciArt
dark illustration showing a raven and an otter circling around a glowing circle with a nematode inside
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Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The timescale of #nematode #evolution reveals late and convergent radiations of #parasitism: dx.doi.org/10.1038/s415... You should be able to access it here: www.researchgate.net/publication/... #Fossils #Evolution #Parasites #Genomics #Nematodes
dx.doi.org
The timescale of nematode evolution reveals late and convergent radiations of parasitism - Nature Ecology & Evolution
Establishing a universal evolutionary timescale of nematodes has been complicated by their patchy fossil record and analytical limitations. Combining genomic data from 156 nematode species with fossil...
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Palaeoverse @palaeoverse.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Our new Zulip community workspace is live! This is a place to connect with other palaeontologists and discover/share: 👩‍💻 Upcoming conferences & workshops 💼 Job opportunities 📄 Publications 💰 Grants & funding prospects 📚 Resources (e.g. books & websites) Join here: palaeoverse.org/zulip/join-z...
A flyer advertising the new Palaeoverse Zulip workspace: Join our new community workspace on Zulip! A place to connect with fellow palaeontologists, share the latest news, and discover new research, opportunities, events, and more! 

Upcoming conferences and workshops.
Job opportunities.
New publications.
Grants and funding opportunities.
Resources such as books, talks, and course materials.

https://palaeoverse.org/zulip/join-zulip/
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Joseph W. Brown @josephwb.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I don't know how to make this go away (forever) :/
Screenshot of an Evolution paper. At the bottom of the screen, encircled (poorly) is a box with the text: "Have questions about this content? [BOLD] Try AI Companion.[/BOLD]
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