iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Duncan McIlroy

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 16h

New analysis of "early reptile" (amniote) Westlothiana (345 mya) ain't no reptile; also casts doubt on identity of fossil tracks interpreted as those of early amniotes (might be amphibians' instead). 🧪🚫🦎🐾

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We names the #Ediacaran #Edrathina obditchia from #InnerMeadow after we had decided it was a stem ctenophore. Ctenophores are also known as comb-jellies. Following recent convention we have used Beothuk words for naming. Edrathin means comb & Obditch means beast. So the name means “comb beast”

view looking into the triangular/collapsed cone calyx of Edrathina with the tentacles oriented towards you and the holdfast disc found at the top right. the tentacles have numerous pinnules arising from them and can be seen to arise from the margin of the calyx.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Happy #FossilFriday! The Ediacaran of #Newfoundland is famous for its animal fossils. The most iconic are the muscular #Staurozoa #Haootia and #Mamsetia and I think our new 551Ma #Edrathina is probably comparably important , being the oldest relative of comb-jellies, another early animal group.

retrodeformed holotype of Edrathina see strain ellipse branches arise from margin of a calyx which is triangular in shape
interpreted as being a relative of the Ctenophores, the similarly shaped stem-ctenophores like Siphosauctum and Dinomischus

Holotype of Haootia quadriformis linesr features are interpreted as muscle fibres. It has been interpreted as a crown group Cnidarian comparable to the modern Staurozoa
note the tetra-radial form characteristic of that group

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

For #FossilFriday this week how about a completely new #Ediacaran? This beauty was discovered by my Masters student Heléna Muirhead-Hunt. It has a calyx not a stem, six stiff, inwardly curved tentacle like arms with pinnules. We should be able to share its name & inferred affinity later today 👀

fossil surface with a bushy fossil with triangle in the might and at least 6 arms with fine lateral pinnules. the base has a large concentric disk. the egg shape is a strain marker showing how it has been retrodeformed

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Dr. Joe Moysiuk @cambrojoe.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Graduate student opportunities in my lab! Seeking up to 2 students to start next year. Learn more: joemoysiuk.weebly.com/student-oppo...

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This will be brilliant I imagine. Looking forward to seeing it very much Sean.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

This #FossilFriday I wanted to share a teaser for some work coming out this week on how best to go about retrodeforming our #Ediacaran fossils here in Newfoundland. These are from another new fossil site with a lot of tectonic compression that changes the appearance of the fossils needing retrodef.

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NPR @npr.org · 10/09/2026

An extremely well preserved fossil feather could reveal why some birds survived the dinosaur-killing asteroid, and others did not. n.pr/4cG3z9T

n.pr

A fossil feather from the age of dinosaurs may explain why only some birds survived

An extremely well preserved fossil feather could reveal why some birds survived the dinosaur-killing asteroid, and others did not.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Lovely writeup of the Discovery of Charnia masoni and a photo of Trevor Ford next to a very large photo of the holotype! Trevor thought that the disc of Charniodiscus was associated with Charnia which has persisted in popular depictions, but discs on Charnia are actually the exception not the norm.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

If you are interested we have responded doi.org/10.1130/G551... to a strange comment doi.org/10.1130/G549... by the usual pedological protagonist trying again to piggyback on serious work (airing his fringe idea of that the Ediacara biota were lichens). Pretty painting with no supporting evidence.

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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 06/09/2026

100 years of August sea surface temperature anomalies... wait for the last frame showing 2026, where the fingerprint of El Niño is becoming very prominent, even against the background warmth of long-term climate change. Data from NOAA ERSSTv6: www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/ext... 🌊

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This is a great Ctenophore thread 👏

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Reposted by Duncan McIlroy

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Surprise: the Kindle edition of my latest book, 'Life Sculpted' (2023, @uchicagopress.bsky.social) is STILL on sale for a mere $0.99! Learn all about the natural history of bioerosion & how life evolved to break down hard stuff. Hurry, while electrons last! 🧪📚🪨🕳️ www.amazon.com/Life-Sculpte...

Screenshot of summary text on the Amazon book site about 'Life Sculpted,' by Anthony J. Martin (2023, University of Chicago Press):

"Did you know elephants dig ballroom-sized caves alongside volcanoes? Or that parrotfish chew coral reefs and poop sandy beaches? Or that our planet once hosted a five-ton dinosaur-crunching alligator cousin? In fact, almost since its fascinating start, life was boring. Billions of years ago bacteria, algae, and fungi began breaking down rocks in oceans, a role they still perform today. About a half-billion years ago, animal ancestors began drilling, scraping, gnawing, or breaking rocky seascapes. In turn, their descendants crunched through the materials of life itself-shells, wood, and bones. Today, such "bioeroders" continue to shape our planet-from the bacteria that devour our teeth to the mighty moon snail, always hunting for food, as evidenced by tiny snail-made boreholes in clams and other moon snails.
There is no better guide to these lifeforms than Anthony J. Martin, a popular science author, paleontologist, and co-discoverer of the first known burrowing dinosaur. Following the crumbs of lichens, sponges, worms, clams, snails, octopi, barnacles, sea urchins, termites, beetles, fishes, dinosaurs, crocodilians, birds, elephants, and (of course) humans, Life Sculpted reveals how bioerosion expanded with the tree of life, becoming an essential part of how ecosystems function while reshaping the face of our planet. With vast knowledge and no small amount of whimsy, Martin uses paleontology, biology, and geology to reveal the awesome power of life's chewing force. He provokes us to think deeply about the past and present of bioerosion, while also considering how knowledge of this history might aid us in mitigating and adapting to climate change in the future. Yes, Martin concedes, sometimes life can be hard-but life also makes everything less hard every day."

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The Royal Society @royalsociety.org · 29/08/2026

The Darwin Medal 2026 is awarded to Professor Michael J Benton OBE FRS for his contribution to many aspects of palaeontological science, as well as authoring the standard textbooks in the field, popular science and children’s books. #RSMedals royalsociety.org/medals-and-prizes/…

A man in a blue shirt and glasses smiles at the camera in front of a university building interior.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

This #FossilFriday i’ve been going back over some taphonomic aspects of the #Ediacaran #Rangeomorpha of #Newfoundland. There are a lot of morphological differences even within species depending on how laterally constrained the branches are. Just compare the #Fractofusus misrai branching herewith!

$highly fractal branching in Fractofusus misrai picked out in darker colours. the branching at 3 orders is displayed (biserial) and very widely separated$ $for comparison this fractofusus has the branches very tightly packed together so you don’t see the full splayed out shaped, they are effectively curled in on themselves (furled as Martin Brasier called them$

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Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Geoscience educators, we are aware that the OpenGeology site crashed overnight. We are working to resurrect it. In the meantime, there are backup copies of all four OER textbooks on LibreTexts. For Historical Geology, the link is: geo.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/... ⚒️

geo.libretexts.org

Historical Geology (Bentley et al.)

This textbook is intended for undergraduate courses in Earth history. It was written by Callan Bentley, Karen Layou, Russ Kohrs, Shelley Jaye, Matt Affolter, and Brian Ricketts. It is a work in …

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Reposted by Duncan McIlroy

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Two new species of Waiparaconus (Octocorallia) of the enigmatic Family Waiparaconidae onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology

At the top are two photographs of fossil octocorals, both species of Waiparaconus. On the left, a reddish fossil, W. imbricatus (MN-12294-I) from Vega Island off the Antarctic Peninsula (Snow Hill Island Formation). On the right, the holotype of W. gravidus (WAM 77.3532a) from Western Australia (Gingin Chalk). Scale bar beneath each image is 1 cm.
At the bottom is an artist's reconstruction of both species.
Red rectangle in bottom right corner is a cover image from the journal Papers in Palaeontology.

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Ben Miller @extinctmonsters.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

It’s been two years and I don’t think I’ve ever shared this story here: When we were making an animated mural for the Chicago Archaeopteryx display, we wanted to make sure it didn’t upstage or compete with the 1920s Charles Knight paintings it would share space with. 🧵

Rich oil painting of a seaside scene with prehistoric plants, birds, small dinosaurs, and pterosaurs.

Museum display with projected sea side scene overhead. Bronze Archaeopteryx on a pedestal beneath.

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Tom Sharpe @tomsharperocks.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Interesting obituary of art historian Peter Cannon-Brookes in today's Times. It was he who spotted the original watercolour of Henry De la Beche's Duria antiquior in the window of a London art dealer in 1980, recognising what it was from the later oil copy he knew @sedgwickmuseum.bsky.social. 1/3

A watercolour painting of a reconstructed prehistoric scene showing ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and other animals all eating one another.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Happy #FossilFriday! I thought today that I would share a little enigma. We figured these when we published Lydonia jiggamintia as they are similar pimply things. These are from the #Ediacaran at Mistaken Point #Newfoundland. Probably an encrusting sponge relative found alone & on necromass

pimply positive relief of an organism growing on the Ediacaran seafloor. possibly a poriferan (sponge)

another pimply encrusting organism from the Mistaken Point E surface. this one overgrew a dead frond (necromass)

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Happy #FossilFriday! this week I am sharing a couple of images of the same fossil. #Charniodiscus procerus from the #Ediacaran at Mistaken Point in #Newfoundland. this specimen was alway enigmatic and difficult to classify until one day we saw it in late Fall light & its architecture popped out …

Charniodiscus procerus from the D Surface at Mistaken point.
plaster cast is ideal lighting

same specimen but with different lighting

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

And a bonus second #FossilFriday post mainly because I am just back from the field working on a new site here in #Newfoundlamd which today yielded its first complex #Ediacaran fossils #Hadryniscala and #Charniodiscus sp. There’s nothing like finding new Ediacaran fossils. The potential is great!!

leaf like fossil with central axis on a brown rusty surface. Confirms most closely with Charniodiscus

strap like fossil of hadryniscala just above a concentric disc (tectonically compressed) on a rusty brown bedding surface with many cracks

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

This #FossilFriday we look between the beautiful #Rangeomorph, #Arboreomorph #Ediacaran macrofossils of #Newfoundland where there is an abundance of (presumed microbial) filaments that provide evidence for 1) the structure of the surrounding microbe dominated seafloor & 2) sub-matground gas buildup

bedding surface covered in thin filaments in a range of widths some possibly radiating from a small crater-like depression. The circular features are pits generated by sub-matground buildup of methane-rich gas from degradation of buried organic matter. base of a diskless rangeomorph to the top right.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Happy #FossilFriday with a depiction of the newest #rangeomorph genus #Aninoides which is only known from the #Ediacaran of #Newfoundland & my attempt at depicting it on the microbe-dominated seafloor along with #Charniodiscus procerus lurk. This painting didn’t make the cut for our paper.

leaf-like fossil cast of Aninoides coombsorum showing the long first order branches typical of the genus.

Digital painting showing a pinkish #aninoides coombsorum in the foreground surrounded by microbial matgrounds with two Charniodiscus with procumbent stems and upright frondose portions lurking at the edge of the field of view.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

I searched high and low for these images of frond-like chevron marks for comparison with similar structures from the #Ediacaran #Dongpo Biota. too late for our paper doi.org/10.1016/j.pr... @hyperpycnal.bsky.social but here they are anyway. #Fermeuse Formation, Bonavista Pen. Newfoundland

chevron shaped markings on a siltstone bed

$frond like chevron marks on a bedding plane cut by joints and fractures$

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

In the #Ediacaran the UK & #Newfoundland were geographically close & share some faunal elements including Primocandelabrum. Tho’ Charnwood Forest “Primo”specimens have #Rangeomorph branches. Charnwood is currently being considered as a possible UNESCO #Geopark so here’s a UK “Primo” on #FossilFriday

my panting depicting the rangeomorph branching of Primocandelabrum boyntoni with the biserial rangeomorph branches arising from bifurcating limbs

photograph of a Primocandelabrum showing a basal anchoring disc and thick stem with thick limbs arising from the top of the stem
the limbs bifurcate at least once before the most distal branches have biserial rangeomorph branches in a range of orientations consistent with having fallen over before burial

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

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.

sunburst like Hiemalora with small central disc on a bedding surface with indeterminate circular features (?shafts) scale is in cm.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Happy Fossil Friday! This weeks offering is news that the Inner Meadow site is now 774 sq ft. comparable to the main E -Surface at Mistaken Point & much more diverse. We also found the first convincing #Hadryniscala which has small lateral bars on a strap like form a bit like a seaweed.

The inner meadow fossil site showing the size of the excavation and preparation for making of a silicone mold (plasticene dams). The site is on private land with no public access for now (but watch this space)

bedding surface with a narrow strip of darker (wet) surface highlighting the position of a specimen of Hadryniscala about 6cm wide, which has broad lateral bars on an otherwise strap-like form. In life it might have been a bit like some modern macroalgae

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Happy #FossilFriday!! Today is brought to you by superposition of #Ediacaran fossils. Throughout Avalonia the genera that lie atop other frondose organisms are Arborea & Primocandelabrum. Fractofusus overgrow ivesheadiomorph necromass but #rangeomorpha like Charnia and Trepassia never overlie other

Stem of a “Primocandelabrum” emerging from a small disc (top right) lying atop a factually branching elongate leaf-like Trepassia with base bottom right and handled towards the top left. Image is retrodeformed approximately

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Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Today (or at least this morning, before it turns to Canada Day) is Memorial Day in Newfoundland, marking the anniversary of Beaumont Hamel, the 1916 battle that saw the Newfoundland Regiment get virtually wiped out by enemy fire as they crossed no-man's-land... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoria...

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Howard Lee @hlee.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

In my latest article for @arstechnica.com I write about a new study that looks at the competition between the process that *reduces CO2* over geological timescales, versus organic carbon weathering, which *emits* CO2 over a similarly long timeframe. ⚒️🧪 arstechnica.com/science/2026...

arstechnica.com

Feedbacks upon feedbacks: Rock weathering and the climate

Rock weathering may release or draw down carbon dioxide—it depends on the rock.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

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!

large deep basal (probably holdfast) disk of an unknown irganism. Dish shaped and concentric ally ringed. Finger for scale with battered fingernail.

$two elongated broadly leaf shaped rangeomorph fractal-like organisms trepassia is top with rangeomorph branches at variable angles, and charnia gracilis below with all branches at similar acute angles to the axis the smooth shiny bits are glacially polished Field of view is about 20cm$

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

The highlight for me from my work clearing at #InnerMeadow was this complete #Beothukis mistakensis. There’s only 4 or so complete specimens known of this #Ediacaran rangeomorph. It is almost identical to the holotype that we published on in 2020. We interpret it as growing along the seafloor.

leaf like (spatulas) fossil on a bubbly bedding surface

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

today at #InnerMeadow was mainly spent splitting erratics in the holes in the surface that were too large to carry. I channeled skills of my forebears who were coal miners and stone masons in the north of England. The satisfaction of splitting the boulders with hand tools was very satisfying!

split boulder at inner meadow with chisel.

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felinecannonball @felinecannon.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Gigantoproductus brachiopods and colonial corals in Carboniferous limestone from Kilkenny County, Ireland. Irish Hunger Memorial, NYC. Some argue these large brachiopods had photosynthetic symbionts, just like the coral: air.unimi.it/retrieve/a83...

thick upper and thin lower valves of gigantoproductus

cross-section perpendicular to the first

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

I’m a bit late to #FossilFriday today as I’m in the field (literally) clearing at Inner Meadow. But how about a lovely Charnia gracilis to be getting on with. From #InnerMeadow of course.

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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

Douglas Adams had it so right. It's not about the answers we can generate It's about the questions we can ask

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Bob Nicholls Art @bobnichollsart.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

My #LymeRegisFossilFestival headline talk: A DINOSAUR ART LIFE, How Painting & Sculpting Prehistoric Animals Became My Job. This Sunday 14th June, 1.30pm at the Marine Theatre: www.marinetheatre.com/lyme-regis-f... #SciArt #PaleoArt #Dinosaurs #Paleontology #JurassicWorld #JurassicPark #LymeRegis

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

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.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

I had a fun day out yesterday in @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social sharing the #Ediacaran fossils of Capelin Gulch & the Johnson Discovery Surface with delegates from GAC-MAC 2026 in St. John’s. Great discussions on the rocks & the snow even held off for us! Thanks to all leaders delegates!

geologists looking at fossils on 560 million year old seafloor in Little Catalina Discovery geopark

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

This #FossilFriday is brought to you courtesy of the lively new #Ediacaran #rangeomorph Aninoides coombsorum named by @simonrosse.bsky.social. Currently only known from the 551Ma Inner Meadow Lagerstätte in Newfoundland. Same age as the youngest White Sea type biotas in Australia, Russia etc.

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

👀 shameful.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

This one is well worth a read for anyone interested in the Ediacaran

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fossilSLABlab.bsky.social @fossilslablab.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Excited to share our new paper out today in Science Advances describing some familiar Ediacaran fossils (beautifully reconstructed by Alex Boersma) in an unfamiliar place! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Discovery of White Sea assemblage fossils from Laurentia

Fossils of early animal groups found in deeper-water settings millions of years earlier than previously understood.

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Happy #fossilfriday from the #Ediacaran at #InnerMeadow at 551Ma it is the youngest known example of the “Avalon Assemblage” (equivalent to the youngest “White Sea Assemblage”). The field season is underway here in NL. We continue to remove soil & fossiliferous rocks from over the fossil surface.

the excavation at inner meadow the white rock surface is covered by soil full of rocks some of which contain Ediacaran fossils

$An Ediacaran Trepassia from the soil overlying the fossil surface at Inner Meadow. The specimen is slightly glacially polished but the fractal-like 1/2-leaf shaped branches are well preserved$

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

My recent cohort of doctoral students started getting requests to review papers and asked me an interesting question. The paper for review is close to their expertise but does that mean they have a conflict of interest? Peer review is important service you should engage with as much as possible… 🧵

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Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Happy #FossilFriday from the #Ediacaran at #InnerMeadow. I’ve been focussing on removing boulders and soil the last couple of weeks but this beauty popped out. It is a scan of the natural cast of the base of a large #Aninoides

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