iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Last week I had the privilege to visit the Amazon Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE) experiment near Manaus, Brazil & speak to the scientists studying climate change impacts on rainforest dynamics. Dangling from a crane over the canopy was an experience I won’t soon forget! www.gov.br/g20/en/news/...

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

On the train back to London from Manchester after an inspiring and packed week at #IPBES12. We aren’t moving fast enough because we aren’t working together. We must break down siloes to speed up action for #nature recovery because: Nature is the economy Nature is national security Nature is health

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Great to be back in my very full lab @nhm-london.bsky.social for the first time in 2026 and to welcome new #MarieCurieFellow @haibingwang.bsky.social to the team! Joining from IVPP in Beijing, Haibing will be working on cranial and dental modularity and evolution in Mesozoic mammals.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 09/12/2025

New paper! Led by @knapprew.bsky.social, we show that jaw shape in pelagiarian fishes diversified early in their evolution. Surprisingly, jaw shape is highly correlated with habitat, but not diet & with different optimisations for mechanical advantage during closing. academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

Quite a jump from #2025SVP in Birmingham to #COP30 in Belém! If I had been asked which of these conferences would feature a dancing TRex presenting the fossil of the day award, I would definitely have guessed wrong (but it has smoothed my transition 🦖🦖🦖)

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Thank you! The saddest thing is I don’t even have a cat now, ever since my beloved Chairman Meow (Figure 1) passed away. Family allergies mean we couldn’t get another one so I’m stuck with a dog, who is lovely but so evolutionary pliable that it’s frankly embarrassing.

My beloved cat, Chairman Meow, perfectly cool even as my old dog Eli chews on his head. Amongst a perfect species, Chairman was the most perfect specimen, ergo the most perfect being ever to exist.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

One fine day in the Los Alamitos Formation!

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

From balmy Brazil to a much chillier Patagonia…

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Catching up with our Triassic kin in Porto Alegre

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

My single favourite wildlife photo from our trip to Galápagos has to be this marine iguana sneezing out salt - such an elegant and glamorous adaptation to their unusual lifestyle!

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

I had the immense privilege to visit the Galápagos Islands last summer and see thousands of marine and land iguanas up close, even swimming with some and watching them feed underwater.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

We’re micro-CT scanning iguanas today to better understand the evolution of the incredible adaptations of the Galapagos marine iguanas. Some of the specimens in our collection were collected by Darwin himself! 150 years later, they are still contributing new knowledge about the natural world.

A specimen of a Galápagos marine iguana ready to be CT scanned

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

How is my 8yo already cooler than I ever will be?

My so cool kid, immersed in a random sci-fi book plucked off the shelf in a lovely wine and cheese bar in Ghent

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Brussels sure has some pretty impressive climbing gyms

My kid on a climbing wall in an old church

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Does anyone know how to abbreviate Uhlenbeck to 5 letters for today’s @nytimes.com mini crossword? #nerdjokes

Nerd joke. Mini crossword with “what U stands for in OU” hint

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Stumbled across my favourite fossil, Thylacosmilus atrox, while looking though the collections at the lovely, newly renovated Yale Peabody Museum. I maintain that this animal is the best (stem) marsupial ever! Also arguably the best sabre-toothed animal ever…

Me holding up a cast of the fossil sabre-toothed stem marsupial Thylacosmilus atrox in the Yale Peabody collections

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

At 11:07, he decided he needed a Lego break, but he has made good progress, four books in. I’m not convinced he’s reading every word, but he does know the plots by heart. He is also beating my pace on a similarly sized stack of grant reviews by a lot…(this marathon was also a race)

Dylan next to the now split stack of Dog Man books, four read books in the foreground

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

At 10:07am local time, Dylan began a marathon that he’s been planning for months and preparing for his whole 8-year long life - to read the entire Dog Man canon in order in a single sitting. Stay tuned for updates as we follow his progress live on this cold and bright January day.

My 8 year old kid Dylan, sat in front of the full Dog Man canon, as he begins reading the first in this epic series

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

We sent @weratedogs.com the cover art for Casper’s solo album after his band (fig. 2) broke up. I think 12/10 means they agree it’s going to go even more platinum than that winter coat that he hates so much.

Our long dog Casper in his raver coat with the wind blowing though his crimped ear fur as he stares wistfully into your eyes

Casper with his former band mates, a bunch of talentless losers who were holding him back

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Have been lazy about posting as #SICB2025 was a whirlwind, but very excited to use my first post of the year to congratulate DR Jack McMinn on successfully passing his PhD viva yesterday! His thesis answered a question about Paleogene mammal dispersal patterns that has been bugging me for decades :)

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 30/12/2024

My greatest accomplishment of 2024, completed just in the nick of time! The full model along with a dramatic reconstruction of Quint’s death scene as staged by my somewhat worryingly morbid children.

My awesome Lego model of Jaws eating the back of the Orca, the ship from the movie/book, not the whale Orca, in which case this model would be the other way around, though I guess it was by the end of the movie/book, which is why the boat is called the Orca, and I’m guessing you all already know that. Anyway, I love this Lego set.

Close up of jaws attacking the Orca, with the sign reading “you’re gonna need a bigger boat”, which my kids like to sing out when they position the top half of Quint’s body in the shark’s mouth.

Dramatic reconstruction of Quint being grabbed by the shark…

…Quint being taken out to sea and eaten by Jaws, as retold by my dark, dark children with Legos

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Okay I might have slightly overreacted to how quickly my tweenager goes through shampoo and conditioner…

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Spent the morning scoping out the iguanas from Galápagos in our collection, including some very salty fellas! Feel quite sorry for this poor overstuffed one that was rudely named “rough head”.

Marine iguana specimen covered with big salt crystals

Chonky iguana taxidermy with rude Rough Head label

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Good question! I wonder if @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social @richardjbutler.bsky.social @tweetisaurus.bsky.social @paulbarrett1.bsky.social know the answer? Our sleeping Psittacosaurus model at the Natural History Museum is curled up like my dog but I doubt TRex would do the same.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

I was this many days old when I learned how the pros clean their dirty boots. Next time I may even manage to do it without drenching my socks and trousers too. Thanks to @knapprew.bsky.social for the impressive demo!

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Spent this gorgeous, December Friday in the sun, getting muddy and looking for fossils in a Cretaceous clay pit, all part of my resolution to spend more time doing fun things with nice people! Shout out to @tweetisaurus.bsky.social for letting me tag along to Smokejack!

Muddy boots, which were absolutely the wrong shoes for this site. Legs stretched out in a quarry, enjoying the sun for a quick rest, looking towards people collecting Cretaceous fossils

People prospecting for Cretaceous fossils in a quarry on a sunny day

People prospecting for fossils in a quarry

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Just overheard the best convo on the Piccadilly line. Four people discussing something in rapidfire Italian. One looks at his phone & hesitantly says “square pants”. They continue to debate heatedly until he shows them his phone & repeats with conviction “square pants”, ending the conversation.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

My kid is such a spider monkey! It’s so amazing to see her developing as a competitive climber working with Team GB athletes on the Substation Brixton Academy team - it even gets her jumping out of bed to train on Saturday mornings!

My daughter bouldering on a competition wall

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

New paper! For all of you working with 3d scans (e.g. micro-CT, MRI), check out SPROUT, a rapid open-source tool for generating segmented and parcellated data, meaning your scans are separated into the individual elements without any manual labelling or training. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Figure showing diverse datasets analysed with SPROUT, including a skink skeleton, aardvark skull, human heart, concrete block, and foraminifera.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Just developed a roll of film for the first time in decades maybe, from the disposable camera that my 11yo took on a school outward bound trip to Wales. £40 later (for camera & developing), I have a lovely catalog of her blurry thumb & random things she didn’t mean to take picture of. Takes me back!

Eight prints from a disposable camera, all blurry with thumbs covering part of the lens or accidental shots of tables, doors, and lockers.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

Oh I don’t think it’s an either/ or. And this boy is *nearly* lazy and cuddly enough to basically be a cat, but he doesn’t purr or fit into my armpit (despite his best efforts)

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

As a Gen Xer, I’m torn between thinking we should change our name because of the association with the other place and thinking it fits because we are basically shit and in our prime oversaw (or at least allowed) the destruction of democracy & the environment just so everyone would leave us alone.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

I’ve noticed a background nervousness every time I post, which is certainly from years of randomly being called an idiot or an undeserving diversity pick on the other place. I know I’m not the only one. It’s gonna take some time for that to go away but I really hope this place stays nice so it does.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Four in the room and one on the big screen, zooming in from Japan! We did our big AI review paper similarly, though it took many more sessions to organise, write, revise, and generally corral the much bigger team.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Laptops: check. Coffee: check. Giant box of homemade focaccia: check. And with all hands on deck, we are now ready to finish off our paper describing SPROUT, a new semi-automated (emphasis on the automated, for real this time) method for parcellating CT images into 3D segments. Stay tuned!

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 12/11/2024

Ever wonder why dog breeds are so different while cats are all pretty similar? Not just cats, but lions & tigers too! Come see me present on cat & dog evolution at both Saturday shows for Nine Lessons & Carols for Curious People with @robinince.bsky.social! Tickets @ cosmicshambles.com/ninelessons/

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

I also published my first book in July! A children’s picture book to be precise - to show kids how much fun it is to be a palaeontologist and dig up fossils. I’ve really enjoyed doing the rounds at book fairs and talking to so many enthusiastic kids (and often even more enthusiastic parents!)

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 11/11/2024

Despite recent work & world disappointments, I’m trying to remind myself of some great things that have happened this year. Most excitingly, I was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society. Words can’t express the feeling of seeing my name in the big book of fellows alongside Darwin and Newton!

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

@weratedogs.bsky.social Casper wants to know if you think his 1) slightly curvy, super long snout, 2) giant feather tail, or 3) koala ears are the reason he can’t catch.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Though I spend a lot of time working with digital images and fighting with R, I also get out in the field a lot, including recently cracking skull-filled concretions from just after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction in Corral Bluffs, Colorado, more on the site here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

I’m also currently president of @linneansociety.bsky.social, the world’s oldest active biological society, where Darwin & Wallace first presented the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1858. We have been in Burlington House for 150 years and last week secured our home for another 999 years!

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

I’m so excited to see this network taking off with scientists! I’m making the switch, so some intro: I’m an evolutionary biologist/palaeontologist interested in understanding why life on earth looks the way it does, combining data from embryos to fossils and methods from digging to complex models

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 09/11/2024

Our new paper on #AI for evolutionary morphology is out! This massive team effort covers the history of AI for studying morphology, reviews new tools, provides many case studies & a prospectus for using AI to progress diverse topics in evolutionary morphology. academic.oup.com/iob/article/...

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

We need a name for the specific compounding of prejudice faced by women of colour. I propose #Raxism: the powerful combo of racism and sexism that holds so many of us back from achieving our potential & invites animosity from every other demographic for any success we achieve.

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 07/09/2024

My kid carries a book or three everywhere she goes. I love these pictures of her reading in all sorts of crazy spots across Peru and Ecuador, especially in Galápagos surrounded by loads of amazing animals. #readoutside #reading #bookworm

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 01/11/2023

I love the juxtaposition of these sweet smiles and the darkness of their “fairy prisoner” Halloween pumpkin!

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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

Love this photo of live birth from the shark reproduction exhibit at Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa. That shark was not prepared for what they saw that day!

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