iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 16h

Has a museum with staff whose whole job is to understand the legal and ethical treatment of fossil collections. "wE HeARd a DuDe oN a PoDCaSt"

02511

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Giving a talk at North Carolina State on this #FossilFriday and getting to show this very fun figure of growth in the horseshoe crab Euproops from Haug & Haug 2020. The species gives a rare view of the development of an extinct arthropod and allows direct comparison with modern species.

A diagram showing several horseshoe crab fossils arranged in groups according to their molt stage with a swirling background connecting them.

The end of the diagram showing the last two molt stages in detail.

1123

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

‼️Here's a nice trackway possibly made by a scorpion on the mudflats of Alabama ~315 million years ago (Pennsylvanian)🦂. This one comes from the famous Union Chapel Mine, and was cited in Buta & Kopaska-Merkel (2016). #FossilFriday @The University of Alabama Museums Research & Collections! #fossil

02611

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Variety pack of eurypterids at UMMNH for #FossilFriday: Acutiramus (UMMP IP 86635), Paracarcinosoma (UMMP IP 62598), Eurypterus (UMMP IP 7157), and Dolichopterus (UMMP IP 62680). All from the Silurian of New York and Ontario.

A fossil eurypterid on a gray slab of rock.

A fossil eurypterid on a gray slab of rock. It has a narrow tail and a swollen midsection.

A fossil eurypterid on a gray slab of rock next to a model of the same species painted green.

A fossil eurypterid on a gray slab of rock with long, extended swimming appendages. It is displayed next to a model of the same species painted brown and yellow.

04810

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Benjamin Riley @benjaminjriley.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Tool of cognitive automation working exactly as intended.

14324

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I decided that I cannot plan to do more than three (3) things in a day. Any more is unreasonable. I'd rather just try to hyperfocus on one. (I often get more than that worked on but if I plan to do more than three it just seems overwhelming.)

120

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Exciting news! We here at the LSU Museum of Natural Science @lsumns.bsky.social and Dept. of Biological Sciences are looking for Curator and Assistant Professor of Vertebrate Paleobiology! Come work with us! We are fun, supportive and active! lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/LSU/jo...

lsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com

Assistant Professor

All Job Postings will close at 12:01a.m. CST (1:01a.m. EST) on the specified Closing Date (if designated). If you close the browser or exit your application prior to submitting, the application progre...

03052

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Got some real pro-AI colleagues at work and the conversations leave me drained.

251

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Great thread discussing museum funding from the inside. The reason some universities are trying to divest from their museums is because they are beginning to treat each unit as an independent revenue generating entity. Museums cost money and therefore they WANT to cut them.

03111

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I think it is very telling that we get news of two planned museum closures by university institutions with minimal notice. Clearly they know the moves will be publicly unpopular, and the apparent solution is to give people as little time to organize as possible and set it up as a fait accompli.

1247

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Finally getting around to studying some old specimens for the first time this #FossilFriday. These eurypterids were discovered in the 1960s and almost certainly represent new species. Discoveries such as this really highlight the importance of museum collections as records of life on our planet. 🧪⚒️

A photograph of a fossil eurypterid on a brown-grey rock. The fossil as a wide, round body with a long abdomen. The head is relatively small and and short legs that are very robust, the last pair of which are big, broad paddles.

A fossil of a eurypterid on a brown-grey rock. The eurypterid has a large head with long legs, all of which are for walking. The body is narrower than the head and looks overall a bit dumpy.

14814

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Improved selection of eurypterid fossils plus old models from Ruthven now on display now at UMMNH!

Photograph of table case containing fossils and models of eurypterids.

0363

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Best advice I ever got from someone when I was getting pushed to take on more admin/leadership roles was "just because you're good at something doesn't mean you have to do it".

230

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

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...

24946

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

JH @jhemiptera.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

#Sciart #Paleoart Pentecopterus for the upcoming book project

12811

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Exactly this. So much of the focus of science, education, etc. is now on output or product - when the PROCESS is what is truly important. If you insist on focusing on product, then you need to realise that cutting courses in the process is going to make a shitty product.

0194

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Got to find where my old thesaurus is seeing as the online ones are useless now thanks to them just replacing their workings with AI. At least I know enough about word nuance to realise that this is bad, I feel sorry for everyone who doesn't.

A screenshot from thesaurus.com for the word survivor, which suggests that it means "leavings" or "leftover", and suggests the alternative synonyms of "balance", "debris", "scraps", and "trash", among others.

231

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Saw a recipe for vegan Nanaimo bars and had to try it!

A chocolate, white and biscuit bar on a plate.

060

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

That's disappointing. I got some prints a few years ago, guess I won't be getting any more.

020

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

When I was doing my MSc at Bristol the people working on them just called them "small smellies" or "smelly fossils". I presume these were terms of endearment.

120

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Callan Bentley @callanbentley.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Belinurus horseshoe crab locked in stone during the Carboniferous, but back in the light of day again now, and on display in the Fundy Geoscience Museum in Parrsboro. #FossilFriday ⚒️

A small delicate horseshoe crab fossil in gray fine grained sedimentary rock

219425

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Matt (Tired) @mattfrith.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Thinking about turning this into a print somehow. Do you think people might be interested in stuff like this?

2427

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

This is (in my obviously biased opinion) a great paper that I wish more people would read (not least because it took us several years to hone it down to its final form).

060

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Paul Harnik @paulharnik.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

We are pleased to announce that the Dept of Earth & Environmental Geosciences @colgate.edu is hiring a tenure-stream asst professor in paleoclimate! For additional info regarding the position & to apply: apply.interfolio.com/188708 . Please share broadly & contact us with your questions. Thank you!

apply.interfolio.com

Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio

02333

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Lich @lichpit.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Walkin’ legs #horseshoecrab #arthropod

312222

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Some of the bugs enjoying my chicory today.

A long yellowish beetle on a chicory flower.

030

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Amypteride🏳️‍⚧️🔻🕷🦂 @amypteride.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

What time is it? It’s #Cheliceratime! Finaly found the time to talk about Megachelicerax cousteaui with @penelopeclaisse.bsky.social for today's entry! All the basic infos are here but if you want to learn more, there’s more in the thread below!⬇️🧵 #cambrian #paleoart #arthropod #chelicerate 1/6

This recently described arthropod is the first cambrian chelicerate with a clearly preserved 3-segmented chelicera. This species’ large size indicates chelicerates already began to diversify ecologically in the Cambrian, overlapping with other large predators like radiodonts.

Size : 10-ish cm of body length
Time period : Late Cambrian
Paleoart speculativometer : Some Missing parts

The animal is drawn view from below, looking a bit like a horseshoe crab attached to a shrimp abdomen

14619

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Excited to see this restudy of the large Devonian scorpion Praearcturus out today - neatly falsifying some recent supposition that it was not a scorpion at all, and supporting a synonymy between three different species that I've suspected for quite some time! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

A revision of Praearcturus gigas: a giant scorpion from the Lower Devonian (Lochkovian) of Britain

Praearcturus gigas Woodward is a large arthropod of disputed affinity from the fluvial St Maughans Formation (Lower Devonian, Lochkovian) of the Old Red Sandstone of England and Wales. Originally des...

061

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Amazing reconstruction of a famous eurypterid site! Here's one member of that fauna, Acutiramus macrophthalamus (UMMP IP 86635).

Fossil eurypterid preserved as black on gray matrix. Segments and a paddle-like tail are clearly visible, as is one of the large claws.

04512

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Joschua Knüppe @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

420 Million years before the reign of Mamdani, two Acutiramus wake up from their daylight slumber as thousands are Eurypterus begin to invade the shallow, warm waters of New York. This is the Fiddlers Green or Bertie Formation, a Silurian lagerstätte known for its eurypterids🧵

321163

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

I still find strange things in the woods.

An old iron key with wire wrapped around it twisted into wings hanging from a tree.

160

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Cam Muskelly (Explorer of Deep Time ⏰ ⚒️) @cambriancam.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Welcome back to #Fossilfriday Here is a "sea scorpion" or the Eurypterid Eurypterus remipes. This specimen comes from the Upper Silurian Fiddler Green Formation in Herkimer Co, New York. This happen to be the state fossil of New York. Some such as the Pterygotids could reach enormous sizes!

27016

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 13/05/2026

#ProcB in @nytimes.com | A marine stem-myriapod from the Silurian Waukesha Lagerstätte, Wisconsin, USA: terrestrial traits pre-date the transition to land: doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

nytimes.com

0124

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

FWIW I do like a good roibos or London fog but the tea is drink the most is Tetley British Blend (heavy childhood influence there i'm sure).

020

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Okay there's a prime opportunity here for people to share their favourite teas (not just so I can find new teas to try, obviously). I realize this is an impossible task, not just because tea is often contextual.

220

Reposted by James Lamsdell, PhD

Nature @nature.com · 02/04/2026

Spiders and scorpions belong to a group called chelicerates, which are arthropods with pincers at the front of their head. Fossil evidence reveals how this group evolved go.nature.com/4meGcrp

go.nature.com

Pincer movement: fossil pushes origins of chelicerate arthropods back to the Cambrian period

Spiders and scorpions belong to a group called chelicerates, which are arthropods with pincers at the front of their head. Fossil evidence reveals how this group evolved.

0277

James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Congrats! I love sharks so I am very excited.

121