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Roy Plotnick

@fossilexpress.bsky.social
297 followers 154 following 194 posts

Paleontologist, geologist, ecologist, educator. Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Chicago. Author of EXPLORERS OF DEEP TIME. Also American Flyer trains and the Little Engine that Could.

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Reposted by Roy Plotnick
Rupert Seidl @rupertseidl.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Is there generality in decomposition across substrates? We tested this in an experiment across elevation, studying carrion, dung, leaves & wood. We found idiosynchratic patterns of decomp, with local conditions being more important than macroclimate @sebseibold.bsky.social doi.org/10.1002/ecm....
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Come out to the rally on Tuesday at 10am in front of The Academy of Natural Sciences! RSVP here luma.com/1qwnrqz2 Read more here: whyy.org/articles/phi...
whyy.org
Supporters plan rally to protest closing of Academy of Natural Science Museum
The nearly 200-year-old museum is the oldest natural history museum in the Americas.
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I feel like I’m going to throw up
Screen shot of an Instagram post that says the academy of natural sciences is closing its museum after nearly two centuries
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Magdalena Skipper @magdalenaskipper.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Exclusive: NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪 #AcademicSky @nature.com
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Julien Kimmig @jkimmig.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Welcome to the CAMBRIAN FECAL REVOLUTION. We didn't name it the Cambrian fecal explosion for obvious reasons. I'm happy to share this paper on fecal matter and its role in Cambrian ecosystems. So if you want to read a really shitty paper (50 days free access): authors.elsevier.com/a/1nYg8cZ3X7...
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Natalia (娜塔莉) @wrycritic.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
$50.1 million could fund over 400 doctorates; 933 years worth of annual curator salaries (UK), or running cost for a millennium-worth of free events like the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival. It is inane that people can accumulate such wealth, and use it explicitly to cause public harm.
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/a...
nytimes.com
T. Rex Fossil Sells for $50.1 Million, Putting the King Back On Top (Gift Article)
In a booming fossil market, the T. rex had been dethroned by a stegosaurus. No longer.
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Dr. Sarah Parcak @indyfromspace.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Alan Grant in Jurassic Park was essential for me because it modeled what an ethical, kind, and caring male collaborator and research partner should be for all women in science. I won't put up with anything less.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering - nautil.us/coincidences...
nautil.us
Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering
Coincidences in My Life Have Me Wondering: My search for a hidden structure to astronomically unlikely occurrences
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Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Genuine rewrite the textbooks discovery! 🧪🦑 The same team led last year's discovery of even deeper chemosynthetic animal communities. And they are in a crewed submersible, so they actually SAW THE WHALE GRAVEYARD!!! Can't wait for them to keep exploring!
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Howard, R. J., R. J. Garwood, G. D. Edgecombe, and D. A. Legg. 2026. A revision of Praearcturus gigas: a giant scorpion from the Lower Devonian (Lochkovian) of Britain. Palaeontology 69(3):e70064.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Cole, S. R., et al. 2026. Exceptional soft-tissue preservation reveals the oldest evidence for tube feet and their ecological significance in crinoids. Royal Society Open Science 13(6).
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Song, et al. 2026. High-fidelity modular skeletons authenticate a Cambrian origin for Bryozoa. Nature. Wang, Z., and T. Shi. 2026. Trace fossils constrain the perceptual ranges of the earliest motile animals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 123(23):e2609730123.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
The last few weeks have seen a series of new papers (none on dinosaurs!) that demonstrate the continued intellectual vitality of paleontology: McCoy, et al. 2026. Stepwise loss of complexity in hagfish eyes prior to deep sea colonization. Biology Letters 22(5).
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Made this graph of the high temperature in Chicago over the last 50 days. Mean is 57.3 and the s.d. was 15.4. Not sure how this compares to the usual this time of year, but it the swings feel more extreme than usual.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
NSF GRFP awards just announced: www.research.gov/grfp/Awardee.... Nice to see that the overall numbers are back up, but only one award in paleontology (7 honorable mentions). No awards, one honorable mention for sedimentary geology.
research.gov
Federal government banner | Federal website standards
The federal government banner identifies official federal government sites. Learn how to implement the banner on your federal government site.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Truly end of an era. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1...
journals.uchicago.edu
End of an Era: Journal of Geology (1893-2026) | The Journal of Geology: Vol 0, No ja
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Was approached by "Example 2." Then the alarm bells went off. Be aware. lits.mtholyoke.edu/news/2026-03...
lits.mtholyoke.edu
Watch out for so-called "pig butchering scams" targeting professors | LITS
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Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Eocene belemnites?! *Fascinating* identification of these in Hungarian marine rocks. Would be curious to hear from those who know the clade better than I do.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Eocene belemnites from Hungary
The Middle Eocene nummulitic limestone at Dudar, Transdanubian Hungary, has yielded several belemnite rostra during the last 60–70 years. The correct interpretation of these fossils was made possible....
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Search-and-rescue crews were “flying blind” trying to rescue survivors from deadly tornadoes that hit the Midwest last week. Why? Because Kristi Noem hadn't approved FEMA’s $200,000 contract with a tornado-tracking tool. But she had time to spend $220 million on anti-immigrant ads. Priorities.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
This just posted by NSF: www.nsf.gov/funding/info...
nsf.gov
FAQ for NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) return without review (RWR)
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Dr. Davey F. Wright ⛏️🦕🧬 @daveyfwright.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Very proud of the @paleosoc.bsky.social for advocating a safer & more welcoming community for all paleontologists
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Joining the "We're horseposting post your horses."
Limulus and trail. Florida.
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Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Dowding, E.M., Dunne, E.M., Collins, K.S. et al. The billion-dollar case for sustaining palaeontology’s digital databases. Nat Ecol Evol (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org
The billion-dollar case for sustaining palaeontology’s digital databases - Nature Ecology & Evolution
The authors survey community palaeontological databases, documenting their contributions to science as well as their vulnerabilities, and provide recommendations for the future of open science databas...
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Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
About NSF GRFP's being rejected without peer review: [from submitted info to Grant Witness] "12 RWRs as involving ecology, six in cell biology, five in psychology, four in neuroscience, and 14 in other subfields of biology" www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
NSF’s flagship fellowship program is rejecting applicants without peer review
Students seeking graduate research scholarships speculate that biology is being disfavored
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
True fact: the ice age ended 11,700 years ago. Some people have not gotten the message.
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Laura Cooper @transitionalform.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Our paper on the mysterious Devonian organism Prototaxites has now finally been published! See the paper here (www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...) and our explainer thread below! Prototaxites reconstruction by Matt Humpage
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Chicago Public Square @chicagopublicsquare.com · 20/01/2026
thehandbasket.co
Behind the disturbing image of ICE snatching a half-naked, elderly Hmong American from his home
DHS has claimed without evidence that they were looking for someone else when they took ChongLy Scott Thao.
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Frank Conniff @frankconniff.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Whatever one thinks of the attack on Venezuela, you have to admire the skill and strategic precision of the military forces that stormed Madura's fortress and so effectively removed the Epstein Files from the headlines.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/c...
nytimes.com
A Somber Mood at Science Meeting as Trump Budget Cuts Continue
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Chicago Public Square @chicagopublicsquare.com · 13/12/2025
open.substack.com
Washington Post readers revolt against Bezos’s editorial board
The AI summaries of reader comments have become a must read
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Journal of Evolutionary Biology @jevbio.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Delighted to publish Forum Article by @nicolasgaltier.bsky.social et al: "Journals run by learned societies or universities have more ethical policies while being cheaper and similarly cited" doi.org/10.1093/jeb/... Thank you for choosing JEB - we encourage the support of #societyjournals
doi.org
Time to publish responsibly: DAFNEE, a database of academia-friendly journals in ecology and evolutionary biology
Abstract. The current economics of scientific publishing reveal a profound imbalance: academia pays prices far exceeding the actual costs of publication. R
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine (Gift Article)
A quiet policy change means the government is making fewer bets on long-term science.
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Peter Wagner (a Real Dr., not a surgeon-barber/body-tech/golfer) @peterjwagner3.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
In some ways, this does make more sense than ctenophores as the outgroup to all other animals because it allows for the developmental programming for *some* sort of symmetry to be a synapomorphy of non-sponge animals.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Really bad news budgetprocess.unl.edu/final-budget...
budgetprocess.unl.edu
Final Budget Reduction Plan | Budget Process | Nebraska
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Rebecca R Helm @rebeccarhelm.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
There's something that feels a bit dead about the world right now, but tens of thousands of people just came together to help us solve a 100 year old mystery about a little blue jelly, and I find that heartbreakingly hopeful:
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
When I explain why I retired from teaching after 38 years, some of these same thoughts come up. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
theatlantic.com
Why Students Are Obsessed With ‘Points Taken Off’
Students and professors are in a drawn-out battle over grade inflation. It may never end.
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WIRED @wired.com · 31/10/2025
At an airport in South Carolina on Thursday, representative Nancy Mace called police officers “fucking incompetent” and berated them repeatedly, according to an incident report. www.wired.com/story/nancy-...
wired.com
Nancy Mace Curses, Berates Confused Cops in Airport Meltdown: Police Report
At an airport in South Carolina on Thursday, representative Nancy Mace called police officers “fucking incompetent” and berated them repeatedly, according to an incident report.
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Dr. Brendan Anderson @fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
Pretty good article about the specifics of PRI's situation and what led to the immediate need they have from upstate NY based media. www.newyorkupstate.com/news/2025/10...
newyorkupstate.com
This hidden gem Upstate NY museum with dino bones you can touch is on the brink of extinction
Officials say the museum that houses a mastadon skeleton needs to raise $1 million by the end of 2025 to avoid foreclosure.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
We are so lucky to have him. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
theatlantic.com
J. B. Pritzker’s Dark Visions
Twenty-seven minutes with the latest governor Donald Trump wants arrested
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
At the empty USGS booth at GSA. More out of view on both sides
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 19/10/2025
The very first moments of the Cenozoic
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 10/10/2025
Reporting live from Chicago, there’s no “hellscape” I’d rather be in.
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
This is a great example of geoheritage: www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
theatlantic.com
Why Concord?
The geological origins of the American Revolution
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The Borowitz Report @borowitzreport.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Federal Troops Arrive in Portland and Immediately Form Bands
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Daniel Bolnick @danielbolnick.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
Science news article about 2nd year grad students being unceremoniously dropped from the GRFP eligibility with no explanation or warning: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
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Scott Williams @museumguyscott.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
#BrianKilmeade should've been fired a LONG time before this. But especially this time @foxnews.com.web.brid.gy do something right, for once in your miserable existence as a so-called NewsOrg. Fire Kilmeade! #FoxNews
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Roy Plotnick @fossilexpress.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
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