HeadLab (Jason Head) @headlab.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Excellent revision of a key stem tetrapod and its implications for the origins of terrestrial vertebrates 050
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)ΜΑΝΟΣ ΤΡΑΧΙΑΣ™ @trahias.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Cyril Cox (Canadian Artist, born 1958) "Late Afternoon Light", 2022. Acrylic on Canvas, 48 × 36 inches. Private Collection. #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt 352907506
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Joseph W. Brown @josephwb.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Early-diverging lineages provide little information about ancestors academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... From @phylieu.bsky.social @sinkingdiatom.bsky.social @omearabrian.bsky.socialacademic.oup.comEarly-diverging lineages provide little information about ancestorsAbstract. Large phylogenetic trees are often unbalanced near the root, with a species-depauperate lineage sister to a far more species-rich clade. The spec 411053
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Aaron Kufner @akufner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026This one has been a long time coming! I'm happy to share that another chapter of my PhD has been published! In this one, I'm shaking up the taxonomy of North American metoposaurids. This work was largely done in museum collections, and more on that below. peerj.com/articles/217... 25624
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Systematics Association @systassn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026We are delighted to announce the speaker for this year's Founders' Lecture: Dr. Mark Wilkinson, @nhm-london.bsky.social and former SystAssn president! TITLE: Caecilians and the growth of knowledge WHEN: Thursday, October 8th at 6PM WHERE: Burlington House, London JOIN US: tinyurl.com/ndx5az2a 169
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Nicolas Di-Poi @nicolasdipoi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Our collaborative paper on snake coiling is now out in the latest issue of @currentbiology.bsky.social and featured on the cover! 🎉 Delighted to see our work highlighted this way. You can read it here: authors.elsevier.com/c/1ni9h3QW8S... @helsinki-biotech.bsky.social @helsinki.fi 15918
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)William (Bill) Sutherland @billsutherland.bsky.social · 20/09/2026Chair combining behavioural studies with sustainability, which I gather may encompass biodiversity www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/hatton-...cam.ac.ukHatton Professorship of SustainabilityThe Board of Electors to the Hatton Professorship of Sustainability invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work falls within the general field of the Professorship (combining be... 065
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Andy Farke @andyfarke.bsky.social · 18/09/2026I just learned of the term "museomics." With all due respect to many, many awesome people, this comes across as yet another buzzword to avoid mentioning that high impact research depends on "low impact" work by unrecognized collectors, collections techs, researchers, and institutions. <1/3> 13411
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Oscar Wilson @therhinoscaros.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Our new paper on the palaeoecology of the Tinguiririca fauna is out today in Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments! doi.org/10.1007/s125... (Palaeoart by @literallymiguel.bsky.social) 13914
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Professor John R. Hutchinson @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026The anatomy of male gharial snouts and how they use them to make POPping noises: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...onlinelibrary.wiley.comGharial acoustic signaling: Novel underwater pops are temporally based, context‐dependent, seasonally stable, male‐specific, and individually distinctiveMale gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) produce loud underwater POPs by rapid jaw clapping 1–3×. POPs are temporally based, context-dependent, seasonally stable, and individually distinctive. The bulbous... 12813
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 31/08/2026macabre = “muh-KAHB” Worcestershire = “WOOSS-ter-sheer” omnipotent = “ahm-NI-puh-tunt” reticent = “RET-uh-sunt” epitome = “ih-PIT-uh-mee” myriad = "MEER-ee-ud" Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word. It means they learned it by reading. 795166613674
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Andrej Spiridonov @andrejpaleo.bsky.social · 31/08/2026No Bergmann's rule for megalodon: "regressions yield positive slopes..contradicting... Bergmann’s rule..nursery designation explains a substantially greater proportion of body size variation.." Should we be surprised for a global predator? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... 🧪⚒️ #Paleobio 0157
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Jon Simons @jonsimons.bsky.social · 27/08/2026The advert for the Hatton Professorship of Sustainability is now out. A fantastic opportunity for someone with expertise in social psychology, behavioural science, etc, to help address the greatest threat of our age. Please share with anyone who might be interested! www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/hatton-...cam.ac.ukHatton Professorship of SustainabilityThe Board of Electors to the Hatton Professorship of Sustainability invite applications for this Professorship from persons whose work falls within the general field of the Professorship (combining be... 0712
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Paul Barrett @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Increasingly sick of seeing ideas thrust forward as new when they’ve been in the literature decades, but ‘discovered’ by applying the latest R package to the same data. Please attempt some scholarship & at give credit to the people who published those ideas even if you have a new way to confirm them 171
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Erin Dillon @erinmdillon.bsky.social · 22/01/2026New paper out today! "Fossil otolith assemblages reveal millennial-scale changes in reef fish biomass and trophic structure across the Isthmus of Panama" 🔓https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2024.0419 We used fossil fish otoliths to reconstruct community structure and energetics over millennia. 12818
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Caley Orr @caleyorr.bsky.social · 10/08/2026"enhanced visual processing, not expansion of the frontal lobe, drove the major increases in neocortical size [in primates]." (from Editor's Summary)doi.orgFossil evidence favors a role for vision in the modular evolution of the primate neocortexNeocortical expansion is a key innovation of crown primates, although fossil evidence for how the neocortex has evolved remains elusive. We studied neocortical evolution using virtual brain endocasts ... 043
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Annette Yoshiko Reed @annetteyreed.bsky.social · 01/08/2026August as an academic 82073290
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 30/07/2026A 10-million-year biogeographic holding pen primed the Great American Biotic Interchange | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgA 10-million-year biogeographic holding pen primed the Great American Biotic InterchangeThe movement of taxa between North and South America across the Panamanian land bridge, known as the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI), established modern-day mammal assemblages in the Americas... 01711
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 29/07/2026The complex interaction between mammalian herbivores, climate, soil and fire has shaped the evolution and distribution of plant spinescence across biogeographical realms - Souza Ferreira - New Phytologist - Wiley Online Library nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.comThe complex interaction between mammalian herbivores, climate, soil and fire has shaped the evolution and distribution of plant spinescence across biogeographical realmsEvolution of spinescence in mimosoid legumes. 0114
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Todd Oakley @ostratodd.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Happy to share that this paper led by @caberger.bsky.social with @stoilovamarina.bsky.social @rebeccavarney.bsky.social @pcart.bsky.social Sam Abrams and Maria Pia is published -- Unexpectedly predictable molecular evolution with diverse ecologies 🧪 🧬 🌊 #Molevol #EvoBio www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...pnas.orgPNASProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans... 25321
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)John Rowan @jjrowan.bsky.social · 26/07/2026The Assault On Science Funding Continues | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/blog...science.orgThe Assault On Science Funding Continues 001
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Jon Simons @jonsimons.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Excited about new @cam.ac.uk Professorship that will soon be advertised for a behavioural change expert to address challenges affecting biodiversity, conservation and sustainabilitycam.ac.ukCambridge seeks behaviour change expert to tackle climate crisis as first Hatton Professor of SustainabilityTrinity College and University of Cambridge launch global hunt for new professor of sustainability who can help help effect change in choices and actions taken by the public. 01010
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Esme Ashe-Jepson @esme-ashe.bsky.social · 21/07/2026New paper out! Limited evidence that butterflies are capable of changing their thermoregulatory performance or thermal tolerance in response to local climatic conditions. Instead, poorer thermoregulators have shown stronger upwards elevational range shifts in response to climate change rdcu.be/fuSJErdcu.beButterflies with low thermoregulatory capacity show greatest upwards range shifts along an elevational gradientCommunications Biology - Lack of variation in thermoregulatory capacity or thermal tolerance in butterflies across an elevational gradient suggests limited adaptive capacity. Poorer... 04114
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 20/07/2026New paper from @jakeberv.bsky.social harnesses a massive skeletal measurement dataset for passerines to show nested bursts in phenotypic evolution, many of which appear coincident with intervals of climate instability. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 17935
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)QueenCityJamz @queencityjamz.bsky.social · 18/07/2026OTD 1991 The music fest that popularized the soon-to-be ubiquitous suffix -palooza debuted in Arizona. 5860263
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Z. Jack Tseng @tsengzj.bsky.social · 16/07/2026Our newest paper on mammalian dental evolution, out today as the cover article in @science.org, lead by @narimanechatar.bsky.social with a team of fantastic early career scientists!!! 🎉🥳 “Performance trade-offs define a fundamental dental dichotomy in mammals” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... 411048
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Prof Ian Hall @ianhall.bsky.social · 15/07/2026🌊 Ocean acidification emerging as a planetary signal linking today's carbon emissions to Earth's deep-time memory phys.org/news/2026-07...phys.orgOcean acidification emerging as a planetary signal linking today's carbon emissions to Earth's deep-time memoryWhen most people hear the phrase "ocean acidification," they think of coral reefs, shellfish or declining fisheries. Those concerns are real. But while working on our recent research, I found myself a... 0167
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Alex Wild @alexwild.bsky.social · 14/07/2026The natural history collections at the University of Texas, holding maybe 5 million specimens, is partly closed down because our buildings are falling apart and UT is doing the bare minimum of life support. We could fix it for 1/5th the price of a vanity purchase of a single dinosaur specimen. 11424158
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)PaleoJim @paleojim.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Worse than I could have imagined with near total loss of our Campanian dinosaur beds. @utahpaleo-ufop.bsky.social @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social @agu.org @natgeosci.nature.com @paleosoc.bsky.social No one asked my opinion as Utah's State Paleontologist! @paleontologizing.bsky.social 55626
HeadLab (Jason Head) @headlab.bsky.social · 13/07/2026Salient advice for academics, especially ECRs and postgraduate students. RIP to an amazing actor and human. 021
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)The Anatomical Record @anatrecord.bsky.social · 13/07/2026How do leading tools compare for reconstructing CT muscle architecture? Xfiber & Goodfibes produce similar fiber length/orientation results in high-quality scans but Goodfibes is more sensitive to lower resolution & curved fascicles Zobek et al.: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... 087
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Democrat Cats @democratcats.bsky.social · 12/07/2026Morning Kitten 181108181117
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Chris Stringer @chrisbstringer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026Taphonomic analysis at Liang Bua reveals the behavioral and technological capabilities of Homo floresiensis | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgTaphonomic analysis at Liang Bua reveals the behavioral and technological capabilities of Homo floresiensisHomo floresiensis scavenged Stegodon and did not use fire, challenging previous claims of advanced behavior. 03718
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Journal of Systematic Palaeontology @journalsystpal.bsky.social · 03/07/2026New paper out in JSP! Jerry Hooker revisits the genus Lessnessina, the affinities of which have been long debated, with 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙪𝙢, a new sp. from the early Ypresian Blackheath Formation (UK) providing key morphological evidence. Read here: buff.ly/zoKuNWk #PaleoSky #FossilFriday 0185
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Pearl Jam @pearljam.com · 02/07/2026Celebrating 34 years of the official Singles soundtrack this week, enjoy "Breath" performed live from Berlin in 2018. Watch more pj.lnk.to/breathberlin18BL 416622
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Digital Brain @yourdigitalbrain.bsky.social · 01/07/2026A mobula ray leaps clean over a hammerhead shark in the wild. Scientists still debate why rays jump, but the timing here is nearly impossible to replicate. 24871203
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 30/06/2026whatcameradoyouhave 📍SoCal x Baja 📷 Ocean + Adventures: captured in 4K+ "Baird’s beaked whales are one of the most exotic cetaceans to encounter and one of the rarest you can see in California and Baja." 14532113
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Dr Ross Barnett @deepfrieddna.bsky.social · 30/06/2026🤣 thehardtimes.net/culture/guy-...thehardtimes.netGuy In Mastodon Shirt Can’t Even Name Three Pleistocene Migration RoutesNEW YORK — Local metalhead Mark Calhoune confidently wore a Mastodon shirt to the Museum of Natural History despite not being able... Get the full story 1172
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)🇨🇦JOY 🇨🇦 @joycomes.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Chameleons - 200 species found in tropical rainforest deserts Africa, and Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, Middle East. extraordinary ability to change colours to regulate their body temperature and communicate with other chameleons. 18700130
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)USA @usamailbox.bsky.social · 28/06/2026After taking everything else, we called this #conservation. 21545483
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Gopal Murali @gopalmurali.bsky.social · 29/06/2026🚨New paper🚨 For decades, it was widely assumed tropical species would be hit hardest by #ClimateChange. Turns out climate-related local #extinctions are already more frequent among temperate species. Read our new study 🧵 @natclimate.nature.com doi.org/10.1038/s415... #BiodiversityLoss #SciSkydoi.orgTemperate local extinctions from climate change are outpacing tropical extinctions - Nature Climate ChangeThe authors analyse global-scale resurvey data for 5,151 species to reveal the sensitivity of tropical versus temperate species to climate change. They show significantly higher frequencies of local e... 36846
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Ferwen @ferwen.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Temperate local extinctions from climate change are outpacing tropical extinctions www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comTemperate local extinctions from climate change are outpacing tropical extinctions - Nature Climate ChangeThe authors analyse global-scale resurvey data for 5,151 species to reveal the sensitivity of tropical versus temperate species to climate change. They show significantly higher frequencies of local e... 041
HeadLab (Jason Head) @headlab.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Kate is a fantastic writer and science journalist. Some publishing firm needs to grab her up ASAP 130
HeadLab (Jason Head) @headlab.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Fantastic research led by @lucyroberts.bsky.social examines the evolution of axial skeletal complexity in reptiles. Turns out the textbooks were wrong- highly complex vertebral columns evolve multiple times within amniotes! Roberts, L.E., Head, J.J. Nat Commun (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s414...doi.orgEvolution of the reptile spine reveals independent trajectories to axial skeletal complexity in amniotes - Nature CommunicationsComplex axial skeletal morphology has evolved in mammals and some reptiles. Here the authors combine morphometrics with a maximum likelihood model to find that axial heterogeneity is associated with b... 0125
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. @arctomet.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Long‐term changes in functional diversity and its implications for mammalian conservation and ecological restoration in a grassland ecosystem - Carrasco - Functional Ecology - Wiley Online Library besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.comLong‐term changes in functional diversity and its implications for mammalian conservation and ecological restoration in a grassland ecosystemRead the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. 0228
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Genuine 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! 8367134