iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Ainsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Mommmmmm all the OTHER museums have life-sized model eurypterids, why can't WE install life-sized model eurypterids

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

🚨We're hiring a new Curator of Mammals!!🚨 🦍🐕🦝🐅🦓🦌🐃🐖🐏🐫🐘🦏🦛🐿️🦔🦇🦥🦦🦨🦘🦡🐋🦭🦒🧸 Come join the Vertebrate Unit at @nhmdk.bsky.social—a fantastic team in the heart of Denmark's beautiful capital! Amazing collections, incredible history. Please share widely! 🧪🏛️ candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

candidate.hr-manager.net

Tenure Track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor and Curator of Mammals

Tenure Track Assistant Professor / Associate Professor, and Curator of Mammals at Natural History Museum Denmark The Natural History Museum Denmark wishes to ap

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

New paper in @bou.org.uk's Ibis: there is still no comprehensive database of bird type specimens. Many major collections have no published type catalogue at all. Where they exist, they're often print-only, partial, or decades out of date. 🧵

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Good morning, team. We have 3.5 days until Drexel closes the Academy of Natural Sciences. It’s time for you- yeah YOU- to make some calls. Step 1: Tell the following people we need help pressuring Drexel to keep the museum open: Josh Shaprio 717-787-2500 Mayor Parker's 215-686-2181

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Michael Hiller @hillermich.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Happy to share results of the @bat1kgenomes.bsky.social phase 1, providing reference genomes covering 21 bat families. New insights into bat phylogeny, ancestral genome reconstruction, European origin & ancestral echolocation. Great work by a team of 100+ colleagues www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Reference genomes and fossils revise bat family phylogeny and biogeography - Nature

An updated phylogeny of bats is presented, based on new genome assemblies and many ancient fossils and including all known bat families.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

candidate.hr-manager.net

Tenure Track Assistant Professor or Associate Professor and Curator of Mammals

Tenure Track Assistant Professor / Associate Professor, and Curator of Mammals at Natural History Museum Denmark The Natural History Museum Denmark wishes to ap

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Four-year-old asked me to guess what animal he was drawing on the whiteboard. The answer? A sea squirt.

An anatomically simplified illustration of a sea squirt. The oral siphon, above, represented by a kind of star on a stick; to the right, the atrial siphon is illustrated with the same kind of star on a stick.
Orange marker on whiteboard.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The office today, reading through some proofs. 🧪🦎

A sunny day at the botanical garden, legs up on a chair, holding a printed document with pictures of Geckolepis fish-scale geckos on it. A red pen in hand.

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Please repost! Drexel announced that it will close the Academy of Natural Sciences public museum- the oldest nat history museum in the US. There are 2 petitions to support the academy. Please sign both & come to our rally Tues. actionnetwork.org/petitions/pe... www.change.org/p/the-academ...

A poster featuring the T-Rex at the cognitive natural sciences, which says save the Academy natural sciences, museum rally in front of the academy 1900 Ben Franklin Parkway, Tuesday, September 8 10 AM. The T-Rex is saying tell Drexel keep the museum open. There’s an RSVP QR code and then the logos of Philly Science Action Skype scientist In Philly on the bottom.

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Alexandra Weber @toedtoad.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

My first paper is officially out in @currentbiology.bsky.social ! We found that snake embryos coil due to a mismatch in growth rates between the gut and spine. This tight coil is one of the reasons why snakes are able to get so long. Read the paper here!

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Trying to piece together the steps I took to do a species delimitation analysis whilst sleep deprived in the rainforest six months ago is not going well. Which software did I run? Which version is the most recent? Why does my Mac think all files in the whole folder were created simultaneously?🧪🐸

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Kathryn R Elmer @profkathrynelmer.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

We have a ca 1.5 yr postdoc available in our team, asking, 'what is the shape of the fitness landscape between oviparity and viviparity?' and 'what drives viviparity to evolve'? 🧬 using 🦎 as a model. closes 16 Sept. Details on EvolDir evoldir.net/brian/evoldi... @glasgow.ac.uk @sbohvm.gla.ac.uk

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Can anyone help me track down a book by W. C.A. Bokermann? 'Lista anotada das localidades tipo de anfíbios brasileiros' published 1966 in São Paulo: Servicio de Documentacão, Universidade Rural São Paulo. Looks like no PDFs exist, but we need some of the data in there! #canhazpdf 🧪🐸🇧🇷

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Here are two of the four new species of moss-camouflaged frogs we just described in the journal Salamandra: Spinomantis fohitstilo and S. chlorostictus! The article is OA, available here: www.salamandra-journal.com/salamandra/6... 🧪🐸

Spinomantis fohistilo, a mossy-looking frog with big finger and toe pads, green and brown patterning above, and rather white flanks. The legs have a series of little white spines, which are the source of the name, which means white spines in Malagasy.

A brown frog with a two-toned eye, and little green splotches over its back. Those green splotches are the source of the name, which is of Greek derivation. This one is quite smooth without fringes or spines, but still has well expanded finger and toe tips.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Reminder that what your child is interested in at the age of six could well foreshadow their entire career path. It did mine, at least. 🧪🦎

The childhood drawings of yours truly at the age of six featuring a badly drawn tree with fairly well drawn snake crawling up it, and two, one big and one small, looking at it. Above, childish handwriting reads 'Granddad and I go on safari int he back yard.'

The childish drawings of yours truly at the age of six. It features a relatively abstract tree with a person with an obnoxiously long nose drawn to the side of it, with what must be a lizard in hand, for above the caption reads 'We like catching lizzards.'

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Say hello to Quentin’s Diamond Frog, Rhombophryne quentini. 🧪🐸 #NewSpecies

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

I am thrilled to introduce seven new species of diamond frogs from Madagascar! A new monograph on the genus Rhombophryne published #OpenAccess in Vertebrate Zoology. 🧪🐸 doi.org/10.3897/vz.7...

A new species, Rhombophryne sonaliae, looking right at you. It looks a lot like Kaloula pulchra, aka chubby frogs, with its light flank stripes and dark brown top and sides, but is super shiny.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I am very excited: a paper I have been working on for a very long time, including descriptions of seven new frog species, will be dropping tomorrow apparently! If you are a #SciComm journalist and interested in covering the story, hit me up! 🧪🐸

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Glorious to be able to watch @criticalrole.bsky.social with Edinburgh Castle as a backdrop!

Full stands in front of a brightly lit stage, itself in front of Edinburgh castle with sconces lit, in the evening light.

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Darren Naish @tetzoo.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

New at Tetrapod Zoology.... a brand new book on TAXONOMIC VANDALISM and one notorious vandal in particular... tetzoo.com/blog/2026/7/... #herpetology #snakes #books

tetzoo.com

Snake Men by Zach St. George — Tetrapod Zoology

A fun, fast-paced new book covers taxonomic vandalism in the reptile world, and one notorious vandal in particular…

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Pasha van Bijlert @pashavanb.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Had a great time presenting my final PhD chapter yesterday at SEB 2026 in Florence @sebiology.bsky.social Did you miss it, or just want to discuss dinosaur or emu locomotion? Come find me at the conference!

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

‘Playground’ time with an animal kid

A child prone on the sand, his hands full of beetles, the swings and other accoutrements of the playground forlorn and forgotten in the background.

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Pavel Payne @pavelpayne.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

#SMBE2026 I thought maybe this table-layout of the programme might be handy for more of us: drive.google.com/file/d/1tYF3...

drive.google.com

SMBE_2026_Tue_Wed_side_by_side_timeblocks_10pt_compact_consecutive.pdf

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

Petra Korlević @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

scientists, you don't need AI for your conference posters, what you need is a lil bird calling a t-rex mommy!

zoom in on the OP poster, with black lines on white of a little bird saying "Mommy?" while looking at a very confused t-rex

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Yesterday I presented what I think was the first conference poster of my career 😅 at #SMBE2026, talking about my ERC StG project on the genomics of miniaturisation in vertebrates—GEMINI. Really happy for the discussions it sparked. Thanks everyone who stopped by! 🧪

A selfie of Mark standing beside his poster, which features a penguin trying to explain what miniaturisation is and why it matters.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Incredible. That’s Frankfurt, London, and the Smithsonian all with calls for herpetology curators open at the same time. Unheard of!

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

A hilarious effect of the way @inaturalist.bsky.social obscures data on threatened species is that observations that are all from more or less the same place form square clouds of obscured points. Here, the observations of the giant chameleon Calumma parsonii around Andasibe in eastern Madagascar 🧪🦎

A map of rainforest in Eastern Madagascar, with a beautiful square point cloud representing observations around Andasibe.

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Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz

NHM Library and Archives @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Diversity: It's in our nature. Happy Pride 2026 from NHM Library and Archives! (All images taken from artwork in our collections.) #Pride #PrideMonth #PrideMonth2026

A rainbow Pride flag. All colours are drawn from natural history artworks.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

I have had a great many frustrations in 3D printing recently, but the last few prints have been absolutely beautiful. It’s honestly hard to believe we even have this technology.

A dragon wing in pale white resin on the cerulean printing plate of a Photon S 3D printer

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I am searching for a monograph: Gislén, T., and H. Kauri. 1959. Zoogeography of the Swedish amphibians and reptiles with notes on their growth and ecology. Acta Vertebratica. Stockholm 1: 197–397. Anyone happen to have a copy of this issue of Acta Vertebratica? Probably no PDFs exist! 🧪

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Does your natural history museum have compactors? What do you think of them? And who made them? We are seeking input for the future of our collections here in Copenhagen! 🧪

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Josh Millwood @jmillwood.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

~Record scratches~ “Yeah, that’s me. I’m sure you are all wondering how I got here. Well, to explain that we have to go all the way back to the time I was just sprouting my hind legs…”

A large frog staring rather muppet-like at the camera, like Jim on The Office. The frog is being held in the gloved hand of a man.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Today I caught one of the largest frogs of my life. This gigantic Pelophylax ridibundus belongs to a Balkan lineage (formerly P. kurtmuelleri) that has an established introduced population in one lake in central Copenhagen. They are about twice the size of our native green frogs! 🐸🧪

Yours truly and the Very Large Frog, our faces with the same expression. The Frog (the F is capitalised; a proper noun for a proper Frog) is huge, about the size of my face, and held in a gloved hand.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Anyone else *hate* the term 'nested PCR'? Nested implies one round of PCR from template and then a second round on the product to amplify a piece within it. That's not what it is. It is tiled: separate PCRs on different, overlapping bits. Calling it 'nested' confused me for a solid decade. 🧪

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

For us a big one is tadpoles. Thousands of unidentified tadpoles. Often the wrong state or not well enough preserved to get even genus ID, except maybe by the best experts.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Denmark may not have a huge amphibian diversity, but some of our frogs are real stunners. Just look at this handsome green toad, Bufotes viridis!

Picture if you will a light brown, almost beige toad. Cover that toad in large algal-green blotches, and intersperse a few warts that are neither green nor tan, but rather a rich orange. For an artistic flare, this same colour is repeated at the tips of the fingers and toes. The eye is black flecked with gold, with golden rims outlining the iris on top and below. A masterpiece of amphibian art.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Spring in the north means tadpoles in our lakes and ponds! These little common toad tadpoles are in one of the little ponds at the Botanical Garden here in Copenhagen (part of @nhmdk.bsky.social), which is also full of newts in full breeding dress. 😍

A wide angle photo of a pond reflecting a cloud spotted sky, with little black toad poles in the shallows in the foreground

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

We talk about the glamour of field research all the time. Today I spent three hours uploading mostly-hand-written receipts one by one into our finance system. I don’t think I’m even a quarter of the way done. What a thrill. Such glamour. Time, well, spent 🤷‍♂️🧪

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Liz Weinberg @eaweinberg.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Had one of those moments where I thought SURELY everyone must know about the frog genus Mini, home to tiny frogs Mini mum, Mini scule, and Mini ature, only to text several friends and realize this isn't common knowledge. So now you, dear BlueSky friends, get to learn too. 🐸 🧪

The XKCD Lucky 10,000 comic, about how for each thing everyone supposedly knows by the time they're adults, each day there are approximately 10,000 people in the U.S. hearing about it for the first time. The second panel usually shows someone asking about diet coke and mentos and their friend saying oh man, come on, we're going to the grocery store. In this one, diet coke and mentos has been replaced with The Mini frog genus, and the grocery store has been replaced with Madagascar.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

Three weeks after being in the rainforest of Madagascar, I spent the day surveying reptiles and amphibians in Denmark. Somewhat different weather. But still very rewarding. We saw a whopping NINETEEN adders! 🐍🧪

A large female adder, curled in a defensive posture among leaf litter, sticks, and rocks.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Does anyone working for Meta think ad breaks actually work? All it does is make it easier for me to close the app. So in a way, I am grateful, I suppose.

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Max Mühlenhaupt @maxmuehlenhaupt.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

New paper out: this is the 3rd ch. from my M.Sc.-thesis that started in 2019! How did the toxin glands as well as the composition of the toxins secreted from these glands change after an African toad invaded novel ranges and what are potential drivers of these changes? doi.org/10.1016/j.is...

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Rod Page @rdmpage.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Four years ago as @gbif.org passed 2 billion records, I tweeted that GBIF was, to a first approximation a database of birds x.com/rdmpage/stat.... Four years later we have nearly twice as many records (3.6 billion) and... it's still a mostly a database of birds www.gbif.org/occurrence/t...

Sunburst diagram of taxonomic distribution of occurrences in GBIF in March 2022, as tweeted here https://x.com/rdmpage/status/1501477098434744332?s=20

Sunburst diagram of taxonomic distribution of occurrences in GBIF https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/taxonomy?occurrence_status=PRESENT on 9 April 2026

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Something parasitic definitely got this robberfly I found stuck to this leaf in littoral forest of southeastern Madagascar. But what kind of parasite? Fungal? Vespid? Any ideas? 🧪🪰

A weird bulbous expansion stretches up from the back of thorax of a robber fly, which has somehow gotten attached to the tip of a leaf in the forest.

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

@davehone.bsky.social you said on the recent croc episode of Terrible Lizards that you always have to look up which is R and which is K selection. There’s a great mnemonic I learned at uni: R for Rabbit, K for Kelephant.

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IUCN SSC Chameleon Specialist Group @iucnchameleons.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

We advanced to the 2nd round of the Indianapolis Zoo's Uproar Conservation Challenge! Now vote for Rhampholeon acuminatus in round 2 to help our species advance again & bring us closer to the $10,000 conservation prize! Round 2 voting ends March 23 & can be done at www.UproarChallenge.com

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Dr Mark D. Scherz @markscherz.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Yesterday we hiked out of the forest after five days totally off-grid. Hard to believe what’s happened in the world in the last five days! I’m quite glad we were out of signal range and able to focus on just excellent frogs and reptiles. 🧪🐸🦎🐍🇲🇬

Boophis reticulatus, a brown tree frog with weird ridges on its back, perched on a serrated bright green Pandanus leaf.

Platypelis pollicaris, a little brown narrow-mouth frog with flecks of gold over its body, sitting atop a bright green leaf

A female Calumma oshaughnessyi, a large green and grey chameleon with diagonal stripes up its body, walking along a branch toward camera left.

A portrait of Liopholidophis dolicocercus (sorry if you’re using a system that reads these Latin names aloud!), a black, brown, and bright yellow snake. In my years working with snakes in Madagascar, I think I have never had a more cooperative subject. It was totally calm and posable!

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