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Dr. Mary T. Silcox

@marytsilcox.bsky.social
540 followers 179 following 18 posts

Vertebrate Paleontologist studying early primates and their kin. Also enjoy going to the theatre and looking at art. Professor at University of Toronto Scarborough. She/her

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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Bob Wong @bbmwong.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Are you an ecologist/evolutionary biologist looking for an ongoing academic position? Monash University’s School of Biological Sciences is hiring! Come join us in Melbourne, Australia! Details here: careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/jo...
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Dr. Mary T. Silcox @marytsilcox.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
The University of Toronto Mississauga invites applications for a tenure stream Assistant Professor position in Paleoanthroplogy. Deadline to apply is October 15, 2026. Full details: jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Mississa...
jobs.utoronto.ca
Assistant Professor - Palaeoanthropology
Assistant Professor - Palaeoanthropology
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Institute of Evolutionary Biology UW @ibe-warszawa.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
🚨Paper Alert!🚨 @keeganselig.bsky.social, @sergilopeztorres.bsky.social, @chrislaw.bsky.social, AM Burrows & @marytsilcox.bsky.social explore 'The evolution & development of molar size among exudate-feeding #lorises & #bushbabies' American Journal of Biological Anthropology 🦷🐵 doi.org/10.1002/ajpa...
doi.org
The Evolution and Development of Molar Size Among Exudate‐Feeding Lorises and Bushbabies
Objectives A challenge for linking evolution and development is to find proxies for developmental processes that can be studied from the types of material preserved in the fossil record (i.e., teeth...
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Sergi López-Torres @sergilopeztorres.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
New paper out in JVP, in which we describe two new species of the basal paromomyid primate Paromomys from the Paleocene of Alberta 🇨🇦 By Craig Scott, myself, @marytsilcox.bsky.social & Lisa Bohach. doi.org/10.1080/0272...
Mandibles and isolated molars of the new species Paromomys borealis
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Trends in Ecology & Evolution @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Recently, there’s been a lot of discussion about diversity in science. However, disability/chronic conditions has been absent. In response, Trends in Ecology & Evolution is publishing a series of interviews with ecologists and evolutionary biologists who are disabled or have a chronic condition.
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Julia McHugh @drjmchugh.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
The Department of Anatomical Sciences at Stony Brook University School of Medicine invites applications for an Instructor position, with primary teaching responsibilities in human gross anatomy to healthcare professional students. One year renewable appointment. www.higheredjobs.com/search/detai...
higheredjobs.com
Human Gross Anatomy Instructor, Research Instructor, Anatomy - HigherEdJobs
Jobs in higher education. Faculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities. Updated daily. Free to job seekers.
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AntifaLeader @antifaleader1.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
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Darren Incorvaia @megadarren.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
“De-extinction” is to biodiversity loss what “Mars colonization” is to climate change—wishful thinking that is at its core impossible but nevertheless sucks up attention and resources from actual solutions to these crises (which, ultimately, might be the whole point)
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Dr. Mary T. Silcox @marytsilcox.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
New paper co-led by Maddy Lang and myself, providing the most comprehensive analysis of the evolution of olfactory bulb size in living and fossil euarchontoglirans. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
But how does it smell? An investigation of olfactory bulb size among living and fossil primates and other euarchontoglirans
Analysis of cranial endocast data of 181 extant and 41 fossil species from Euarchontoglires shows that there was a reduction in olfactory bulb size in Crown Primates, but that there were also subsequ...
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Bloch Lab @blochlab.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Our new study published today on a remarkably complete skeleton of Mixodectes from the early Paleocene of New Mexico! @purgatoriidae.bsky.social @abqtom.bsky.social @crowelljw.bsky.social @marytsilcox.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
New remarkably complete skeleton of Mixodectes reveals arboreality in a large Paleocene primatomorphan mammal following the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - New remarkably complete skeleton of Mixodectes reveals arboreality in a large Paleocene primatomorphan mammal following the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction
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Missy Hubbard @missy-ubermom.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
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Noelle @finallynoelle.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Might save a life.
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Awesome work! If you’re supporting us from Canada, sign here: www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...
ourcommons.ca
Petition e-5353 - Petitions
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Dave Dellecese @davedellecese.com · 27/02/2025
There's an open comment period until March 17 where you can leave comments about Passport Gender Policy Changes. This site has both links to proposals (you'll have to submit a comment on each), sample comments to get you started, and you can submit anonymously. indivisiblesf.org/call-scripts...
indivisiblesf.org
Public Comment: Speak Out Against Passport Gender Policy Changes | Indivisible SF
Public Comment: Speak Out Against Passport Gender Policy Changes
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Jim Lehane @jazinator.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
A public lands protest will take place this Saturday, March 1st, at the Dinosaur National Monument entrance (Utah side), in support of federal employee community members who have recently lost their jobs. #PleaseShare #Paleontology #Dinosaurs #NationalParks
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Lawless @thebigredape.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Go to an old cemetery. See all the baby graves from before the 1950s & 60s? After that, hardly any. That's when people started vaccinating their children against deadly childhood diseases. If you're unsure what to do to protect your kids, the answer is literally written in stone
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Prof Julia Steinberger 🌹🌱🌍 #ClimateAction #Fightfascism @jksteinberger.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity. TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄
NO CHATGPT Or other artificial stupidity: motivation
First, clarity on distinguishing AIs:
Non-generative: grammar aid, translation, dictionary, text-to-audio (e.g. Natural Reader): no problem
As long as you use the appropriate tools (least intensive in data and server energy use).
Why? Because you provide the content. Your brain is doing the most important work
Generative: ChatGPT & Co. 
You only supply the prompt, the AI supplies the content.
Why is this delegation of work problematic?
3 domains: ethical, environmental, intellectual engagement.

(Caveat: generative is probably ok for computer programming, where it can be useful and save time. Not relevant to this class.)
1) AI and ethics
Mass theft of all and everything
«learning» on books, articles, blogs, social media, images, music, cultural production, without  permission of authors/creators, and leading to their mass joblessness. Profits are not reditributed to originators. 
Permanent destruction of the mental health of underpaid precarious tech workers in the Global South (Kenya, Philippines …):
«correction» to avoid production of violent and pedophile contents etc, tech workers are obliged to watch and correct super violent contents for days on end, leading to extreme psychological suffering and trauma, from which recovery is doubtful. No or little compensation (certainly not at the level of the suffering inflicted). 
In short, an industry built on theft of real human creation and sacrifice of real human health, profiting a few megafortunes. 
2) AI and (un)sustainability

Massive consumption of electricity, water, server capacity for generative AI. 
Outcome: keep fossil fuel companies in business, using up new renewable capacity, without any satisfaction of basic human needs.
Massive misappropriation of the finance necessary for climate and ecological action (renewable generation, efficiency and retrofit for buildings, public transit, infrastructures for cycling etc) towards AI industry. 
Overall: undermine climate action, reinforce fossil industry, waste resources necessary for human development. 
3) AI and intellectual engagement

First, what learning is (or should be) about:
The goal should not (only) be the reproduction of «correct» knowledge,
But mainly personal engagement and experience of thinking about topics of interest. Personal engagement = using one’s own brain. 
The most important activity for learning and intellectual engagement is the experience of making one’s own mistakes, by trial and error, corrections based on new ideas, starting over again. Learning to recognise nuances, knowledge gaps, better explanations 
This kind of learning is possible only through using your own brain, not AI. 
Also, Ais are not «intelligent». At all. 
They simply reproduce pre-existing patterns. They «bullshit», invent false references, false facts, false data, simply because those sound plausible. VERY DANGEROUS. 
If you learn how to NOT use AI, and how to research facts and data on your own, this will serve you and your communities for the rest of your life.
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Katie Langin @klangin.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Dear federal scientists: If you have been affected by the probationary firings and would be willing to speak with Science, please reach out to me by email (klangin@aaas.org) or on Signal. We can guarantee annonymity.
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Dr. Mary T. Silcox @marytsilcox.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
A powerful window on one aspect of the current debacle
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Bridget Wade @bridgetwade.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Full-time or part-time Research Technician in Micropalaeontology available in my lab @bridgetwade.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social as part of the NERC TONIC Large Grant. Closing date: 23rd February 2025. More details: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... #technician #micropalaeontology #plankton #NERC
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 28/01/2025
I think some people hear “grants” and think that without them, scientists and government workers just have less stuff to play with at work. But grants fund salaries for students, academics, researchers, and people who work in all areas of public service. “Pausing” grants means people don’t eat.
washingtonpost.com
White House pauses all federal grants, sparking confusion
The Trump administration has put a hold on all federal financial grants and loans, affecting tens of billions of dollars in payments.
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Holly Anderson @palaeophd.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
🚨New paper alert! 🚨' #sensory #reconstruction of the #fossil #lorisid Mioeuoticus: #Systematic and #evolutionary implications ' 🙈🙉🙊 www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15... Many thanks to my coauthors Adam Lis, @ingthingg.bsky.social, @marytsilcox.bsky.social & @sergilopeztorres.bsky.social sky.social 😊
mdpi.com
Sensory Reconstruction of the Fossil Lorisid Mioeuoticus: Systematic and Evolutionary Implications
The fossil record of lorises and pottos (family Lorisidae) potentially dates back to the late Oligocene of Namibia, but a later moderate diversification of this family occurred during the Miocene of A...
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Richard Butler @richardjbutler.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
📣 Come work with us! Three year Research Associate position to work as part of Leverhulme Trust funded project collecting and studying amazing Jurassic mammal fossils from the Isle of Skye. PhD not necessary; CT segmentation skills essential. Contact me for details: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DLK473/r...
Example of Middle Jurassic mammal fossils from Skye, published by Elsa Panciroli et al. 2024.Cuillin Hills, the view from our field site on the Isle of Skye.
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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Sobering read about ongoing financial challenges for PRI. I'm hard pressed to think of a US museum that stretches limited resources further for science and outreach.
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Prof. Rhiannon Stevens @nannonstevens.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Final call !! Apply for this funded PhD at University College London @UCLarchaeology.bsky.social on Establishing limits of Neanderthal presence in Britain. Deadline 20th Jan 5pm Uk time www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/est...
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Indige Tea 🦬🧡 : ✊🏾 @colouredwilde.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
I want to remind everyone that your local library is both physical AND digital. You hate streaming everything because the price is ridiculous? Library. You hate ads because they're every 3 mins or less? Library. You want to reduce your digital footprint? Library. You want sourced info? Library.
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Krista Langlois @cestmoilanglois.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
Heard a report that some ravens were perched above a downtown building purposefully and gleefully pushing snow onto the heads of people passing by. Happy New Year to the ravens, to the tricksters and shapeshifters, which is to say, to all of us finding glimmers of joy in the darkness
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Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Me during literally every single second of A Muppet Christmas Carol
Winnie the Pooh drinking coffee
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Professor Anjali Goswami FRS @evoswami.bsky.social · 17/12/2024
Are you a dog lover looking for a PhD? You're in luck, becuase we are advertising a BBSRC-funded project that combines evolution, morphology, and biomechanics, and actually helps #dogs live better lives! Check it out here: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
findaphd.com
BBSRC NWD CASE: Selective breeding, morphological and functional disparity in domestic dogs: implications for welfare and veterinary healthcare technologies at University of Liverpool on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - BBSRC NWD CASE: Selective breeding, morphological and functional disparity in domestic dogs: implications for welfare and veterinary healthcare technologies at University of Liverpool, l...
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Kai Kupferschmidt @kakape.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
Sadly, it’s a good time to once again share this amazing infographic that we ran at @science.org more than 7 years ago 🧪 #IDsky www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Here's the visual proof of why vaccines do more good than harm
See year by year how vaccines beat back nine dangerous infectious diseases
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Laura Dee @lauradee.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
We are hiring a postdoc in my lab @colorado.edu to work on this NSF CAREER proposal (tinyurl.com/cak8dkza) to quantify how and when global change (drought, warming) alters the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning. Job here: colorado.avature.net/searchhub/Jo... 1/2
tinyurl.com
NSF Award Search: Award # 2340606 - CAREER: Quantifying how and when global change alters the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning Lock
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Laurits Skov @lauritsskov.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Very excited (and a bit nervous) to announce that I will be hiring two Postdocs for my new group(!) in Copenhagen to study the Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA which survives in present-day humans. Retweet will be much appreciated :) Link for application: candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...
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Robin G Nelson @robingnelson.blacksky.app · 11/12/2024
Anthropology Job Alert! App State is hiring a sociocultural anthropologist w/a focus in critical med anth appstate.peopleadmin.com/postings/488...
appstate.peopleadmin.com
Assistant Professor, Sociocultural Anthropology
The successful candidate will be a dynamic teacher-scholar committed to training undergraduate students. The instructional load is three undergraduate courses per semester, ranging from upper level se...
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Reposted by Dr. Mary T. Silcox
Ethan White @ethanwhite.weecology.org · 06/12/2024
To partly answer my own question this looks like a pretty extensive and well curated list of postbac opportunities in ecology: www.pathwaystoscience.org/Discipline.a...
pathwaystoscience.org
Ecology & Evolution: Directory of Internships, Research Opportunities, Scholarships & Fellowships
Ecology & Evolution Opportunities: browse internships, summer research, scholarships, graduate programs, fellowships, and postdoc positions.
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David Levering @biogeoverse.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
I’m currently recruiting earth/life sciences undergrads, grad students, postdocs, & professional educators for 2025 instructor & TA jobs in Sternberg Museum Science Camps! Info & application form here 👉 forms.gle/5EGnpKMhHRj9... Please share! ~40+ slots this summer! #paleontology #geology #biology
Informational flier about staff positions for the 2025 Sternberg Museum Science Camps+ program. Instructor and TA jobs available!
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Dr Ruby (she/her) @paperwhispers.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
**Black UK PhD students** This is the programme you want! It is all the bells and whistles, full fees and stipend, any subject, industrial experience offered, 50 other Black scholars already on board and administrated in an environment of care. **Tell everyone**
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Dr. Mary T. Silcox @marytsilcox.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
A question for my Paleo people...I am adding a class on ethics in Paleontology to my 4th year undergrad seminar on Primate Evolution. I'd appreciate some suggestions for readings that students at that level are likely to find digestible and relevant. Thanks!
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Dr. Jaimi Gray @jaimiagray.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
#Education resource! Over the years I created this collection of colored skull #3Dmodels for teaching. They're available to download on MorphoSource & to view on Sketchfab. Because of recent changes to Sketchfab, I migrated them to my website: www.graysvertebrateanatomy.com/work/colorso... (1/3)
A screenshot of a website displaying 8 colored skull models of amphibians and reptiles, along with buttons that will allow the user to navigate to 3D models for each skull.
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Imran Rahman @imranrahman.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Job alert! Director of Oxford University Museum of Natural History: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DKV017/d...
jobs.ac.uk
Director of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History at University of Oxford
Recruiting now: Director of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board
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Dr. Jasmina Wiemann @jwiemann.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
New job ad for a tenure-track Assistant Professor in EPSS at UCLA in Los Angeles - perfect for a fellow Molecular Geo-, Astro-, and/or Paleobiologist!!! 😊 @biomineralogy.bsky.social, ‪Mariana Valéria de Araújo Sena, Pjotr Meyvisch, @miquai.bsky.social, ... Link: recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09827
recruit.apo.ucla.edu
Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track) Faculty Position in Geobiology at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles is hiring. Apply now!
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Steve Brusatte @stevebrusatte.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
🚨PhD Opportunity: Come to Edinburgh and study ichthyosaurs with us! Study Scottish fossils from Skye! New ones & historic specimens! Project led by Stig Walsh, co-supervised by @davfoff.bsky.social Nick Fraser, Erin Maxwell & me. Details👇 e4-dtp.ed.ac.uk/e5-dtp/super...
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Kate Clancy @kateclancy.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
If I may also suggest, our article in American Scientist earlier this year (if you can't get past the paywall DM me) by me, @anthrofuentes.bsky.social, @cvansickle.bsky.social, & Catherine Clune-Taylor, intended for a broader audience.
americanscientist.org
Biology Is Not Binary
How scientists define sex has evolved over the centuries, and the concept is still incredibly difficult to pin down.
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erinly.bsky.social @erinly.bsky.social · 23/11/2024
Finished! It wasn’t hard to do, just hard to find time. Close up of the fine details. (Hehe) #embroidery #ThisIsFine
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Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
While doing fieldwork earlier this fall, a windstorm almost took my tent with me in it. The moment focused why I'm here, why I'm staying here, how hard I've had to fight for a future I'm not letting go of. My contribution to @assigned.bsky.social's Stay With Us package. 🏳️‍⚧️
assignedmedia.org
Survive, However You Can — Assigned
Recounting a harrowing night, Riley Black illustrates what survival means to her.
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Julia McHugh @drjmchugh.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
The Department of Geosciences at Fort Hays State University is seeking applicants for a 12-month, tenure-track faculty position in #paleontology to start by August 2025. #PaleoJobs fhsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CAREER...
fhsu.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com
Assistant Professor (Paleontology), Department of Geosciences
Department Geosciences Job Posting Title Assistant Professor (Paleontology), Department of Geosciences Job Description The Department of Geosciences at Fort Hays State University is seeking applicants...
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Jeff Wilson Mantilla @diapophysis.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Yesterday one of my students taught me a couple of ways to sign “fossil” in ASL. The one on the right is evocative bc it’s the bone sign but buried. The one on the left is used more for plant fossils, apparently, and is meant to show an object on a slab. I love these!
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Griffin Lab @griffinlabpaleo.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
We're hiring a postdoc in evolutionary developmental biology! We're broadly interested in the evolution of vertebrate form, and the postdoc can develop their research in an independent direction. Term is officially one year, but we have 3-4 years of funding. Please share widely tinyurl.com/3xasxuz9
tinyurl.com
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