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Matthew B. Cowen

@matthewbc.bsky.social
32 followers 26 following 10 posts

PhD student at Uppsala university, Sweden. 🦖🐟

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Reposted by Matthew B. Cowen
Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The 19th International Symposium on Early and Lower Vertebrates will be held in Uppsala from the 1st to the 6th of July 2027! Sign up to the mailing list here: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/sKN4rRqr7f
forms.cloud.microsoft
Microsoft Forms
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Reposted by Matthew B. Cowen
Jack Bernhardt @jackbern.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I'd go a step further and say this question, "do you think the Norman Conquest of 1066 had a positive or negative impact on Britain", by being so uniquely pointless, is a perfect encapsulation of the popular attitudes towards history, where all events are judged through the prism of 'good' and 'bad'
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Natural History Museum, London @nhm-london.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The oldest amber has been discovered in China, and it’s around 385 million years old! 🌳 The discovery pushes the confirmed record of amber back by around 65 million years, showing that plants were producing resin much earlier than previously demonstrated.
Photograph of amber on a green background. The amber is small, irregularly shaped with a translucent amber-yellow centre surrounded by dark, rough outer edges.
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Dee Lomas @deelomas.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Arseholes Heroes ⬇️ ⬇️
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Matthew B. Cowen @matthewbc.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Great to be there for Sifra’s Spikning today, so much dedication and hard work from a great colleague and friend coming to fruition :)
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Matthew B. Cowen @matthewbc.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Today I presented my half-time seminar, showcasing the first two chapters of my PhD project and the work that has been completed so far on chapters 3 and 4. A big thank you to everyone that has helped me get this far; I hope to share even more with you soon 🙂 .
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Matthew B. Cowen @matthewbc.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Spawn season
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Hady George @houdzgeorge.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I’ll start to regularly post photos of Lebanese fossils alongside links to charities supporting the thousands displaced in this war. Even the smallest donations can save lives Fossils on display at Memory of Time, Jbeil, and you can donate here: gofund.me/24a3cee49
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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Osteichthyans--the bony fishes--are by far the most diverse group of living jawed vertebrates. Two papers out today in @nature.com feature remarkable new Chinese fossils that paint a picture of substantial morphological diversity among stem osteichthyans.
Cover of the journal Nature, featuring the head of a large fish with its mouth open.  A smaller fish is swimming into its mouth. The cover reads "Caught in Time: Early fossils shed light on the origins of bony fish."
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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
The second reports a tiny (~3 cm) articulated fish from the early Silurian. The material is challenging, but it is unquestionably a bony fish. Fittingly named Eosteus, it co-occurs with the oldest articulated jawed fishes and cements the antiquity of osteichthyans. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
The oldest articulated bony fish from the early Silurian period - Nature
A tiny, articulated, near-complete osteichthyan from the early Silurian Chongqing Lagerstätte, represents the oldest osteichthyan occurrence including microfossils, and the earliest articulated remain...
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Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Last night I was down a rabbit hole of why fish can't exist deeper than around 8000 meters and I realized that the deepest a fish has ever gone in the ocean and survived was in a submersible. The fish were people. All vertebrates are fish. I hope this helps with ~~the horrors~~
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
We will be updating this page with news and further details, so please follow us to stay in the loop. Until then; Välkommen, och vi ses alla nästa år! #ISELV #ISELV19 #ISELVUppsala
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
This February, the Uppsala team attended and presented at the 18th ISELV in Berrechid, Morocco, sharing our research with the global early vertebrate community #ISELV18 @iselv18.bsky.social
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Following on from our post yesterday, we are honoured to announce that we will be hosting the 19th International Symposium on Early and Lower Vertebrates (ISELV) meeting here in Uppsala in 2027! #ISELV #ISELV19 #ISELVUppsala #fossilfriday
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Peter @notalawyer.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
“awful people don’t deserve to be killed, but they don’t deserve to be praised, either” is apparently a thought too complex for the pundit mind
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
A team from our lab recently joined fieldwork organised by the University of Latvia, helping to excavate fossils from the Devonian, including armoured fish (Placoderms) and early tetrapods in western Latvia. #fossilfriday #paleontology
palaeontologists digging for fossils in soft sand
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Clive Trueman @clivetrue.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Subject close to my heart - finding an ammonite on the Isle of Wight as a 6 year old started my love of geology / earth history. The Island has an incredible fossil wealth and really deserves world class facilities to display and project on the world stage! chng.it/kQKV2mLQdZ
chng.it
Sign the Petition
Support a New Dinosaur Museum and Science Park on the Isle of Wight
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The Onion @theonion.com · 01/08/2025
Researchers Determine Coelacanth Faked Own Extinction To Escape Massive Gambling Debt theonion.com/researc...
Researchers Determine Coelacanth Faked Own Extinction To Escape Massive Gambling Debt
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Dana Korneisel @danakorneisel.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Fossil(and more?) Friday. The Staruni Woolly Rhino was incredibly preserved with its skin in a condition good enough to be taxidermied. Her horns, hooves, hair, and guts were all that was lost, but you can see the individual follicles in her skin. #fossilfriday #EAVP2025 #MuzeumPrzyrodnicze
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School of Ocean & Earth Science @sotonoceanearth.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
As part of our Faculty Inaugural Lecture Series—showcasing the work of our recently promoted Professors—Professor Clive Trueman delivered an engaging lecture, Using Chemistry to Unveil the Hidden Lives of Fishes. @clivetrue.bsky.social Watch here 👇 youtu.be/LujaS7cpHxc
youtu.be
Professor Clive Trueman | Inaugural Lecture Series | University of Southampton
YouTube video by Environmental and Life Sciences at Southampton
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Dr. Melanie During @melanieduring.com · 14/05/2025
When it comes to understanding when animals first walked on land, finding footprints of animals that literally pressed their feet into the ground absolutely holds the key. Congratulations to all authors including my former supervisor: @perahlberg.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution - Nature
Analysis of a fossil trackway from the earliest Carboniferous of Australia shows prints of toes with claws, suggesting that the origin of amniotes was at least 35–40 million years earlier than pr...
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
Out Now in Nature! Amniote tracks from Australia push the timeline for terrestiality back 35 to 40 million years, with implications for our understanding of tetrapod evolution. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution - Nature
Analysis of a fossil trackway from the earliest Carboniferous of Australia shows prints of toes with claws, suggesting that the origin of amniotes was at least 35–40 million years earlier than pr...
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Matthew B. Cowen @matthewbc.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
One minute you’re king of the gods, the next you’re sending out spam for predatory journals.
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Matthew B. Cowen @matthewbc.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
The Biology PhD school asked me to write a blog post about my research, now it’s up and I can go back to staring at fish www.uu.se/en/departmen...
uu.se
PhD blog - Uppsala University
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
We are pleased to announce the opening of our new Tomography Support Center, now available for all @uu.se employees and students. We welcome collaborations with anyone interested in using microCT and synchrotron scanning. Learn more here: www.uu.se/institution/...
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PeerJ @peerj.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
PeerJ Congratulates Elsa Leflaëc & Victor López Rojas - Award winners at The 5th Palaeontological Virtual Congress Learn more about their research on the PeerJ blog bit.ly/42EHFPA #5thPVC #Palaeontology @palaeovc.bsky.social
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Matthew B. Cowen @matthewbc.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Interesting new find, presumably washed in from the Wealden….
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
A new paper for the new year 📰 How can we visualize changes in chemical composition of fossil teeth and scales? @matthewbc.bsky.social and colleagues discuss in: peerj.com/articles/187... #Palaeontology #biogeochemistry
peerj.com
Visualizing and quantifying biomineral preservation in fossil vertebrate dental remains
In this study, we attempt to illustrate fossil vertebrate dental tissue geochemistry and, by inference, its extent of diagenetic alteration, using quantitative, semi-quantitative and optical tools to ...
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Matthew B. Cowen @matthewbc.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Looking to read more this year? Why not start with my new article published today in @Peerj on how we can tell if original minerals are preserved in fossils. #paleontology #biogeochemistry peerj.com/articles/187...
peerj.com
Visualizing and quantifying biomineral preservation in fossil vertebrate dental remains
In this study, we attempt to illustrate fossil vertebrate dental tissue geochemistry and, by inference, its extent of diagenetic alteration, using quantitative, semi-quantitative and optical tools to ...
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Mario Vallejo-Marin @nicrodemo.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Apply for a two-year postdoctoral fellowships at Uppsala University through the Birgitta Sintring foundation. You can find and select a PI host and more about the fellowship here: www.uu.se/en/departmen...
uu.se
The Birgitta Sintring Foundation - Uppsala University
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
The current cover of Nature spotlights the new paper on reconstructing food webs and the rise of dinosaurs through coprolites, by Qvarnstrom et al (ft. @grzegorzniedz.bsky.social and @perahlberg.bsky.social). Read more at: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A magazine cover featuring two dinosaurs eating ferns.
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Per Ahlberg @perahlberg.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
The new paper from our lab has dropped! 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Digestive contents and food webs record the advent of dinosaur supremacy - Nature
Integrated analyses of bromalites provide robust pictures of past food webs, explaining early dinosaur evolution and the emergence of larger dinosaur faunas with new feeding patterns.
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Uppsala University Vertebrate Palaeontology Group @uuvertpalaeo.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
The early evolution of Tetrapods and the transition from water to land is a core focus of our research. Learn more about our ERC-funded project "Tracking our ancestors across the Devonian world" at our website: www.uu.se/en/departmen...
uu.se
Devonian World - Uppsala University
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Per Ahlberg @perahlberg.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
🚨Paper alert!🚨 A major paper from our lab, on which I had a very minor role, is dropping on Wednesday. Can't say more for now, but here's a teaser:
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