iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Seth Finnegan @sethf.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship program is accepting applications until November 1. If you're a finishing Ph.D student or recent grad interested in coming to Berkeley to work on a project in paleobiology/paleoecology/geobiology please feel free to reach out! ppfp.ucop.edu/info/

ppfp.ucop.edu

University of California | President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

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Peter Roopnarine @peterroopnarine.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

I have a Perspective piece in Science, "The scales of strain on sharks" www.science.org/doi/full/10.... commenting on a really wonderful article by Erin Dillon et al., "Fossil denticles reveal how ocean productivity shapes shark baselines and recovery potential" www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

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Erin Dillon @erinmdillon.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

How many #sharks should there be on a coral #reef? Our new publication in Science tackles this question using thousands of fossil shark dermal denticles—tiny, tooth-like scales that are shed and preserve in sediments—from Panama's two oceans. Check it out here: doi.org/10.1126/scie...

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Z. Jack Tseng @tsengzj.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Exhilarated to share a 2nd @science.org cover article this month from our lab @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social! A collaboration with US & Mexico colleagues on the role of a Mexican biogeographic holding pen in shaping the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI)(1/11) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Cover of Science magazine for July 30, 2026. Caption from Science reads: A three-dimensional rendering shows the land bridge connection between North and South America. Research on the fossil record of mammals in Mexico suggests that the geographic region acted as a biodiversity “holding pen” for 10 million years, buffering the pace of both northward and southward movements of mammal species leading up to the Great American Biotic Interchange.

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Luke Anderson @dialektical.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Excited to share a preprint of my 3rd dissertation chapter! We evaluated how a potential genomic measure of sexual selection strength, the ratio of genetic diversity on the Z chromosome vs the autosomes, varies across selective and biogeographic contexts in #manakins. Check it out! bit.ly/4fY43de

biorxiv.org

Can the Z:A ratio serve as a genomic index of sexual selection? An assessment across space and time in a genus of lekking birds

Understanding the role of sexual selection in shaping evolutionary trajectories is a key goal of biology, and thus developing a genomic measure of sexual selection strength is desirable. In systems wi...

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Dr. Suzette Flantua @suzetteflantua.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Apply!! 3 open postdocs in biome biogeography and macroecology in @nezimmermann.bsky.social's amazing ERC project on global biome mapping and evolution: 1) apply.refline.ch/273855/1856/... 2) apply.refline.ch/273855/1857/... 3) apply.refline.ch/273855/1858/...

apply.refline.ch

PostDoc in Biome Analysis and Functional Characterization 70-100% (f/m/d)

The Research Group Dynamic Macroecology led by Dr. Niklaus E. Zimmermann studies questions related to spatial ecology, macroecology and -evolution and global biome dynamics. For this group, we are loo...

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

This is the local coatí. The kids named him Baron Von Bullfroggen

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Pimiento Research Group @pimientogroup.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

Our new paper is online! We found that 1) today's shark & ray diversity was already reached ~100Ma; 2) that the K/Pg extinction was not catastrophic; 3) that the max diversity was reached ~50Ma; and 4) that today's diversity is depleted compared to the past. www.cell.com/current-biol...

cell.com

Revealing the hidden patterns of shark and ray diversity over the past 145 million years

Gardiner et al. reconstruct the diversity of sharks and rays across the past 145 million years using deep learning and an extensive dataset. Their results unveil previously hidden patterns, including ...

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Erin Dillon @erinmdillon.bsky.social · 22/01/2026

New 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.

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

In 2025 the normally predictable upwelling in the Gulf of Panama failed to appear - the first time since our records began 40 years ago (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2512056122I). We are studying the gulf carefully to see what will happen in 2026. Will it also fail or was 2025 a one-off?

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Friederike Clever, PhD @cfrederica.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

So excited to see this out! Metabarcoding shows fishes shift diets on degraded reefs; growth rates similar, condition diverged → species-specific coping strategies buff.ly/kGkEDpw @mattleray.bsky.social @nancyknowlton.bsky.social @odealab.bsky.social @sbac-manmetuni.bsky.social @stri_panama +others

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Lewis A. Jones (he/him) @lewisajones.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Interested in Historical Ecology and Conservation Palaeobiology? 🪸🦀 Steve Pates and I are offering a PhD project on Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines @es-ucl.bsky.social @uclcber.bsky.social 🗓️ Apply by 19th January 2026 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

findaphd.com

Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com

PhD Project - Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

With otolith master Chien-Hsiang Lin, we studied the remarkable fish fauna of the late Miocene Chagres formation in Caribbean Panama peerj.com/articles/201...

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

#ICRS is the premier conference for all things coral reef, and a great place to foster thinking and collaboration between ecologists, historical ecologists, and palaeontologists. Consider submitting your abstract to "Reefs through Time", hosted by some top-notch researchers #Coral #Paleobiology

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Dr. Brendan Anderson @fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

In time for #FossilFriday, a new paper by Jansen Smith and many paleontologists (including me) on what questions the field may focus on in the coming decade Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core

Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences @pnas.org · 24/09/2025

One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Unprecedented suppression of Panama’s Pacific upwelling in 2025.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.

Wind-jet upwelling in the GOP. (A) Typical wind vectors and SST through the topographic low in the Isthmus of Panama showing reduced sea surface temperatures in the Gulf (Feb 4, 2019). (B) Daily satellite-derived SST 1985–2025. Dashed line shows the lowest 2025 SST (27.5 °C); gray arrow indicates anomalous 2025.

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

New paper! led by Chris Perry: Most W. Atlantic reefs in current state can't keep up with sealevel rise at 2°C+. If reefs could accrete at Holocene rates (like these in Enriquillo basin) they'd manage fine. Restoration pockets offer some local hope, but overall sobering news doi.org/10.1038/s415...

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

📊 new paper! The natural phenomenon of upwelling, which normally occurs every year in the Gulf of Panama, failed for the first time on record in 2025... www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... [most co-authors not on bluesky except @javsdiaz.bsky.social @jonscibulski.bsky.social]...

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Just one more week (till 5 Sept) to apply for the postdoc position with me at UA Museums' Department of Museum Research and Collections. NSF-project together with Jill Leonard-Pingel, @odealab.bsky.social, and @sethf.bsky.social focused on marine ecosystems in Panama. bsky.app/profile/pale...

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Harriet E. Nuttall @whosyourmammal.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Calling all Palaeontology PhD candidates and post-docs everywhere! No matter what your particular field of research or country of institution, please follow forms.gle/cLLkEjdLjPrT... and fill in my ANONYMOUS RESEARCH SURVEY – #Yourpalaeolife : investigating fieldwork by early career palaeontologists

forms.gle

#Yourpalaeolife: the experience of early career palaeontologists and fieldwork

Hello everybody! Welcome to my anonymous survey about fieldwork in palaeontology. I want to know about your experiences: what is the place of fieldwork in our research lives, how to we view it, and h...

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

Job Alert‼️ Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in paleontology/biology at the University of Alabama Museums: careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social

Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity. The NSF-funded project “Energetic Controls on Marine Benthic Community Structure in Space and Time” aims to (1) evaluate how productivity affects the energetic and trophic structure of marine benthic communities on either side of the modern Isthmus of Panama, where there is now a strong contrast between the high productivity, upwelling-dominated regime of the eastern Pacific and the low-productivity, low-seasonality regime of the Caribbean (2) use this knowledge to evaluate the fossil record of Caribbean benthic ecosystems before, during, and after the uplift of the isthmus during which planktonic productivity decreased in the Caribbean and (3) relate ecosystem changes driven by productivity shifts to the well documented Caribbean extinction event ~2 Ma. This is a project in collaboration with Ohio State U, UC Berkeley, and STRI.
One key component of this project is to assess biotic interactions such as predation and possibly parasitism using fossil and modern molluscan assemblages from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. I am recruiting a Postdoctoral Fellow with a background in paleontology and/or biology/ecology with strong quantitative skills, attention to detail and organization, and someone who can effectively supervise students. Conference support is provided. The postdoc will work with Dr. Adiel Klompmaker (aaklompmaker@ua.edu) within the University of Alabama Museums’ Department of Museum Research and Collections (https://collections.museums.ua.edu/).
Initial appointment will be for 1 year, with renewal contingent upon funding. The deadline to apply is 5 September 2025 at 22:55 US Central Day Time. The salary will be $56,000 per year. Please upload a cover letter expressing your interest and qualifications, a CV, and contact details of at least two references. To apply and for more information see: https://careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232bd-b82e-49d3-90ea-06601c242dab

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

I do like a good past analogue for future change. V cool study by Pallacks et al shows how twilight zone lanternfishes—vital prey & carbon cyclers and earth's largest biomass—vanished from the E. Mediterranean when oxygen dropped, but rebounded fast when it returned. www.nature.com/articles/s43...

nature.com

Ocean deoxygenation linked to ancient mesopelagic fish decline - Communications Earth & Environment

Historical phases of ocean oxygen minimum are associated with near extinctions of mesopelagic fish, suggesting risks of future deoxygenation to marine fisheries due to warming, according to an analysi...

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

We are hiring a lab manager for our lab family at Naos Island in Panama. More information and position description here: odealab.com/opportunities/. Deadline is today, but if you need more time please just let me know

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Nice video report from Shuchita Jha at @inold.news on our Caribbean reef trophodynamics paper (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...). How can some reef fishes be bigger today than they were 7,000 years ago? youtu.be/buGORJ3F1iM

youtu.be

Caribbean Coral Reefs Meet Archaeology

YouTube video by Neighbird

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

Thrilled to share our new paper, led by @jonscibulski.bsky.social, on the rich 16kyr-long history of human-ocean interactions along the Pacific coast of Panama and Costa Rica. Inspired by the late Richard Cooke MBE and beautifully illustrated by his son, @cookedillustrations.com #PaleoSky

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

🐠🦈 Just out: In this paper we ask "How has reef trophic structure changed since humans started removing predatory fishes from Caribbean coral reefs?". www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

This is the Panama Canal with the centennial bridge over the Culebra Cut, the locks leading into the Pacific ocean and Panama City in the background

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

The #INQUA meetings are about paleoecology, climate change, human evolution, and environmental transformations over the past 2.6myrs. @cookedillustra.bsky.social made a beautiful report from the last INQUA meeting in Rome. Here are some highlights. Grab the whole pdf here zenodo.org/records/1494...

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

This smoky jungle frog is the reigning queen of the Gamboa frog pond

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

A myctophids-eye view of the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Lanternfishes live typically from 200 to 2000m deep. Panama (top right) and Galapagos (bottom left) are connected by the Cocos ridge

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

I think this is part of a rostrum of a large billfish. From the Caribbean late Miocene for #fossilfriday

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Fascinating paper on something I never thought of: When we remove big old animals from wild populations (like fish) we might be losing important cultural transmission in species that learn from elders - Essentially culling transmission of collective knowledge onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Overfishing Social Fish

Social learning is common among vertebrates, including fish. Learning from others reduces the risk and costs of adaptation. In some longer-lived species, social learning can lead to the formation of ...

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

The ITCZ has finally shifted south of the Isthmus and wind jets forming through low-lying canal area. Will be interesting to see if the winds will be strong enough to create upwelling in the Gulf of Panama during this La niña. The role of ENSO on upwelling in the region has not been resolved

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Matt Friedman @friedmanlab.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

Devonian touch pool.

Hand gently touching bronze model of skate-like placoderm.

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

Wish I could see this talk. Denticles are incredible things with a variety of form and function. No one is i-denticle 🤨 They also preserve well in fossil sediments giving paleoecologists like @erinmdillon.bsky.social a chance to reconstruct past shark abundances and community composition.

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

Some lovely columnar volcanics in Los Ladrillos, Boquete in Western Panama

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Excellent! Looking forward to reading this one. Congratulations Brendan and team!

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Meet marine biologist Javier Pardo (@javsdiaz.bsky.social). He found some record-sized sea slugs in Bocas - these Elysia crispata are huge. They steal chloroplasts from algae to photosynthesise (kleptoplasty). Javier is also working in the Miocene to build up our fossil shark teeth collection 🌊🦈

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

🌿 We held a two-day end-of-year lab retreat on Barro Colorado Island last week and got treated to a wonderful guided walk by David Brassfield - a walking encyclopedia of rainforest plants. Impressed by the BCI staff wardens, cooks, admin, scientists, technicians etc that keep this monument thriving

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Feeling like a dry season in Panama ☀️ because the ITCZ is sitting south, drawing winds across the isthmus and generating a wind jets. While not strong enough to cause upwelling in the Gulf of Panama, upwelling is noticeable in Santa Elena (Costa Rica), and Gulf of Tehuantepec(Mexico)

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

These things eat bats. A smoky jungle frog (Leptodactylus pentadactylus) in #Gamboa

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Adiel Klompmaker @paleoadiel.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

There is still time to apply: For the Fall 2025 semester, I am looking for a PhD student to study biotic interactions in fossil and modern mollusks from the Isthmus of Panama as part of a collaborative NSF-funded project. Please share widely, and get in touch if interested. @almnh.bsky.social

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Estancia Bonanza, Patagonia. 3am #FitzRoy. An insomniac's delight

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Paul D. Taylor @nhmbryozoa.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Cover of the US version of my book 'Fossils' to be published by the University of Chicago Press in March 2025.

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Aaron O'Dea @odealab.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Just back from a fun fossil hunting trip in Bocas del Toro, Caribbean Panama. Thanks to erosion in the last 12 years, I think the late Miocene marine fossil site "Finger Island" in Valiente Peninsula now needs a name change...🤔

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Martijn Slot @martijnslot.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

The BCI book is out! Almost 100 chapters of science about Barro Colorado Island plant and ecosystem science. scholarlypress.si.edu/store/all/th... Edited by STRI colleagues Helene Muller-Landau and Joe Wright. When I get my hardcopy, I'll want to read this cover to cover (1/2)

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Kevin Bairos-Novak @ecolology.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Many coral 'species' may, in fact, be separate 'cryptic' species! We found that up to 68% of #popgen studies in corals had putative cryptic taxa!! Check out the ms in Peer Community Journal! @peercommunityin.bsky.social #corals #crypticspecies peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....

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