iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Mira Thompson @wensthomp.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Today, for the safety of all SVP members, I request with this open letter that the @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social provides an online option for this year's annual meeting. Myself and many others no longer feel it is safe to travel to and within the USA. Please share the letter everywhere you can!

Letter to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology advocating that their annual meeting have an online option in addition to the in person meeting in Cleveland. Unfortunately, alt text cannot have all of the letter text but the reasoning involves threatof violence to at risk groups in the US as well as issues related to contracting dangerous diseases and other safety threats.

Continuation of letter. Please read previous alt text for summary.

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Brigid Christison @brigidomorpha.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

No one should have to compromise their safety for their career, and vice versa. @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social needs to add an online option.

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Benji Paysnoe @benj-art-min.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

A succinct and important message to the 2026 SVP Meeting this year! The United States has created dangerous environments for the LGBTQIA+ community, foreign travel, and Science in general. Not everyone has a safety net - Let's work to ensure that everyone has a safe way to continue participating!

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Mira is one of the founders of PalaeoPoems. We presented at @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social years ago in Toronto and it gave us a real platform to talk about the project. An online option will give that chance to even more early career researchers!

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 26/01/2024

There was nothing AUKward about our volunteer @aukwardlucia.bsky.social's thesis defence today! Congratulations Lucia, you're the t-auk of the town! . Art from Audubon's Birds of North America plate 341.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 13/01/2024

For #FossilFriday, savor William Conybeare’s poem inspired by a hyena fossil den in Yorkshire, UK! This site, known as Kirkdale Cave, contains fossils of many Pleistocene mammals and hyenas. Art by James Mckay! 🧪

A painting of a pack of hyenas in a cave gnawing on mammal bones.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 05/01/2024

Happy New Year and #FossilFriday! Contemplate the years before (and deep time) with John Joly’s Palaeo Poem “Oldhamia Antiqua”! 🧪Magnificent art @brigidomorpha.bsky.social

Screenshot of our blog main page. A hexagonal tile with a worm-like motif reads "1886" and underneath it says 'Oldhamia Antiqua’ by John Joly.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 22/12/2023

Looking for a Christmas poem that inspires hope and joy? Look no further than our blog! "'Twas the Eve of the Cretaceous" by Leo J. Hickey talks about the birth of a very special plant: the Angiosperm. Listen to it here: www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/...

Screenshot of our blog main page. A hexagonal tile with a fern motif reads "2011" and underneath it says 'Twas the Eve of the Cretaceous by Leo J Hickey.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 17/11/2023

For Thanksgiving break, catch up on your Palaeo Poems with “Ode to a Trilobite” by Timothy Conrad. Trilobites were ocean-loving arthropods that lived during the Paleozoic, 541-251 mya. Thrilling art by John Meszaros! 🧪 #FossilFriday

Black and white digital illustration with grey watercolour style shading. in the centre is a classically posed (dorsal) trilobite,it is very large and bug like. In each corner of the image is another trilobite curled into a ball, all different species shown from different angles. alongside the edges of the illustration are medieval style sea monsters and waves that you might expect to see on an old map. they are not shaded so they do not draw the eye like the trilobites.

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Lucia Snyderman @aukwardlucia.bsky.social · 10/11/2023

Embracing first snow in Vermont with this PalaeoPoem about frozen mammoths! 🦣❄️🧪

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 10/11/2023

For #FossilFriday, embrace the cold weather with John Blackie’s Palaeo Poem “Frozen Mammoths”! This ballad was inspired by the Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), an extinct relative of elephants. Woolly wonderful art by Ida Kalsta! 🧪

A digital piece made to emulate a linocut. This piece is entirely black and white. About 2/3 of the way up, the background is white, and the bottom 2/3 have a black background, with a sharp line between them. The black portion is below the ice, and the white portion is exposed to the air. Between the two sections is a dead and frozen mammoth, floating in a way so it is almost standing bipedally. Its trunk and tusks are above the ice, but the rest of the head and body are sunk below. Its rear right foot is skeletonized. The effect is eerie, since the mammoth looks like it could still be alive and struggling until you pan down and see that foot. The bottom right of the piece has Ida Kalsta's watermark.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 03/11/2023

For #FossilFriday, enjoy a fishy PalaeoPoem “Fossil Fish & Fossil Fish Addressed” by Scottish geologist and poet Robert Dick. Fin-tastic guest art by Athena! 🐠🐟🧪

A photo of a beach scene. On grey sand lies various debris, there is dead seaweed toward the back of the image, bits of driftwood and rocks lying around, and a large white scallop shell. Lots of other little shells and polished rocks lie around as well, and a bit of coral. Scattered all over the scene are bits of jewelery, all earrings, made of slices of blue geodes and shark teeth. The effect of the image is that all of these items and debris washed ashore and are now visible.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 27/10/2023

This frightful #FossilFriday, we want you to imagine the sinister side of prehistoric creatures. In his poem "Song of the Pterodactylus," John Mill shares cutting-edge Victorian ideas for how the pterodactyl may have lived. Artwork by @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social. 🧪

An eerie digital painting of an evening scene, featuring a crescent mood and prehistoric plants in the background. In the foreground, the star of the portrait is a pterodactlyl that may at first glance look like it is standing on a grassy hill. Looking more closely it is actually standing on the back or neck of a long-necked sauropod dinosaur with little spines poking up along the ridge of its back. The pterodactyl is holding a tiny mammal by the tail, and has one glowing yellow eye. Another pterodactyl approaches by air.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 20/10/2023

Last SVP we prompted palaeontologists to write poetry inspired by things they learned at the conference! In honour of 2023SVP and Fossil Friday, here are two of our favourites. By Emily Bamforth & Anon. 🧪 #SciArt

SVP A place for folks who love T. rex who talk of fossils and fancy teeth A place for the prof, the student, the geek Who love to learn & love to seek
Emily Bamforth

SVP While cool fossils and finds make me pensive I can't help but be apprehensive Of a group so excessive And awful access, with their conferences awfully expensive!

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 17/10/2023

This Wednesday, our PalaeoPoems volunteer Lucia Snyderman is presenting her undergraduate thesis research on the extinction of the Great Auk in the Colbert Poster Session at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology conference! #SVP2023

Lucia presenting her Great Auk research at the Conservation Paleobiology Network conference last February.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 13/10/2023

For #FossilFriday, we have a new blog post and PalaeoPoem to share about a fraudulent fossil! “The Piltdown Story” poem by Nancy Morris is inspired by a skull falsely believed to be the link between humans and apes. Fantastic art by October Seagrave @Zooophagous! 🧪 Science 🐡#SciArt

On a beige background apes with human-like traits are drawn, one of which is holding up the supposed skull of “Piltdown Man” outlined in orange

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 06/10/2023

I bet you’ve never heard this love story before: the Nautilus and the Ammonite. Read George Richardson’s PalaeoPoem to get all the shell-uous details! Ink-redible art @jadeinjoggins.bsky.social !

"Beadwork on moosehide. This is a large, medallion-style beadwork of a nautilus in the water. It has a pearly white shell with matte rusty brown stripes, a brown hood over the tentacles and eye. Its centre is a sparkly white eye. Its background is blue ""bead soup,"" beads in no particular order in all shades of blue circling the ammonite concentrically. It is finished in a gold and black tectured border.”

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 29/09/2023

Are you a tea or coffee drinker? Well, I can guarantee you’ll want a sip of some ginkgo fossil tea when you read the PalaeoPoem “Ginkgo Fossil Tea” by Susannah Lydon and Robin Lamboll. Tea-licious art by Madison Foran. 🧪 🐡

A clear teapot pours tea into a teacup with a ginkgo pattern on it. The image is dynamic, the teapot and teacup are at angles facing each other. A wave of brown tea splashes out of the teacup, forming the shape of several dinosaurs made out of tea. The background is an earthy green with rolling brown hills. The whole piece has a tea-stained look to it.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 15/09/2023

Do you like to stargaze (for fossils)?! For #FossilFriday, you can read a PalaeoPoem by Samantha Jones about tiny star-like fossils called nannofossils! Nannofossils are fossilized skeletons of aquatic planktonic organisms. Plank-tastic art by Bejamin Chandler! 🧪 Science 🐡#SciArt

A mixed media watercolour depicting shelled organisms under a microscope. Just barely visible in the background are concentric circles. On closer inspection, it's a star map, and stars and constellations like Ursa Minor and Lyra are labelled in capital letters. This background just barely peeks through the watercolour, which is mainly dark purple on the outer edge and yellow towards the centre, with splotches of magenta and dark blue mixing with both shades. Haphazardly arranged across the piece are different shelled organisms, or foraminifera, as if they were scattered like stars as well.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 13/09/2023

New article by @brigidomorpha.bsky.social on Vulture Culture and making art from the dead! 🧪 🐡

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 04/09/2023

Any bored naturalists want to help out this Labour Day? 🧪

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 01/09/2023

Megatherium, “great beast”, was a gigantic ground sloth that lived 5 million to 2000 years ago. Joseph von Scheffel's poem claims the sloth’s laziness led to its extinction…however, many other animal groups evolved similar adaptations. Sloth-tastic art by Zélie! 🧪 Science 🐡#SciArt #FossilFriday

In the bottom right corner, in black and white, is a cartoon of a little man writing a poem by candlelight. The rest of the illustration is a watercolour of his daydream, marked by little thought bubbles coming from the man's head. The daydream shows colourful landscape, with reddish brown geology, a volcano in the background, and clear, blue, skies. In the front and centre is a giant ground sloth standing as tall as a banana tree, using his long tongue to get a branch. Also visible are some Pleistocene deer, a sleepy capybara, and a horned gopher peeking from its den.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 31/08/2023

I absolutely love the artwork by October Seagrave for our next featured poem. Get ready for cutting 1955 commentary on the Piltdown Man!

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maggie spiders @squishythings.com · 28/08/2023

I let invertefest convince me to start this quilt in.. January? so I am letting invertefest convince me to work on quilting it rn

a work-in-progress collage quilt of a luna moth, made of hundreds of small pieces of fabric. most of the pieces of fabric are images or motifs (fussy cutting).

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OrigamiPete @origamipete.bsky.social · 28/08/2023

@origamipete.bsky.social another #InverteFest origami post from little old me. This time a very very early attempt at a scorpion of my own. The final product has suffered from me not really knowing what I was doing quite yet. 🤭 This sentiment persists with me but the goalposts keep shifting. ☺️

An origami model of a scorpion folded from blue paper to echo the way their exoskeletons glow under black light (UV).
The model is visibly crumply in places due to my lack of experience and patience, as this model also dates to the late 2000s.
One interesting thing about this project is that it is still (to my knowledge) the one and only origami scorpion which uses diagonal symmetry as the foundation for the structure of the folds.
All other origami scorpions I'm aware of either use what's called 'book symmetry' in origami terms, OR (and these are very very recent creations of the past few years) are structurally asymmetrical. More on that in a future InverteFest post some time later this week.
Asymmetry is not something I wouldn't have dared to attempt without seeing others doing it successfully first, but more on that later. :)

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 25/08/2023

"There once was an ichthyosaurus Who lived when the earth was all porous But he fainted with shame When he first heard his name And departed a long time before us" Why does this 1887 poem by Isabel Bellows reference pseudoscience? Read about it on our blog and enjoy the art by Lawrence Banks!🐡🧪

A pencil illustration of a closeup of an Ichthyosaurus. It's a little chubby, with some realistic marine animal neck rolls. Its sclerotic ring is visible through the skin, and its body is patterned with wavy stripes. Great attention has been paid to the skull anatomy and the way the face is reconstructed around it.

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zupa grochowa @grochowa.bsky.social · 17/08/2023

the entire capital city of Canada’s northernmost province (Northwest Territories) is being evacuated due to threat of wildfire, while the premier of the province just to the south (Alberta) is arguing for extending fossil fuel use

Yellowknife to begin evacuation tonight as wildfires approach
Minister orders everyone out of Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilǫ and the Ingraham trail by noon Friday

Tweet from Danielle smith: Even Europe rejects the idea countries can be carbon neutral by 2035. They just don’t think it’s possible…

Alberta shares this opinion, including that 2050 is more realistic to ensure reliable and affordable electricity.

So why is Minister Steven Guilbeault pushing ahead with his reckless agenda?

Comment below 👇

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Shannon Liao @shannonliao.bsky.social · 15/08/2023

NEW: G/O Media has suddenly fired Kotaku editor-in-chief Patricia Hernandez, several employees confirmed to Updater on Monday. “My time there was defined by management making baffling decisions," Hernandez said. More: shannonliao.substack.com/p/kotaku-f…

shannonliao.substack.com

Kotaku fires chief

A 'Defector for games' enters the fray, Xbox talks future

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Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 14/08/2023

Science Writers!!! Sarah Zielinski and I are bringing back SCIENCE WRITER 4 HIRE, both VIRTUALLY AND IN PERSON! For in person, you just show up. But for virtual, EDITORS! Please sign up ahead of time! tinyurl.com/263k5zha Find some writers! You know you wanna 🧪

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 14/08/2023

"How the asteroid changed the world isn’t a tale of shifting dominance, but how communities cope in the aftermath of disaster." Terrific read. :)

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Farm Goth 🇵🇸 @poemsandfungus.bsky.social · 11/08/2023

A Pallas cat was born at the Helsinki zoo this week, so the anger I typically hold in my heart has simply melted away.

A baby Pallas cat being held by a zoo employee.

A baby Pallas cat being picked up and looking adorably confused. It's fluffy to the point of being mostly round.

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Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 13/08/2023

Junior blue jay needs a tiny towel STAT 🪶

A quite wet young blue jay is standing on the edge of a light coloured, small bird bath with a decorative bird statue on its rear rim. The stone bird is looking at the blue jay whose feathers are wet and crest is completely erect. The tip of its tail is still in the water

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Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦 @secondnaturemb.bsky.social · 13/08/2023

Found an arctic fox den the other day. This den is probably hundreds of years old. They get passed down through different foxes because sites are limited. Over time, nutrients from the prey they bring back helps vegetation to grow more than the surrounding tundra, creating biodiversity hotspots.

Looking into one of the holes of a sprawling, arctic fox den. The top of the den is covered in mosses and shrubs over sandy soil.

Another entrance to the arctic fox den complex. Dozens of different plants grow on top of the den.

The sprawling arctic fox den creates an island of vegetation, on the left topped by spruce trees. The den is surrounded by open tundra to the right of the photo. It is a cloudy day.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 11/08/2023

Hey @earth-science.bsky.social can we get on the Earth Sciences list please? We have so many geology poems to share!

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Joschua Knüppe @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social · 10/08/2023

This Saturday we will have a special stream to help raise funds for a new prep lab in Peru, home of Perucetus and many more fantastic creatures yet to be described and discovered. I trade sketches for donations ;) gogetfunding.com/help-peruvian-pala…

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Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 10/08/2023

Nimravids were cat-like carnivores with impressive saberteeth they weren’t shy about using. Damage to multiple nimravid skulls indicates they fought by biting at each other’s faces and eyes, and one fossil -the “silent assassin”- is two nimravids that got stuck when one bit into the arm of another.🧪

The skull of the bobcat-sized nimravid Hoplophoneus, a cat-like sabertooth carnivore

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 10/08/2023

It's World Lion Day! If you study lions, you've probably encountered "lion bros," dudes who cling to inaccurate masculine stereotypes about the animals. Our founder Brigid wrote about them here: www.ladyscience.com/essays/lion-bro… 🧪

ladyscience.com

Lion Bros and Their Pride — Lady Science

When men claim that lions are 'masculine,' they are saying more about themselves than they are about scientific reality.

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Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦕 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 08/08/2023

Almost six feet high at the shoulder, Daeodon was one of the biggest entelodonts. The 23 million-year-old beast was likely an omnivore, munching a variety of food among the prehistoric grasslands. And even though they probably didn’t hunt, tooth-marked bones hint Daeodon had no problem scavenging. 🧪

A sculpture of Daeodon in an ancient grassland, looking like a strange boar

Close-up of the gross snot and drool on the mouth of the Daeodon sculpture

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Ethan Kocak @ethankocak.com · 08/08/2023

Yeah they look weird and they have trypophobia nightmare babies out of their backs but did you know they also make creepy clicking noises like the predator

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Brandy Schillace @bschillace.brandyschillace.com · 06/08/2023

Its a sticky situation—but there are good reasons why medical museums (generally) have recently undertaken review. Things may have been poorly handled in this instance, but the call for change comes from disabled, indigenous, Black + vulnerable groups. Good article above, another great article here:

disabilityvisibilityproject.com

The Mütter and More: Why We Need to be Critical of Medical Museums as Spaces for Disability Histori...

The Mütter and More: Why We Need to be Critical of Medical Museums as Spaces for Disability Histories Dr Aparna Nair For a while now, I’ve been observing various public debates about museums, disab...

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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 05/08/2023

Hey #sciArt folks 🐡 - Do you make work about climate change or water? Consider the Water Docs ARTivism challenge. They are a local charity so there’s no prize money but you’re welcome to post existing work or share new work. They will be sharing tagged artwork on Instagram or FB. Details to follow

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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 04/08/2023

This isn't the final version, just the prototype, but... UM ... @franzanth.bsky.social knocked it out of the damn PARK, look at how FRIGGEN COOL the Crab Facts Advent Calendar is??? Wanna get one on the first ship date? 👇🏻 squidfacts.bigcartel.com $$ goes to @skypeascientist.bsky.social

A Pink and teal crab facts advent calendar, with 5 different crab species in pink-scale and then big crab claws from a 6th larger off-screen crab, then a bunch of glittery stickers hiding the crab facts

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Erika Hall @erikahall.bsky.social · 04/08/2023

From early this morning, a dog unaware he is on his way to have a whole bunch of teeth removed. (He figured out the destination before we got there. Displeased.) I just got the call that he is awake and will be ready to pick up in a couple hours. Even more displeased in the short term, but happier.

A small black dog with a salty face and pink doggles, both ears up, in a bike backpack attached to a person wearing an orange coat and a black helmet on a cloudy day.

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 04/08/2023

Our latest featured PalaeoPoem is a ‘Trilobital wonder’! Walter Garstang’s poem The Trilobites and After richly explores the evolutionary history of Arthropoda, the group that includes trilobites! Thrilling art by OrigamiPete! 🐡#SciArt

An image of about a dozen origami trilobites of different sizes and shades of light brown. They are the same species, with two antennae and symmetrical folding. They are so well made and detailed! They are oriented towards the rop right corner, and rest on a cool blue background.

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Rosemary Mosco @rosemarymosco.com · 04/08/2023

When people say that there's no point in fighting climate change because we're all doomed, tell them about the worker protections we can fight for RIGHT NOW

theguardian.com

Big business lobbies against heat protections for workers as US boils

It could take years for the federal regulator Osha to set new heat rules as excessive temperatures are killing Americans at work

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PalaeoPoems @palaeopoems.bsky.social · 04/08/2023

We have some fun science poems to share soon, can we get on the 🧪 feed please @danirabaiotti.bsky.social!

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