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Reposted by PalaeoPoems

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

William Buckland found the site, first believing the remains to be washed there by the biblical flood but then finding evidence of hyena feeding and coprolites. Illustration by Conybeare.

An illustration of the hyena cave by William Conybeare. His friend William Buckland enters the cave holding only a candle, and is astonished by four large hyenas and a floor littered with bones.

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

William compares the hyena stomach to a “Papin’s Digester”, a pressure cooker used in the 17th-19th centuries that could melt bones!

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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

John Joly was an Irish scientist of many interests and, in 1899, he proposed the oldest age of Earth at 100my - which now we know to be 4.5by old!

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

The trace fossils Oldhamia capture the behaviors of ancient animals ~635-485mya! For example, these fossils demonstrate the feeding behavior of marine worm-like organisms digging for bacteria to eat under microbial mats on the sea floor.

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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

🧪forgot to add this for the science feed!

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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

Trilobite fossils are recognizable with 3 distinct body segments. They had large compound eyes, allowing them to see all changes in the world from their “fossil grave”. Timothy was a self-taught paleontologist who became the State Paleontologist of New York.

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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

Find the poem here: palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/frozen-… (the full poem is in “A song of geology”, published 1969).

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

Many mammoths have been found in ice! They are found in Siberia and in other parts of Russia and Alaska, and are especially well preserved - even containing DNA and their last meals! There is ongoing debate on how and whether mammoths should be revived through cloning.

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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

Two especially exciting findings were a large predatory fish, Holoptychius, and a heap of extinct armored fish, placoderms, that died together simultaneously!

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

This comedic poem was written in Scots in 1863 after finding a rich assemblage of fish fossils. These fish were found in the “Auld Red Stanes” or the Old Red Sandstone in the UK dating to 419-358mya.

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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

John Mill wrote "The Fossil Spirit: A Boy's Dream of Geology," possibly the first children's book on geology. It included illustrations and poetry based on science from 1854. Listen to the poem and read about John Mill here: palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/...

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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

Missed our poster last year? Check it out: drive.google.com/file/d/1LgPq...

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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

Lucia loves studying dead birds and how humans and climate change influence the extinction process. She also writes and reads poetry, and enjoys helping us find and share poems about paleontology!

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

If you’re attending, stop by her poster at 4:30-6:30pm EST tomorrow (or at the virtual meeting) to learn more about Great Auks, a large flightless seabird that went extinct in 1844 due to human over-exploitation.

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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

Piltdown Man influenced the study of human evolution. Learn more about this hoax and find the poem here: www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/pil…

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

If the Piltdown Man were real, it would suggest that intelligent humans evolved in England. This was in keeping with nationalist ideologies at the time.

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

Why was it believed for so long? European scientists were resistant to the mounting body of evidence showing that all humans belonged to one species that originated in Africa.

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

How do we know “Piltdown Man” was a hoax? The skull was fashioned with modern human bones and a 500-year-old orangutan skull, as well as chimpanzee teeth filed to mimic human patterns!

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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

Nautiluses are threatened today by commercial fishing and anthropogenic climate change…and may be reunited with their past loves: Ammonites. Read or listen to the poem here:

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

These cephalopods, or soft-hearted invertebrates, coexisted from the Devonian Period until the K-Pg extinction when the Ammonite went extinct. I think we could all learn a lesson or two from their million-year-long union, outliving even the large marine reptiles of the Mesozoic.

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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

What happens when Carbon dioxide levels increase? Plants build leaves with less stomata! This is happening now due to humans increasing fossil fuel burning, and changing Earth’s climate. Find the poem here: www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/...

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

How are fossils separated from rocks? A tasty tea mixture of hot water and hydrofluoric acid is needed. Ginkgo leaves have “tiny mouths” or stomata that take in Carbon dioxide and expel water vapour and oxygen.

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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 · 28/09/2023

some of the poems we feature have fossil mammals! #addmam 🦇

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

Nannofossils consist of calcium carbonate, as do zooplankton today which are experiencing danger of dissolution due to a decreasing ocean pH. Poet Samantha has also written a poem about ocean acidification published in WATCH YOUR HEAD. Read or listen to the starry poem here!

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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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