iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

No confusing emails so far (at least not more than usual)🤞

Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Second new paper this week: Reconstructing the oral apparatus of the Silurian heterostracan Athenaegis. Led by @lisaschnetz.bsky.social and in collaboration with many colleagues, including @euphanerops.bsky.social (who rendered the animation) and @nitroshutter.bsky.social

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

New paper out today! Led by Daniel Schwarz, we retrodeformed the skull and reconstructed the cranio-mandibular musculature of the giant stem-amphibian Mastodonsaurus giganteus. Our results show that Mastodonsaurus had a powerful bite and a crocodile- like bite-and-hold feeding style.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Proud supervisor moment! Seeing students graduate and move on to do exciting things (e.g. doing PhDs in Edinburgh and Cambridge) is one of the most rewarding things of undergraduate teaching.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Very honoured to have received this award for excellence in doctoral research supervision. Many thanks to all PhDs (past and present) and others who nominated me!

Doctoral research supervision award in the shape of a glas figurine with the University of Birmingham clock tower.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

For reasons (i.e. when heads of educational institutions uncritically push AI)...

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Why does T. rex have such short arms? Just appeared on CNN to answer that question.

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Rage Against the Miocene @organiccarbon.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

As a climate scientist I despair at inaction on climate change. As a person, I despair at our collective indifference to avoidable suffering. But I am not sure that anything has caused me as much despair as the casual abandoning of that which makes us human - our creativity and communication.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Nice to see that our article on the biomechanics of the sabre-tooths Barbourofelis and Smilodon received so much attention.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Worrying that this requires a whole article and is not simply the default position for academics… there is no shortcut to learning and research, at least none that has any lasting value. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Meet the academics refusing to use generative AI

Researchers say they have their reasons for avoiding AI tools — and they’re sick of arguing about it.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

I only found out today that the tag #geodog exists! So here is palaeo/geo dog Minnie admiring the dinosaur footprint she found.

Yorkshire Terrier next to a dinosaur footprint.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Great day out in the field with the year 1 palaeontology students, with lots of fossils and even more sunshine in Pembrokeshire.

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

One contestant irk of palaeoart is that marine reptiles are always devouring my beloved cephalopods... Well no longer! Calling palaeoartists to realise my dream of a giant octopus get vengeance for all cephalopod kind!!! My thoughts on the new paper here! 🐙 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

theguardian.com

‘Kraken-like’ giant octopuses 100m years ago crunched bones of prey

Study of fossilised beaks shows patterns of wear and suggests some ancient species were up to 19 metres long

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

It's me in the Financial Times, detailing the deep and pernicious influence of one-size-fits-all management consultancy in our universities... Take a look! 👇 www.ft.com/content/5032...

ft.com

Management consultants are ruining UK universities

Relentless off-the-peg commercial rewiring has undermined British higher education

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Kaedan O'Brien, Ph.D. @deadbovids.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

No serious scholars are using AI to do their writing for them. If you're using LLMs to write up research articles, review grants or manuscripts, or grade, you're a joke.

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 24/03/2026

"A new study out of Cornell Universit found workers most excited and impressed by corporate speak may be the least equipped to make effective, practical business decisions, and it can leave companies with dysfunctional leaders."

theguardian.com

Workers who fall for ‘corporate bullshit’ may be worse at their jobs, study finds

New study finds that employees impressed by corporate speak may be least equipped to make effective decisions

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Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

In which I provide a few thoughts on the new Spinosaurus species, S. mirabilis. www.newscientist.com/article/2516... I also stressed the deep connections between one of the study authors - Nathan Myhrvold - and Geoffrey Epstein to New Scientist. They didn't mention it, neither has anyone else.

newscientist.com

New fossils may settle debate over mysterious sail-backed spinosaurs

Spinosaurs have sometimes been portrayed as swimmers or divers, but a new species of these dinosaurs bolsters the idea that they were more like gigantic herons

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Dr. Rich B @morphometrich.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

(1) Long 🧵 Time. Today we learned that paleontologist Jack Horner (the same guy who helped give us "Jurassic Park") is in the Epstein Files. As a paleontologist, I feel compelled to say something because this touches my field and I want to make my stance clear on this...

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

“But I think it is naive, frankly, to say that we should get rid of him because he’s a bad person. I’m afraid there’s many bad people around, but they have made scientific advances.” - the carte blanche for every bully in academia…

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Simon Hammann @simonhammann.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

DFG erlaubt Einsatz von KI in der Begutachtung. Wenn wir jetzt noch die AI dazu kriegen, die komplette Forschung zu machen, haben wir den Menschen komplett von der Last des Forschungsprozzeses befreit und er kann sich komplett auf wichtige Dinge wie Reisekostenerstattungsanträge konzentrieren.

dfg.de

Künstliche Intelligenz in der Begutachtung

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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Cutting lines or even whole departments is the frontal assault on higher ed, but another low key war of attrition is the slow accumulation of grinding, meaningless additional tasks concerning syllabus templates, learning outcomes, institutional pablum, and ever more intricate evaluation hoops.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Turns out, dinosaur skulls are neither optimised for minimising stress nor maximising bite efficiency. However, this makes snout shape and length highly adaptable, enabling them to occupy a variety of dietary niches! 4/5

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

To investigate the effect of skull proportions we tested different hypothetical models with varying proportions using biomechanical simulations. 3/5

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Our results show that the main variability in dinosaur skulls is found in the length of the snout (or rostrum). In contrast, the orbital and braincase regions maintained their relative size fairly consistently. 2/5

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Why such a long face? In our new paper, we quantified dinosaur skull geometry and proportions and tested their functional impact. www.cell.com/iscience/ful... (Artwork by Andy Frazer @dragonsofwales.bsky.social) 1/5

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Check out Andy’s excellent reconstructions of jawless fish for our latest exhibition @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social!

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Honoured to have contributed to a new paper in @currentbiology.bsky.social led by Mario Bronzati and lots of excellent and brainy (yes, pun intended) colleagues, showing that pterosaurs and birds evolved flight-capable brains but in different ways. www.cell.com/current-biol...

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Lapworth Museum of Geology @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Thinking about #dinosaurs? Didn't get a chance to celebrate their 200th birthday last year? Well, our Temporary #Exhibition curated by @palaeostephan.bsky.social has now gone virtual! Find 'Bringing dinosaurs back to life: 200 years of research' on our Virtual #Museum: ow.ly/Ryt550XvLCA

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 15/11/2025

#SVP2025 was finally an opportunity to show the excellent reconstructions of Dysalotosaurus created by @dragonsofwales.bsky.social

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

If you are attending #SVP2025 #2025SVP make sure to visit the stall of the @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social for some exclusive merchandise featuring some jawless fish designs!

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Lapworth Museum of Geology @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Feeding Without Jaws opens this Wednesday! Our temporary #exhibition tells the immersive story of our ancestors, jawless fish. Find out about why these ancient fish have fascinated palaeontologists, & what new discoveries have been made about them. www.birmingham.ac.uk... #LapworthRocks

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Attending #2025SVP #SVP2025? Interested in Palaeozoic fish and temnospondyls, dinosaurs old and new, sabre-tooth cats, biomechanics, biogeography, museum ethics, etc? Don't look any further, the Lautenschlager Lab got you covered - thanks to a lot of hard work by students, post-docs and colleagues!

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

This study demonstrates that sabre-tooth canine shape is exceptionally diverse. A functional analysis of theoretical and actual tooth shapes shows that these canines represent a compromise between sharpness, curvature, and length vs. robustness and material investment.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

The second paper (based on the 3rd-year project of former student Caitlin Shelbourne) explores the shape diversity of the eponymous canine teeth across different sabre-tooth groups. anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Our results show that Barbourofelis was a force to be reckoned with and that its skull could withstand higher stresses than that of Smilodon hinting at a more generalist behaviour to subdue prey.

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

The first paper (with co-authors @bortxaf.bsky.social and Shane West) investigates the feeding biomechanics of the “false sabre-tooth cat” Barbourofelis and how it compares to the iconic Smilodon: anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

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Dr Stephan Lautenschlager @palaeostephan.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Very happy to have contributed two papers to this Special Issue on Sabertooths:

Digital skull models of the sabre-tooth species Smilodon (in the back and on the left) and Barbourofelis (in the front and on the right)

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Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

As we see so often in research, bullies and abusers do terrible things while everyone who could stop them wrings their hands and gives free speech platitudes just so they don't have to act with unity and strength. This is just another example of academic inequalities and harms writ large. Appalling

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Petra Boynton @petraboynton.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

He should have been expelled. This is way more than policing opinions. - Inciting violence at far right rallies - Interfering in government affairs - Destroying health and science infrastructures - Ensuring thousands will die Abusers, excused and enabled by craven others, always grow in power.

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Dragons of Wales @dragonsofwales.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Until a few weeks ago I knew next to nothing about early Devonian jawless fish. To be honest, I still know shamefully little about them. But I’m currently illustrating a bunch of them, and have become utterly fascinated by these extraordinary little freaks. Anyway, just saying 🤷‍♂️

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Is it really *that hard* to say that it is totally morally wrong to say to people who have come here legally, worked, paid taxes, built their lives here, contributed to Britain, that they have to fuck off now, rather than "unfunded".

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Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

That feeling of desperately wanting your elected government to loudly call out racism & far right violent extremists... And nothing. Labour so afraid to lose power, it has forgotten both how to use it & that with power comes responsibility. As America gets ever darker, too little light here.

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