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Katie Collins

@spissatella.bsky.social
2.9K followers 227 following 1.6K posts

"Taxamorphologist", mollusc-botherer (they/them).

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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 3h
Extant galeommatoids! But I have fossil ones to catch up on when I get back afterwards 😅
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 5h
It will be! Folks are coming from round the world to work on tiny clams with our Chinese colleagues! And probably eat good food and learn random words in each others languages, if the last trip was anything to go by.
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 5h
I'm about to disappear on fieldwork to China til November. Please let the bivalves be plentiful 🙏
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Don't forget to send us your abstracts! Please don't leave it til the last minute. This is always a highlight of the systematic year, come take part and celebrate our science together
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
😂
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Isn't it fabulous! 🫀
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
This is definitely more what the author had in mind, although ironically there's a bivalve that looks MUCH more like a human heart, but I bet he's never seen one (Ascaulocardium: very very extinct)
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
😂 as it is with organs, they can't all be hearts, some of them have to be toenails
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
It was recommended to me and it's really good!
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Steve Stanley never mentioned this particular function in his seminal 1970 book on bivalve morphology 🤔
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
"We imagine, don't we, some neat bivalve whose shape encodes the way in which love fuses two halves, two separatenesses, into a whole?" - Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Well I knew I wasn't already 😂 I can't even fathom having access to a kitchen large enough in which to have spare space for drying pasta!
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Is it something to do with photography???
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
I cannot fathom ... what IS it?
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
I don't think this particular collection is in that wonderful work but thank you! It's solvable, I'm just irritated at my forebears 😂
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
The most helpful curator ever!
static.klipy.com
Futurama's Zoidberg: Hooray, I'm Useful!
ALT: Futurama's Zoidberg: Hooray, I'm Useful!
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
(The situation is that they're both SYNTYPES but evidently one of my predecessors liked to assume the figured specimen counted as the holotype [🚨wrong🚨] but the specimens are so worn and the figure so old that it's hard to tell which is which so .... someone wrote holotype on both labels)
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Another day another "well you can't BOTH be the holotype" (totally unrelated but if you don't KNOW the type status ffs don't guess and write that on the label)
static.klipy.com
Disappointed Disappointed Fan
Alt: Disappointed Disappointed Fan
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Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
The 12yo has declared Eremina desertorum Appreciation Day! No matter how bad things are, unlike this Egyptian land snail, you’re unlikely to be mistaken for dead when in torpor, glued to a card, put on display for 4 years in the British Museum until workers notice you’re alive as happened in 1846!
en.wikipedia.org
Eremina desertorum - Wikipedia
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Paul D. Taylor @nhmbryozoa.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
New paper led by Emanuela Di Martino on the palaeoecology of bryozoans in an Okinawan submarine cave, research that began when Emanuela was a Leverhulme postdoctoral at the NHMUK doi.org/10.1002/jqs....
doi.org
A new piece in the puzzle: The palaeoecological significance of bryozoans over 7000 years in Daidokutsu Cave (Okinawa, Japan)
Submarine caves are cryptic, climatically sensitive habitats with long-term ecological dynamics that are poorly understood. We present the first palaeoecological analysis of bryozoans from Daidokutsu...
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Struth! 😂🥰
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Any time my friend 🫡
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Calling for precision in this circumstance invites error! Passeriformes indet is ACCURATE
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Zekun @zekun-nhm.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Delighted to share our team’s new paper quantitatively revealing dense collagen in the tissues of Ediacaran fronds, opening up a new paradigm that bridges biomechanics, tissue affinity, and the evolution of extinct organisms royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
royalsocietypublishing.org
Biomechanical analyses point to dense collagen fibre architecture in an Ediacaran frond
Abstract. Ediacaran macrofossils record the earliest large and complex organisms on Earth. Despite extensive study, fundamental aspects of their internal a
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Systematics and Biodiversity @nhmsystbiodiv.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
New study out: Freshwater molluscs of the Olenek River basin (Eastern Siberia): morphological, molecular and taxonomic assessment with redescriptions of two species by Bespalaya et al. This integrative study recorded 20 species and re‑described two classic taxa 🔗 buff.ly/altIUys #TaxonomyTuesday
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Dan Killam @dantheclamman.blog · 13/10/2026
Fossil bivalve shells are often not the original material, which often gets dissolved and recrystallized by fluids moving through the earth. Sometimes the whole clam will be decomposed and dissolved, and the void is filled by secondary material, so only a cast will remain! (376)
Figure from Kentucky Geological Survey showing how a shell can be buried and dissolved away, leaving only a mold or cast behind
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Dan Killam @dantheclamman.blog · 12/10/2026
Neanderthals also ate bivalves. Researchers measured the isotopes of the shells to figure out season of harvest, and determined much like people do today, Neanderthals timed their harvest for certain seasons. (374) doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
doi.org
PNAS
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...
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Riley Black 🏳️‍⚧️ 🦖 @restingdinoface.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
I really don’t have time for “well maybe genai could be good in these small technical ways eventually” when it’s making the present hell continually worse. As planned. Because look who’s endorsing it and shoving it on us.
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Rodrigo Salvador @krakenscholar.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
New paper out for #MolluscMonday. A review of one of Brazil's oddball snail species, 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘢, from the southernmost reaches of the Atlantic Forest. You can find the 🔓 article at revistas.usp.br/paz/article/...
A close-up of 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘮𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘢
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Paul D. Taylor @nhmbryozoa.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
#MolluscMonday Giants from the south. A display cabinet in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge houses huge rudists from the Upper Greensand (Albian) of Shillington, Bedfordshire, an unexpected occurrence in the British Cretaceous far away from the Tethyan homeland of these bivalves.
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Rage Against the Miocene @organiccarbon.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
We must have an energy transition, but in doing so we must not replace fossil fuel colonialism with green colonialism. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Why a Chilean salt flat is a microcosm of the extractive frontiers of green capitalism
In the Atacama desert, the extraction of lithium – so crucial to addressing the climate crisis – comes with escalating social and environmental costs
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Rage Against the Miocene @organiccarbon.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Of course it is. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...
theguardian.com
Christian nationalism in Britain driven by people who seldom go to church, says report
Research challenges the notion that the growing visibility of crosses and other symbols reflects a revival of Christianity
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Molluscan Horizons @molluscanhorizons.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
🐌 A new snail just dropped! This paper describes Hirtudiscus hirsutissimus, a new species of terrestrial gastropod from Panama. Learn more: molluscanhorizons.org/mh/article/v...
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I'm super looking forward to that!
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Have fun at GSA, friends!! Post all the cool things!! I'm with you in spirit!
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Mild FOMO seeing everyone posting about arriving at GSA. I'm holding off from other conferences so that I can have a better chance at work sending me to World Malacological Congress in Sydney 28, but dang, I miss rocks ;_;
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Phil Garnock-Jones @theobrominated.eurosky.social · 10/10/2026
Moss spore capsules usually have 1 or 2 rings of peristome teeth around their open mouth. In Tortula muralis, the teeth are long & spirally twisted to form a slender tube that twists & untwists in response to humidity changes. This peristome is 1.4 mm long. Stereo pair; viewing instructions in ALT.
An orange-brown tube of spiralled threads, open at the top where the threads are unravelling and un-twisting to release spores. A few tiny pale green spores are visible.
To view this side-by-side stereo pair in 3D, use the viewer from my book, or try to look at the left photo with your left eye and the right photo with your right eye. If you can do Magic Eye, it's the same technique. Cardboard tubes might help and keeping the picture small certainly makes it easier.
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franz @franzanth.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Hello, @animalphotorefs.bsky.social lost their job midway through the trip that's supposed to pay for the trip and is now stranded so far away. If you could benefit from animal photos for art references, please consider supporting.
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James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
We're looking for a lecturer in the Biology and Marine Biology Department at UNCW! I very much love my new department - if you are passionate about teaching and have expertise in anatomy and physiology, biodiversity, genetics, or microbiology, please consider applying! jobs.uncw.edu/postings/40986
jobs.uncw.edu
Lecturer - Biology
The Department of Biology and Marine Biology at The University of North Carolina Wilmington invites applications for multiple full-time Lecturer positions beginning in August 2027.Successful candidate...
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The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
🧬🌿 Morphological Phylogenetics Workshop | IOE, UK 🌿 Join us on 9–11 November 2026. 🎓 Student travel bursaries available! 📝 Register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... 🔗 More info: systass.org/morphologica... #workshop #morphology #phylogenetics
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Dr Alex Bond @thelabandfield.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Bibliography of avian types -- update v.2026.10.09 -new additions including collections and bibliography -encoding error (hopefully!) fixed -some de-duplication of references. >1000 refs to >200 collections now available. Corrections welcome! albnd.github.io/bird_types/ #Ornithology #Taxonomy
albnd.github.io
Bird Type Specimen Bibliography — Directory of Collections
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Who knows what we shall find today!
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
#FossilFriday I'm working at the offsite store again today. Last Friday we opened an ancient crate and found a metre long partial Titanosarcolites, one of Trechmann's figured specimens! I let out a noise at a pitch only dogs can hear when it was lowered down on the pallet stacker to me
A wooden crate filled with straw upon which is a gently curved brown-grey lumpy rectangular object which is actually a partial specimen of gigantic bivalve Titanosarcolites. There's a 10cm scale bar in the crate too. The specimen is around 100 long
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Systematics Association @systassn.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
And our Founders's Lecture is on! Looking forward for an amazing talk by Mark Wilkinson!
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Mali 💤 MCM London G-23 @sleepimali.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The Shelter original painting auction is live! Ends on Thursday October 8th at 7.30pm 🐇🐚 Shares are super appreciated 💛💛 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Photo of my hand holding a watercolour painting of a couple of white bunnies sleeping in a half open blue mussel shell, on a black background. Small waves with lace-like foamy edges come in from the bottom of the painting
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Dr. Emma E. Bird @dremmabird.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
For years, 💀MorphoSource💀 has given researchers, educators, and students 🚨free access🚨 to 3D data on museum specimens from around the world. 🔆Now it is asking for some help to continue its work🔆 www.morphosource.org/donate/
morphosource.org
Why Give | Support MorphoSource
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Systematics Association @systassn.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Please don't forget to register for his THURSDAY's Founders' Lecture: Dr. Mark Wilkinson, NHMUK and former SystAssn president, will deliver a talk about all things caecilian (limbless amphibians!). WHEN: Thursday, October 8th at 6PM WHERE: Burlington House, London JOIN US: tinyurl.com/ndx5az2a
Poster with QR code for the advertised Systematics Association Founders' Lecture
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NHM Library and Archives @nhmlibraryarchives.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
16 October 2026, 11.00 - 15.00. Location: Lasting Impressions Gallery. (Free, drop in.) Visitors to the Museum will have the opportunity to enter this collection space, speak with the Library and Archives team, and view a selection of material from across the collections. #NaturalHistoryMuseum
A group of people surround a display of artwork, archives and bound items on a large table. A member of staff has picked up an item on the display to show to one of the people. Surrounding the table are tall wooden bookshelves. 

The following information has been added to the image 'Library and Archives Open Day 16 October 2026 11.00 - 15.00.'
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Oh my god I love it
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Katie Collins @spissatella.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Autofill in the online form of my brain
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