Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I think we, as a species, don't grief enough collectively over all the species we lost just in last 500 years, from Moas, to golden toads, and to think that I was born just as last slender-billed curlew went extinct. As a palaeontologitst I grief all the time how much poorer we made the world 010
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Reminder for palaeo collegaues , Russia is very willing to conduct genocide (including cultural) against Ukraine, killing scientists and artists, but my suggestions to maybe not allow publish fossils stolen from Crimea in western publishing houses, still seen as strange. #fossils #Ukraine 🦖⚒️ 0224
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 27/09/2026yes, but he never considered country with "Vkusno y tochka" tha also imposed "DonMac" on Donetsk, attacking country with mcDonalds :) (sad smile). Great thread, as always! 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Not even Canary islands, oldest of which are late Miocene, as I demonstrated last week 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026that will be amazing, I have found your email at Uni manchester, and will mail you, if thats ok. Thanks again! 010
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Hi @russellgarwood.co.uk , would it be ok to use the infographics in my tenure presentation (with the credit of course). Thanks! 130
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 14/09/2026@mosasaurologist.bsky.social - I have found a replica of your nemesis - Xiphactinus, lurking in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria aquarium 1122
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 07/09/2026It says "inspired by starship troopers uniform" - got to be Paul Werhoven´s 1997 movie, not R. Heinlein´s book. While milage on what Heinlein was saying varies (prob. study on conservativism, and citizen-military-state relationships), movie is explicitly a fascism satire - saying "Federation BAD" 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 04/09/2026For today's #fossilfriday post, not a #fossil but equipment, a sediment corer used to extract sediments with microfossils from the lakes. This corner is a workhorse for climate and environmental reconstruction for ice ages and beyond. @gilromera.bsky.social @cesar-morales.bsky.social 🦣🦖 173
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 04/09/2026so whenewher russians are using moscow for any point, they should be asked "cool, what about rest of your country (St Petersburg does not counts, although its famous for its high muder rate anyway)" 010
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 04/09/2026She fails to mention that a) homocide is quite high even in Moscow, and astronomically high in provinces; and b) moscow is so pumped with resources incl. for policing, that rest of their country is left dry. Moscow is a comical example of colonial metropoly in its own country. 110
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Does Australia has a good fossil record of turtles? I have seen lots of Meiolania from Lord Howe (bias - that's what I wanted to see) in the Australian Museum Sydney collection, but not much else. Fantastic mount of Diprotodon! 010
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Kishenehn formation from Eocene of Montana, is famous for #fossil Culiseta mosquito with preserved haemoglobine, discovered by my friend Dale Greenwalt. Less famous are water skating midges - Hintelmaniella noncatafractata, we discovered with Dale doi.org/10.26879/1165 #fossilfriday 🦖🪰⚒️ 0101
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 28/08/2026Is it Kishinehn formation by any chance? Matrix looks similar and there were suckers as I remember... 100
Reposted by Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲Minna Ålander 🌻 @alanderminna.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Made an attempt to throw some cold water on the fears that a Russian escalation is imminent. Not all war is hybrid, and escalation is almost always - and especially under the current circumstances - hard to control. That applies to Russia, too.minnalander.substack.comTo Escalate Or Not To EscalateRussia’s war is increasingly spilling over into Europe. But does it indicate an imminent willingness to escalate further? 821651
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 27/08/2026It seems @joniaskola.bsky.social we might yet get our wish just in time, and see russian frozen assets to be used for defense of Ukraine and Europe 020
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 26/08/2026eh, solenhofen, boring small plates, here is a good-sized Plattenkalck slab 030
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 26/08/2026That will probably be one PhD student leading some of the panels/ giving plenaries at the meetings 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 26/08/2026people are missing the real news story - Gen. Syrski is embarking on his Phd journey. @anderspucknielsen.dk I am pretty sure that Doctorands from Academy of command staff of UA, doing their English and Philosphy exam same place I did in 2012 - Institute of Humanities NANU 😄 nv.ua/ukr/ukraine/...nv.ua«Від цивільних посад відмовився». Сирський вступив до докторантури Національного університету оборони — ЗМІЕксголовнокомандувач ЗСУ Олександр Сирський вступив до докторантури Національного університету оборони України (НУОУ). 010
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Sorry to hear it Natalia, you made palaeontology better, but I understand, its can be hard in the exclusive spaces for anyone who does not resemble core demographics toa nail. Its clearly a loss for palaeo but not for you. All the success with whatewher you will do next! 110
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Today is #Ukraine ´s 35th #independanceday (really a restoration of 1921 UNR statehood), and I remmbering and hoping to see all the places that war has stolen from Ukrainians and friends of our country, like steppes of Askania Nova where I photographed this Eucera longicornis 🐝in 2013 040
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 24/08/2026Kurgan stellae (6ct. BC-11 ct AC) are pervasive part of Ukrainian steppe. Part history stretching back into the Pleistocene, that gathered land and people that make #Ukraine. Today is Ukraine´s 35th #independanceday. Thanks to all friends standing with Ukraine, in fight for this history to continue 040
Reposted by Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 22/08/2026The fact that Trump has reduced the US-Canada relationship to a zero-sum competition in the eyes of his supporters is in itself a catastrophic development. The relationship always thrived because it was seen from a mutually beneficial point of view. That’s now over and it’s a tragedy. 28588103
Reposted by Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲Fabian Hoffmann, PhD @frhoffmann.bsky.social · 21/08/2026🚀 New Mildly Alarmed episode out. @alanderminna.bsky.social and I discuss one of the key topics of my recently defended PhD: How does the proliferation of long-range strike weapons to small and medium-sized states affect strategic stability? 1/3 www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRLD...youtube.comWhen small states get long range missiles | Mildly AlarmedYouTube video by Mildly Alarmed 3316
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026ah, thats right, I should rewatch it. 010
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026was not it Ornithocheirus from the "Giants of the sky" episode? 110
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Head of the #fossil Valeseguya, male from Dominican #amber - Valeseguyidae are weird flies, there are number of fossils, maybe several dozens, from ambers, but family was described based on a SINGLE extant fly from Victoria, Australia, making them rarest extant flies #fossilfriday 095
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Thanks for keeping them going! I am impressed by @frhoffmann.bsky.social - after my phd defence I refused to engage with cognition for a months. Much luck on your phd journey @alanderminna.bsky.social - it can be mildly rewarding! 120
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026listening to @alanderminna.bsky.social and @frhoffmann.bsky.social, on "Mildly alarmed" on deterrence by punishment and missiles. Its a bummer, my phd was not on anything that impactful.. (does cat dads allowed dad jokes?) 1163
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026This is currently mine most frequent thought - whenewher my dream of being a paleontologist, materialized itself in fighting for equipment procurement, corrected for rate of inflation and calculating "daily subsistence rate" when I move on my business trip from one German federal land to another 030
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Dominican republic mines, so it would have been Miocene, ca 13 MYA. So only dinosaur you are cloning from those mosquitos (lets be clear DNA does not survive in amber), will be hummingbirds or palmchats. Also, mosquito in Hammond´s cane a Tipulidae, adults does not feed (besides occasional nectar) 040
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 21/08/202637 MYA #fossil Culicidae mosquito female from Baltic #amber. True mosquitos are fairly rare in amber, unlike biting midges, because unlike latter, they have no strong association with tree bark, or tree-dwelling invertebrates. Btw mosquito in Jurassi Park was from... #fossilfriday #fossils🦖⚒️ 1/2 261
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 19/08/2026This paper here provides a good summary on the taphonomy of the deposit link.springer.com/article/10.1...link.springer.comThe soda lake—mesosaline halite lake transition in the Ries impact crater basin (drilling Löpsingen 2012, Miocene, southern Germany) - FaciesLacustrine sediments of impact craters form valuable climate archives, although chemical evolution and changes in the catchment area potentially superimpose, distort, or obliterate primary climate sig... 010
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Inspired by @nataliajagielska.bsky.social post on high density bone-beds of bats- I present you "bone breccia" of Noerdlingen Ries soda lake. Formed in the middle-Miocene asteroid impact crater in Bavaria, lake became a trap for thousands of small vertebrates, forming meters thick #fossil layer 🦖 171
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 12/08/202694.6% #solareclipse in Mairena de Aljarafe, Seville, Spain. Lighting during the peak of the eclipse was quite special, although no darkness happened as during total eclipse, it was also cooler quite a bit, due to blockage of IR radiation 070
Reposted by Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲Harriet E. Nuttall @whosyourmammal.bsky.social · 05/08/2026#Yourpalaeolife The ECR survey is published @ecol-evol.bsky.social! Early career palaeontologists from all over the world have talked about their experience with fieldwork - how could you change your working practices to get more early career researchers into the field? doi.org/10.1002/ece3...doi.org#Yourpalaeolife: Interrogating the Status of Fieldwork Among Early Career Palaeontology ResearchersThis global survey of early career palaeontologists provides the first quantitative data regarding the prevalence of field skills training and field work among junior researchers of the discipline. T.... 12516
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Juan Sebastián Elcano, lowborn navigator, who actually brought about Magellan's circumnavigation (due to M pathetic excuse of being dead), what interests me though is the role of this seagull in the circumnavigation, as it clearly was important, immortalized at Glorieta de Marineras, Sevilla. #birds 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 12/08/2026its also intersting to find solitary dead bats deep into caves, clearly that tiny brain had some drive to explore - found this one about 9 km from the entrance of Planina cave in Slovenia, long past you see any other bats, or proteus salamanders, or isopods - just water dripping and a lone bat 0160
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026So I did not meant to be hostile at all, I guess I just should have followed a golden rule of internet - and not to reply anything, when I had visceral urge to write something 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026very well, I can not argue with that, in fact I partially disengaged from working in collection based palaeo because of how toxic reaction to Raja et al was in Germany, and later due to my inability to achieve german journals to stop publishing stolen fossils from Ukraine 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Just to make sure I dont look to good, I did not rejected position JUST because of crato 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026And we did some numbers for Ukrainian fossils in the collections of powers formally colonizing it, but its preprint, feel free to ignore it www.researchgate.net/publication/...researchgate.net(PDF) Impact of policy, colonialism and conflicts on science development (as exemplified by Ukrainian palaeontology)PDF | Science is influenced by its political and social context, and palaeontology is no exception. Social forces such as colonialism and the resource... | Find, read and cite all the research you nee... 000
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Then there is Macário et al 2025 for Crato formation in foreign collections palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...palaeo-electronica.orgMacroinvertebrates from the Santana GroupThe study of fossil macroinvertebrates from the Santana Group, Brazil: Legal and ethical challenges and neocolonial legacies in paleontology 110
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Then there are some numbers for Mexico and Brazil from @cisneros.bsky.social royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...royalsocietypublishing.orgDigging deeper into colonial palaeontological practices in modern day Mexico and BrazilAbstract. Scientific practices stemming from colonialism, whereby middle- and low-income countries supply data for high-income countries and the contributi 220
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026I du not know what is general ration @emmadnn.bsky.social crunched some numbers in Raja et al., 2020 www.nature.com/articles/s41...nature.comColonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity - Nature Ecology & EvolutionAnalysing the global distribution, source and authorship of fossil research over the past 30 years, the authors find that researchers in high- or upper-middle-income countries hold a monopoly over pal... 100
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026I am not, repatriation is good. I am against transferring public collections to wealthy private individuals 110
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026so I just stopped working on Myanmar amber untill it can be done ethically 020
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026There was a concerted push of some working groups to return Burmese amber to Myanmar, when "Blood amber" situation became clear, but a lot of Myanmar's geoscientist also remind us that we would be trying to return amber to the country controlled by military dictatorship oppressing them 100
Dr. Viktor Baranov🧪🦟🐛🪲 @swarmofthoughts.bsky.social · 11/08/2026That is what I meant, any institution in say EU can be persuaded to give up fossils , either due to internal pressure from staff, and it does exist - I refuse to take up curatorial position attached to a lot of Crato fossils, or because its a toxic asset, like in case with #UribajarabelongstoBrazil 100