iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

But, what held cycloids back? They were there, patiently waiting for their time in the sun.

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Reposted by Thomas Hegna

Marine Biological Laboratory @mblscience.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Happy #WorldHorseshoeCrabDay!  These spinning #horseshoecrab (Limulus polyphemus) embryos are developing inside their eggs, just weeks away from hatching. Despite their name, horseshoe crabs are closer relatives of spiders and scorpions than crustaceans.

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Reposted by Thomas Hegna

SUNY Fredonia Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences @sunyfredgeoesci.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

We've collaborated with the Patterson Library in Westfield to make some summer reading kits for local libraries to fit with this year's theme of "Unearth a Story." www.fredonia.edu/news/article...

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These papers are obviously passion projects. I'm willing to wager that AI was not used at all on them. The content was just too important to the authors to risk AI involvement.

Good use of all caps--no one will suspect a thing.

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Curiously, this paper does NOT claim that they landed there after the K-Pg asteroid.

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There is/was a rich vein of over-interpreting pixels as fossils on the Moon and Mars on Researchgate. I have a folder of about 15 pdfs on it. Do you like blurry, ambiguous photos? I'll share some images here. I've endeavored to post some of the most decipherable images.

Blurry pictures of supposed fossils from Mars.

Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Come and see me talk about the geological history of western New York, Thursday, June 4th at 6:00pm, at the Patterson Library in Westfield, NY.

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Reposted by Thomas Hegna

SUNY Fredonia Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences @sunyfredgeoesci.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Some students spend spring break on the beach. Ours explore the desert. www.instagram.com/p/DYSR3DbAHJ...

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Reposted by Thomas Hegna

SUNY Fredonia Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences @sunyfredgeoesci.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

A great article was published in the Chautauqua Gazette last week detailing the environmentally-related research that our students are doing. Read the article here (pages 1 and 6): www.chqgazette.com/PDF/CG4-20-2...

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 28/03/2026

Over spring break, I took a group of 17 students to Utah for an extended field trip. We spent most of our time in the House Range near Delta, UT, looking at Paleozoic rocks.

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

I'm going to have to dig out a picture...I don't think it did ...

Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

This version does have an omission: We forgot the fanciful reconstruction of a trilobite with amphipod limbs in this book (downloadable online): Boitard, P. (1861). Paris avant les hommes, l’homme fossile, etc. Histoire naturelle du globe terrestre. Paris: Passard.

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Reposted by Thomas Hegna

Jo Wolfe, PhD @jopabinia.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

Do you ever wonder about trilobite appendages? Literally everything ever known has now been reviewed by Sarah Losso @thomashegna.bsky.social @invertebratepal.bsky.social 🧪⚒️🦑 osf.io/preprints/pa...

Caption from Figure 9 in paper:
Appendages of Ordovician Phacopida. A, B Anacheirurus adserai from the Fezouata Shale (Pérez-Peris et al., 2021). A, Endopodite (YPM 226573). B, Exopodite in dorsal view (YPM 517074). C, Bavaillia zemmourensis with antennae (MCZ:IP:20105; Martin et al., 2016; Richards et al., 2024). D – F, Ceraurus pleurexanthemus from the Rust Formation (Losso and Ortega-Hernández, 2024). D, Biramous appendages (MCZ:IP:110933). E, Biramous appendage (MCZ:IP:112018). F, Exopodite (MCZ:IP:104973). G – I, Flexicalymene senaria from the Rust Formation (Losso and Ortega-Hernández, 2024). D, Protopodites in cross section (MCZ:IP:104956). E, Biramous appendages (USNM 68379). F, Endopodites (USNM 68381). J, Placoparia cambriensis from the Llanfallteg Formation (NMW 91.46G; Whittington, 1993). Abbreviations: ant, antennae; cla, claw; en, endopodite; end, endite; hyp, hypostome; lm, lamellae; pn, podomere number; pt, protopodite.

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

For paleo folks, there is a kickstarter project out there to support a massive photorealistic extinct mammal book. If we can increase the support for the book, it will expand to 600 or even 800 pages! www.kickstarter.com/projects/152...

kickstarter.com

MegaloBook

3-in-1: Encyclopedia, Field Guide & Coffee Table Book. 1500+ handmade photobash restorations of all known Cenozoic mammals.

Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

MAGNETITE! Well, probably. They are magnetic, and too tiny to see any other features . . .

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Little known fact about the glacial sediment near Lake Erie in our area. Sometimes, you can see a swath of this sediment in the swash zone of the beach—the waves sort them differently because they are denser than the other sediment. #sunyfredonia #geology #lakeerie #sedimentology #glacialsediment

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

The water level of lake Erie is at a point where we can reach parts of Point Gratiot that I have never been able to visit. So, I took some students on an impromptu field trip this afternoon to see the Kellwasser event exposed at the Lake Erie Beach. #sunyfredonia #geology #paleontology #devonian

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Reposted by Thomas Hegna

SUNY Fredonia Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences @sunyfredgeoesci.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

More pictures from measuring stratigraphy with Dr. Hegna's class out at the Sheridan Bay Park. Included is some meta-photography with SUNY Fredonia's Roger Coda (marketing and communications). #geology #stratigraphy #fredonia #lakeerie #sunyfredonia

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

Another 3d printed skull to guess. It is harder than it looks.

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

I did not know juliid snails had a coelacanth-like history. Do you happen to know the publication history that sorted that out? Does anyone know what their hinge is like?

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Since we have only known each other a finite amount of time, this is high praise! For this, I think I owe you some fossil fish papers . . .

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Reposted by Thomas Hegna

SUNY Fredonia Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences @sunyfredgeoesci.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

A beautiful day to measure the Hanover Shale. Found a crinoid-filled lens amongst the layers. #Fredonia #geology #stratigraphy

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

I don't think I am exaggerating when I say this is the fastest brachiopod ever. Introducing the Brachio-Bot. #fredonia #paleontology #3dprinting

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

Guess who? Printed at about 1/2 scale.

Okay. So Lingula would probably win against any rudist, as long as it managed to kick itself in the right direction with its pedicle.

So the remote control will be able to control it. Without the wheels, the remote is useless. It's a little toddler RC car. This brach will not win any races. Just like every other brachiopod that ever was.

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Coming soon: The Trilo-bot 2.0®

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

I bring you the latest advance in lophotrochozoan technology: The Brachio-bot®

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New paper out describing the first fossil ovaries and unfertilized eggs in a primitive horseshoe crab. #paleontology #xiphosura #ordovician

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Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

SUNY Fredonia alum Jasper Glow helped with the assembly. Ishaan Rangnekar and Fiona Rigby helped with the digital cutting.

Thomas Hegna @thomashegna.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Purchased the model on sketchfab from the Cleveland Museum. Cut it into 90 printer-sized pieces. Voilà. ‪@hmajewski.bsky.social‬