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coastalpaleo.bsky.social
Marine mammal paleontologist, artist, snorkeler, beachcomber, tidepool enthusiast. Chief paleontologist for Charleston Center for Paleontology.
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When you think about whaling, you’re probably thinking about 1800s Moby Dick era stuff. But guess when we stopped using whale oil in cars?? 1972. We were using sperm whale oil in transmission fluid until 197freaking2. The NYT even ran an article about how bad the ban was for people’s transmissions🧪🦑

Watching LAPD officers shoot rubber bullets directly at protesters is like watching the LA city budget get diverted in real time to lawsuit payouts

LONG LIVE THE KING, Aptenodytes patagonicus [seriously though this is a post about king penguin conservation because they face major potential threats from multiple anthropogenic impacts, especially climate change]

It’s bleak out there, but it’s heartening to know millions of people from all walks of life took the time to ruin one specific persons birthday, America’s hater spirit remains strong

Association with Musk has damaged the @royalsociety.org 's reputation so much that I no longer want my work to be associated with their journals. I've withdrawn my manuscript from their review process at Proceedings B. 1/4

I don't think he was expecting to have to endure a history lesson

One block over from the White House: the aspirational security line setup

No better way to build morale in the military than forcing troops to march down largely empty streets in a thunderstorm to celebrate a draft dodger’s birthday

This military parade could’ve been a Signal chat

don't think I really understood the concept of national humiliation an hour ago, lmao

Remarkable. MSNC: "I want to reiterate this has been 100% peaceful." Seconds later, LA County sheriffs start firing on the crowd. Yet again, "law enforcement" deliberately escalated.

Stay classy, San Diego. #NoKings

This time last year I was capturing a Waxing Gibbous Moon. 🔭 🧪 🎨 #astrophotography #SciArt #photography #StormHour #ThePhotoHour

Welcome to the world, Nujalikodon cassiopeiae! This little mammaliaform from Greenland is the oldest definitive docodontan, telling us more about this important clade's origin and palaeography, and how their complex teeth evolved. (Artwork by Pedro Andrade)

The moment you discover hope along the Oregon coast... #bullkelp #kelp #kelpforest #oregon #oregoncoast #kelprestoration #pnw #elakhaalliance #marinescience

Despite warnings from the law enforcement not to attend today’s No Kings rally after this mornings shooting of Minnesota lawmakers with the killer on the lose, the No Kings Rally is happening at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.

Fun fact: Cutlassfish have evolved natural fish-hooks, complete with barbs! Figure credit: Kate Bemis et al. (2019).

The only king I'll ever kneel to #nokings also #whaleontology

#fossilfriday a skull of the primitive carnivore Triisodon. Used to be on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, don't know if it still is. #smithsonian #nationalmuseumofnaturalhistory #washingtondc #prehistoricnewmexico

Two slabs of shale, containing #fossils of the #arthropod Leanchoilia superlata, that were excavated by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) crew, at the Middle #Cambrian Burgess Shale, led by Des Collins in 1993. Photos made using a #NikonF2 #35mmfilm #PaleoSky #FossilFriday #Palaeontology #Paleontology

Happy #FossilFriday from the Niobrara of Kansas and this stupid Xiphactinus that I didn't have to collect. Curatorial boot for scale since it's impossible to see my pants.

Art by Ray Troll, sentiment by millions…..

Teleoceras, a "barrel-bellied" rhino from the Miocene. Commonly known from the great plains to Florida, the Nebraska collections are particularly important. This is the rhino from the spectacular Ashfall site which preserves a whole herd. #FossilFriday @unsmmorrillhall.bsky.social

Exclusive: US Marines carry out first known detention of civilian in Los Angeles, video shows reut.rs/3ZvxVoY

I am going to commandeer the hashtag #FishyFriday to post a fish themed artwork or photo every week on Friday! No themes or prompts or post limits, just #fish! Feel free to join in with me if you’d like to see more fish in your feed. I will have a feed up shortly! ❤️ #fishart #sciart #ichthyology

Can’t stop thinking about wanting a cute little bob and showing a photo of Anton Chigurh to your stylist

But WOW the Vasa museum was incredible! I’d return to Stokholm just for this. A complete, 226ft long 17th century warship which sank pretty much as soon as it was built and was excavated whole in the 60s. It also led to a lot of cool science as they figured out how to preserve it.

Dicranurus Convergence 1/2019 20 X 24 Inches [50.8 X 61 cm] Colored Pencil on Paper #sciart #gawoski #trilobite #fossil

For #FossilFriday we celebrate Los Angeles w/ the round slipper snail, holotype of Crepipatella charybdis, from the Pleistocene of Los Angeles Co., California. Og genus Verticumbo (rev. J. McClean), still a part of California's great diversity. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/fmfhE7

Here is an animated gif showing the motion of Barnard's Star against the background stars. The star is only about 6 light years from Earth and its motion can easily be seen against the backdrop of the more distant stars. Images were taken in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. 🔭

The eurypterid Carcinosoma newlini, from the cover of my recently published eurypterid book, for #FossilFriday. ⚒️🧪 The specimen is from Kokomo, Indiana, which I think preserves some of the most photogenic eurypterid fossils. You can read the publication here: doi.org/10.1206/0003...

#FossilFriday: Paleoparadoxia, a desmostylid from the Miocene of the Pacific coastal region (Japan, Alaska, and south to Baja California.)

Cryptoclidus eurymerus, a Jurassic plesiosaur found in Peterborough, England, on display at the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland, photographed in 2019. [ #paleontology #FossilFriday #PaleorenjiPhoto ]

Back again for another #fossilfriday, this time looking closely at Columbian mammoth teeth and tusks 🦷🦴🦣🧪

Imagine a world with horsetails as forest trees - this enormous Calamites stem cast is about 300 million years old and 12cm broad. On display in Liverpool World Museum. #FossilFriday ⚒🌏🧪🔬🌿🌱

#fossilfriday And some more progress on this same specimen - basicranium fragment with inner ear bone (periotic), Herpetocetus bramblei, latest Miocene-Pliocene, Purisima Formation, Santa Cruz, ~5 myo. Just a little bit of concretion left! 5 months in 10% acetic acid bath - very slow progress!

Tiny part.

#FossilFriday !! 🪨 This is the right dentition of the Late Oligocene heterodont odontocete, Eosqualodon langewieschei 🦷 📃 This figure was published in JSP by Nelson et al.: buff.ly/Ma4q1eI

Gomphotherium! Ele tinha o tamanho de um elefante e possuia quatro presas. Este crânio foi encontrado na França e viveu há 14 milhões de anos. #FossilFriday

This is Archie. He's too shy to tell you so himself, but he's the tallest mammoth on exhibit in the world. He doesn't like to brag. 13/10 Would snuggle him to the bone. #WeRateBones 🦣⚒️🧪#FossilFriday #LNK

A #FathersDay weekend #FossilFriday: Patriofelis ferox, the "ferocious father of cats". (Despite the name, not a cat but an oxyaenid: no more closely related to cats than to walruses or dogs or bears). Mount from the @amnh.org