Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

@ichnologist.bsky.social

7K followers 760 following 2.3K posts

Traces & trace fossils. Wrote 'Life Sculpted' (2023), 'Dinosaurs Without Bones' (2014), 'The Evolution Underground' (2017), & more. Hubby, Trekkie, reading, cooking, craft-beer imbibing, childless cat dude. https://ajmartinauthor.com

ajmartinauthor.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · Aug 21

Hello Bluesky science appreciators! I'm a geologist, paleontologist, & (most importantly) an ichnologist, which means I study modern traces (tracks, burrows, etc.) & trace fossils. I teach undergrad students in environmental sciences, write books about ichnology, & do lots of public outreach. 🧪🪨⚒️🐾🦕🦖

Alligator tracks on a beach, showing the direction of movement by a large alligator from the lower part of the beach and up to its dunes, with a prominent sinuous tail drag in its middle and front-rear track pairs on either side. I am squatting to the left of the tracks, wearing a hat, sunglasses, shirt, shorts, and sandals. Tracks were on Sapelo Island, Georgia (USA).

Cover of my latest book LIFE SCULPTED (2023, U. of Chicago Press), with black background and cut section of a grayish tree trunk as its central image, in which the trunk has many borings made by insects and fungi. The book title and subtitle at the top of the cover says, "LIFE SCULPTED: Tales of the Animals, Plants, and Fungi that Drill, Break, and Scrape to Shape the Earth," and my author name (Anthony J. Martin) is in the lower right corner.

Sauropod dinosaur tracks evident as semi-circular depressions in a slanted sandstone surface, with me wearing a broad-brimmed hat while sitting next to the tracks on that surface and facing downslope. Tracks were in a Jurassic formation in southern Portugal.

Rear view of a camera crew (two people) filming me in the atrium of Fernbank Museum of Natural History in Atlanta, GA (USA), with me sitting and partial views of dinosaur skeletons in the background, which are replicas of Argentinosaurus (left) and Gigantosaurus (right), dinosaurs that lived in what is now Argentina about 100 million years ago.

1 6 53

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 1d

Fall break at my uni, so spouse & I went to Savannah & Tybee Island (GA) for the weekend. Visited Jepson/Telfair Art Museum in Savannah & we were wowed by exhibit of maritime artwork by William O. Golding (1874-1943), but animated for display. 🌊⚓️🎨

2 8

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 1d

I watched one of our cats at home do this on a carpet 2 days ago & thought, "Huh, that'd make for an interesting trace fossil." From this alone I learned that trace fossil dreams can come true.

1 3

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 1d

You can always bet on butt-related trace fossils to go viral. 😎Congrats, & thanks for posting this story!

1 2 7

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 1d

126,000 year-old rock-hydra post-defecation butt-drag trace fossil (in rock) FTW! Reason #1,257 why ichnology rules! 🧪🐾🪨💩

Silvia Pineda-Munoz, PhD - Climate Ages @climateages.bsky.social · 1d

A 126,000-year-old butt-drag just made fossil history.
A tiny rock hyrax scooted across the sand of ancient South Africa, and that moment was preserved in stone.

Even the smallest acts can echo through time.
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/dcGWTR4

The 126,000-Year-Old Butt-Drag That Rewrote What Counts as a Fossil

How a small animal’s odd habit turned into one of the most unexpected stories ever preserved in stone Some discoveries make headlines because they’re dramatic: new...

climateages.com

1 10 37

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Erika Anderson @andersonmineral.bsky.social · 2d

The fierce carnivore Inostrancevia is one of the species of synapsids that went extinct in the Great Dying, known as the Permian-Triassic Extinction event. #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪

Mounted skeleton of fossil Inostrancevia with its body facing left. It’s skull shows large saver like teeth. It stands on a bed of shale fragments on a plinth with red plexiglass behind it. At the Royal Ontario Museum.

2 17 50

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Ausarchosaur @ausarchosaur.bsky.social · 2d

I know everyone in the online paleontology community and their mother knows this fossil at this point, but I don't think we appreciate how insane it is that there was an actual, real predator that BIT OFF THE HORNS OF ITS PREY. WHILE IT WAS ALIVE. #FossilFriday

2 3 24

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Dr Suresh Singh @palaeosingh.bsky.social · 2d

A couple snapshots of an ancient apex predator for this #FossilFriday - presenting the fossil teeth & snout of an #Erythrosuchus africanus, the big-headed, hypercarnivorous archosauromorph from the Early-Mid #Triassic of South Africa 🇿🇦

#Paleontology #Science

🧵 1/

Isolated teeth of Erythrosuchus africanus from the collections of the Natural History Museum UK.

The tip of the snout of Erythrosuchus africanus from the collections of the Natural History Museum UK.

2 13 28

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Science Friday @scifri.bsky.social · 2d

Happy Science Friday! Here’s what we’re covering today on the show. Listen on your local public radio station, 2-4 p.m. ET. 🦋☀️

Learn more here: buff.ly/sHPBDCP

9 55

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Rachel Ignotofsky @rachelignotofsky.bsky.social · 2d

I made a video about my new book: DINOSAURS
Watch here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVy8...

Publishing this Tuesday! grab your copy here: rachelignotofskydesign.com/dinosaurs

#dinosaurs #paleoart #fossilladdict #sciart #evolution

Dinosaurs: Exploring Prehistoric Life and Geological Time

YouTube video by Rachel Ignotofsky

www.youtube.com

4 14

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Ausarchosaur @ausarchosaur.bsky.social · 9d

A large theropod (probably tyrannosaur) track from Nose Mountain, Alberta shows the fourth digit twisted such that half of the toe was folded underneath the rest.

They ask you how you are and you just have to say that you're fine when you're not really fine. #FossilFriday

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Left-Natural-cast-of-a-large-theropod-track-from-the-Late-Cretaceous_fig27_278667086

1 11 38

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Jeremy Lockwood @valdosaurus.bsky.social · 2d

For #FossilFriday some iguanodontian dorsal vertebrae with ossified tendons which would have formed a crisscross pattern. First appeared Late Jurassic associated with increased mass and quadrupedality. From #IsleofWight in the collections of @nhm-london.bsky.social.

3 25 120

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Dr Susannah Lydon @susieoftraken.bsky.social · 2d

A 300 million year old Sigillaria tree trunk, in front of a mural depicting those steamy Carboniferous coal swamp forests.

On display in Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid.

#FossilFriday ⚒🌏🌱🧪🌿🔬

A Sigillaria tree trunk, in front of a mural depicting the Carboniferous swamp forest. About 1.75 m tall

On display in Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid.

15 81

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Tom Astle @tjalamont.bsky.social · 2d

🧵1/10 @sophiesaurus98.bsky.social posted a great thread the other day about a beloved childhood dinosaur book and her young ideas about it. I thought I'd chime in with my own. I got this book for my 5th birthday in 1965(!) It was written by Jane Werner Watson (author of a zillion Golden Books) and--

The cover of a book called "Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles," showing a color illustration of a brachiosaurus eating ferns while half submerged in a swamp, with an Allosaurus in the background along with a flying pteranosaur. The book is worn, with tape holding the binding.

9 5 67

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Andrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 2d

Our book is out (in the UK)!

Ocean: From Shore to Abyss.

Available for pre-order in the US, too.

www.southernfriedscience.com/ocean-from-t...

Ocean: From the Shore to the Abyss

I am extremely pleased to announce that a book I contributed to is just about to come out. Ocean: From Shore to Abyss, led by the legendary Dr. Asha de Vos, is a visual journey through the oceans, …

www.southernfriedscience.com

4 11

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Bob Nicholls Art @bobnichollsart.bsky.social · 3d

A closer zoom into my reconstruction of the "sea-rex," a Jurassic pliosaur. This piece was commissioned by The Etches Collection, which is where the spectacular skull is exhibited.

#SciArt #PaleoArt #MarineReptiles #Pliosaur #Pliosaurus #SeaRex #Jurassic #JurassicWorld

1 13 54

Anthony (Tony) J. Martin @ichnologist.bsky.social · 3d

If anyone needs video content about coastal Georgia (USA) about its intertwined environmental & human histories, check out the Georgia Coast Atlas project by the @ecds-emory.bsky.social. Includes drone footage, in-the-field observations, & interviews. www.georgiacoastatlas.org/collections/...

Videos Collection | Georgia Coast Atlas

TODO: Add descriptive text about the videos collection here.

www.georgiacoastatlas.org

2 5

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Association of University Presses @aupresses.bsky.social · 3d

Worth repeating: "University presses are essential infrastructure for the humanities & should be financially supported in the same way that other higher education inter-institutional infrastructure is." Some powerful examples here:

Institutions and funders must recognize the contributions of university presses to the humanities infrastructure (opinion)

Recognizing the university press community’s essential contributions to that infrastructure will be crucial as institutions and funders plan for the future, write Charles Watkinson and Melissa Pitts.

bit.ly

30 59

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Oxford University Museum of Natural History @morethanadodo.bsky.social · 3d

L is for... Lithograph! A lithograph is a stone with an image drawn out in a greasy material, and the surrounding stone is etched out to create a water-receptive surface. The ink will only adhere to the drawing, allowing for printing of an image, as shown here in Breaking Ground.

1 6 35

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Dr Ross Barnett @deepfrieddna.bsky.social · 3d

phys.org/news/2025-10...

Early humans butchered elephants using small tools then made big tools from their bones, research finds

During warmer periods of the Middle Pleistocene, ancient humans in Italy were in the habit of butchering elephants for meat and raw materials, according to a study published October 8, 2025 in the ope...

phys.org

2 7

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

stuartsumida.bsky.social @stuartsumida.bsky.social · 3d

Our opinion piece on the importance of science and vertebrate paleontology in the United States was just published by Open Access Government:
www.openaccessgovernment.org/the-importan...
#svp #svppresident

The importance of palaeontology, Earth history, and science

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology discusses the significance of paleontology, Earth history and science in this insightful opinion piece

www.openaccessgovernment.org

1 13 57

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Tim Fedak PhD @timfedak.bsky.social · 3d

A wonderful celebration of #GeodiversityDay in the Cliffs of Fundy UNESCO Global Geopark - ⚒️ see more and Like/Follow at: facebook.com/DrawingGeopa...

5 15

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Nature @nature.com · 3d

Remembering Mark Norell, the palaeontologist whose discoveries helped to demonstrate that birds are living dinosaurs.

go.nature.com/433ddyk

Mark Norell obituary: palaeontologist who showed that dinosaurs still walk among us — as birds

Through fieldwork and innovative research, he transformed how scientists and the public perceive the prehistoric world.

go.nature.com

30 98

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 3d

The fleshy sarcotesta of Ginkgo biloba smells really nasty. Some biologists suggest that the stench evolved to attract scavenging dinosaurs (or ancient mammals), which dispersed the seeds. 🤷‍♂️ Maybe. If so, that vile smell is the aroma of Jurassic death. 💀 #dispersal #Ginkgoaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Photo of a pair of fleshy seeds of ginkgo hanging in the tree, not yet dispersed. Photo by Scott Zona CCBYNC2.

8 13 74

Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin

Amypteride🏳️‍⚧️🔻🕷🦂 @amypteride.bsky.social · 3d

#paleoctober2025 day 9 : Protobalanus spinicoronatus !

Despite its name, this animal is a devonian mollusk, more specifically a basal polyplacophoran. You may know its current day relatives as little criters on the beaches called "chitons" (that are not slugs with shells nor crustaceans).

A drawing of Protobalanus spinicoronatus, a flat oval-shaped mollusk with no distinct head and armored plates and also spikes on the body's edge.

A fossil 3D-scan of Protobalanus spinicoronatus, showing the oval-shaped body of the mollusk with armored plates and also a few spikes on the body's edge.

10 26