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Matt Sponheimer

@msponheimer.bsky.social

460 followers 1.9K following 3 posts

I study early hominins and living mammals, both large and small, in Africa and beyond. I am the director of the Nutritional and Isotopic Ecology Lab (NIEL) at the University of Colorado Boulder. https://bit.ly/4g8cYpU

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Environmental science 40%

Psychology 15%

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Frido Welker @fridowelker.bsky.social · Jul 9

Two great new studies out in @nature.com today, pushing back the recovery of dental enamel proteins to 21+ million years in the Arctic (www.nature.com/articles/s41...) and 18+ million years in East Africa (www.nature.com/articles/s41...).

Eighteen million years of diverse enamel proteomes from the East African Rift - Nature

The isolation of dental proteins from fossils deposited 1.5 million to 18 million years ago in the Turkana Basin in Kenya, a tropical region, demonstrate the promise of dental enamel for palaeoproteom...

www.nature.com

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Matt Sponheimer @msponheimer.bsky.social · Jun 20

This was fun to write. People will probably hate it! sciencepress.mnhn.fr/fr/periodiqu...

Dinner with Lucy: what does Paranthropus boisei bring to the table?

Les découvertes récentes ont conduit à une transformation de notre réflexion sur les régimes alimentaires des premiers hominines. Plus particulièrement, l’étude de l’usure dentaire microsc...

sciencepress.mnhn.fr

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Flint Dibble @flintdibble.bsky.social · May 27

I live rent free in Joe Rogan's head. Today marks the 10th JRE episode he's mentioned me on. But he won't have me back on. He's allergic to real evidence

The Aftermath of Speaking to Graham Hancock on Joe Rogan has now been ported over to Spotify. open.spotify.com/episode/7rMV...

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Reposted by Michael D. Petraglia, Matt Sponheimer

Frido Welker @fridowelker.bsky.social · Apr 10

Incredibly proud that our paper on the #palaeoproteomics analysis of the Penghu mandible, led by @tsutatsuta.bsky.social and in collaboration with Chun-Hsiang Chang, Enrico Cappellini and co, is out now in
@science.org! doi.org/10.1126/scie...

A male Denisovan mandible from Pleistocene Taiwan

Denisovans are an extinct hominin group defined by ancient genomes of Middle to Late Pleistocene fossils from southern Siberia. Although genomic evidence suggests their widespread distribution through...

doi.org

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Travis @coloradotravis.bsky.social · Apr 8

Wild how the minute the “liberal arts degrees are a waste of time” people get a hold of the government they immediately start doing the stuff a liberal arts degree teaches you not to do because it ruins civilization.

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer, David Bushnell, Michael Nelson , and 2 more Matt Sponheimer, David Bushnell, Michael Nelson, Jana Lasser, Matthew S. Erie

Claudia Friedlander @voiceteachernyc.bsky.social · Mar 14

Tesla Model 3 crushed by an Olmec statue
By Mexican sculptor @chavismarmol.bsky.social

A blue Tesla Model 3 has been crushed by an Olmec statue. A man with long black braids leans against the hood of the car with his arms crossed, staring down the camera.

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · Mar 12

I feel like my 2023 blog posts on this have aged well. The debate has got a lot angrier since then but the underlying issues haven't really changed. philosophyofbrains.com/2023/09/11/c...

The Brains Blog

By Jonathan Birch (See the other posts in this series here!) Part I: Cognitive neuroscience as usual? In politics, the ‘Overton window’ is the range of positions that can safely r…

philosophyofbrains.com

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

NEaar lab @neaarlab.bsky.social · Mar 12

So pleased to see Charlotte Blacka's first 1st author paper: innovation was to use tims-TOF #MS for rapid sex estimation method based on amelogenin #palaeoproteomics. At <20min per sample (including prep all the way to data processing), this enables far higher sample numbers: doi.org/10.1002/rcm....

Summary of methodological and analytical variables applied to the three different sets of sample material discussed. Each coloured background represents differences in variables: in green, sampling; blue, acid etching approach; yellow, MS instrument; purple, timsTOF run length.

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer, Julian L. Simon

Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · Mar 10

It’s amazing to find out at this late date how much the rule of law depended on people simply deciding, on a voluntary, daily basis, not to break the law.

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Eric Segall @espinsegall.bsky.social · Mar 6

“Of Health Care, Birthright Citizenship, and the New Politics of Legal Scholarship,” with @anthonymkreis.bsky.social.
www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/03/of-h...

Of Health Care, Birthright Citizenship, and the New Politics of Legal Scholarship

Co-Authored by Eric Segall & Anthony Michel Kreis The Affordable Care Act is a thousand-page federal law regulating virtually all material ...

www.dorfonlaw.org

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Julia LeeThorp @julialt.bsky.social · Mar 5

His seminal work on oxygen isotopes in calcified tissues alone was impressive, but he did much more. While v genial, he was not afraid to speak his mind. Some of us vividly recall him banging the desk at a meeting in Paris & proclaiming “This is notta science, its‘a fairy story”

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Julia LeeThorp @julialt.bsky.social · Mar 5

For isotope geochemists out there-

Just heard the sad news that Professor Antonio Longinelli, one of THE great 20th C isotope geochemists passed away yesterday. He was almost 95 and still on the button.

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

John Hawks @johnhawks.net · Mar 4

I expected this CNN article would be sensationalistic. I appreciate the range of experts quoted with different views.

“you are only ever going to create a crude approximation of any extinct creature, based on an incomplete idea of what it should look like”

edition.cnn.com/2025/03/04/s...

Genetically engineered woolly mouse is a step toward resurrecting extinct mammoth, company says | CNN

Scientists working to bring back the woolly mammoth have created genetically engineered mice that they say have several features of the extinct ice age giant.

edition.cnn.com

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

SFU Archaeology @sfuarchaeology.bsky.social · Feb 4

This week's seminar: Matt Sponheimer ( @msponheimer.bsky.social
) on "“Dinner with Lucy: what does Paranthropus boisei bring to the table” Thurs Feb 6th 3:30 pm PST, SWH9152 SFU Burnaby, or online on zoom:https://buff.ly/3EqamGs .

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Matt Sponheimer @msponheimer.bsky.social · Jan 26

Yep. Just enjoying the vibes.

Reposted by Matt Sponheimer, Kevin J. O’Brien, Davide Consoli , and 2 more Matt Sponheimer, Kevin J. O’Brien, Davide Consoli, Sierdjan Koster, Rakibul Hasan

Aaron Parnas @aaronparnas.bsky.social · Jan 4

Jeff Bezos never wanted this cartoon to become public.

He killed it, and as a result, pulitzer prize editorial cartoonist Ann Telnaes quit.

Make sure everyone sees this cartoon.

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Reposted by Matt Sponheimer

Zach Cofran @dizachster.bsky.social · Jan 2

If you're putting together new Biological Anthropology courses this year, help yourself to my syllabuses so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. They're textbook-free and link to many assignments lawnchairanthropology.com/teaching/

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Matt Sponheimer @msponheimer.bsky.social · Nov 29

www.salon.com/2024/11/29/c...

Reposted by Matt Sponheimer