Dr Ross Barnett
@deepfrieddna.bsky.social
Invernessian palaeogeneticist and stay-at-home dad. Knows a thing or two about the aDNA of extinct lions, sabretooths and megafauna. Author of The Missing Lynx.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Missing-Lynx-Future-Britains-Mammals/dp/1472957350
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Missing-Lynx-Future-Britains-Mammals/dp/1472957350
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
Scratches and bite marks tell us that cat-like carnivores called nimravids fought each other often. And when they did, they went for the face. A favorite from my Smithsonian back catalog. 🧪
The Dakota Badlands Used to Host Sabertoothed Pseudo-Cat Battles
The region was once home to a plethora of catlike creatures called nimravids, and fossils show they were an especially fractious breed
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:11 PM
Scratches and bite marks tell us that cat-like carnivores called nimravids fought each other often. And when they did, they went for the face. A favorite from my Smithsonian back catalog. 🧪
Metazooa
Become an evolutionary detective to find the Mystery Animal!
metazooa.com
January 30, 2026 at 8:55 AM
They've got top men working on it. Top. Men. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Treasures found on HS2 route stored in secret warehouse
Archaeological finds from the planned HS2 train line have been shown exclusively to the BBC.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 30, 2026 at 8:36 AM
They've got top men working on it. Top. Men. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
BREAKING: A Gamekeeper has pleaded guilty in England’s first-ever Hen Harrier persecution case.
Covert video and audio gathered lawfully by the RSPB Investigations team has helped expose the deliberate targeting of a Hen Harrier, leading to a landmark guilty plea:
www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈
Covert video and audio gathered lawfully by the RSPB Investigations team has helped expose the deliberate targeting of a Hen Harrier, leading to a landmark guilty plea:
www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈
January 29, 2026 at 5:11 PM
BREAKING: A Gamekeeper has pleaded guilty in England’s first-ever Hen Harrier persecution case.
Covert video and audio gathered lawfully by the RSPB Investigations team has helped expose the deliberate targeting of a Hen Harrier, leading to a landmark guilty plea:
www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈
Covert video and audio gathered lawfully by the RSPB Investigations team has helped expose the deliberate targeting of a Hen Harrier, leading to a landmark guilty plea:
www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happen... 👈
Started uni in '98, took out loans from '99-'01, debt still increasing. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
The lifelong burden of student loans that entrench inequality | Letters
Letters: Readers respond to an article on people getting trapped by debt they can never seem to repay
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Started uni in '98, took out loans from '99-'01, debt still increasing. www.theguardian.com/money/2026/j...
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
‘Why would anybody write a book about the creatures that people don’t like? That’d never sell.
Well, reader, I did just that…’
Beauty of the Beasts comes out next month! 🥳
Find out more and pre-order here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beauty-of...
🦈 🐊 🐍 🕷️ 🦟 🐛 🐝 🐀 🪳
@chiffchat.bsky.social
Well, reader, I did just that…’
Beauty of the Beasts comes out next month! 🥳
Find out more and pre-order here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beauty-of...
🦈 🐊 🐍 🕷️ 🦟 🐛 🐝 🐀 🪳
@chiffchat.bsky.social
January 27, 2026 at 12:10 PM
‘Why would anybody write a book about the creatures that people don’t like? That’d never sell.
Well, reader, I did just that…’
Beauty of the Beasts comes out next month! 🥳
Find out more and pre-order here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beauty-of...
🦈 🐊 🐍 🕷️ 🦟 🐛 🐝 🐀 🪳
@chiffchat.bsky.social
Well, reader, I did just that…’
Beauty of the Beasts comes out next month! 🥳
Find out more and pre-order here: www.bloomsbury.com/uk/beauty-of...
🦈 🐊 🐍 🕷️ 🦟 🐛 🐝 🐀 🪳
@chiffchat.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
AI Skills Boost - AI Skills Hub
aiskillshub.org.uk
January 28, 2026 at 12:07 PM
I think I might take one of these "under 20 minutes" AI skills courses the UK Govt. seems very keen on everyone doing and live-post it here... Maybe we can all learn something together! The press release sends me to aiskillshub.org.uk/aiskillsboost/ - let's go and see!
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
Panini's gorgeous PREHISTORIC ANIMALS sticker collection (1977) was a must for every dinosaur-obsessed kid. A real education, it featured beautiful artwork, and the Flesh-Eating Dinosaurs page didn't hold back!
January 9, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Panini's gorgeous PREHISTORIC ANIMALS sticker collection (1977) was a must for every dinosaur-obsessed kid. A real education, it featured beautiful artwork, and the Flesh-Eating Dinosaurs page didn't hold back!
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
We have a job at @kingshistory.bsky.social!
Open-ended lecturing post in Early Medieval History, with focuses on Britain and/or Europe: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQH751/l...
Open-ended lecturing post in Early Medieval History, with focuses on Britain and/or Europe: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQH751/l...
Lecturer in Early Medieval History at King's College London
An opportunity for an academic position as a Lecturer in Early Medieval History is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job openings.
www.jobs.ac.uk
January 28, 2026 at 5:06 PM
We have a job at @kingshistory.bsky.social!
Open-ended lecturing post in Early Medieval History, with focuses on Britain and/or Europe: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQH751/l...
Open-ended lecturing post in Early Medieval History, with focuses on Britain and/or Europe: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQH751/l...
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
We are looking for an enthusiast and motivated postdoc to join the Paleogenomics and Evolutionary Biology group at @liigh-unam.bsky.social, to lead a project working with human pre-hispanic samples. Interested candidates send a CV and letter of intent to [email protected]. Please #RT
January 27, 2026 at 10:55 PM
We are looking for an enthusiast and motivated postdoc to join the Paleogenomics and Evolutionary Biology group at @liigh-unam.bsky.social, to lead a project working with human pre-hispanic samples. Interested candidates send a CV and letter of intent to [email protected]. Please #RT
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
Long thought to have walked bipedally, like us, Australia’s extinct giant kangaroos have features that indicate they could also have bounced
Ancient giant kangaroos could have hopped despite their huge size
Long thought to have walked bipedally, like us, Australia’s extinct giant kangaroos have features that indicate they could also have bounced
www.newscientist.com
January 28, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Long thought to have walked bipedally, like us, Australia’s extinct giant kangaroos have features that indicate they could also have bounced
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
We want to see your mice!
Mouse impression on a Roman roof tile 👇
Mouse impression on a Roman roof tile 👇
January 28, 2026 at 11:25 AM
We want to see your mice!
Mouse impression on a Roman roof tile 👇
Mouse impression on a Roman roof tile 👇
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
January 27, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
Well, as it’s 28 January, it must be time to mark the 365th anniversary of that most rational example of that most sensible of judicial measures, capital punishment. Yes, this was the day Oliver Cromwell’s corpse was exhumed so he could be hanged and beheaded for regicide 🧵
January 28, 2026 at 9:35 AM
Well, as it’s 28 January, it must be time to mark the 365th anniversary of that most rational example of that most sensible of judicial measures, capital punishment. Yes, this was the day Oliver Cromwell’s corpse was exhumed so he could be hanged and beheaded for regicide 🧵
Metazooa
Become an evolutionary detective to find the Mystery Animal!
metazooa.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:03 AM
Snow leopard attacks on humans are so vanishingly rare that I've only heard of one previous to this, and it was written up and published in the scientific literature. edition.cnn.com/2026/01/27/c...
Snow leopard attacks skier in China’s Xinjiang region | CNN
A tourist was attacked by a rare snow leopard in northwest China on Friday after trying to get closer for a photo, according to authorities and state media.
edition.cnn.com
January 27, 2026 at 11:40 PM
Snow leopard attacks on humans are so vanishingly rare that I've only heard of one previous to this, and it was written up and published in the scientific literature. edition.cnn.com/2026/01/27/c...
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
The remains of a teenage boy who lived around 27,000 years ago suggest he was attacked by a cave bear—some of the first direct evidence of a predator attacking an ancient human
A foraging teenager was mauled by a bear 27,000 years ago, skeleton shows
The remains of a teenage boy who lived around 27,000 years ago suggest he was attacked by a cave bear—some of the first direct evidence of a predator attacking an ancient human
www.scientificamerican.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:16 PM
The remains of a teenage boy who lived around 27,000 years ago suggest he was attacked by a cave bear—some of the first direct evidence of a predator attacking an ancient human
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
SMBE2026 Symposium L01 | Insights into the past through the lens of palaeoproteomics
📨 Abstract submission
smbe2026.org/abstracts
📋 Programme details
smbe2026.org/programme
#SMBE2026
📨 Abstract submission
smbe2026.org/abstracts
📋 Programme details
smbe2026.org/programme
#SMBE2026
January 8, 2026 at 8:24 AM
I've known about this for a wee while but great to see it finally out! [Open Access] www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
The Japanese Archipelago sheltered cave lions, not tigers, during the Late Pleistocene | PNAS
Lions and tigers, as dominant apex predators, likely became competitors when lions
expanded from Africa into Eurasia approximately one million year...
www.pnas.org
January 27, 2026 at 7:38 PM
I've known about this for a wee while but great to see it finally out! [Open Access] www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
One of my new procrastination pastimes is timelapsing ecological restoration/wilding projects on agri-reversal land.
The @nationaltrust.org.uk riverlands restoration at the Holnicote Estate, Somerset (1/4)
The @nationaltrust.org.uk riverlands restoration at the Holnicote Estate, Somerset (1/4)
January 27, 2026 at 5:26 PM
One of my new procrastination pastimes is timelapsing ecological restoration/wilding projects on agri-reversal land.
The @nationaltrust.org.uk riverlands restoration at the Holnicote Estate, Somerset (1/4)
The @nationaltrust.org.uk riverlands restoration at the Holnicote Estate, Somerset (1/4)
Emily on the Great Pottery Throwdown this year is married to my good friend Sam. As well as being an incredible ceramicist, and an expert mycologist, she very kindly told me that some of the inspo for this beautiful work was my book 😍. www.facebook.com/ScotlandTBP/...
SCOTLAND: The Big Picture
Congratulations to Emily Hesling Ceramics on her beautiful lynx raku sculpture featured on tonight's episode of #GreatPotteryThrowdown.
People connect with the topic of lynx reintroduction in many...
www.facebook.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Emily on the Great Pottery Throwdown this year is married to my good friend Sam. As well as being an incredible ceramicist, and an expert mycologist, she very kindly told me that some of the inspo for this beautiful work was my book 😍. www.facebook.com/ScotlandTBP/...
Reposted by Dr Ross Barnett
It was such a privilege to get to work on this amazing material from an incredible site and team - now the earliest handheld wooden tools in the archaeological record, taking evidence back to 430,000 years! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Evidence for the earliest hominin use of wooden handheld tools found at Marathousa 1 (Greece) | PNAS
The Middle Pleistocene (MP; ca. 774 to 129 ka) marks a critical period of human evolution,
characterized by increasing behavioral complexity and th...
www.pnas.org
January 27, 2026 at 11:01 AM
It was such a privilege to get to work on this amazing material from an incredible site and team - now the earliest handheld wooden tools in the archaeological record, taking evidence back to 430,000 years! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Metazooa
Become an evolutionary detective to find the Mystery Animal!
metazooa.com
January 27, 2026 at 9:22 AM