Joe Keating
@evopalaeo.bsky.social
Palaeontologist who likes phylogeny, morphology and early vertebrates. Lecturer @bristolbiosci.bsky.social; Education Officer @thepalass.bsky.social; Developer of treesurgeon https://www.evopalaeo.com/
Reposted by Joe Keating
Sponges are notoriously difficult to understand in evolutionary biology terms. I think this paper is a big step forward : www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Independent origins of spicules reconcile paleontological and molecular evidence of sponge evolutionary history
Sponges have a cryptic Ediacaran history because ancestral sponges were soft-bodied and had low fossilization potential.
www.science.org
January 8, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Sponges are notoriously difficult to understand in evolutionary biology terms. I think this paper is a big step forward : www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Early sponges lacked [mineralised] skeletons.
New paper led by M. Eleonora Rossi. Great to have contributed alongside colleagues from @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social , @nhm-london.bsky.social and @mncn-csic.bsky.social.
Read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
New paper led by M. Eleonora Rossi. Great to have contributed alongside colleagues from @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social , @nhm-london.bsky.social and @mncn-csic.bsky.social.
Read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
January 7, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Early sponges lacked [mineralised] skeletons.
New paper led by M. Eleonora Rossi. Great to have contributed alongside colleagues from @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social , @nhm-london.bsky.social and @mncn-csic.bsky.social.
Read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
New paper led by M. Eleonora Rossi. Great to have contributed alongside colleagues from @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social , @nhm-london.bsky.social and @mncn-csic.bsky.social.
Read it here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reposted by Joe Keating
Earliest Cenozoic ammonoids:
Machalski, M., Olszewska-Nejbert, D., Landman, N.H. et al. Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark. Sci Rep 15, 45802 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Machalski, M., Olszewska-Nejbert, D., Landman, N.H. et al. Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark. Sci Rep 15, 45802 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark - Scientific Reports
We provide a reassessment of the hypothesis of ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene (Maastrichtian–Danian) boundary, based on new data from the lower Danian Cerithium Limestone Member at ...
doi.org
January 1, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Earliest Cenozoic ammonoids:
Machalski, M., Olszewska-Nejbert, D., Landman, N.H. et al. Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark. Sci Rep 15, 45802 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Machalski, M., Olszewska-Nejbert, D., Landman, N.H. et al. Ammonite survival across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark. Sci Rep 15, 45802 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
A bizzare christmas display of some total-group birds.
December 22, 2025 at 10:08 AM
A bizzare christmas display of some total-group birds.
Excited to be at the @thepalass.bsky.social Annual Meeting in Portsmouth! I’m speaking tomorrow in Session 1 (10:15) on “Big Birds, Big Data: Palaeognath Phylogeny Tested Using Morphology, DNA & Ancient Collagen.” Coauthored with Ed Moody, Andrew Kitchener & Mike Buckley.
two ostriches are standing in a field with an animal planet logo in the corner
ALT: two ostriches are standing in a field with an animal planet logo in the corner
media.tenor.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Excited to be at the @thepalass.bsky.social Annual Meeting in Portsmouth! I’m speaking tomorrow in Session 1 (10:15) on “Big Birds, Big Data: Palaeognath Phylogeny Tested Using Morphology, DNA & Ancient Collagen.” Coauthored with Ed Moody, Andrew Kitchener & Mike Buckley.
OPal is recruiting! We are looking for a Managing Editor and 2* Steering Committee members. Apply if you want to shape the future of open-access palaeo. Please share widely!
Open Palaeontology is looking for Managing Editors and Steering Committee members! Please consider joining us on our mission to promote community open-access publishing in palaeontology.
November 21, 2025 at 4:06 PM
OPal is recruiting! We are looking for a Managing Editor and 2* Steering Committee members. Apply if you want to shape the future of open-access palaeo. Please share widely!
Please consider supporting this petition to save the Centre for Palaeobiology and Biosphere Evolution at the University of Leicester. Leicester palaeontologists have made huge contributions to the field, including identifying the first Ediacaran fossils and the conodont animal!
tinyurl.com/t3zesk88
tinyurl.com/t3zesk88
Share petition · Save Geology at the University of Leicester · Change.org
www.change.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Please consider supporting this petition to save the Centre for Palaeobiology and Biosphere Evolution at the University of Leicester. Leicester palaeontologists have made huge contributions to the field, including identifying the first Ediacaran fossils and the conodont animal!
tinyurl.com/t3zesk88
tinyurl.com/t3zesk88
Reposted by Joe Keating
Thread on today's paper, which is 3/4 from my dissertation on the evolution of fishes and using morphological data for phylogenetic analyses. Come with me, on a journey on phylogenetics and fishes.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
An ontological morphological phylogenetic framework for living and extinct ray‐finned fishes (Actinopterygii)
The ray-finned fishes include one out of every two species of living vertebrates on Earth and have an abundant fossil record stretching 380 million years into the past. The division of systematic kno...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Thread on today's paper, which is 3/4 from my dissertation on the evolution of fishes and using morphological data for phylogenetic analyses. Come with me, on a journey on phylogenetics and fishes.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Joe Keating
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
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The official home of the Python Programming Language
www.python.org
October 27, 2025 at 2:47 PM
TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-...
🧵
🧵
Found the end of the rainbow. Its on the M5 just north of Exeter.
October 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Found the end of the rainbow. Its on the M5 just north of Exeter.
PalAss abstract accepted!
Here's a cheeky spoiler...
Here's a cheeky spoiler...
October 20, 2025 at 3:30 PM
PalAss abstract accepted!
Here's a cheeky spoiler...
Here's a cheeky spoiler...
Reposted by Joe Keating
Living sharks have innumerable tiny scales, but their earliest relatives somehow grew larger bony plates. In our new Biology Letters @royalsocietypublishing.org, we work try and out how, arguing they grew by fusing and remodelling spines and scales.
doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
September 25, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Living sharks have innumerable tiny scales, but their earliest relatives somehow grew larger bony plates. In our new Biology Letters @royalsocietypublishing.org, we work try and out how, arguing they grew by fusing and remodelling spines and scales.
doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
Incredibly proud and also very emotional to see this new paper published in @systbiol.bsky.social. The study was lead by Pierre Cockx, who sadly passed away in July.
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
September 16, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Incredibly proud and also very emotional to see this new paper published in @systbiol.bsky.social. The study was lead by Pierre Cockx, who sadly passed away in July.
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Decay experiments on shrimps provide insight into the fossilisation potential of arthropod appendages
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐 Out now in @openpalaeo.bsky.social
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐 Out now in @openpalaeo.bsky.social
www.openpalaeo.org
September 5, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Decay experiments on shrimps provide insight into the fossilisation potential of arthropod appendages
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐 Out now in @openpalaeo.bsky.social
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐 Out now in @openpalaeo.bsky.social
Reposted by Joe Keating
A phylogeny for Heterostraci (stem-gnathostomes) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @datadryad @wileyearthspace @fossilrob.bsky.social @evopalaeo.bsky.social
A phylogeny for Heterostraci (stem‐gnathostomes)
The armoured jawless fishes (‘ostracoderms’) are major and widespread components of middle Palaeozoic ecosystems. As successive branches on the gnathostome stem lineage, they represent the early sequ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 29, 2025 at 11:12 AM
A phylogeny for Heterostraci (stem-gnathostomes) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @datadryad @wileyearthspace @fossilrob.bsky.social @evopalaeo.bsky.social
A phylogeny for Heterostraci
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Very pleased to see this out, and huge thanks to Emma Randle for leading the study and @fossilrob.bsky.social for pushing it through the finish line.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Very pleased to see this out, and huge thanks to Emma Randle for leading the study and @fossilrob.bsky.social for pushing it through the finish line.
A phylogeny for Heterostraci (stem‐gnathostomes)
The armoured jawless fishes (‘ostracoderms’) are major and widespread components of middle Palaeozoic ecosystems. As successive branches on the gnathostome stem lineage, they represent the early sequ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
August 29, 2025 at 7:14 AM
A phylogeny for Heterostraci
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Very pleased to see this out, and huge thanks to Emma Randle for leading the study and @fossilrob.bsky.social for pushing it through the finish line.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Very pleased to see this out, and huge thanks to Emma Randle for leading the study and @fossilrob.bsky.social for pushing it through the finish line.
Come and visit @thepalass.bsky.social at the Lyme Regis fossil festival. See if you can beat the odds and become a fossil!
June 14, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Come and visit @thepalass.bsky.social at the Lyme Regis fossil festival. See if you can beat the odds and become a fossil!
Just added some new functions to treesurgeon
github.com/evo-palaeo/t...
github.com/evo-palaeo/t...
June 10, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Just added some new functions to treesurgeon
github.com/evo-palaeo/t...
github.com/evo-palaeo/t...
[email protected] has published its first research paper!
Publish your research here too! Its totally completely FREE! There are NO publication costs and NO access costs.
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
Publish your research here too! Its totally completely FREE! There are NO publication costs and NO access costs.
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
June 6, 2025 at 5:18 PM
[email protected] has published its first research paper!
Publish your research here too! Its totally completely FREE! There are NO publication costs and NO access costs.
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
Publish your research here too! Its totally completely FREE! There are NO publication costs and NO access costs.
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
Foxy enjoying the evening ☀️in Bristol
May 29, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Foxy enjoying the evening ☀️in Bristol
Reposted by Joe Keating
Super interesting paper outlining the damaging impact of the 'Gollum effect': researchers who restrict access to resources.
Very relevant to palaeo work regarding the gatekeeping of collection material and the harm this causes to science. Worth a read!
www.cell.com/one-earth/fu...
Very relevant to palaeo work regarding the gatekeeping of collection material and the harm this causes to science. Worth a read!
www.cell.com/one-earth/fu...
May 23, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Super interesting paper outlining the damaging impact of the 'Gollum effect': researchers who restrict access to resources.
Very relevant to palaeo work regarding the gatekeeping of collection material and the harm this causes to science. Worth a read!
www.cell.com/one-earth/fu...
Very relevant to palaeo work regarding the gatekeeping of collection material and the harm this causes to science. Worth a read!
www.cell.com/one-earth/fu...
Reposted by Joe Keating
Victory for wild camping at the Supreme Court!
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Wild camping on Dartmoor is legal, supreme court rules
Case came to supreme court after court of appeal determined the term ‘open-air recreation’ included camping
www.theguardian.com
May 21, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Victory for wild camping at the Supreme Court!
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
The verdict is a relief– but Dartmoor remains the *only* place in England & Wales where the public has a right to wild camp
Labour must now pass a new right to roam act to defend & extend the public’s access rights
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Congrats to Yara and team! They reveal that Anatolepis - previously interpreted as the oldest vertebrate with a mineralised skeleton - is not a vertebrate at all!
Paper here: tinyurl.com/59sdw7x9
and a nice write up by @guillaumehouee.bsky.social & Philippe Janvier here: tinyurl.com/2u6haac8
Paper here: tinyurl.com/59sdw7x9
and a nice write up by @guillaumehouee.bsky.social & Philippe Janvier here: tinyurl.com/2u6haac8
The evolutionary origin of sensitive dental structures
Fossil data shed light on a debate about when vertebrate dental tissues arose by assigning an early sensory structure to arthropods rather than to vertebrates.
www.nature.com
May 21, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Congrats to Yara and team! They reveal that Anatolepis - previously interpreted as the oldest vertebrate with a mineralised skeleton - is not a vertebrate at all!
Paper here: tinyurl.com/59sdw7x9
and a nice write up by @guillaumehouee.bsky.social & Philippe Janvier here: tinyurl.com/2u6haac8
Paper here: tinyurl.com/59sdw7x9
and a nice write up by @guillaumehouee.bsky.social & Philippe Janvier here: tinyurl.com/2u6haac8
Reposted by Joe Keating
Any young paleo workers will be hard pressed to find a better opportunity than this.
Come postdoc in Oslo! 3 years. You design the project! Get in touch with me or others at our museum! Deadline 23 june www.jobbnorge.no/en/available... share and repost !
Postdoctoral Fellow: Self-Developed Project (280531) | University of Oslo
Job title: Postdoctoral Fellow: Self-Developed Project (280531), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Monday, June 23, 2025
www.jobbnorge.no
May 21, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Any young paleo workers will be hard pressed to find a better opportunity than this.
Dinosaur on dinosaur action!
May 15, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Dinosaur on dinosaur action!