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robertborland.bsky.social
/ɹɑb/ 𓅃
@robertborland.bsky.social
•𐑮𐑭𐑚
he/him
𓃰
Reposted by /ɹɑb/ 𓅃
Did you know. That the meme-explosion that was the wooden model of Sacabambaspis (an Ordovician jawless fish) held at a Museum in Helsinki, was created by a pioneering Estonian fish paleontologist and palaeoartist, Elga Mark-Kurik. 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 4:08 AM
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The name Bakiribu waridza derives from Kariri words: bakiribú (“comb”) and waridzá (“mouth”), referring to the animal’s comb-like dentition. The name also honors the Indigenous peoples native to the Araripe region, Brazil.
🎨 by @lacerdajulio.bsky.social
November 10, 2025 at 10:34 AM
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Happy There Is A Circulatory System Walking Through The Kitchen Day to all who celebrate.
November 10, 2025 at 10:54 AM
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Our paper on tinamou evolution is finally out in @systbiol.bsky.social. academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
November 9, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Reposted by /ɹɑb/ 𓅃
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.

Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."

Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:39 PM
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Reposted by /ɹɑb/ 𓅃
Her sister wrote my favorite essay about her. She points out that RF would have been famous even if she'd never looked at DNA

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Remembering my sister Rosalind Franklin
Rosalind Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1958 aged 37 years. Sympathy and feminism have combined to give us her familiar image as a downtrodden woman scientist, brilliant but neglected, a heroine t...
www.thelancet.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:20 PM
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happy anniversary of Stupid Lake getting its name [citation needed]
November 8, 2025 at 1:13 AM
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Phylogeny of tinamous based on whole-genomes and fossils: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... 🪶🧪 (📷Musher et al.)
November 7, 2025 at 2:22 PM
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Flying Squirrel Loves It Every Time
November 5, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by /ɹɑb/ 𓅃
JUST PUBLISHED!!!! A major azhdarchoid phylogeny paper coauthored with @skyemcdavid.com - the fruit of years of work - is now out in @journalsystpal.bsky.social! New clades, reconstruction of size evolution, and more. Full thread to come soon!

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Enter the dragons: the phylogeny of Azhdarchoidea (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) and the evolution of giant size in pterosaurs
Azhdarchidae is a clade of pterosaurs which includes the largest-ever flying animals. The evolutionary history of this clade and its closest relatives remains incompletely understood and highly deb...
www.tandfonline.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
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One of the largest temmnospondyls ever to exist: the gigantic Koolasuchus was also the last non-lissamphibian temnospondyl to exist. It survived into the Early Cretaceous of Australia when all other stereospondyls were long gone

#temnospondyls #paleoart
November 3, 2025 at 4:49 PM
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Duane Roberts, Inventor of the Frozen Burrito, Dead at 88

https://www.diningandcooking.com/2363023/duane-roberts-inventor-of-the-frozen-burrito-dead-at-88/

Duane Roberts Billionaire Who Invented Frozen Burrito Dead at 88 Published November 2, 2025 9:51 AM PST Duane Roberts — the billionaire …
Duane Roberts, Inventor of the Frozen Burrito, Dead at 88 - Dining and Cooking
Duane Roberts -- the billionaire businessman credited with inventing the frozen burrito -- has died ... TMZ has learned.
www.diningandcooking.com
November 2, 2025 at 8:15 PM
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This #FossilFriday I’m excitedly sharing a new #Ediacaran #Charnia brasieri named for my PhD Supervisor & friend Martin Brasier who died 2014. I’ve wanted to name something for him ever since but I wanted it to be something special. When I saw the first one from Inner Meadow I knew it was the 1 🧵
October 31, 2025 at 1:34 AM
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Sorry spider haters, but this was just the most beautiful beast & I knew (nearly everyone) would need to see it 😉. It sat frozen, up on its toes, on the edge of Leeman (WA) salt lake while I took pics. Unfortunately it was too big (body length 1.4cm) for my lens. #spider #Lycosidae #Tetralycosa
October 30, 2025 at 2:30 AM
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regular reminder that when i say something is my *favorite* that is distinct from saying it is *the best*.
October 28, 2025 at 11:29 PM
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i’m just so mad because if we absolutely had to elect an unqualified media personality to be president we should have gone with either of the guys from CAR TALK
October 26, 2025 at 2:28 AM
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How does life evolve to adapt to modern cities?

Out now in Science, my PhD work with @lindymcbr.bsky.social uncovers the ancient origin of the “London Underground mosquito” – one of the most iconic examples of urban adaptation.

🧵(1/n)
@science.org
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady4515
Ancient origin of an urban underground mosquito
Understanding how life is adapting to urban environments represents an important challenge in evolutionary biology. In this work, we investigate a widely cited example of urban adaptation, Culex pipie...
www.science.org
October 25, 2025 at 4:46 AM
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New paper today in @science.org: we date the Naashoibito Member (New Mexico) to 66.4–66.0 Ma, coeval with the Hell Creek, with important remarks on pre-extinction dinosaur diversity & regionalisation in North America 🦖🦕☄1/
Art: @nataliajagielska.bsky.social
🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 23, 2025 at 6:11 PM
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Had the pleasure of working on the press release image for this groundbreaking research!
October 23, 2025 at 7:39 PM
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Sound UP! When a gang of young male Superb Lyrebirds surround you, often within less than a metre. I zoomed back to 80mm but often had to lean back to get this footage. I've left it largely unedited to capture the mayhem of the moment. #birds #birding #nature #lyrebirds
October 24, 2025 at 7:09 AM
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Day 24 #Invertober2025 - New Zealand mussel (Perna canaliculus) 🦪

#SciArt #invertebrates
October 24, 2025 at 8:17 AM
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Spiny friends!

Stegosaurs bore a fantastical variety of bony plates, spines and osteoderms, probably a mix between ornamental, defensive and offensive.
October 24, 2025 at 8:30 AM
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A long-held myth about a mosquito evolving in the London Underground has been debunked! 🦟

The insect gained notoriety in the Second World War, when it fed on Londoners seeking shelter in the rail tunnels during the Blitz.

Discover its true origin story.👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
Origins of the London Underground mosquito revealed | Natural History Museum
New research reveals that these insects likely evolved in the Mediterranean basin more than 1,000 years ago.
www.nhm.ac.uk
October 24, 2025 at 9:49 AM
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1/2) Is that time of year again #Sundayfishsketch friends! This weekend marks the end of our 9th year of sketches! As we move into year 10, our annual #Fishytheme is to draw on Opah (the first fish sketch), to appreciate improvements made while practicing throughout the year. #sciart 🦑
October 24, 2025 at 10:48 AM