Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 8h

Had the amazing privilege earlier in the year to watch a lithographic limestone plate be made by one last plate makers in Germany. Each plate is cut and then hammered by hand into shape - and after having a go it's very skilled work. Currently they have no apprentices, so a truly dying art.

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

MBA Library @nmbluk.bsky.social · 2d

From our rare books collection we have this illustration of Vampyroteuthis infernalis, also known as the vampire squid from hell. In an order of its own, we don't really think the vampiric moniker is fair either as they actually feed on detritus and not blood #EYAMonsters

A colour illustration of Vampyroteuthis infernalis. The main body is painted black, with eyes painted to look bioluminescent

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 2d

It's Kürbiszeit (pumpkin time) here in Bavaria! Bumper crops this year from the local farms, so every type of pumpkin dish is on the menu 🎃

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Stephanie Drumheller @uglyfossils.bsky.social · 7d

Happy #Croctober to all who celebrate.

A skeletonized American alligator decomposing in a wood framed box

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Kenneth De Baets @djbirddanerd.bsky.social · 7d

#Marine #origins and #freshwater #radiations of the otophysan fishes: dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.adr4494

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Meg Mindlin @invertebabe.bsky.social · 6d

I’m googly eyed for the googly-eyed squid (Teuthowenia pellucida) 😍🧵🧪

Illustration of the googly eyed squid, teuthowenia pellucida. A deep sea squid with a spherical body that is orange and transparent, see-through at the fin on the left hand side. Has two giant eyes with arms shooting straight up from the middle and a siphon underneath. On a starry night background with a blue gradient behind them. Text reads “googly eyed for the googly-eyed squid. Teuthowenia pellucida

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Prof Susie Maidment @tweetisaurus.bsky.social · 9d

AMAZING JOB ALERT!!! Dorset Council are recruiting a World Heritage Officer to support the management of the Jurassic Coast! Would suit an Earth Science graduate with an interest in digital comms and content: deets here: www.jobs.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/vacancies/32...

World Heritage Officer in Dorchester | Dorset Council

View details and apply for this World Heritage Officer vacancy in Dorchester. Join a passionate and collaborative team at the heart of Dorset's environmental and heritage work. As part of the Dor...

www.jobs.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Meg Mindlin @invertebabe.bsky.social · 11d

This one was my arch nemesis for a hot minute. But theyre finally done. Teuthowenia pellucida, the googly-eyed squid. A deep sea cranchiid aka glass squid 🦑 🧪🐙🐡

Illustration if teuthowenia pellucida, the googly-eyed glass squid. A spherical squid. On the right side is two larger eyes with arms and tentacles between them, pointing straight up, and a siphon just below. The left side has a translucent fin. A truly goofy looking squid.

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 12d

Quick scan for you:

No definition of 'woke'

Key finding: "There was no wider correlation between how woke a university was and how it fared on the rankings."

Utter drivel designed to drive culture wars.

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 14d

"Britain's 'wokest' universities named and shamed - and how some of the biggest offenders have plunged in the prestigious rankings..."

Britain's 'wokest' universities named and shamed

Oxford and Cambridge, once crowned the top two in terms of pushing contentiously progressive ideologies on students, came joint-fourth in The Times Good University Guide 2026.

www.dailymail.co.uk

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 13d

Weirdly, I am really up for this.

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Palaeo_Scene @palaeo-scene.bsky.social · 13d

Happy #fossilfriday !

Staffordshire is probably best known for its extensive carboniferous coal measures

This gorgeous specimen in a borehole was found at a depth of 452m.
Lepidodendron aff. ophiurus
Middle Carboniferous, Beech, Staffordshire
Photo taken @potteriesmuseum

#paleobotany #plants

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 13d

When scrolling, my brain couldn't compute the space between the fingers. It made me....uneasy 😂

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 15d

New out of office:

"Contrary to any reports currently circulating I have actually been Raptured and will not be responding to emails.

Thank you for your understanding during this exciting time".

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Omar Rafael Regalado Fernández @mathchaos.bsky.social · 18d

Like Angela Bassett, I did the thing. I am knackered but yesterday morning I heard a group of 10 children screaming with excitement and suddenly everything was worth it.

Poster for the new exhibition "Edmond, the last days of the dinosaurs" (in German). A closeup to an Edmontosaurus, also known as a duck-billed dinosaur, looking at the sky in a dark background.

A large hall with a tyrannosaurus and a triceratops skeleton (fore and back). Two skulls of Triceratops stand next to an open display case below a large skeleton projected on a wall (6 x 3 m).

A miniature of a Tyrannosaurus walking through the forest of swamp cypresses and fig trees.

A herd of a miniature Edmontosaurus (two young ones and two large adults), roaming in a riverbank.

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 21d

My favourite part of German trains is when they cancel them with no warning so that they can pad stats of how many trains are late...

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Vanessa Morales @phonemova.bsky.social · 22d

Shrimps Shrimps 🦐
#gouache

A sketchbook page full of Shrimps in a stylized gouache style

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Crystal Palace Dinos @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social · 23d

🚨 THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨

We’ve just seen this, by creator “Menapian” - a 4,998-piece set of the Great Exhibition (1851) Crystal Palace - complete with a bonus Megalosaurus and Ichthyosaur…

beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...

Screenshot of part of the LEGO Ideas website, showing a side view of a diorama featuring both creatures

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 23d

Really interesting and excellently executed taphonomic study alert!

The authours designed neat insect disarticualtion experiments to better understand preservational patterns of insect found in the Crato Formation, Brazil. 🪰🪳🦟

Very very cool work by Storari et al.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

Taphonomy of aquatic insects from the Crato Formation Lagerstätte (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) under an actualistic look

The Crato Formation (Aptian, Lower Cretaceous) is a fossiliferous deposit of global significance, representing a lacustrine palaeoenvironment which offers insights into aquatic insect taphonomy. Despi...

journals.plos.org

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Joe Keating @evopalaeo.bsky.social · 23d

To donate, please visit: www.royalsaskmuseum.ca/donate/donate-now and indicate the "Pierre Cockx fund" in the notes field above the payment details. Your donations will be managed by the Friends of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, a non-profit group supporting student research.

Donate Now « Royal Saskatchewan Museum

World's largest T. rex lives here. Two locations Regina, Saskatchewan and Eastend, Saskatchewan.

www.royalsaskmuseum.ca

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · 26d

🎵 Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong,
West Bavaria, Solnhofen Plattenkalk,
Take me home, country roads 🎶

A picture of Emma splitting the paper shales of the Solnhofen Plattenkalk looking for fossils.

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 28d

⚠️ We’re excited to announce our invited speakers for the #PalAss Annual Meeting! 🎉
🔗 Registration link ⬇️
palass.org/annual-meeti...

#conference #uk #palaeontology #meeting

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Jeanne Timmons @mostlymammoths.bsky.social · Sep 9

LOVE papers about gut contents!

Vampyromorph coleoid predation by an ichthyosaurian from the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte of Bascharage, #Luxembourg

Valentin Fischer et al

peerj.com/articles/197...

(Seen thanks to @arctomet.bsky.social!)

From paper: Figure 2: Photographs and interpretation of specimen MNHNL TV211.
(A) overview of the specimen. (B) anatomical interpretation of the right lateral portion of the skull. (C) zoom on the fossilised gut content, showing a vampyromorph gladius (red arrow).

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Reposted by Dr Thomas Clements

Dr Dean Burnett @garwboy.bsky.social · Sep 8

"How's the online ad coming?"

"Pretty much done"

"Great. You knew the names of all the relevant dinosaurs?"

"...yeah. Definitely."

"Cool. Just go ahead an launch it then"

An ad for 'cute dinosaur rings', with rings that have dinosaur shapes on them. The stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops are aptly named, while the plesiosaur is labelled 'long neck dragon'.

And yes, I KNOW a plesiosaur isn't a dinosaur, it's a marine reptile. But

A) That's what the ad claims it is, and the joke I made assumes the role of the people responsible for the ad, so it would need to be in character, and

B) Shoehorning that incredibly specific caveat into the supposed conversation would have ruined the whole thing and rendered it meaningless.

So, basically, please don't feel compelled to point this 'error' out to me as if I'm embarrassingly ignorant of palaeontological taxonomy

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · Sep 8

😀

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Dr Thomas Clements @taphonomist.bsky.social · Sep 8

Very excited to announce that I will be joining the staff at @uniofreading.bsky.social in the new year.

Especially looking forward to working alongside Kevin the Ichthyostega and the team at the @colezoology.bsky.social as part of my new role.

Picture of a smiling Ichthyostega called Kevin. He is a chonk.

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