Z. Jack Tseng
@tsengzj.bsky.social
Paleontologist at the University of California, Berkeley. Interested in Functional Anatomy and Vertebrate Evolution. Self-proclaimed paleomammalogist.
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
The @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social
Annual Meeting #2025SVP was an absolute blast! Great to reconnect with European colleagues this year, and to hang out with EDDy Lab folks again. I presented some of our ongoing work on #teeth #biomechanics. Stay tuned, more toothy madness on the way! 🦷
Annual Meeting #2025SVP was an absolute blast! Great to reconnect with European colleagues this year, and to hang out with EDDy Lab folks again. I presented some of our ongoing work on #teeth #biomechanics. Stay tuned, more toothy madness on the way! 🦷
November 25, 2025 at 7:49 PM
The @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social
Annual Meeting #2025SVP was an absolute blast! Great to reconnect with European colleagues this year, and to hang out with EDDy Lab folks again. I presented some of our ongoing work on #teeth #biomechanics. Stay tuned, more toothy madness on the way! 🦷
Annual Meeting #2025SVP was an absolute blast! Great to reconnect with European colleagues this year, and to hang out with EDDy Lab folks again. I presented some of our ongoing work on #teeth #biomechanics. Stay tuned, more toothy madness on the way! 🦷
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
While the range of physical diversity dogs show is often thought to be the result of intense breeding over the last 200 years, a new Science study suggests domestic dogs began developing their distinctive forms thousands of years before humans started shaping modern breeds. https://scim.ag/4nVRhNq
The emergence and diversification of dog morphology
Dogs exhibit an exceptional range of morphological diversity as a result of their long-term association with humans. Attempts to identify when dog morphological variation began to expand have been con...
scim.ag
November 18, 2025 at 8:11 PM
While the range of physical diversity dogs show is often thought to be the result of intense breeding over the last 200 years, a new Science study suggests domestic dogs began developing their distinctive forms thousands of years before humans started shaping modern breeds. https://scim.ag/4nVRhNq
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
Maybe the explosion of diversity among dogs didn't really start in the Victorian era! "Now, a new analysis of canine skulls spanning the last 50,000 years suggests that even early dogs came in an array of shapes and sizes." #dogs #bioarchaeology #archaeology #anthropology
The Dogs of 8,000 B.C. Were Amazingly Diverse
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Maybe the explosion of diversity among dogs didn't really start in the Victorian era! "Now, a new analysis of canine skulls spanning the last 50,000 years suggests that even early dogs came in an array of shapes and sizes." #dogs #bioarchaeology #archaeology #anthropology
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
Fascinating new study from @arctomet.bsky.social about how differences in parental care (or lack thereof) between Mesozoic dinosaurs and Cenozoic mammals might potentially affect interpretations of species diversity and trophic abundance in ancient communities. 🦖🧪
Bringing up baby: preliminary exploration of the effect of ontogenetic niche partitioning in dinosaurs versus long-term maternal care in mammals in their respective ecosystems
Mesozoic dinosaurs and Cenozoic mammals are often regarded as broadly ecologically equivalent, as they included the majority of medium-to-large-bodied terrestrial vertebrates of their respective eras....
www.italianjournalofgeosciences.it
November 6, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Fascinating new study from @arctomet.bsky.social about how differences in parental care (or lack thereof) between Mesozoic dinosaurs and Cenozoic mammals might potentially affect interpretations of species diversity and trophic abundance in ancient communities. 🦖🧪
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Nature suggests you use their "Manuscript Adviser" bot to get advice before submitting
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
I uploaded the classic Watson & Crick paper about DNA structure, and the Adviser had this to say about one of the greatest paper endings of the century:
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
New PhD preprint! We studied the effects of habitat and multi-stage life cycles on salamander limb bones! Aquatic and terrestrial spp. have divergent morphs + semi-aquatic and multi-phasic spp. do their own thing + decoupled external and internal shape promote diversity. 🧪🦎
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
October 22, 2025 at 9:01 PM
New PhD preprint! We studied the effects of habitat and multi-stage life cycles on salamander limb bones! Aquatic and terrestrial spp. have divergent morphs + semi-aquatic and multi-phasic spp. do their own thing + decoupled external and internal shape promote diversity. 🧪🦎
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
New Collection Study Grants for students and postdocs to come visit the @burkemuseum.bsky.social! Applications due 12/15/25. www.burkemuseum.org/collections-...
Collections Study Grants
Collections study grants provide financial assistance for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers to study the collections of the University of Washington Burke Museum (UWBM).
www.burkemuseum.org
October 22, 2025 at 11:21 PM
New Collection Study Grants for students and postdocs to come visit the @burkemuseum.bsky.social! Applications due 12/15/25. www.burkemuseum.org/collections-...
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
Interested in preregistration and registered reports? Historical Biology supports both! My new editorial on these developments:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Support for preregistration and registered reports at Historical Biology
In this editorial, I will update the readership on the progress of the new ‘Registered Report’ article type, our support for preregistration, and how this furthers our goal of becoming an Open and ...
www.tandfonline.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Interested in preregistration and registered reports? Historical Biology supports both! My new editorial on these developments:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
We’d also like to highlight research conducted with fossils from this locality by international scholars who are utilizing new technology like 3D scanning which allows us to work with fossils in new ways and have a digital record that increases accessibility to these fossils.
October 16, 2025 at 1:12 AM
We’d also like to highlight research conducted with fossils from this locality by international scholars who are utilizing new technology like 3D scanning which allows us to work with fossils in new ways and have a digital record that increases accessibility to these fossils.
Celebrating #NationalFossilDay with a new paper describing specimens of the most whimsical of weasel relatives, leptarctine ("slender bear") mustelids, from the collections of @ucmpberkeley.bsky.social.
Their teeth are so much fun to look at! 🦷
doi.org/10.5070/P9.4...
(Cover image by P. Holroyd)
Their teeth are so much fun to look at! 🦷
doi.org/10.5070/P9.4...
(Cover image by P. Holroyd)
October 15, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Celebrating #NationalFossilDay with a new paper describing specimens of the most whimsical of weasel relatives, leptarctine ("slender bear") mustelids, from the collections of @ucmpberkeley.bsky.social.
Their teeth are so much fun to look at! 🦷
doi.org/10.5070/P9.4...
(Cover image by P. Holroyd)
Their teeth are so much fun to look at! 🦷
doi.org/10.5070/P9.4...
(Cover image by P. Holroyd)
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
SVP members, please check your email for a copy of the message below that includes the link to access to the October 15 town hall hosted by SVP President @stuartsumida.bsky.social. We look forward to seeing you there!
October 15, 2025 at 2:33 AM
SVP members, please check your email for a copy of the message below that includes the link to access to the October 15 town hall hosted by SVP President @stuartsumida.bsky.social. We look forward to seeing you there!
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
Hi Bluesky, I need your help. Please share broadly:
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
Edital nº 161/2025-Progep - Professor Visitante Estrangeiro | Progep
progep.ufes.br
October 14, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Hi Bluesky, I need your help. Please share broadly:
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
We have an EXCELLENT job opening. We are looking for a non-Brazilian visiting scholar who specializes in Genomics applied to animal evolution, biogeography, and/or biodiversity. This is a one-year contract that can be extended for up to 4 years.
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
Probably more than you ever wanted to know about #bat turbinals, in our most recent paper – check it out!
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Functional microanatomy of nasal turbinals in bats
Iodine-enhanced micro-CT (diceCT) scanning allows visualization of whole bat heads (a, showing Anoura geoffroyi) as well as internal structures such as nasal turbinals, including their mucosal coveri...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 8, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Probably more than you ever wanted to know about #bat turbinals, in our most recent paper – check it out!
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
We're excited to share a new Special Issue on sabretooth taxa, broadly defined. From defining what makes a sabertooth/tusk to exploring fossil taxa and saber function.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
October 8, 2025 at 3:36 PM
We're excited to share a new Special Issue on sabretooth taxa, broadly defined. From defining what makes a sabertooth/tusk to exploring fossil taxa and saber function.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
Excavated from the Pisces Point locality of Scollard Formation in Alberta, Canada, ~67 million years old, Acronichthys maccognoi, newly reported in @science.org, was recovered from ancient water body that flipped seasonally between fast-flowing channels and quiet, still pools.
October 3, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Excavated from the Pisces Point locality of Scollard Formation in Alberta, Canada, ~67 million years old, Acronichthys maccognoi, newly reported in @science.org, was recovered from ancient water body that flipped seasonally between fast-flowing channels and quiet, still pools.
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
October 2, 2025 at 3:16 PM
🚨We're hiring! The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is seeking a tenure-track split position as Assistant Curator of Ichthyology and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences. Please retweet & share with colleagues! 🐟🐠🧪
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
Apply here: apply.interfolio.com/174674
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🐟
New in @science.org, meet Acronichthys maccagnoi, a new species from Late Creatacous Canada that changes what we know about the origins and evolution of one of the most successful fish groups on Earth.
October 2, 2025 at 6:19 PM
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🐟
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
The Univ. of Nebraska’s Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences has established a webpage soliciting the community’s help in saving their program. Their hearing in front of campus admin is next Friday, Oct 10th. Please consider sharing why they’re essential!
eas.unl.edu/save-earth-a...
eas.unl.edu/save-earth-a...
Save Earth and Atmospheric Sciences! | Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences | Nebraska
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is proposing to close the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences (EAS) as part of its budget reduction plan. We strongly oppose this plan. EAS conducts research ...
eas.unl.edu
September 30, 2025 at 5:06 AM
The Univ. of Nebraska’s Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences has established a webpage soliciting the community’s help in saving their program. Their hearing in front of campus admin is next Friday, Oct 10th. Please consider sharing why they’re essential!
eas.unl.edu/save-earth-a...
eas.unl.edu/save-earth-a...
New preprint: Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction. #Paleontology #Mammals #Extinction
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
TLDR: S. China mammals diversified dentally, tracked environment, then leveled up bite mechanics all within the first 10 m.y. post K-Pg.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
TLDR: S. China mammals diversified dentally, tracked environment, then leveled up bite mechanics all within the first 10 m.y. post K-Pg.
Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction
The first 10 million years (Myr) following the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction marked a period of global greenhouse conditions and dramatic rise of placental mammals. Because ~80% of known...
www.biorxiv.org
September 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
New preprint: Brawn before bite in endemic Asian mammals after the end-Cretaceous extinction. #Paleontology #Mammals #Extinction
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
TLDR: S. China mammals diversified dentally, tracked environment, then leveled up bite mechanics all within the first 10 m.y. post K-Pg.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
TLDR: S. China mammals diversified dentally, tracked environment, then leveled up bite mechanics all within the first 10 m.y. post K-Pg.
Studying wrist and ankle bones for fossil id and found it amusing how carpals have wired names like magnum and unciform but tarsals have tired names like cuneiform 1, 2, 3. Like they ran out of cool names for bones by the time they got to feet 😆
September 19, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Studying wrist and ankle bones for fossil id and found it amusing how carpals have wired names like magnum and unciform but tarsals have tired names like cuneiform 1, 2, 3. Like they ran out of cool names for bones by the time they got to feet 😆
Two new papers on fossil carnivorans. Old collections continue to offer new insights! @ucmpberkeley.bsky.social & IVPP
Late Miocene immigrant carnivorans in California...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Eco-functional divergence of Crocuta and Pachycrocuta...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Late Miocene immigrant carnivorans in California...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Eco-functional divergence of Crocuta and Pachycrocuta...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Late Miocene immigrant carnivorans in California, USA highlight a coastal corridor for intercontinental dispersals
www.vertpala.ac.cn
September 15, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Two new papers on fossil carnivorans. Old collections continue to offer new insights! @ucmpberkeley.bsky.social & IVPP
Late Miocene immigrant carnivorans in California...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Eco-functional divergence of Crocuta and Pachycrocuta...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Late Miocene immigrant carnivorans in California...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Eco-functional divergence of Crocuta and Pachycrocuta...
www.vertpala.ac.cn/EN/10.19615/...
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
New paper out today lead by @tsengzj.bsky.social where we test the 150-year-old hypothesis that the unique jaw torus in Nimravus is an adaptation to resist bite forces using FEA🦁🔪our results highlight some functional advantage of the torus, which are amplified at larger gape doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
August 27, 2025 at 6:28 AM
New paper out today lead by @tsengzj.bsky.social where we test the 150-year-old hypothesis that the unique jaw torus in Nimravus is an adaptation to resist bite forces using FEA🦁🔪our results highlight some functional advantage of the torus, which are amplified at larger gape doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
The Department of Integrative Biology @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social is hiring an Assistant Teaching Professor of Human Anatomy! Open until September 19. Please share with anatomy/paleo/func-morph colleagues and friends. Happy to answer any questions. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05053
Assistant Teaching Professor - Human Anatomy- Department of Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
August 14, 2025 at 8:13 PM
The Department of Integrative Biology @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social is hiring an Assistant Teaching Professor of Human Anatomy! Open until September 19. Please share with anatomy/paleo/func-morph colleagues and friends. Happy to answer any questions. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05053
Reposted by Z. Jack Tseng
New preprint with @tsengzj.bsky.social & @hlusko.bsky.social! Here, we developed the most comprehensive phenomic dataset of extant and extinct pan-carnivorans to test how Cenozoic climatic change influenced the evolution of the cranial, appendicular, & axial skeleton
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Long-fuse evolution of carnivoran skeletal phenomes through the Cenozoic
Climatic change is hypothesized to promote phenotypic diversification. While neontological analyses are often used to test this hypothesis, extant data only captures the time-averaged signal of surviv...
www.biorxiv.org
July 18, 2025 at 2:52 PM
New preprint with @tsengzj.bsky.social & @hlusko.bsky.social! Here, we developed the most comprehensive phenomic dataset of extant and extinct pan-carnivorans to test how Cenozoic climatic change influenced the evolution of the cranial, appendicular, & axial skeleton
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...