Dr Mark D. Scherz
@markscherz.bsky.social
Curator of Herpetology & Associate Professor of Vertebrate Zoology at Natural History Museum of Denmark • ERC StG: GEMINI • Co-host of SquaMates Podcast and AnatomyInsights on Youtube • He/Him
Head canon that the Silverstein of ‘Plate Tectonics’ is Shel Silverstein of ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ fame, and the whole book is whimsical poems about geology
January 18, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Head canon that the Silverstein of ‘Plate Tectonics’ is Shel Silverstein of ‘Where the Sidewalk Ends’ fame, and the whole book is whimsical poems about geology
This was a disaster of a 'discovery', unfortunately, and the 'new species' is not valid for a huge number of reasons.
See academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
See academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
How not to describe a species: lessons from a tangle of anacondas (Boidae: Eunectes Wagler, 1830)
Abstract. A recent revision of the anacondas (Serpentes: Boidae: Eunectes), with the description of a new species of green anaconda, generated extensive pu
academic.oup.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:08 PM
This was a disaster of a 'discovery', unfortunately, and the 'new species' is not valid for a huge number of reasons.
See academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
See academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
I am all about this. We must stop dumbing everything down for kids. They love this shit.
You might want to just say that an organism might have many common names, but it (usually) only has one valid scientific name, which is therefore consistent no matter what language you speak and thus superior
You might want to just say that an organism might have many common names, but it (usually) only has one valid scientific name, which is therefore consistent no matter what language you speak and thus superior
January 10, 2026 at 10:30 PM
I am all about this. We must stop dumbing everything down for kids. They love this shit.
You might want to just say that an organism might have many common names, but it (usually) only has one valid scientific name, which is therefore consistent no matter what language you speak and thus superior
You might want to just say that an organism might have many common names, but it (usually) only has one valid scientific name, which is therefore consistent no matter what language you speak and thus superior
Reposted by Dr Mark D. Scherz
Here's my favourite example - I was looking for information about a researcher named Vors, at U of Sydney many years ago. I love how the LLM got stuck in the alphabet - exactly what you'd expect from next-token prediction!
December 29, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Here's my favourite example - I was looking for information about a researcher named Vors, at U of Sydney many years ago. I love how the LLM got stuck in the alphabet - exactly what you'd expect from next-token prediction!
Opps this is from here: www.inaturalist.org/taxa/23939-H...
Pine Barrens Treefrog (Hyla andersonii)
The Pine Barrens tree frog (Hyla andersonii) is a species of New World tree frog. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss. (Source: Wikipedia, '', http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Barrens_tree_frog, ...
www.inaturalist.org
December 26, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Opps this is from here: www.inaturalist.org/taxa/23939-H...
Cooties were lice. Because I was a Dictionary Kid, I guess.
December 26, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Cooties were lice. Because I was a Dictionary Kid, I guess.
If you could send photos of the pages pertaining to Duberria, that would be most appreciated!
December 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
If you could send photos of the pages pertaining to Duberria, that would be most appreciated!
Yeah, I need it sooner than they can get it to me unfortunately
December 14, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Yeah, I need it sooner than they can get it to me unfortunately