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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Jun 12

((But to be clear, amphicylonidae are (as far as I understand) more basal to caniforma (older than either bears or dogs), but that doesn’t make them more closely related to cats. That was a misremembered tidbit. They are still super cool animals!))

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Jun 12

New #fossilsandfiction episode featuring the extremely talented Mark Witton!

Mark had some fantastic insights into the ways paleo and pop culture intersect, especially for the very famous #TRex in his new book ‘King Tyrant’! 🦖

tinyurl.com/34aerxt4

Mark Witton's Palaeoart Journey

Fossils and Fiction · Episode

open.spotify.com

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Reposted by Alyssa F.

Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · Jun 6

"AI images don’t succinctly or accurately communicate scientific concepts & could undermine public trust in science... inaccuracies wouldn’t fly if they were created by a person, “but for some reason, having this sheen of fake polish that comes with AI kind of erases all of those standards” 🧪#sciart

Illustrators call out journals and news sites for using AI art

Bot-made art undermines research and public trust in science, say illustrators frustrated by inaccurate and outlandish depictions.

www.nature.com

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · May 24

Per my last post, the art from Jack Fletcher from my Pint of Science bug recipe rant- and also, this tremendous longth animal pairing from my Fringe Fest yap about breeding increasingly long Cambrian animals- always makes me smile. #AusPaleo #fanart #fossils #scicomm

A lovely drawing of me presenting my silly Pint of Science talk, via Jack Fletcher (my student 🥺🥺). A lady sketched in blue in a ponytail, field gear and an apron is saying sassy things about the consumption of ancient bug meat.

The wall that faces my recording area for the podcast, featuring: amazing long trilobite and anomalocaris fanart by Jack (from my bit about wanting long prehistoric lobster meat). Also, that one ikea lamp everyone has and some fairy lights. The art is in a wood and glass frame.

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · May 24

Excellent showcase! I think it can be intimidating for new artists to show their pieces to researchers. Accuracy and anatomy are important elements of paleo art. But we’re people, too! Most people appreciate it when you engage with their work. I personally adore any art of my buggy bois.

James Pascoe @jamespascoe.bsky.social · May 23

So for this Fossil(andfiction) Friday here’s a few pics relating to one of the questions that came up from @slyssabits.bsky.social during our chat about how actual palaeontologists and Palaeoartists respond to the things I get up to 😅

Podcast link below

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...

Smiling rogue, braided of beard, jaunty of angle, holding up a display of Dinosaurs

Dave Hone holding a Baryonyx and he’s even happier now Spurs have won a trophy

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Reposted by Alyssa F.

Dr James Rule @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social · May 23

Had a great time presenting at #pintofscience2025 with @slyssabits.bsky.social and @sharkslikejazz.bsky.social. Thanks to all the organisers for giving me the chance to talk about seals 🦭

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · May 22

Bonus content: this didn’t make it into the presentation, but it is pretty indicative of the content the audience got.

A version of poster art for Delicious in Dungeon/Dungeon Meishi has been modified. The text now reads “cooking in Cambrian” and the monsters/food have been replaced with various Cambrian animals, drawn by a variety of talented artists that are not me. Thank you, Ni075 especially!

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · May 22

Had so much fun presenting at #PintofScience2025 last night with @palaeo-jrule.bsky.social and @sharkslikejazz.bsky.social ! Thank you both for so many awesome secret sea-crit facts, and thanks to the organizers at Pint of Science Australia!

A woman in some kind of paleontologist get up gives a double thumbs up, standing in front of a powerpoint screen. Her smile is large and unsettling. It’s me!

A confident woman stands before an ocean themed presentation, speaking calmly into the microphone. It’s Lucille!

A man stands before an adorable seal, prepared to make devastatingly funny jokes and show people some super cute animals. It’s James!

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · May 21

This was such a fun chat, and lots of great info for up and coming artists in our space! Have a listen :)

James Pascoe @jamespascoe.bsky.social · May 21

My chat with with the lovely @slyssabits.bsky.social and @travish.co has just dropped, talking Palaeoart, Lyme Regis, Luis Rey, & the importance of outreach so if you want to hear a poetic and piratical welsh rogue talk with wonderful people give it a listen! 🏴‍☠️🖤

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/f...

T. rex: the Asian king?

Podcast Episode · Fossils and Fiction · 21/05/2025 · 55m

podcasts.apple.com

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Apr 28

Hey folks! Another awesome Karim event is coming up soon. If you weren’t at the first virtual extinct fine art gallery for paleo artists this year, you missed a real treat.

But don’t worry- Karim is bringing this and more art events to our community in the coming months!

Karim Zanaty @extinctfineart.bsky.social · Apr 27

Can a networking event have a line-up?

It sure can! The next virtual #paleoart exhibition starts with an online event and "Show and Tell" sessions.

With
@kakapojay.bsky.social
@stygisk.bsky.social
@ppaleoartist.bsky.social
@babbletrish.bsky.social
Victoria Grabowski

Get your (free) ticket below⬇️

First set of exhibiting artist in the virtual paleoart exhibition. People who world be available for a „Show and Tell“ are highlighted.

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Apr 21

Total treat meeting James and chatting about all things paleo creativity! James outs so much thought into all his work. Cannot wait to share all you had to say with listeners (including some of my students ☺️!). Thanks for joining us!

James Pascoe @jamespascoe.bsky.social · Apr 21

Absolutely wonderful morning chatting with @fossilsfiction.co @slyssabits.bsky.social @travish.co about Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, Luis Rey, being kind and welcoming, in palaeo, non academic routes into SciComm, 3D printing, not being an “artist” and making people smile. Hope I did ok 🖤😅🏴‍☠️

Two bearded men and a lady, discussing the merits of Toys and 3D printed Dinosaur skulls very happily

Smiling bearded and braided rogue, not quite believing his luck

The Lyme Regis Fossil Festival map, June 14th and 15th

My typically serious take on Paleontology and Scicomm (placing my noggin into large replica skulls) at last years Fossil Festival

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Apr 11

Awesome short explainer on the whole dire wolf situation.

Even if you’re fine with “modified grey wolves”, should a company that misleads the public and investors keep getting access to resources, materials and funding to make them? esp when it’s a method that won’t/can’t produce real dire wolves?

Tyler Is Here 🦎 @wolpard.bsky.social · Apr 11

is the #direwolf back?
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#snowwolpard #paleontology #fossil #direwolves #colossalbiosciences

a doodle of two white wolves standing beside eachother under text that reads "is the dire world back?"

a doodle of a Time magazine cover with a white wolf on it with the word "Extinct" crossed out. The text reads "earlier this week, TIME announced that genetic engineering company colossal biosciences inc. brought back extinct dire wolves..."

a doodle of a dire wolf skull stained la brea brown with a DNA strand behind it. text reads "...the company looked at sequenced DNA from two fossils and made 20 edits to the gray wolf genome to recreate some of these dire wolf 'traits' they found."

text reads "these edits caused: a larger size", accompanied by a drawing of two wolves of different sizes, "a white coat" besides a white wolf, "and denser fur in cloned wolves" beside a white wolf with fluffy fur.

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Apr 10

KRAKEN GUY! He was at GSA 2019; the room was so full I couldn’t get in.

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Reposted by Alyssa F.

CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @cosmicrami.com · Mar 27

LOL.

Savage (but accurate I guess)

Also, another well written 'Big Story' from @wired.com 👏

Every industry has certain problems universally acknowledged as broken: insurance in health care, licensing in music, standardized testing in education, tipping in the restaurant business. In academia, it’s publishing. Academic publishing is dominated by for-profit giants like Elsevier and Springer. Calling their practice a form of thuggery isn’t so much an insult as an economic observation. Imagine if a book publisher demanded that authors write books for free and, instead of employing in-house editors, relied on other authors to edit those books, also for free. And not only that: The final product was then sold at prohibitively expensive prices to ordinary readers, and institutions were forced to pay exorbitant fees for access.

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Mar 14

I was part of the team that helped collect the transect, and I have to say, it’s a great joy to finally see our work getting out there for everyone to see! Heck yeah Steph!

You can find me in the acknowledgements (my first time appearing in science publication, eep!)

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Mar 14

THE BUG IS LOOSE 🦐!

2020-2021, a team of Cambrian workers completed a massive transect (the BUG) through the Flinders Ranges looking at a highly complete series of early Cambrian stratigraphic units.

Today, the story of BUG begins, with Steph Richter-Stretton’s new paper: tinyurl.com/33b6a8ke

The Bunker’s Graben (BUG), where the start of the Cambrian is splayed before you like a pack of cards

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Mar 8

Thinking about the amazing women in my field on #internationalwomensday. Anne Holmes, Amy Brock-Hon and Bret Buskirk were some of the first to help me fall in love with fossils, while folks like these have nurtured the field here in Aus! So lucky to know so many kickass ladies 💚!

Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Feb 15

What a blast, being on the inaugural Women in Palaeontology panel in Inverloch this past week! Thank you again to Sally Hurst for leading the panel. And thank you to co-panelists Adele Pentland, Pat Vickers-Rich, and Doris Seegets-Villiers for being kickass #womeninSTEM 🌟

📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland

A black and white photo featuring (from left to right): Doris, Pat, Adele, myself, and Sally. Pat is speaking while we all look on, contemplative or smiling.

Same seating order, this photo is in color. Hey, I’m yapping! People are being patient.

A selfie from Adele, with Pat raising her small, stuffed Leaellynasaura.

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Feb 27

Did not realize Phoebe was on this platform! Tagging her so listeners can find her amazing research (and see more of Jacob’s awesome illustrations)!

@phoebyornis.bsky.social @blokoweka.bsky.social

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Feb 26

This was such a fun interview! Thank you again to Dr. Phoebe McInerney for schooling me on Genyornis, the swamp-dwelling giant, flightless bird from Australia’s not-so-distant past!

Fossils & Fiction @fossilsfiction.co · Feb 26

It's a beautiful day in the pleistocene and you are a horrible gigagoose...

Episode 41: You Are a Horrible Gigagoose

www.fossilsfiction.co

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Reposted by Alyssa F.

Timothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · Feb 20

Unite! 💪

"Conflicts btw faculty & administrators ... should be set aside to focus attention on this ruthless takedown of academia. All disciplines will be affected by these cuts, not just science.

This is a moment to unite."

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... by @holdenthorp.bsky.social

A direct hit

Earlier this month, the Trump administration set off a frenzy in the US scientific community when the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that indirect cost reimbursement for federally funde...

www.science.org

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Reposted by Alyssa F.

Jake Kotevski @dinoman-jake.bsky.social · Feb 19

They’ve only waited 120Ma.
A new glimpse into theropod diversity from Early Cretaceous Australia: megaraptorids, an unenlagiine, and for the first time, carcharodontosaurians.

Read it here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Artwork by Jonathan Metzger.

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Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Feb 15

Oh and thank you to Jake for moderating, and to all who attended or asked questions!

Alyssa F. @slyssabits.bsky.social · Feb 15

What a blast, being on the inaugural Women in Palaeontology panel in Inverloch this past week! Thank you again to Sally Hurst for leading the panel. And thank you to co-panelists Adele Pentland, Pat Vickers-Rich, and Doris Seegets-Villiers for being kickass #womeninSTEM 🌟

📸: R. Duncan, A. Pentland

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Reposted by Alyssa F.

Isopod Fan Account @bedupolker.bsky.social · Feb 13

Happy Valentine’s Day- Show your friends that your feelings will NEVER go extinct with some cambrian critters.

Two opabinia, prehistoric shrimp-like creatures with long trunks, share a bouquet made of sea creatures. Text: we're two peas in a lobo-pod.

A marella, a creature that resembles a horseshoe crab or trilobite, carries an engagement ring. Text: will you marry-ella me?

An ayshea, a prehistoric creature with a round mouth, multiple legs, and wormlike body, holding a pair of sunglasses. Text: ayyyyyyyyyyyy girl

An anomalocaris, an arthropod with fins and two prominent front claws, holding a heart-shaped box of valentines chocolate. Text: I anomalo-care about you

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Reposted by Alyssa F.

Fossils & Fiction @fossilsfiction.co · Feb 11

Episode 40: Feasts and Beasts

www.fossilsfiction.co

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