Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
@snnielsen.bsky.social
220 followers 170 following 240 posts
geologist, paleontologist, malacologist Professor @ Universidad Austral de Chile
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snnielsen.bsky.social
see DOI: 10.1111 ⁄ j.1502-3931.
2012.00319.x to cheer you up a bit
Reposted by Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
djbirddanerd.bsky.social
10 years ago, our co-edited Topics in Geobiology volumes on #Ammonoid #Paleobiology came out:

From anatomy to ecology:
doi.org/10.1007/978-...
From macroevolution to paleogeography: doi.org/10.1007/978-...

In the last months of 2025, i will explore new discoveries on these topics in a thread:
Ammonoid Paleobiology: From anatomy to ecology
This two-volume work is a testament to the abiding interest and human fascination with ammonites. We offer a new model to explain the morphogenesis of septa and the shell, we explore their habitats by the content of stable isotopes in their shells, we discuss the origin and later evolution of this important clade, and we deliver hypotheses on its demise. The Ammonoidea produced a great number of species that can be used in biostratigraphy and possibly, this is the macrofossil group, which has been used the most for that purpose. Nevertheless, many aspects of their anatomy, mode of life, development or paleobiogeographic distribution are still poorly known. Themes treated are biostratigraphy, paleoecology, paleoenvironment, paleobiogeography, evolution, phylogeny, and ontogeny. Advances such as an explosion of new information about ammonites, new technologies such as isotopic analysis, tomography and virtual paleontology in general, as well as continuous discovery of newfossil finds have given us the opportunity to present a comprehensive and timely "state of the art" compilation. Moreover, it also points the way for future studies to further enhance our understanding of this endlessly fascinating group of organisms.
doi.org
snnielsen.bsky.social
Ah, I just saw the correction 👍 Anyway, curious to see Chilean Neogene here 🙂
snnielsen.bsky.social
Incatella chilensis and Ameghinomya sp.? I've never been good with the clams. Where does the age come from. I suppose that photo comes from a part of the island that we (currently) consider Upper Miocene.
Reposted by Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
zacklabe.com
"After nearly 40 years, the Arctic Research Consortium of the United States, or ARCUS, will close September 30."

"The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives."
After Trump cut the National Science Foundation by 56 percent, a venerable Arctic research center closes its doors
The Arctic Research Consortium of the United States funded programs that aided Indigenous communities and tracked melting sea ice, among dozens of initiatives.
grist.org
Reposted by Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
restingdinoface.bsky.social
Taphonomy is the science of what happens between death and discovery.
Reposted by Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
olivia.science
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or
even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in
the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or
apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we
are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not
considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This
is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse
and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece,
we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology
industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to
relevant work to further inform our colleagues. Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI
(black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are
in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are
both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and
Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf.
Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al.
2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA). Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms
are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe. Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles
snnielsen.bsky.social
Ok, I clearly do not understand how that works or why money from an external grant is university-sponsored. but maybe that is too long for these threads and I'm not even sure if I need to know 🤭 But having to do this kind of things is never fun.
snnielsen.bsky.social
lucky you. here we have no university-sponsored travel. everything comes from third-party funding or there simply is no travel.
snnielsen.bsky.social
daily mollusk. Nautilus and Allonautilus are the only living genera of nautiloids, a once very diverse group of cephalopod mollusks 🧪
kelleywelley.bsky.social
September 19: “depths”
I’m finally back home after over a month scuba diving in Indonesia. Here is a digital drawing of a nautilus that I did while in transit.
#sciartseptember #sciart #coralreefs
#marinelife #oceanconservation.
A drawing of a nautilus, a type of mollusk that lives in deep water.
snnielsen.bsky.social
I just deleted my account. Not much use anyway and this is just too much... 🧪
hystericalblkns.bsky.social
If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.
The new TOC from academia dot edu. 

By creating an Account with Academia.edu, you grant us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable license, permission, and consent for Academia.edu to use your Member Content and your personal information (including, but not limited to, your name, voice, signature, photograph, likeness, city, institutional affiliations, citations, mentions, publications, and areas of interest) in any manner, including for the purpose of advertising, selling, or soliciting the use or purchase of Academia.edu's Services.
snnielsen.bsky.social
You can also go to settings (I believe, can't check anymore) and delete the account. It's one of the few things you can access without accepting
snnielsen.bsky.social
daily mollusk. platycerids are neritimorph gastropods. as it states here, they are coprophages - they literally ate sh*t 🧪
clarkeocrinus.bsky.social
Platycerid snails are often found attached to crinoid calyxes as coprophages (they ate waste). A few species had long spines.

These are from the Devonian Arkona Fm. of Ontario.

#FossilFriday
Two fossil snails, brownish grey color. Bottom snail has bumps where spines would have attached.
Reposted by Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
geolatinas.bsky.social
Do you want to practice conversational Spanish & English with us? The GeoLatinas Professional and Personal Development Committee invites you to participate in the SIXTH year of "Conversando con GeoLatinas", a language-exchange initiative for Spanish & English at all levels.
👇
The GeoLatinas Professional & Personal Development
Committee invites you to the SIXTH YEAR of: Conversando con GeoLatinas. 
Practice conversational English and Spanish with us!
- Language exchange
- All levels welcome
- GeoLatinas members only (sign up for free!)
- Monthly groups,
~4 hours only in a month
- Join as many months as you wish.
For more info, join GeoLatinas' workspace in Slack,
channel #conversando-con-geolatinas
snnielsen.bsky.social
This is the kind of copilot we need. Not some stupid AI.
snnielsen.bsky.social
It is always great to meet ones heroes 🤘
snnielsen.bsky.social
Daily mollusk - sea silk
dantheclamman.blog
Sea silk is spun from the byssal threads of the noble pen shell and other members of the Pinnidae. They use these strong threads as an anchor to stay rooted in sandy substrates, but we treat it with lemon juice giving it a golden color, and spin it into a rare fabric! (253)
Scientific illustration of a pinnid with the bundle of byssus looking like a curly thicket of threads at the hinge A finely woven fabric of sea silk, appearing as golden threads that shine in the light on
snnielsen.bsky.social
Well, turns out we ARE all doomed. We will all die. Basic truth of life :)
snnielsen.bsky.social
daily mollusk
nhmbryozoa.bsky.social
#MolluscMonday Miocene (Burdigalian) oyster bed at Sainte-Croix-du-Mont in SW France. Remarkably, this site is a tourist attraction and even has its own bar.
snnielsen.bsky.social
daily mollusk
norcal-lynne.bsky.social
Trochi, Turbines, Neritae Helices, from Neues Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet. Hand-colored etching and engraving by Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm Martini, c. 1784. Minneapolis Institute of Art. #MolluscMonday #SciArt #InverteFest
Hand-colored etching and engraving of twenty three different types of shells.
Reposted by Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
ferwen.bsky.social
French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny, who founded the science of #micropaleontology, was born #OTD in 1802 wp.me/p3ihHu-1bc #histsci
In Mémoire sur les foraminifères de la craie blanche du bassin de Paris, he proved that foraminifera could be used to classify geological strata.
🧪⚒️🔬
Reposted by Dr. Sven N. Nielsen
jessicalwarelab.bsky.social
AMNH is hiring a #curator! We are searching for an “Assistant Curator in #Climate #Physics: #Atmosphere or #Ocean”! Join us! careers.amnh.org/postings/4579 #academicjobs #tenuretrack
careers.amnh.org