Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

The Palaeontological Association

@thepalass.bsky.social

1.3K followers 390 following 170 posts

Official Bluesky of The Palaeontological Association (palass.org). Re-post of jobs and other events doesn't mean endorsement.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · Aug 15

⚠️ We are delighted to announce that registration for the 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association is now open!
🔹Join us at the University of Portsmouth from 11th to 15th December 2025.
🔸 Deadline for early-bird registration and abstract submission is 19th September 2025 [1/2]

1 5 19

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 1d

⚠️ Attention PalAss #members: Don't forget to apply for the Small Grants Scheme! 🤩✨
🔶 Deadline: 1st of November 🥳

More information:
➡️https://palass.org/small-grants-scheme

🔶 Not a member yet? Please consider #joining PalAss!
➡️https://palass.org/membership

#grant #palass #members #joinus

3 7

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 1d

The origin and evolutionary history of necrophagy in Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae): a comprehensive analysis of South American Coprinisphaera onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Photograph of a hand holding a fossilized scarab brood ball. Necrophagous Coprinisphaera from the Tafi del Valle Formation, Tucuman, Argentina.

Reposted by The Palaeontological Association

Mark Witton @markwitton.bsky.social · 4d

To brighten up a wet and rainy #FossilFriday, here's my take on the recently described drepanosaur Mirasaura grauvogeli. It's shown among the conifer Voltzia, a plant found in abundance in the same beds as Mirasaura. The pointed sail shape is based on fossil data...

#sciart #fossils #paleontology

7 61 210

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 6d

Insights into reef evolution: the first sphinctozoan-dominated reef facies from the lower Katian (Upper Ordovician) of the Tarim Basin, China onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology

Artist's reconstruction of the Ordovician sphinctozoan–Archaeolithoporella reef community in Well ZG31, Tarim Basin, China. Box diagram shows the various types of organism in life position on the seafloor as well as a cross section into the sediment below showing buried specimens in section as they might appear in the fossil record.

3 11

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 8d

An Eocene New World vulture (Aves, Cathartidae) from Mongolia onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology

An Eocene New World vulture (Aves, Cathartidae) from Mongolia https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.70041 #PapersinPalaeontology

1 9

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 9d

Climatic niche stability & lability in Holarctic non-marine ostracods: implications for Quaternary palaeoclimate reconstruction onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

At the top: a map of the world showing Palaearctic occurrence records for ostracod Isocypris beauchampi with a bioclimate model showing predicted suitable areas for the taxon to inhabit in green.
At the bottom: a plot of mean January (horizontal) and July (vertical) air temperatures for Nearctic and Palaearctic occurrence records plotted over the point cloud of all records in four northern hemisphere databases (DOAD, NANODe, NODE adn EANODe). Scale bar on SEM image of Isocypris beauchampi in bottom right corner is 0.2 mm.

3 10

Reposted by The Palaeontological Association

Anthony Tackles Dead Cows @mosasaurologist.bsky.social · 11d

It seems like just the other day I was putting the proto6of this croc noggin together

Sandboxes are great for supporting 3d printed giant croc noggins while the epoxy sets! Curator for scale

5 26

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 13d

The first pterosaur from the Bauru Group: an azhdarchid from the Upper Cretaceous of Brazil onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology @rv-pegas.bsky.social

Artist's life reconstruction of a pair of Galgadraco zephyrius gen. et sp. nov. (centre) in a late Maastrichtian environment, showcasing the
palaeobiota of the Serra da Galga Geosite. Artwork by Matheus Gadelha.

2 26

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 15d

Oldest winged insects: first Megasecoptera from the early Carboniferous (Serpukhovian) of Argentina onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Photograph of a fossil insect wing. Xenoptera latigra from Guandacol 1 locality, Quebrada de las Libelulas, Cerro Guandacol, province of La Rioja, central-western Argentina. Scale bar in lower right corner is 2 mm.

5 18

Reposted by The Palaeontological Association

Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · Jul 6

#BiologyLetters Marking the 200th anniversary of the naming of Megalosaurus, Paul Barrett and Susannah Maidment have curated a Special issue for Biology Letters on Dinosaur Science: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... #dinosaurs #evolution #palaeobiology

1 6

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 15d

Feeding strategies of the Pleistocene insular dwarf elephants Palaeoloxodon falconeri and Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis from Sicily (Italy) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @flaviastrani.bsky.social @unizar.es @iucaunizar.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social @datadryad.bsky.social

Top left: 3D surface of a fossil elephant tooth (Palaeoloxodon faloneri) and false colour map recording differences in surface elevation with respect to a reference point. All distances reported in mm. White scale bar on left, 1 cm.
Top right: map of Italy with Sicily shaded darker grey. Specimens of the fossil elephants Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis and Palaeoloxodon falconeri were collected from caves on the West of Sicily.
Centre right: greyscale photomicrograph of a P. falconeri tooth (MGP-PD 24731; DP4 or M1). White scale bar, at top right, 500 microns.
At the bottom: bivariate plot of the average number of pits versus the average number of scratches in P. falconeri, P. mnaidriensis, P. antiquus, extant proboscideans and extant ungulates.

6 20

Reposted by The Palaeontological Association

IPC7 @ipc7.bsky.social · 19d

Symposia 🔍

Among our 29 themed symposia + 1 open symposium, we are pleased to feature:

✨ Life in the Phanerozoic Oceans: Evolution, diversity and ecology in deep time marine ecosystems✨

📩 To participate in this symposium or get more information, contact the conveners: 👇

1 2 3

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 18d

The effects of sensitive environmental indicators in interpreting faunas of the past: a case study from the Jurassic of China onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Grid plot showing different aquatic organisms and environmental conditions (salinity, humidity, water depth, volcanism, water chemistry and temperature) on the vertical axis and different samples on the horizontal axis. At the bottom are co-occurrence networks of the Yanliao fauna showing different salinity levels (high, medium-high, medium-low and low salinity). Red lines indicate positive correlations and blue lines negative correlations.

1 2

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 20d

Biostratigraphy & correlation of the Cambrian Thorntonia Limestone, southeastern Georgina Basin (Queensland, Australia) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology

Selection of fossil images demonstrating the fauna of the Thorntonia Limestone, all to the same scale (scale bar in the centre is 1mm). Specimen identifcation by letter: (A) Bemella wiri, silicified shell; (B) Pelagiella madienensis, phosphatic steinkern; (C) Pelagiella deltoides, phosphatic steinkern; (D) Figurina sp., phosphatic steinkern; (E) Thontonites dowlingi holomeric columnal; (F) Edrioasteroid stereom fragment; (G) Allonnia sp.; (H) Hexactinellid spicule; (I) Chancelloriasp.; (J) Microcornus parvulus conch; (K, L) Chalasiocranos theloides; (M) halkieriid indet. cultrate sclerite; (N) Protowenella flemingi, phosphatic steinkern; (O) Chalasiocranos theloides; (P) Spicule; (Q) Microdictyon robisoni; (R, S) Monasterium opiki spines.

1 14

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 20d

✨ The #PalAss2025 organisers are preparing something special for icebreaker participants together with Staggeringly Good ! 🥳
Don't forget to register for this event during the registration period ⬇️ 🎉
palass.org/annual-meeti...

#icebreaker #porstmouth #uk🇬🇧 #events #december

2 4

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 22d

⚠️Don't forget to register for the annual dinner. The maximum capacity is 240 guests 🤩🥳 ⬇️
palass.org/annual-meeti...

⚠️ Abstract submission deadline: 19th of September ⬇️
palass.org/annual-meeti...

#conference #uk #palaeontology #dinner #registration

2 2

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 25d

Mummified Palaeogene millipedes from southern France onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology

Two images of a fossil millipede (Blaniulidae; UM-ROQ1-500). On the left, a black and white SEM micrograph of the specimen; on the right a digital reconstruction in false colour highlighting different anatomical features. Scale bar in lower left corner is 500 microns.

5 28

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 26d

Reproductive organs and fronds of Mesozoic seed ferns from the Middle–Upper Triassic Cañadón Largo Formation (Patagonia, Argentina) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersInPalaeontology

Rock slab with fossil plant material, including the reproductive structure Umkomasia macleanii (white rectangle; on the right), and juvenile (black arrows) and adult (white arrows) Dicroidium hernandenzii fronds. CTES-PB 8125a. Scale bar at lower right is 10 mm.

5 13

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 27d

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

#conference #uk #palaeontology #meeting

7 18

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · 27d

Morphometric analysis of the conodont Chiosella timorensis from the early Anisian of Romania & China & its significance for the definition of the Olenekian–Anisian Boundary onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @datadryad.bsky.social

At the top are two maps of the study areas with red stars showing the positions of the Desli Caira section in North Dobrogea, Romania (left) and Mingtang and Guandao in the Nanpanjiang Basin of South China (on the right).
In the bottom left corner, a scatter plot showing the relationship between length (horizontal axis) and height (vertical axis of Chiosella specimens(in microns). Chiosella timorensis data points are orange triangles and Chiosella gondolelloides data points are blue circles. The plots follow a general positive trend with more blue circles in the lower part and more orange circles in the upper part.
In the lower right corner are two representative specimens: the smaller on the left is Chiosella gondolelloides(MT452209); the larger one of the right is Chiosella timorensis (MT452203), both housed at the State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences in Wuhan. Scale bar near the bottom is 200 microns.

3 7

Reposted by The Palaeontological Association

IPC7 @ipc7.bsky.social · 29d

IPC7 will held 29 themed symposia + 1 open symposium.

Today we feature:

✨Ichthyosaur evolution and biology✨

📩 To participate in this symposium, contact the conveners:

Lene Liebe Delsett — [email protected] @leneliebedelsett.bsky.social
Judith Pardo-Pérez — [email protected]

1 3 7

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · Sep 7

Taxonomy & palaeoecology of the Mesozoic Foraminifera family Duotaxidae onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... - surviving a mass extinction

Diagram showing geological time on the left (Permian at the bottom to Jurassic at the top) and the distribution of various species of duotaxid foraminifera. Red horizontal lines show the levels of the end-Triassic extinction (top) and Permo-Triassic extinction (bottom).

2 6

Reposted by The Palaeontological Association

Duncan McIlroy @dmcediacaran.bsky.social · Sep 5

Happy #FossilFriday from Johnson Discovery Surface in @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social, famous for its #Fractofusus andersoni, but which also has large enigmatic forms dubbed #Blackbrookia (now considered a pseudofossil). The JDS material is however covered in pimples or meshes not seen in the type.

$large obovate fossils from Discovery geopark covered in mesh like textures or pimples (previously called Blackbrookia and informally “pimply melons”) surrounded by many rounded fractal like Fractofusus andersoni$ detail of a “blackbrookia” showing the mesh like texture interpreted as the cross section through the base of spike like papillae

detail of a “blackbrookia” showing the mesh like texture interpreted as the cross section through the base of spike like papillae

1 7 20

The Palaeontological Association @thepalass.bsky.social · Sep 4

Early elytrification of forewings of Palaeozoic cockroachoids onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... #PapersinPalaeontology

Photograph of fossil insect Poroblattina rotundata (CDUE A5-29): left forewing (10 mm x 3 mm), right forewing (9 mm x 4 mm), right hindwing, preserved size (6 mm x 4 mm). White scale bar (at bottom of photo) is 5 mm. Sketch in bottom right corner shows outline of wings.

Reposted by The Palaeontological Association

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

9 21