Andrej Spiridonov
@andrejpaleo.bsky.social
Professor of paleontology and Earth systems at Vilnius University. My interests are: theoretical paleontology, evolution, geology, stratigraphy, philosophy of biology and geology, climate at scales great and small.
https://twitter.com/AndrejSpiridon4
https://twitter.com/AndrejSpiridon4
November 9, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Andrej Spiridonov
🎓 Member News! 🌟
We’re excited to announce a brand-new series of Early-Career Researcher webinars all about careers and grants 💼💡
Our ERC Officer will be joined by inspiring grant awardees and professionals from diverse career paths who’ll share their experiences, tips, [1/2]
We’re excited to announce a brand-new series of Early-Career Researcher webinars all about careers and grants 💼💡
Our ERC Officer will be joined by inspiring grant awardees and professionals from diverse career paths who’ll share their experiences, tips, [1/2]
November 7, 2025 at 10:48 AM
🎓 Member News! 🌟
We’re excited to announce a brand-new series of Early-Career Researcher webinars all about careers and grants 💼💡
Our ERC Officer will be joined by inspiring grant awardees and professionals from diverse career paths who’ll share their experiences, tips, [1/2]
We’re excited to announce a brand-new series of Early-Career Researcher webinars all about careers and grants 💼💡
Our ERC Officer will be joined by inspiring grant awardees and professionals from diverse career paths who’ll share their experiences, tips, [1/2]
Yes, indeed -- the scaling issue is certainly important. If the proxies for the same variable scale differently, it means we have a problem, either one or both underestimates or overestimates 'fluctuations' or 'trend' magnitudes.
This looks worth reading:
Mara McPartland et al. (2025) Climate of the Past @egu-cl.bsky.social
doi.org/10.5194/cp-2...
@egu.eu
🧪 ⚒️ 👩🔬
#PaleoSky
Mara McPartland et al. (2025) Climate of the Past @egu-cl.bsky.social
doi.org/10.5194/cp-2...
@egu.eu
🧪 ⚒️ 👩🔬
#PaleoSky
The colors of proxy noise
Abstract. The complex biological and physical processes that preserve paleoclimate information over centuries or longer introduce variations in proxy time series that are unrelated to the true climate...
doi.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Yes, indeed -- the scaling issue is certainly important. If the proxies for the same variable scale differently, it means we have a problem, either one or both underestimates or overestimates 'fluctuations' or 'trend' magnitudes.
This illustration from a classic, reminds us, that we need all three approaches to the ancient worlds:
Palæontography - the description of past life forms
Palæobiology - purely biological theoretical outlook
Palæontology - a holistic study of the past, combining different fields.
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
Palæontography - the description of past life forms
Palæobiology - purely biological theoretical outlook
Palæontology - a holistic study of the past, combining different fields.
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
November 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
This illustration from a classic, reminds us, that we need all three approaches to the ancient worlds:
Palæontography - the description of past life forms
Palæobiology - purely biological theoretical outlook
Palæontology - a holistic study of the past, combining different fields.
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
Palæontography - the description of past life forms
Palæobiology - purely biological theoretical outlook
Palæontology - a holistic study of the past, combining different fields.
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
Every day we learn on how AI screws ever more things in the practice of science. Now, on the arXiv in the computer science category, they only accept the peer reviewed post-prints of review papers.
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
🧪
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
🧪
Attention Authors: Updated Practice for Review Articles and Position Papers in arXiv CS Category – arXiv blog
blog.arxiv.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Every day we learn on how AI screws ever more things in the practice of science. Now, on the arXiv in the computer science category, they only accept the peer reviewed post-prints of review papers.
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
🧪
blog.arxiv.org/2025/10/31/a...
🧪
Landscapes of Iceland is essentially Mars if it had Earthly liquid water, the same atmosphere and life.
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology
Morning! Got up for dawn but the light didn't quite make it onto the peaks at sunrise before the clouds got in the way. Not complaining though :)
Vestrahorn mountain at Stokksnes #Iceland
Vestrahorn mountain at Stokksnes #Iceland
November 5, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Landscapes of Iceland is essentially Mars if it had Earthly liquid water, the same atmosphere and life.
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology
Congratulations Sergi and Co, excellent work! Bretskyan hierarchy in spirit work on the spatial structures of innovation.
Look at this revealing thread on the new study about the spatial patterns of human innovation👇
🧪 #Complexity
Look at this revealing thread on the new study about the spatial patterns of human innovation👇
🧪 #Complexity
Is #innovation born or made? Why do some places keep innovating while others fall behind? Is innovation the product of cities—or of deeper laws?
Our new paper in npj Complexity explores these questions through the lens of a century of US patent data.🧵👇
nature.com/articles/s44...
Our new paper in npj Complexity explores these questions through the lens of a century of US patent data.🧵👇
nature.com/articles/s44...
November 4, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Congratulations Sergi and Co, excellent work! Bretskyan hierarchy in spirit work on the spatial structures of innovation.
Look at this revealing thread on the new study about the spatial patterns of human innovation👇
🧪 #Complexity
Look at this revealing thread on the new study about the spatial patterns of human innovation👇
🧪 #Complexity
If you need a professional terrestrial phototroph you need a symbiont of plant+fungi. Lichen (Spongiophyton sp) colonized the land already at least in the Early Devonian:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
November 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
If you need a professional terrestrial phototroph you need a symbiont of plant+fungi. Lichen (Spongiophyton sp) colonized the land already at least in the Early Devonian:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
Eva sends best regards from her kindergarten!
October 31, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Eva sends best regards from her kindergarten!
Historical reflection by a legendary biometrician, morphometrists, and statistician F. James Rohlf on the emergence of mathematization of the classification and systematics during his life time.
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio
October 31, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Historical reflection by a legendary biometrician, morphometrists, and statistician F. James Rohlf on the emergence of mathematization of the classification and systematics during his life time.
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio
academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio
From the depths of the Wikipedia on the character of Paul Dirac:
"Dirac was known among his colleagues for his precise and taciturn nature. His colleagues in Cambridge jokingly defined a unit called a "dirac", which was one word per hour."
What's your apparent flow in "diracs"?
"Dirac was known among his colleagues for his precise and taciturn nature. His colleagues in Cambridge jokingly defined a unit called a "dirac", which was one word per hour."
What's your apparent flow in "diracs"?
October 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
From the depths of the Wikipedia on the character of Paul Dirac:
"Dirac was known among his colleagues for his precise and taciturn nature. His colleagues in Cambridge jokingly defined a unit called a "dirac", which was one word per hour."
What's your apparent flow in "diracs"?
"Dirac was known among his colleagues for his precise and taciturn nature. His colleagues in Cambridge jokingly defined a unit called a "dirac", which was one word per hour."
What's your apparent flow in "diracs"?
The story of extinctions and population depletions in the late Quaternary is a complex one. Climate and humans interference in shaping diversity is always convoluted. Here is the story from the Australian lizards' point of view 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Macroecology
www.cell.com/current-biol...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Macroecology
October 30, 2025 at 9:15 AM
The story of extinctions and population depletions in the late Quaternary is a complex one. Climate and humans interference in shaping diversity is always convoluted. Here is the story from the Australian lizards' point of view 👇
www.cell.com/current-biol...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Macroecology
www.cell.com/current-biol...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Macroecology
Perfect cover for the bovide paleobiology volume.
Stasys Eidrigevičius "Heads", in the 'Stasys' Museum, Panevėžys.
Stasys Eidrigevičius "Heads", in the 'Stasys' Museum, Panevėžys.
October 29, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Perfect cover for the bovide paleobiology volume.
Stasys Eidrigevičius "Heads", in the 'Stasys' Museum, Panevėžys.
Stasys Eidrigevičius "Heads", in the 'Stasys' Museum, Panevėžys.
Wow, this is crazy. Direct megafaunal connections between Europe and North America existed up to the Miocene! Imagine island hopping and strait-crossing rhinos in the Arctic:
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
October 29, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Wow, this is crazy. Direct megafaunal connections between Europe and North America existed up to the Miocene! Imagine island hopping and strait-crossing rhinos in the Arctic:
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Orca sized lamniform sharks from the Aptian of Australia:
"Our results show that mega-body size is an ancient lamniform trait, with the Australian cardabiodontid being around 6–8 m and over 3 tons."
"Our results show that mega-body size is an ancient lamniform trait, with the Australian cardabiodontid being around 6–8 m and over 3 tons."
October 26, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Orca sized lamniform sharks from the Aptian of Australia:
"Our results show that mega-body size is an ancient lamniform trait, with the Australian cardabiodontid being around 6–8 m and over 3 tons."
"Our results show that mega-body size is an ancient lamniform trait, with the Australian cardabiodontid being around 6–8 m and over 3 tons."
Reposted by Andrej Spiridonov
This also totally fails to account for different fields having different norms. In astronomy, the last author slot is meaningless (and is almost certainly someone who didn’t contribute all that much). 🔭🧪
🧪For those of us who do complex collaborations with multiple corresponding authors this is terrible . I suspect it will also hit female authors disproportionately as they tend to have more collaborations across fields…https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03281-4
Google Scholar tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 8:48 AM
This also totally fails to account for different fields having different norms. In astronomy, the last author slot is meaningless (and is almost certainly someone who didn’t contribute all that much). 🔭🧪
New rules for a rat-race. I my opinion, all this micro-accounting (= internal author struggles), inhibits effective collaboration. Science increasingly turns to a goal-oriented bureaucracy, away from an open art-like exploration, curiosity and thruth-seeking.
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Google Scholar tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 26, 2025 at 7:43 PM
New rules for a rat-race. I my opinion, all this micro-accounting (= internal author struggles), inhibits effective collaboration. Science increasingly turns to a goal-oriented bureaucracy, away from an open art-like exploration, curiosity and thruth-seeking.
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Andrej Spiridonov
Very proud of this paper in BioScience :
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
September 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Very proud of this paper in BioScience :
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
« Too cute to be wild: what teddy bears reveal about our disconnection from nature »
🧸 are more than toys, they shape among our first emotional connections to nature. But their design may also distort how we see wildlife !
👉 doi.org/10.1093/bios...
🧪🦤
Reposted by Andrej Spiridonov
Postdoc Opportunity - Interested in plant scaling, quantitative botany, or theoretical plant biology? join our group to explore how plant form, function & scaling principles connect across levels of organization
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology
Simons Postdoctoral Fellowships in Plant Biology on Simons Foundation
www.simonsfoundation.org
October 14, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Postdoc Opportunity - Interested in plant scaling, quantitative botany, or theoretical plant biology? join our group to explore how plant form, function & scaling principles connect across levels of organization
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
www.simonsfoundation.org/grant/simons-postdoctoral-fellowships-in-plant-biology🧪🌾🌐
Reposted by Andrej Spiridonov
Excited to be in Valencia this week for my annual master’s seminar at the Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics, coinciding with the publication of our new book chapter based on course notes.
Thanks to @julipereto.bsky.social for the ongoing collaboration!
📚 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Thanks to @julipereto.bsky.social for the ongoing collaboration!
📚 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Networks: The Visual Language of Complexity
Understanding the origins of complexity is a fundamental challenge with implications for biological and technological systems. Network theory emerges as a powerful tool to model complex systems. Netwo...
link.springer.com
October 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Excited to be in Valencia this week for my annual master’s seminar at the Master’s Degree in Bioinformatics, coinciding with the publication of our new book chapter based on course notes.
Thanks to @julipereto.bsky.social for the ongoing collaboration!
📚 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Thanks to @julipereto.bsky.social for the ongoing collaboration!
📚 link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Glad to announce that at our department we will have yet another post-doc — Misha Whittingham @deathandtaxa.bsky.social . His theme of research will be "An exploration of community assembly mechanisms, paleobiogeography, and evolutionary dynamics in Silurian graptolites (Hemichordata)".
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Glad to announce that at our department we will have yet another post-doc — Misha Whittingham @deathandtaxa.bsky.social . His theme of research will be "An exploration of community assembly mechanisms, paleobiogeography, and evolutionary dynamics in Silurian graptolites (Hemichordata)".
Sometimes the best model is much more data. High resolution pre-extinction Cretaceous dinosaur megafaunas were thriving. Until very unlucky event happened.
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
These were the dinosaurs that faced the asteroid.
Some of the last survivors. They lived in New Mexico, 66 million years ago. Among them was Alamosaurus, the size of a jetplane.
We unveiled them, and their true age, today in a new paper in
@science.org !
Some of the last survivors. They lived in New Mexico, 66 million years ago. Among them was Alamosaurus, the size of a jetplane.
We unveiled them, and their true age, today in a new paper in
@science.org !
October 23, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Giant ground sloths had unique food preferences:
"DMTA of Paramylodon harlani ... and Nothrotheriops shastensis ... suggests that P. harlani consumed significantly harderfoods (e.g. tubers, roots, seeds, fruit pits) than N. shastensis."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
"DMTA of Paramylodon harlani ... and Nothrotheriops shastensis ... suggests that P. harlani consumed significantly harderfoods (e.g. tubers, roots, seeds, fruit pits) than N. shastensis."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
October 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Giant ground sloths had unique food preferences:
"DMTA of Paramylodon harlani ... and Nothrotheriops shastensis ... suggests that P. harlani consumed significantly harderfoods (e.g. tubers, roots, seeds, fruit pits) than N. shastensis."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
"DMTA of Paramylodon harlani ... and Nothrotheriops shastensis ... suggests that P. harlani consumed significantly harderfoods (e.g. tubers, roots, seeds, fruit pits) than N. shastensis."
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
Reposted by Andrej Spiridonov
Joseph Botting (& his partner Lucy Muir) discovered the Castle Bank Biota (middle Ordovician, Wales), which shows exceptional preservation of very small animals. Wonderfully knowledgeable people. See for yourself.
Enigmatic animals from the Cambrian -- the Chancelloriids
Sponges, slugs, something else entirely?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNX...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
Sponges, slugs, something else entirely?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNX...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
Chancelloriids: slugs or sponges?
YouTube video by Life Through Time
www.youtube.com
October 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Joseph Botting (& his partner Lucy Muir) discovered the Castle Bank Biota (middle Ordovician, Wales), which shows exceptional preservation of very small animals. Wonderfully knowledgeable people. See for yourself.
Enigmatic animals from the Cambrian -- the Chancelloriids
Sponges, slugs, something else entirely?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNX...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
Sponges, slugs, something else entirely?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNX...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
Chancelloriids: slugs or sponges?
YouTube video by Life Through Time
www.youtube.com
October 22, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Enigmatic animals from the Cambrian -- the Chancelloriids
Sponges, slugs, something else entirely?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNX...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
Sponges, slugs, something else entirely?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNX...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology