Dave Rodland
@daverodland.bsky.social
Necromancer for hire. 🧪⚒️🦪🌊☠️
Paleoecology, taphonomy, sed/strat, marine biology, mass extinction ... all things Earth history. Doomed to repeat it whether we learn from it or not. Living in the past and talking to dead things since the late Holocene.
Paleoecology, taphonomy, sed/strat, marine biology, mass extinction ... all things Earth history. Doomed to repeat it whether we learn from it or not. Living in the past and talking to dead things since the late Holocene.
Pinned
One of the things I appreciate about Egyptian mythology is the accountability and empiricism in their approach to the afterlife. No last minute confessions, appeals to the gods, or blanket forgiveness ... just a simple, standardized test.
Fail the basic decency test, and Ammit eats your soul. ❤️⚖️🪶🐊
Fail the basic decency test, and Ammit eats your soul. ❤️⚖️🪶🐊
Reposted by Dave Rodland
Reposted by Dave Rodland
honey, it's time to share the dicynodont husbands again
happy valentine's day! this fossil shows a pair of adult male diictodon who were discovered curled up together in a burrow 🥰
February 14, 2026 at 7:54 PM
honey, it's time to share the dicynodont husbands again
For #FossilFriday we have a Devonian stromatoporoid, Clathrodictyon. Stromatoporoids are now thought to be sponges, although they don't closely resemble modern forms. They were massive reef formers in the Silurian and Devonian seas, but were devastated by the Frasnian-Famennian mass extinction. 🧪⚒️
February 13, 2026 at 9:55 PM
For #FossilFriday we have a Devonian stromatoporoid, Clathrodictyon. Stromatoporoids are now thought to be sponges, although they don't closely resemble modern forms. They were massive reef formers in the Silurian and Devonian seas, but were devastated by the Frasnian-Famennian mass extinction. 🧪⚒️
Reposted by Dave Rodland
‘I used to be a mountain’ by Maarten Inghels onboards.be/nl/product/m...
📷 Maarten Inghels/Onboards Biennale
#urbangeology
📷 Maarten Inghels/Onboards Biennale
#urbangeology
February 13, 2026 at 9:40 AM
‘I used to be a mountain’ by Maarten Inghels onboards.be/nl/product/m...
📷 Maarten Inghels/Onboards Biennale
#urbangeology
📷 Maarten Inghels/Onboards Biennale
#urbangeology
Long read, older article, absolutely should be required reading for anyone involved in science and academic publishing. 🧪
Honestly applies to most anything @nataliajagielska.bsky.social posts.
Honestly applies to most anything @nataliajagielska.bsky.social posts.
Did you know. That for-profit publishing that is the bread and butter of contemporary academia, which kindles a lot of academic ills (publish or perish, golluming, funding distribution) was set up by Robert Maxwell, yes, the father of Ghislaine Maxwell.
Is the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science?
The long read: It is an industry like no other, with profit margins to rival Google – and it was created by one of Britain’s most notorious tycoons: Robert Maxwell
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Long read, older article, absolutely should be required reading for anyone involved in science and academic publishing. 🧪
Honestly applies to most anything @nataliajagielska.bsky.social posts.
Honestly applies to most anything @nataliajagielska.bsky.social posts.
Is it #DarwinDay again already?
We're not who we were a year ago. The world has changed. The challenge level shot up. We're adapting, rising to meet it. Together.
Because networks are resilient. Nobody is as strong alone as we are all together. And we stand for a better world, for all of us.
We're not who we were a year ago. The world has changed. The challenge level shot up. We're adapting, rising to meet it. Together.
Because networks are resilient. Nobody is as strong alone as we are all together. And we stand for a better world, for all of us.
Happy #DarwinDay, yo! 🧪
The evolution will not be televised!
Sure, right now it's climate change in the crosshairs, alongside diversity, equality and inclusion in all forms ... but they haven't forgotten evolution.
The evolution will not be televised!
Sure, right now it's climate change in the crosshairs, alongside diversity, equality and inclusion in all forms ... but they haven't forgotten evolution.
February 12, 2026 at 12:23 PM
Is it #DarwinDay again already?
We're not who we were a year ago. The world has changed. The challenge level shot up. We're adapting, rising to meet it. Together.
Because networks are resilient. Nobody is as strong alone as we are all together. And we stand for a better world, for all of us.
We're not who we were a year ago. The world has changed. The challenge level shot up. We're adapting, rising to meet it. Together.
Because networks are resilient. Nobody is as strong alone as we are all together. And we stand for a better world, for all of us.
Reposted by Dave Rodland
Just yesterday in my Environmental Geology class—after asking a student what type of slope failure was exemplified in an onscreen photo, & she hesitated, I sat in a front-row chair & slowly slid down to the floor. "Slump!" she said. Can AI do that?! (P.S. The slump was also a rotational slide.) 🧪🪨⚒️
AI simply cannot stand in front of a classroom, gesticulating wildly and writing semi-illegibly on chalkboards, both of which are key to building rapport and convincing your students you are worth learning from
If people think AI can replace historians and political scientists, I have a bridge on the Thames to sell you.
February 11, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Just yesterday in my Environmental Geology class—after asking a student what type of slope failure was exemplified in an onscreen photo, & she hesitated, I sat in a front-row chair & slowly slid down to the floor. "Slump!" she said. Can AI do that?! (P.S. The slump was also a rotational slide.) 🧪🪨⚒️
Reposted by Dave Rodland
I am given to understand it's International Day of Women and Girls in Science 🧪. There are many who deserve recognition, today and all days, but there's one I have to pay tribute to: Dr. Karin D. Rodland, whose PhD in rodent metabolism evolved into a career in proteomics and cancer biology.
February 11, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I am given to understand it's International Day of Women and Girls in Science 🧪. There are many who deserve recognition, today and all days, but there's one I have to pay tribute to: Dr. Karin D. Rodland, whose PhD in rodent metabolism evolved into a career in proteomics and cancer biology.
Given recent publications on the prevalence of mating-related spinal injuries in ornithopods, I have a hypothesis regarding the abrupt transition from spines to scutes at the pelvis in Haolong dongi ...
As if the Anglophone puns weren't already dirty enough.
As if the Anglophone puns weren't already dirty enough.
February 11, 2026 at 11:08 AM
Given recent publications on the prevalence of mating-related spinal injuries in ornithopods, I have a hypothesis regarding the abrupt transition from spines to scutes at the pelvis in Haolong dongi ...
As if the Anglophone puns weren't already dirty enough.
As if the Anglophone puns weren't already dirty enough.
I wish someone would run the control group for the Great American AI Bubble experiment:
Investing billions into a diverse group of STEM researchers, humanities scholars, and creatives of sorts to prove or disprove whether datacenters can actually compete.
Investing billions into a diverse group of STEM researchers, humanities scholars, and creatives of sorts to prove or disprove whether datacenters can actually compete.
February 9, 2026 at 10:14 PM
I wish someone would run the control group for the Great American AI Bubble experiment:
Investing billions into a diverse group of STEM researchers, humanities scholars, and creatives of sorts to prove or disprove whether datacenters can actually compete.
Investing billions into a diverse group of STEM researchers, humanities scholars, and creatives of sorts to prove or disprove whether datacenters can actually compete.
#MolluskMonday means moar mollusks, so here's a small selection of a large collection of unionid bivalves (a diverse clade of freshwater mussels) collected by my predecessor, Jack Kovach, in 1969. I estimated around 1500 specimens in Jack's drawers (wait) when they got transferred to Cincinnati. ⚒️🧪🦪
February 9, 2026 at 10:09 PM
#MolluskMonday means moar mollusks, so here's a small selection of a large collection of unionid bivalves (a diverse clade of freshwater mussels) collected by my predecessor, Jack Kovach, in 1969. I estimated around 1500 specimens in Jack's drawers (wait) when they got transferred to Cincinnati. ⚒️🧪🦪
#SuperbOwl Sunday, you say?
Don't mind if I do.
Don't mind if I do.
February 8, 2026 at 6:32 PM
#SuperbOwl Sunday, you say?
Don't mind if I do.
Don't mind if I do.
I think one of the best things that happened to me, academically, was hitting this stage in middle school, when the "talented and gifted" kids all got tracked into the same classes together.
The challenge level stepped up when we were young and sorting out social skills, and,
We found our people.
The challenge level stepped up when we were young and sorting out social skills, and,
We found our people.
I think a reasonably frequent experience for junior academics is a life wherein they were the smartest person in the room in most rooms they were in (even some pretty fancy rooms) up until The Great Filtration suddenly puts them among a bunch of other people with the same life experience.
February 8, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I think one of the best things that happened to me, academically, was hitting this stage in middle school, when the "talented and gifted" kids all got tracked into the same classes together.
The challenge level stepped up when we were young and sorting out social skills, and,
We found our people.
The challenge level stepped up when we were young and sorting out social skills, and,
We found our people.
Permian roots for angiosperms?
😳
I've seen hints of Triassic pollen and Jurassic flowers, but dang.
😳
I've seen hints of Triassic pollen and Jurassic flowers, but dang.
Wang, X., Huang, W., Fu, Q. et al. A new early permian fruit, Dengfengfructus maxima gen. et sp. nov., supports the pre-cretaceous origin of angiosperms. BMC Ecol Evo 26, 17 (2026). doi.org/10.1186/s128...
A new early permian fruit, Dengfengfructus maxima gen. et sp. nov., supports the pre-cretaceous origin of angiosperms - BMC Ecology and Evolution
BMC Ecology and Evolution - Angiosperms are the most important plant group for humans in the current earth’s ecosystem. Although angiosperms are clearly defined by enclosed seeds/ovules, the...
doi.org
February 8, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Permian roots for angiosperms?
😳
I've seen hints of Triassic pollen and Jurassic flowers, but dang.
😳
I've seen hints of Triassic pollen and Jurassic flowers, but dang.
I hate what K12 education did to the thought processes of generations (myself included).
My career was endlessly convincing science gen ed students to trust their first thought, to apply Occam's Razor and run with a hypothesis until it didn't work anymore.
Nature is not a trick question.
My career was endlessly convincing science gen ed students to trust their first thought, to apply Occam's Razor and run with a hypothesis until it didn't work anymore.
Nature is not a trick question.
"Please reach out if you have any questions or need help"
the small % of students that do end up engaging with me end up saying 'Thanks, this was very helpful, I understand this better now!' –– yes, this is in fact my job, I'm not here to trick you
the small % of students that do end up engaging with me end up saying 'Thanks, this was very helpful, I understand this better now!' –– yes, this is in fact my job, I'm not here to trick you
February 8, 2026 at 2:37 PM
I hate what K12 education did to the thought processes of generations (myself included).
My career was endlessly convincing science gen ed students to trust their first thought, to apply Occam's Razor and run with a hypothesis until it didn't work anymore.
Nature is not a trick question.
My career was endlessly convincing science gen ed students to trust their first thought, to apply Occam's Razor and run with a hypothesis until it didn't work anymore.
Nature is not a trick question.
Reposted by Dave Rodland
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
February 7, 2026 at 2:45 PM
I'd watch a muppet show movie where the muppets infiltrate an academic conference.
All this talk about crazy soft tissue preservation in a Chinese iguanodontid, but almost nobody talking about its size.
Can somebody tell me Haolong it is?
Can somebody tell me Haolong it is?
February 7, 2026 at 1:33 PM
All this talk about crazy soft tissue preservation in a Chinese iguanodontid, but almost nobody talking about its size.
Can somebody tell me Haolong it is?
Can somebody tell me Haolong it is?
Reposted by Dave Rodland
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
February 7, 2026 at 5:01 AM
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Reposted by Dave Rodland
Velociraptors had feathers
‘HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS,’ EMILY DICKINSON
famously wrote, and that often leads to pictures of doves sitting quietly and looking sweet, but what if hope is an albatross that can soar for years without stopping, or an osprey that can haul a thrashing salmon out of rough waters?
famously wrote, and that often leads to pictures of doves sitting quietly and looking sweet, but what if hope is an albatross that can soar for years without stopping, or an osprey that can haul a thrashing salmon out of rough waters?
February 6, 2026 at 11:58 PM
Velociraptors had feathers
February 7, 2026 at 1:11 AM
#FossilFriday falls with the creeping inevitability of a global glaciation. These Proterozoic stromatolites from Minnesota's Iron Ranges stand as a reminder that, no matter how small we are alone, together we can change the world, making complex relationships possible like a breath of fresh air. 🧪⚒️
February 6, 2026 at 10:28 PM
#FossilFriday falls with the creeping inevitability of a global glaciation. These Proterozoic stromatolites from Minnesota's Iron Ranges stand as a reminder that, no matter how small we are alone, together we can change the world, making complex relationships possible like a breath of fresh air. 🧪⚒️
While I tend to identify more with paleontology, I was always the faculty member assigned to teach sed/strat. So, let's take a look at some sedimentary structures associated with the Sturtian glaciation! ⚒️🧪🧊
This just dropped, and I have a bunch of relevant pics. 🧵
This just dropped, and I have a bunch of relevant pics. 🧵
Interannual to multidecadal climate oscillations occurred during Cryogenian glaciation
During the two Cryogenian snowball Earth glaciations, the Sturtian (ca. 717–658 Ma) and Marinoan (ca. 639–635 Ma), ice persisted in the tropics for mi…
www.sciencedirect.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:56 PM
While I tend to identify more with paleontology, I was always the faculty member assigned to teach sed/strat. So, let's take a look at some sedimentary structures associated with the Sturtian glaciation! ⚒️🧪🧊
This just dropped, and I have a bunch of relevant pics. 🧵
This just dropped, and I have a bunch of relevant pics. 🧵
Reposted by Dave Rodland
Russia and the United States are no longer bound by any limits on the size of their strategic nuclear arsenals after their last arms control treaty expired on February 5 with no agreement between them on what should come next reut.rs/4aekQVk
February 5, 2026 at 11:02 AM
Russia and the United States are no longer bound by any limits on the size of their strategic nuclear arsenals after their last arms control treaty expired on February 5 with no agreement between them on what should come next reut.rs/4aekQVk
So, that's my backyard this morning. The rhodies are very temperature sensitive: that vertical droop curled into tubes corresponds to lical temperatures around 0°F.
Doe. 🥶
Doe. 🥶
February 5, 2026 at 12:29 PM
So, that's my backyard this morning. The rhodies are very temperature sensitive: that vertical droop curled into tubes corresponds to lical temperatures around 0°F.
Doe. 🥶
Doe. 🥶