Richard Dearden
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euphanerops.bsky.social
Richard Dearden
@euphanerops.bsky.social
360 followers 870 following 36 posts
Fan of fossil fishes. Postdoc at University of Birmingham. Especially interested in using fossil and living taxa to understand the evolution of sharks, rays, and chimaeras. Also paint miniatures very slowly.
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euphanerops.bsky.social
Richard Dearden @euphanerops.bsky.social · Apr 30
New #OA paper in @royalsocietypublishing.org #RSOS: we use CT to describe a 3D shark from the Cretaceous Chalk, giving a rare skeletal perspective on shark evolution.

A bit of the backstory in 🧵below featuring
🦴 MYSTERY FOSSILS
🦈 CUTE SHARKS
🦷 CHALK DENTISTRY

doi.org/10.1098/rsos...

(1/13)
A reconstruction of a Cretaceous collared carpet shark menacing a crab in a shallow sea, crinoids, ammonites, and belemnites in background. Credit: Julio Lacerda A fossilised shark head in chalk limestone, and CT data showing the 3D skull preserved inside
Reposted by Richard Dearden
tweetisaurus.bsky.social
JOB KLAXON! The @nhm-london.bsky.social is recruiting a micro-CT specialist! jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
CT Data and Micro CT Specialist :South Kensington
jobs.nhm.ac.uk
December 23, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
jfcudennec.bsky.social
1/ Last week I attended to a conference entilted "Interactions between human societies and marine invertebrates" (I love how niche and obscure these meetings are), and I learned about the Neolithic desert kites, these huge traps in Middle East.

The link with marine inverts ? A quick thread ! 🦑🏺
Aerial view of the Jibal al‑Khashabiyeh desert kite : a system of stone walls constituting an anclosure were wild animals were trapped
December 9, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
friedmanlab.bsky.social
Out now: latest addition to the Grande volume! Guang-Hui Xu reevaluates Guizhoubrachysomus from the Middle Triassic of southern China. Interpreted as a "luganoiid" in the past, this work argues Guizhoubrachysomus is instead an early dapediid, a group most famous from Jurassic deposits of Europe.
Three-panel figure of a deep-bodied fossil fish. Upper panel shows complete specimen of articulated fish. Bottom left panel shows a close-up photo of skull. Lower right panel shows interpretive drawing of the skull with labeled bones. Large phylogenetic diagram of actinopterygian fishes, emphasizing neopterygians. Each terminal is associated with a small line drawing depicting the taxon.
December 20, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
phil-donoghue.bsky.social
As we head into the festive period, don't forget to apply for my awesome project (including much cleverer co-supervisors) on flowering plant (genome) evolution by January 8. You know you'll regret it if you don't! 🎄🧑‍🎄🔔🎁☃️❄️
phil-donoghue.bsky.social Philip Donoghue @phil-donoghue.bsky.social · Nov 20
Come and do a PhD on 'Genome duplication, extinction and diversification in the evolution of flowering plants' with myself @jameswclark.bsky.social and Ilia Leitch @bristolpalaeo.bsky.social and join the @wgdip.bsky.social studying rediploidisation. Apply: tinyurl.com/26pmfvvc by Jan 8
December 19, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
phil-donoghue.bsky.social
Festive update on chondrichthyan jaw evolution: Evolution of chondrichthyan jaw morphology, from ecological generalists to specialists, led by Ben Griffin, with help from @evopalaeo.bsky.social @euphanerops.bsky.social @emilyrayfield.bsky.social Pablo Milla Carmona and Zerina Johanson
Evolution of chondrichthyan jaw morphology, from ecological generalists to specialists | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Evolution of chondrichthyan jaw morphology, from ecological generalists to specialists
www.cambridge.org
December 19, 2025 at 9:45 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
philvixseboxse.bsky.social
Absolutely delighted to be a recipient of the @thepalass.bsky.social Annual Meeting Poster Prize at #Palass25! It was a pleasure to discuss our new taphonomic approaches with so many of you all.
Two time series of decay, showing the decomposition of a sea anemone (top) and shrimp (bottom) over 72 and 144 hours respectively.
December 15, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
knapprew.bsky.social
New paper! Here we look at shape evolution of the mandible in Pelagiaria, a group of open-ocean fishes that includes tuna and mackerel. We find that shape disparity accumulated rapidly at the origin of the clade at around the K/Pg boundary... academic.oup.com/evlett/advan...
Adaptive radiation of pelagiarian fishes at the K/Pg boundary led to rapid diversification of mandible morphology
Abstract. Mandibles represent a key evolutionary innovation that has enabled jawed vertebrates to adapt and diversify in response to a range of food source
academic.oup.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
whosyourmammal.bsky.social
#YOURPALAEOLIFE IS BACK! But we’re a bit different this time - If you're an established researcher, over 5 years post-PhD, it’s time to shine. Tell us about your field work ambitions, triumphs and (rock-) crushing disappointments.
#whenthestudentsaway #thePIgetstoplay

forms.gle/etx3gqg7DWZb...
#Yourpalaeolife Part II: the PI perspective
Hello everybody! Welcome to the second part of this anonymous survey about field work in palaeontology - this time, we want to hear from ESTABLISHED CAREER PALAEONTOLOGISTS (more than 5 years post-PhD...
forms.gle
December 11, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
thepalass.bsky.social
🌟 Today — Thursday 11th December 🌟
👩‍🔬👨‍🔬 Palaeontological Association (PalAss) 2025 Annual Meeting – Early-Career Researcher Workshop & Social
📍 University of Portsmouth, UK

📌 Schedule
🕐 13:00 – 14:00 — Registration (Portland Building)
🧑‍🔬 14:00 – 17:00 — Workshop: “Learning from experience: [1/2]
December 11, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
thepalass.bsky.social
⏳ Just 2 days left until our 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association in Portsmouth!
🎉 We’re excited to see you there!
🔗 palass.org/annual-meeti...

#PalAss25 #conference #portsmouth #palaeontology
December 10, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
thepalass.bsky.social
⏳ Only 3 days left until the 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association kicks off in Portsmouth, UK! 🇬🇧🦕
We can’t wait to see everyone there!
🔗  palass.org/annual-meeti...

#conference #palaeontology #PalAss2025
December 9, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
thepalass.bsky.social
🚨 Apply to host the PalAss Exceptional Lecturer! Dr Yara Haridy from the University of Chicago, USA can give a talk entitled "Deep time origins of your skeleton and the evolution of bone disease" either at your institution or online. [1/2]
December 4, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
dragonsofwales.bsky.social
Could I ask you to please take a moment to sign and share this. Education matters, and needs to be fought for.
Thank you.

www.change.org/p/save-geolo...
www.change.org
December 5, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
lewisajones.bsky.social
Interested in Historical Ecology and Conservation Palaeobiology? 🪸🦀

Steve Pates and I are offering a PhD project on Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines @es-ucl.bsky.social
@uclcber.bsky.social

🗓️ Apply by 19th January 2026

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - Unlocking Palaeo-Historical Biodiversity Data to Inform Ecological Baselines through AI at University of Reading, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
December 4, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
richardjbutler.bsky.social
Curatorial job with significant geological and palaeontological collections at Warwick Museums.

www.wmjobs.co.uk/job/250490/c...
Curator of Natural Sciences - Warwick,Warwickshire job with Warwickshire County Council | 250490
About Heritage and Culture Warwickshire Heritage and Culture Warwickshire (HCW) provide a wide range of services that help local communities and ...
www.wmjobs.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
palaeostephan.bsky.social
Why such a long face? In our new paper, we quantified dinosaur skull geometry and proportions and tested their functional impact. www.cell.com/iscience/ful...
(Artwork by Andy Frazer @dragonsofwales.bsky.social)
1/5
December 1, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
thepalass.bsky.social
🎉🦕 Big news! The Palaeontological Association has just released the abstract booklet and programme for the 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association (Portsmouth, 11–15 Dec 2025)! 🌍📖 ⬇️

palass.org/annual-meeti...
#conference #PalAss25 #uk
December 1, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
openpalaeo.bsky.social
Open Palaeontology is looking for Managing Editors and Steering Committee members! Please consider joining us on our mission to promote community open-access publishing in palaeontology.
Advert for Open Palaeontology Steering Committee Member Advert for Open Palaeontology Managing Editor
November 20, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
dragonsofwales.bsky.social
No. I don’t just draw dinosaurs! These illustrations were commissioned for the Feeding Without Jaws Exhibition at @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social Check out their website - www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi... - for more details of the exhibition, which runs until the end of February. (1/4)
Digital illustrations of the prehistoric jawless fish Anglaspis, Doryaspis and Drepanaspis.
November 29, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
palaeostephan.bsky.social
Check out Andy’s excellent reconstructions of jawless fish for our latest exhibition @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social!
dragonsofwales.bsky.social Dragons of Wales @dragonsofwales.bsky.social · 27d
No. I don’t just draw dinosaurs! These illustrations were commissioned for the Feeding Without Jaws Exhibition at @lapworthmuseum.bsky.social Check out their website - www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/feedi... - for more details of the exhibition, which runs until the end of February. (1/4)
Digital illustrations of the prehistoric jawless fish Anglaspis, Doryaspis and Drepanaspis.
November 29, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
thepalass.bsky.social
📣 Hey PalAss participants!
The 2025 Annual Meeting in Portsmouth is getting closer 🦕📍

Just a quick reminder:
If you’re tagging us on social media, don’t forget to use our official hashtag #PalAss25 🙌✨

Happy #FossilFriday! 🐚🦴
November 28, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
thepalass.bsky.social
🎓 Looking for an exciting PhD project?
Check out some amazing opportunities on our page! 🌍🔬

👉 palass.org/phd-opportun...

Have a PhD opportunity to share?
You can easily add it using the “Add a PhD Opportunity” button! 📝✨

#phd #phdlife #advertising #palass
November 24, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
aubronectes.bsky.social
I guess now would be a good time for my first post here. Yesterday we published a new paper on the incredible ecosystem of tetrapods and other vertebrates in Science. It has been years of work - but we got there in the end. Thank you to everyone the contributed to this work ❤️
science.org Science Magazine @science.org · Nov 13
An early Triassic bone bed excavated at 78°N changes the story about how marine life recovered after the most cataclysmic extinction in Earth history ~252 million years ago.

Learn more in this week's issue of Science: https://scim.ag/48bLsGI
An early Triassic bone bed excavated at 78°N changes the story about how marine life recovered after the most cataclysmic extinction in Earth history ~252 million years ago. The quantity and diversity of marine reptile and amphibian fossils show that these groups had already radiated into complex oceanic ecosystems by ~249 million years ago.
November 14, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by Richard Dearden
pdpolly.bsky.social
Leicester's Palaeontology program has a long track record including discovery that conodonts were vertebrates, graduates who are Fellows of the Royal Society, innovative researchers, and a growing body of undergraduate students.
c.org/HJW7FVxPwv
Sign the Petition
Save Geology at the University of Leicester
c.org
November 23, 2025 at 3:25 PM