Dr. Rod Taylor
@fossilrod.bsky.social
Palaeontologist, science interpreter, nature lover and music collector.
It’s #newspeciesday this #FossilFriday, and it’s a special one this time. A very happy day for the MUN Paleobiology research group! 😃❤️
This #FossilFriday I’m excitedly sharing a new #Ediacaran #Charnia brasieri named for my PhD Supervisor & friend Martin Brasier who died 2014. I’ve wanted to name something for him ever since but I wanted it to be something special. When I saw the first one from Inner Meadow I knew it was the 1 🧵
October 31, 2025 at 10:53 AM
It’s #newspeciesday this #FossilFriday, and it’s a special one this time. A very happy day for the MUN Paleobiology research group! 😃❤️
Reposted by Dr. Rod Taylor
A bit late on #FossilFriday but this Ediacaran Mistaken point specimen has been on my desk haunting me this last month. It is the paratype of #Beothukis mistakensis. All know specimens of this sp. on the E Surface are oriented nearly perpendicular to the palaeocurrent doi.org/10.3389/fear...
October 24, 2025 at 6:55 PM
A bit late on #FossilFriday but this Ediacaran Mistaken point specimen has been on my desk haunting me this last month. It is the paratype of #Beothukis mistakensis. All know specimens of this sp. on the E Surface are oriented nearly perpendicular to the palaeocurrent doi.org/10.3389/fear...
This #fossilfriday, we move in time to the #Permian when the #amphibian Seymouria sanjuanensis lived in what is New Mexico today. Clusters of large animals like this one are rarely found in the #fossil record, especially this well preserved.
Photo: Amy Henrici
Photo: Amy Henrici
October 24, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This #fossilfriday, we move in time to the #Permian when the #amphibian Seymouria sanjuanensis lived in what is New Mexico today. Clusters of large animals like this one are rarely found in the #fossil record, especially this well preserved.
Photo: Amy Henrici
Photo: Amy Henrici
Reposted by Dr. Rod Taylor
This is such a beautiful fossil to work with. As soon the first specimen appeared i loved the architecture & pulled rank, calling dibs on working on it (which i seldom do). This is the artwork of our new #Charnia that i produced for the journal to go in the graphical abstract.
#sciart #paleoart
#sciart #paleoart
October 17, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rod Taylor
Happy #FossilFriday from the #Ediacaran of Newfoundland and our #InnerMeadow site, teasing this beauty of a #Charnia which will get a name any day now. This specimen was found just a couple of weeks ago (after acceptance of the paper) & is c. 35cm long & 8cm wide (before retrodeformation)…,,
October 17, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Happy #FossilFriday from the #Ediacaran of Newfoundland and our #InnerMeadow site, teasing this beauty of a #Charnia which will get a name any day now. This specimen was found just a couple of weeks ago (after acceptance of the paper) & is c. 35cm long & 8cm wide (before retrodeformation)…,,
This #FossilFriday: a spectacular 3D reconstruction of Waptia fieldensis, an arthropod from the 500 million year old (Cambrian) Burgess Shale, produced by Lars Fields.
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
September 26, 2025 at 5:01 PM
This #FossilFriday: a spectacular 3D reconstruction of Waptia fieldensis, an arthropod from the 500 million year old (Cambrian) Burgess Shale, produced by Lars Fields.
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
To learn more, visit doi.org/10.1098/rsos.... 😃
Reposted by Dr. Rod Taylor
Happy #FossilFriday from the #Ediacaran of Inner Meadow in Newfoundland. The meadow is beautiful this time of year and it is great for the clearing work. Here is a newly exposed #Charnia masoni. The first masoni from this site, our faunal list is getting long!
September 26, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Happy #FossilFriday from the #Ediacaran of Inner Meadow in Newfoundland. The meadow is beautiful this time of year and it is great for the clearing work. Here is a newly exposed #Charnia masoni. The first masoni from this site, our faunal list is getting long!
This #TrilobiteTuesday: A beautifully preserved Badulesia tenera, a Middle Cambrian #trilobite from the Middle Cambrian Manuels River Formation in #Newfoundland. It had a set of distinctive ridges on the cephalon (head), making it easy to recognize.
September 23, 2025 at 2:22 PM
This #TrilobiteTuesday: A beautifully preserved Badulesia tenera, a Middle Cambrian #trilobite from the Middle Cambrian Manuels River Formation in #Newfoundland. It had a set of distinctive ridges on the cephalon (head), making it easy to recognize.
Reposted by Dr. Rod Taylor
happy #FossilFriday! in the 1820’s a captive Beothuk woman Shanawdithit created a word list including jiggamint (spiky gooseberry). She was the last of her people & from what we know a truly amazing person.
In the 1970’s punk icon John Lyndon (Johnny Rotten) inspired a generation with angst and..
In the 1970’s punk icon John Lyndon (Johnny Rotten) inspired a generation with angst and..
September 19, 2025 at 11:25 AM
happy #FossilFriday! in the 1820’s a captive Beothuk woman Shanawdithit created a word list including jiggamint (spiky gooseberry). She was the last of her people & from what we know a truly amazing person.
In the 1970’s punk icon John Lyndon (Johnny Rotten) inspired a generation with angst and..
In the 1970’s punk icon John Lyndon (Johnny Rotten) inspired a generation with angst and..
Lydonia jiggamintia, a newly described #Ediacaran organism from #Newfoundland, on the matground-covered seafloor overgrowing a decaying Fractofusus andersoni. Palaeontology isn't just about describing new organisms, it's also about understanding how they lived.
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
September 19, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Lydonia jiggamintia, a newly described #Ediacaran organism from #Newfoundland, on the matground-covered seafloor overgrowing a decaying Fractofusus andersoni. Palaeontology isn't just about describing new organisms, it's also about understanding how they lived.
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
Paper available here: bit.ly/4gQ1xF7
New #Ediacaran paper alert! the sponge-like #Lydonia jiggamintia is named for the spiky-topped punk legend John Lydon [aka Johnny Rotten]. The species name is derived from the word for gooseberry in the language of the Beothuk people of Newfoundland.
palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...
palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...
Lydonia jiggamintia
The macrofossil Lydonia jiggamintia gen. et sp. nov. from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland (Canada): From pseudofossil to metazoan-grade organism
palaeo-electronica.org
September 16, 2025 at 6:39 PM
New #Ediacaran paper alert! the sponge-like #Lydonia jiggamintia is named for the spiky-topped punk legend John Lydon [aka Johnny Rotten]. The species name is derived from the word for gooseberry in the language of the Beothuk people of Newfoundland.
palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...
palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025...
A great post for #FossilFriday, describing our ongoing #Ediacaran palaeontological research here in #Newfoundland.
These things are big, reaching more than 50cm in length!
These things are big, reaching more than 50cm in length!
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.
September 5, 2025 at 1:12 PM
A great post for #FossilFriday, describing our ongoing #Ediacaran palaeontological research here in #Newfoundland.
These things are big, reaching more than 50cm in length!
These things are big, reaching more than 50cm in length!
This #FossilFriday, here's Franz Anthony's delightful #Ediacaran life artwork, featuring critters from all three Ediacaran assemblages - including our very own Haootia!
August 29, 2025 at 12:27 PM
This #FossilFriday, here's Franz Anthony's delightful #Ediacaran life artwork, featuring critters from all three Ediacaran assemblages - including our very own Haootia!
One of our temporary displays at the @johnsongeocentre.bsky.social features a group of Artemia, aka fairy shrimp or sea monkeys. These delicate little crustaceans have a fossil record extending back at least 115 million years! #FossilFriday
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
August 22, 2025 at 12:00 PM
One of our temporary displays at the @johnsongeocentre.bsky.social features a group of Artemia, aka fairy shrimp or sea monkeys. These delicate little crustaceans have a fossil record extending back at least 115 million years! #FossilFriday
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
See doi.org/10.1080/0311...
Science is (meant to be) about observing the available data and adapting our perception of 'the truth' to incorporate new information. Duncan's current #Ediacaran work is a stellar example of doing exactly this.
This #Fossilfriday i’m going to share a little #sciart adventure with #Charnia masoni which comes from the Charnwood Forest Geopark in the UK. The models are those i created using Martin Brasier’s rangeomorph architecture rules.
doi.org/10.1144/jgs2...
it has very low amounts of biomass
doi.org/10.1144/jgs2...
it has very low amounts of biomass
August 22, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Science is (meant to be) about observing the available data and adapting our perception of 'the truth' to incorporate new information. Duncan's current #Ediacaran work is a stellar example of doing exactly this.
This #FossilFriday, a little foolishness courtesy of my brother Art. 😊🦖
August 15, 2025 at 12:11 PM
This #FossilFriday, a little foolishness courtesy of my brother Art. 😊🦖
Here's a nice little write-up by Memorial University on The Johnson Geo Centre's placement in the Top 10 per cent of “Things to Do” Worldwide, according to Tripadvisor’s 2025 Travelers’ Choice Awards. 😃
gazette.mun.ca/public-engag...
gazette.mun.ca/public-engag...
Highly rated
From deep underground to the top of the world.
gazette.mun.ca
August 11, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Here's a nice little write-up by Memorial University on The Johnson Geo Centre's placement in the Top 10 per cent of “Things to Do” Worldwide, according to Tripadvisor’s 2025 Travelers’ Choice Awards. 😃
gazette.mun.ca/public-engag...
gazette.mun.ca/public-engag...
Reposted by Dr. Rod Taylor
This #FossilFriday i wanted to share this tiny #Staurozoan fossil from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland. It was the paratype of #Haootia but now belongs to #Mamsetia . We consider that it might be the #Stauropolyp. See the coronal muscle of the calyx & 1 arm. compare the arm of a modern #Lucernaria
August 1, 2025 at 3:26 PM
This #FossilFriday i wanted to share this tiny #Staurozoan fossil from the Ediacaran of Newfoundland. It was the paratype of #Haootia but now belongs to #Mamsetia . We consider that it might be the #Stauropolyp. See the coronal muscle of the calyx & 1 arm. compare the arm of a modern #Lucernaria
This #FossilFriday, here’s a fabulous #fossil poster made available (for free) by the government of #Canada back in the 1990s. I’ve had this on my wall far longer than I want to admit!! 😁
August 1, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This #FossilFriday, here’s a fabulous #fossil poster made available (for free) by the government of #Canada back in the 1990s. I’ve had this on my wall far longer than I want to admit!! 😁
July 11, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rod Taylor
This #fossilfriday is brought to you by the holotype of the oldest fossil cnidarian Mamsetia manunis from @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social . This summer we have worked with Champney’s West Mini aquarium on a new Geosite which includes a cast of this specimen. It was torn prior to fossilization
July 11, 2025 at 2:06 PM
This #fossilfriday is brought to you by the holotype of the oldest fossil cnidarian Mamsetia manunis from @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social . This summer we have worked with Champney’s West Mini aquarium on a new Geosite which includes a cast of this specimen. It was torn prior to fossilization
Best day in the field ever? Quite possibly. It’s not every day you find the oldest known muscular animal in the world. Mamsetia manunis - an #Ediacaran fossil at @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social - before and after cleaning on the day it was discovered. #FossilFriday
July 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Best day in the field ever? Quite possibly. It’s not every day you find the oldest known muscular animal in the world. Mamsetia manunis - an #Ediacaran fossil at @discoverygeoparknl.bsky.social - before and after cleaning on the day it was discovered. #FossilFriday
And speaking of Fractofusus...
This #FossilFriday offering is a hand painted cast of the Ediacaran fractal-like #Fractofusus misrai from Mistaken Point, Newfoundland for an outreach project i’m doing. This is one of the abundant curvy specimens that Rod Taylor worked on for this cool paper www.researchgate.net/publication/...
June 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM
And speaking of Fractofusus...
I've not posted for #FossilFriday for a few weeks, so let's get back to it with #FractofususFriday! This #Ediacaran beastie from Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland, possessed some very complex branching, as highlighted in this close-up image (courtesy of CBC.ca).
June 27, 2025 at 12:13 PM
I've not posted for #FossilFriday for a few weeks, so let's get back to it with #FractofususFriday! This #Ediacaran beastie from Mistaken Point, #Newfoundland, possessed some very complex branching, as highlighted in this close-up image (courtesy of CBC.ca).
This #FossilFriday, I give you Plumeropriscum. It’s a smallish frond with a short stem, and is a pretty common critter on the famous E surface at Mistaken Point. It lived 565 million years ago, but was first described in 2016.
May 16, 2025 at 12:02 PM
This #FossilFriday, I give you Plumeropriscum. It’s a smallish frond with a short stem, and is a pretty common critter on the famous E surface at Mistaken Point. It lived 565 million years ago, but was first described in 2016.