HeadLab (Jason Head)
@headlab.bsky.social
Jason Head's lab at the University of Cambridge. Vertebrate Palaeontology, Tropical Palaeoecology, Conservation Palaeobiology, Herpetology, Evolutionary Morphology. Views are my own (do we still say that?)
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Professorship in Early Hominin Evolution at the University of Tübingen:
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11/03/2026
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11/03/2026
February 7, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Professorship in Early Hominin Evolution at the University of Tübingen:
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11/03/2026
uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet...
Application deadline: 11/03/2026
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Climate models show much of Africa could live in near-constant heatwaves by late century.
Unliveable conditions don’t stay local; they drive displacement, food collapse, conflict and global instability.
If you think this won’t affect you, think again.
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
Unliveable conditions don’t stay local; they drive displacement, food collapse, conflict and global instability.
If you think this won’t affect you, think again.
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
Heat with no end: climate model sets out an unbearable future for parts of Africa
By the end of this century, parts of Africa could face heatwaves for 250-300 days a year, which will make it difficult for people to survive.
theconversation.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Climate models show much of Africa could live in near-constant heatwaves by late century.
Unliveable conditions don’t stay local; they drive displacement, food collapse, conflict and global instability.
If you think this won’t affect you, think again.
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
Unliveable conditions don’t stay local; they drive displacement, food collapse, conflict and global instability.
If you think this won’t affect you, think again.
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Study on the diversification of jaw shape in pelagiarian/scombriform fishes led by @knapprew.bsky.social out in Evolution Letters as Editor's Choice. Gorgeous trichiuroid render by co-author @sternarchella.bsky.social nabbed the cover! Open access: academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
February 7, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Study on the diversification of jaw shape in pelagiarian/scombriform fishes led by @knapprew.bsky.social out in Evolution Letters as Editor's Choice. Gorgeous trichiuroid render by co-author @sternarchella.bsky.social nabbed the cover! Open access: academic.oup.com/evlett/artic...
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Not everyone in the Jurassic Period was a giant.
This tiny jaw of teeth was collected from the Mygatt-Moore dinosaur bonebed. It belonged to no dino, but instead to a small, lizard-like animal called a rhynchocephalian. Today, this group is represented by the Tuataras of New Zealand.
#FossilFriday
This tiny jaw of teeth was collected from the Mygatt-Moore dinosaur bonebed. It belonged to no dino, but instead to a small, lizard-like animal called a rhynchocephalian. Today, this group is represented by the Tuataras of New Zealand.
#FossilFriday
February 6, 2026 at 8:56 PM
Not everyone in the Jurassic Period was a giant.
This tiny jaw of teeth was collected from the Mygatt-Moore dinosaur bonebed. It belonged to no dino, but instead to a small, lizard-like animal called a rhynchocephalian. Today, this group is represented by the Tuataras of New Zealand.
#FossilFriday
This tiny jaw of teeth was collected from the Mygatt-Moore dinosaur bonebed. It belonged to no dino, but instead to a small, lizard-like animal called a rhynchocephalian. Today, this group is represented by the Tuataras of New Zealand.
#FossilFriday
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
📯New BrGDGT study for drylands, carried out by Lucas Dugerdil and his co-authors. This work demonstrates the necessity to constrain aridity and salinity as confounding factors to ensure the robustness of calibrations. doi.org/10.5194/bg-2...
BrGDGT-based palaeothermometer in drylands: the necessity to constrain aridity and salinity as confounding factors to ensure the robustness of calibrations
Abstract. Past temperature reconstructions offer valuable insights into the impact of climate change on the global climate-human-vegetation system. Branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGD...
doi.org
February 4, 2026 at 8:57 AM
📯New BrGDGT study for drylands, carried out by Lucas Dugerdil and his co-authors. This work demonstrates the necessity to constrain aridity and salinity as confounding factors to ensure the robustness of calibrations. doi.org/10.5194/bg-2...
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Recent assessments have found the last glacial maximum implies a climate sensitivity of 2.4C (1.4C to 5.0C): www.science.org/doi/...
And the Pliocene implies a sensitivity of 3.1C (2.3C to 4.7C): www.pnas.org/doi/10....
Paleoclimate evidence generally provides the strongest constraint on high ECS.
And the Pliocene implies a sensitivity of 3.1C (2.3C to 4.7C): www.pnas.org/doi/10....
Paleoclimate evidence generally provides the strongest constraint on high ECS.
February 2, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Recent assessments have found the last glacial maximum implies a climate sensitivity of 2.4C (1.4C to 5.0C): www.science.org/doi/...
And the Pliocene implies a sensitivity of 3.1C (2.3C to 4.7C): www.pnas.org/doi/10....
Paleoclimate evidence generally provides the strongest constraint on high ECS.
And the Pliocene implies a sensitivity of 3.1C (2.3C to 4.7C): www.pnas.org/doi/10....
Paleoclimate evidence generally provides the strongest constraint on high ECS.
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Winifred Goldring died #OTD in 1971.
She was the first paleontologist in the US & first woman appointed as a State Paleontologist (NY, 1939). The first woman president of the Paleontological Society (the largest association of paleontologists in the world) in 1949.
#WomenInSTEM #paleontology
She was the first paleontologist in the US & first woman appointed as a State Paleontologist (NY, 1939). The first woman president of the Paleontological Society (the largest association of paleontologists in the world) in 1949.
#WomenInSTEM #paleontology
January 31, 2026 at 12:06 AM
Winifred Goldring died #OTD in 1971.
She was the first paleontologist in the US & first woman appointed as a State Paleontologist (NY, 1939). The first woman president of the Paleontological Society (the largest association of paleontologists in the world) in 1949.
#WomenInSTEM #paleontology
She was the first paleontologist in the US & first woman appointed as a State Paleontologist (NY, 1939). The first woman president of the Paleontological Society (the largest association of paleontologists in the world) in 1949.
#WomenInSTEM #paleontology
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
January 29, 1984: Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons finishes with 21 PTS (9-17 FG)/15 AST/4 STL and is named MVP of the NBA All-Star Game in Denver.
Thomas and the East defeated the West in overtime, 154-145.
Thomas and the East defeated the West in overtime, 154-145.
January 29, 2026 at 4:56 PM
January 29, 1984: Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons finishes with 21 PTS (9-17 FG)/15 AST/4 STL and is named MVP of the NBA All-Star Game in Denver.
Thomas and the East defeated the West in overtime, 154-145.
Thomas and the East defeated the West in overtime, 154-145.
Wrong uniform…
January 29, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Wrong uniform…
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
🚨NEW PAPER OUT🚨
The anatomy of bird lower jaw bones has been understudied...until now! Here, we examine avian mandibular anatomy, answering some and raising more questions about the phylogenetic affinities of key early crown-group birds. Read on!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The anatomy of bird lower jaw bones has been understudied...until now! Here, we examine avian mandibular anatomy, answering some and raising more questions about the phylogenetic affinities of key early crown-group birds. Read on!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Mandibular morphology clarifies phylogenetic relationships near the origin of crown birds - BMC Ecology and Evolution
Background The phylogenetic relationships of fossil birds near the origin of the avian crown group remain debated, in part due to a limited amount of character evidence from incomplete fossils. The av...
link.springer.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:50 PM
🚨NEW PAPER OUT🚨
The anatomy of bird lower jaw bones has been understudied...until now! Here, we examine avian mandibular anatomy, answering some and raising more questions about the phylogenetic affinities of key early crown-group birds. Read on!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The anatomy of bird lower jaw bones has been understudied...until now! Here, we examine avian mandibular anatomy, answering some and raising more questions about the phylogenetic affinities of key early crown-group birds. Read on!
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
I'm a Pistons fan down to the bone, born and raised. But now I'm also a T'wolves fan:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6n...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6n...
Timberwolves hold a moment of silence in memory of Alex Pretti ahead of game vs. Warriors
YouTube video by ESPN
www.youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 12:13 AM
I'm a Pistons fan down to the bone, born and raised. But now I'm also a T'wolves fan:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6n...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S6n...
The weight of everything falling apart back home is brutal. So here's something from a better time:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdnC...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdnC...
X - Burning House Of Love (Album Version)
YouTube video by Fanged.Fiend.Reactor
www.youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 12:04 AM
The weight of everything falling apart back home is brutal. So here's something from a better time:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdnC...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdnC...
Would love to see those vertebral columns!
This #FossilFriday we are pleased to have published the new younginid taxon Scyllacerta from the late Permian of South Africa 🇿🇦
This beautiful aggregation has the holotype and has been in the literature for 30 years as “juvenile Youngina”.
Photo taken before scanning at the @esrf.fr
This beautiful aggregation has the holotype and has been in the literature for 30 years as “juvenile Youngina”.
Photo taken before scanning at the @esrf.fr
January 23, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Would love to see those vertebral columns!
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
January 23, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂
🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!
January 9, 2026 at 8:02 PM
BIG FIGHT AT POLAND’S WROCLAW ZOO!!!
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Annie Alexander was born #OTD in 1867. A pioneering amateur naturalist & paleontologist whose wealth and passion for science fueled her founding & financing two world-class scientific museums at UC Berkeley: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (1908) & UC Museum of Paleontology (1921). #WomenInSTEM
(1/2)
(1/2)
December 29, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Annie Alexander was born #OTD in 1867. A pioneering amateur naturalist & paleontologist whose wealth and passion for science fueled her founding & financing two world-class scientific museums at UC Berkeley: Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (1908) & UC Museum of Paleontology (1921). #WomenInSTEM
(1/2)
(1/2)
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
it appears your manuscript "in preparation" was not published in 2025 after all, mr. bond
December 22, 2025 at 12:45 PM
it appears your manuscript "in preparation" was not published in 2025 after all, mr. bond
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
December 21, 1990: Detroit’s Joe Dumars and James Edwards each score 24 PTS in the Pistons’ 113-87 win over Atlanta.
Edwards made what would be the only 3-pointer of his career at the end of the third quarter. John Battle led the Hawks with 22 PTS.
📺 WDIV-TV
Edwards made what would be the only 3-pointer of his career at the end of the third quarter. John Battle led the Hawks with 22 PTS.
📺 WDIV-TV
December 22, 2025 at 1:08 AM
December 21, 1990: Detroit’s Joe Dumars and James Edwards each score 24 PTS in the Pistons’ 113-87 win over Atlanta.
Edwards made what would be the only 3-pointer of his career at the end of the third quarter. John Battle led the Hawks with 22 PTS.
📺 WDIV-TV
Edwards made what would be the only 3-pointer of his career at the end of the third quarter. John Battle led the Hawks with 22 PTS.
📺 WDIV-TV
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Cool new paper documenting intraspecific variation in the skeleton of Iguana.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Would love to see more like it.
There are recent examples of paleos naming new taxa that could have benefited from this sort of assessment of morphological variation.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Would love to see more like it.
There are recent examples of paleos naming new taxa that could have benefited from this sort of assessment of morphological variation.
The skeleton of the green Iguana iguana (Squamata: Iguanidae) and its intraspecific morphological variation
The green iguana (Iguana iguana) is an iguanine lizard with herbivorous and arboreal habits, whose distribution spans through South America, Central America to the south of North America. Although th...
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Cool new paper documenting intraspecific variation in the skeleton of Iguana.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Would love to see more like it.
There are recent examples of paleos naming new taxa that could have benefited from this sort of assessment of morphological variation.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Would love to see more like it.
There are recent examples of paleos naming new taxa that could have benefited from this sort of assessment of morphological variation.
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Drone captures pack of wolves trekking through deep snow. I’ve never seen anything like this. 🥰
December 16, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Drone captures pack of wolves trekking through deep snow. I’ve never seen anything like this. 🥰
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Lovely new paper by @sarah-paris.bsky.social & Charles Higham "Ochre use in burial practices in Thailand, from Neolithic to the Iron Age" 😍!!
@cam-archaeology.bsky.social
@cam-archaeology.bsky.social
December 15, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Lovely new paper by @sarah-paris.bsky.social & Charles Higham "Ochre use in burial practices in Thailand, from Neolithic to the Iron Age" 😍!!
@cam-archaeology.bsky.social
@cam-archaeology.bsky.social
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Cambridge University vet school could close
#Cambridgeshire #BBCNews
🔗: https://www.bbc.com/news/arti...
#Cambridgeshire #BBCNews
🔗: https://www.bbc.com/news/arti...
University of Cambridge could close its veterinary school by 2032
A spokesperson for the university says the final decision will be made in January.
www.bbc.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Cambridge University vet school could close
#Cambridgeshire #BBCNews
🔗: https://www.bbc.com/news/arti...
#Cambridgeshire #BBCNews
🔗: https://www.bbc.com/news/arti...
Reposted by HeadLab (Jason Head)
Whatever goes on at the Herpetology Conference *stays* at the Herpetology Conference.
December 12, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Whatever goes on at the Herpetology Conference *stays* at the Herpetology Conference.