Krista Koeller
@kristalerista.bsky.social
Researching why legless lizards and snakes don't have feet. (She/her) 😷
convergent evolution, paleontology, ADHD, disability rights, grants, whatever my hyperfixation is this week.
kkoeller3115.wixsite.com/kristakoeller
https://twitter.com/KristaLerista
convergent evolution, paleontology, ADHD, disability rights, grants, whatever my hyperfixation is this week.
kkoeller3115.wixsite.com/kristakoeller
https://twitter.com/KristaLerista
The powers have conspired against me and my flight to SVP has been delayed by a day. Sad to miss the first bit!
November 11, 2025 at 2:04 AM
The powers have conspired against me and my flight to SVP has been delayed by a day. Sad to miss the first bit!
Netflix has a new show about my boy James Garfield!!!!
He’s the president I’m most confident had ADHD. I think he could’ve been one of the greats if he hadn’t been murdered/shot and then killed accidentally by doctors.
So far I’m really enjoying it.
It’s called Death by Lightning.
He’s the president I’m most confident had ADHD. I think he could’ve been one of the greats if he hadn’t been murdered/shot and then killed accidentally by doctors.
So far I’m really enjoying it.
It’s called Death by Lightning.
November 10, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Netflix has a new show about my boy James Garfield!!!!
He’s the president I’m most confident had ADHD. I think he could’ve been one of the greats if he hadn’t been murdered/shot and then killed accidentally by doctors.
So far I’m really enjoying it.
It’s called Death by Lightning.
He’s the president I’m most confident had ADHD. I think he could’ve been one of the greats if he hadn’t been murdered/shot and then killed accidentally by doctors.
So far I’m really enjoying it.
It’s called Death by Lightning.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
if you’ve had Szechuan peppercorns do you experience them more as
a) tingly (like a vibration) or
b) numbing (like super weak lidocaine)
~And~ are you colorblind
(we‘d need to correct for base rates but let’s just try to crank the anecdata knob first; @elenatenenbaum.bsky.social this is for you)
a) tingly (like a vibration) or
b) numbing (like super weak lidocaine)
~And~ are you colorblind
(we‘d need to correct for base rates but let’s just try to crank the anecdata knob first; @elenatenenbaum.bsky.social this is for you)
November 10, 2025 at 4:02 AM
if you’ve had Szechuan peppercorns do you experience them more as
a) tingly (like a vibration) or
b) numbing (like super weak lidocaine)
~And~ are you colorblind
(we‘d need to correct for base rates but let’s just try to crank the anecdata knob first; @elenatenenbaum.bsky.social this is for you)
a) tingly (like a vibration) or
b) numbing (like super weak lidocaine)
~And~ are you colorblind
(we‘d need to correct for base rates but let’s just try to crank the anecdata knob first; @elenatenenbaum.bsky.social this is for you)
This is my first Gilmore Girls rewatch as a person older than Lauren Graham was when the show started.
I feel old.
Also Rory is even worse than I remembered.
I feel old.
Also Rory is even worse than I remembered.
November 10, 2025 at 11:16 AM
This is my first Gilmore Girls rewatch as a person older than Lauren Graham was when the show started.
I feel old.
Also Rory is even worse than I remembered.
I feel old.
Also Rory is even worse than I remembered.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
We got to meet the most unique little boy yesterday, he’s with our partner rescue. At first glance, he looks like a regular orange tabby. But take a closer look, & what seems like grease smudges is actually (drumroll)— small mixed tortoiseshell patches!! This little guy has 1:3000 XXY chromosomes.
November 9, 2025 at 11:48 PM
We got to meet the most unique little boy yesterday, he’s with our partner rescue. At first glance, he looks like a regular orange tabby. But take a closer look, & what seems like grease smudges is actually (drumroll)— small mixed tortoiseshell patches!! This little guy has 1:3000 XXY chromosomes.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Okay, Ezra is confirming that he's hearing D senators are actually plotting to cave to Trump and end the shutdown WITHOUT any extension of the ACA, just a promise of a vote later down the line.
Call your senators, friends, NOW, and tell them NO DEAL without ACA funding!
Find them here: reps.fyi
Call your senators, friends, NOW, and tell them NO DEAL without ACA funding!
Find them here: reps.fyi
yep
November 9, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Okay, Ezra is confirming that he's hearing D senators are actually plotting to cave to Trump and end the shutdown WITHOUT any extension of the ACA, just a promise of a vote later down the line.
Call your senators, friends, NOW, and tell them NO DEAL without ACA funding!
Find them here: reps.fyi
Call your senators, friends, NOW, and tell them NO DEAL without ACA funding!
Find them here: reps.fyi
I closed 78 tabs please clap
November 8, 2025 at 11:31 PM
I closed 78 tabs please clap
Reposted by Krista Koeller
it's pretty funny how peppers produce capsaicin so they get eaten and dispersed long distance by birds instead of puny walking mammals, but then some apes decided "oh hey pain is fun actually" and now the plants made it to every part of the planet
November 8, 2025 at 8:56 AM
it's pretty funny how peppers produce capsaicin so they get eaten and dispersed long distance by birds instead of puny walking mammals, but then some apes decided "oh hey pain is fun actually" and now the plants made it to every part of the planet
Reposted by Krista Koeller
congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run
OVER A MILLION USERS
DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT
EVERY *WEEK*
what the fuck are we DOING here
DISCUSS SUICIDE WITH CHATGPT
EVERY *WEEK*
what the fuck are we DOING here
Panera’s moderately caffeinated lemonade was loosely associated with 2 deaths before it was taken off market.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
This article alone has 4 examples of ChatGPT encouraging young people to commit suicide, and OpenAI’s own public stats estimate over a million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT each week.
November 7, 2025 at 11:24 PM
congrats to everyone for thinking this through before signing very big contracts to put it on every student’s device at the school or university you run
Reposted by Krista Koeller
This video is awesome, and this species is the samurai crab, legendary in Japan 🦀🦑
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heikegani
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heikegani
November 7, 2025 at 4:26 PM
This video is awesome, and this species is the samurai crab, legendary in Japan 🦀🦑
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heikegani
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heikegani
Feeling some feelings about James Watson.
Here’s a Watson I feel better about celebrating.
Here’s a Watson I feel better about celebrating.
November 7, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Feeling some feelings about James Watson.
Here’s a Watson I feel better about celebrating.
Here’s a Watson I feel better about celebrating.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
For #FossilFriday, please enjoy some very, VERY old evidence of parasitism, preserved in fossilized shells of brachiopods that lived ~500 million years ago in what's now southern China. These kleptoparasites—food stealers—built mineralized tubes on filter-feeding hosts & slurped up their food 🧪
Cambrian fossils show oldest example of parasites in action
Tubelike organisms clung to their hosts' shells
www.livescience.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:31 PM
For #FossilFriday, please enjoy some very, VERY old evidence of parasitism, preserved in fossilized shells of brachiopods that lived ~500 million years ago in what's now southern China. These kleptoparasites—food stealers—built mineralized tubes on filter-feeding hosts & slurped up their food 🧪
Reposted by Krista Koeller
(Top) sketched this one alongside other tetrapods some time back.
November 7, 2025 at 8:31 PM
(Top) sketched this one alongside other tetrapods some time back.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
The Dept of Biology at Loyola University. Chicago has an open lecturer position in Gender, Sexuality, and the Biology of Sex. The successful candidate will have a 50% affiliation with the Women's Studies and Gender Studies program and 50% Dept of Biology.
www.careers.luc.edu/postings/34131
www.careers.luc.edu/postings/34131
Biology and Women’s Studies and Gender Studies, Lecturer (Gender, Sexuality, and the Biology of Sex ), Non-Tenure track
Salary Range: $65,000 - $75,000Benefits Information: https://www.luc.edu/hr/benefits/The Department of Biology and the Women’s Studies and Gender Studies (WSGS) Program in the College of Arts and Scie...
www.careers.luc.edu
November 7, 2025 at 2:26 PM
The Dept of Biology at Loyola University. Chicago has an open lecturer position in Gender, Sexuality, and the Biology of Sex. The successful candidate will have a 50% affiliation with the Women's Studies and Gender Studies program and 50% Dept of Biology.
www.careers.luc.edu/postings/34131
www.careers.luc.edu/postings/34131
Reposted by Krista Koeller
TIL: A million-year old fossil of a pregnant sea snail led me to the discovery that a small percentage of modern snails have internal fertilization, development & live birth.
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
November 7, 2025 at 2:23 PM
TIL: A million-year old fossil of a pregnant sea snail led me to the discovery that a small percentage of modern snails have internal fertilization, development & live birth.
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
In family 'Viviparidae,' baby snails emerge looking like tiny versions of the adults.
What to get for the baby shower?
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Phylogeny of tinamous based on whole-genomes and fossils: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... 🪶🧪 (📷Musher et al.)
November 7, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Phylogeny of tinamous based on whole-genomes and fossils: academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan... 🪶🧪 (📷Musher et al.)
Reposted by Krista Koeller
I remain absolutely confused that people *ever* thought screwing with the abyssal sea floor would "get better" after mining.
In 1979, a Mining Test Ravaged the Pacific Seafloor— 44 Years Later, New Evidence Reveals It’s Likely Forever
dailygalaxy.com/2025/11/in-1...
dailygalaxy.com/2025/11/in-1...
In 1979, a Mining Test Ravaged the Pacific Seafloor— 44 Years Later, New Evidence Reveals It’s Likely Forever
A 1979 deep-sea mining test left marks on the Pacific seafloor that remain nearly untouched over four decades later. New research uncovers what really happened in the ocean depths—and why it matters m...
dailygalaxy.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I remain absolutely confused that people *ever* thought screwing with the abyssal sea floor would "get better" after mining.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Utrecht Paleogeography model in prep!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
November 6, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Utrecht Paleogeography model in prep!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
We're integrating our detailed reconstructions of orogenic belts and lost subducted plates into one plate tectonic and paleogeography model. We'll launch the updated Paleolatitude.org soon, and more tools for geodynamic, paleoclimate, and paleobiology studies!
Something I’ve noticed is there seems to be a sort of pervasive assumption that the status quo has gravity. That there’s a natural, comfortable way things should be and that deviations from the normal state of the world will correct themselves in time.
But as a paleontologist, I know this is false.
But as a paleontologist, I know this is false.
November 6, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Something I’ve noticed is there seems to be a sort of pervasive assumption that the status quo has gravity. That there’s a natural, comfortable way things should be and that deviations from the normal state of the world will correct themselves in time.
But as a paleontologist, I know this is false.
But as a paleontologist, I know this is false.
Reposted by Krista Koeller
You are a Post-Padawan now!
November 5, 2025 at 3:24 PM
You are a Post-Padawan now!
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Fun fact: Flying squirrels fluoresce under UV light. Here is one at my bird feeder in MN a while back. (I busted out a moth lamp for the photo.)
November 6, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Fun fact: Flying squirrels fluoresce under UV light. Here is one at my bird feeder in MN a while back. (I busted out a moth lamp for the photo.)
Reposted by Krista Koeller
Flying Squirrel Loves It Every Time
November 5, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Flying Squirrel Loves It Every Time
Reposted by Krista Koeller
What was the hardest part of grad school for you? Was it having a kid, the thesis defense? I told them nope, it was being the only & the first. The only Inupiaq at UW Madison for most of my years there, one of 250 Natives on a campus of over 40K, the first Native to earn a PhD in my program🧵
November 6, 2025 at 12:00 PM
What was the hardest part of grad school for you? Was it having a kid, the thesis defense? I told them nope, it was being the only & the first. The only Inupiaq at UW Madison for most of my years there, one of 250 Natives on a campus of over 40K, the first Native to earn a PhD in my program🧵