Aaron O'Dea
@odealab.bsky.social
Tropical pale(o)biologist and reef historical ecologist in Panama. Eejit by birth. Father of two treasures. Author of "A History of Life in 100 Fossils" and "Martina and the Bridge of Time". www.odealab.com
#ICRS is the premier conference for all things coral reef, and a great place to foster thinking and collaboration between ecologists, historical ecologists, and palaeontologists. Consider submitting your abstract to "Reefs through Time", hosted by some top-notch researchers #Coral #Paleobiology
Work on reef paleoecology? Join our session "Reefs through time: leveraging today's interdisciplinary tools to better understand the past of reef organisms and ecosystems" at the 2026 International Coral Reef Symposium
📆Abstract deadline: Dec 1, 2025
🔗https://www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-abstracts
📆Abstract deadline: Dec 1, 2025
🔗https://www.icrs2026.nz/call-for-abstracts
September 27, 2025 at 12:28 PM
#ICRS is the premier conference for all things coral reef, and a great place to foster thinking and collaboration between ecologists, historical ecologists, and palaeontologists. Consider submitting your abstract to "Reefs through Time", hosted by some top-notch researchers #Coral #Paleobiology
Reposted by Aaron O'Dea
In time for #FossilFriday, a new paper by Jansen Smith and many paleontologists (including me) on what questions the field may focus on in the coming decade
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project
www.cambridge.org
September 26, 2025 at 9:18 PM
In time for #FossilFriday, a new paper by Jansen Smith and many paleontologists (including me) on what questions the field may focus on in the coming decade
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Identifying the Big Questions in paleontology: a community-driven project | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core - www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Aaron O'Dea
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Unprecedented suppression of Panama’s Pacific upwelling in 2025.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
September 24, 2025 at 6:58 PM
One of the most-viewed PNAS articles in the last week is “Unprecedented suppression of Panama’s Pacific upwelling in 2025.” Explore the article here: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
For more trending articles, visit ow.ly/Me2U50SkLRZ.
New paper! led by Chris Perry: Most W. Atlantic reefs in current state can't keep up with sealevel rise at 2°C+. If reefs could accrete at Holocene rates (like these in Enriquillo basin) they'd manage fine. Restoration pockets offer some local hope, but overall sobering news doi.org/10.1038/s415...
September 17, 2025 at 8:41 PM
New paper! led by Chris Perry: Most W. Atlantic reefs in current state can't keep up with sealevel rise at 2°C+. If reefs could accrete at Holocene rates (like these in Enriquillo basin) they'd manage fine. Restoration pockets offer some local hope, but overall sobering news doi.org/10.1038/s415...
📊 new paper! The natural phenomenon of upwelling, which normally occurs every year in the Gulf of Panama, failed for the first time on record in 2025...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
[most co-authors not on bluesky except @javsdiaz.bsky.social @jonscibulski.bsky.social]...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
[most co-authors not on bluesky except @javsdiaz.bsky.social @jonscibulski.bsky.social]...
September 2, 2025 at 7:22 PM
📊 new paper! The natural phenomenon of upwelling, which normally occurs every year in the Gulf of Panama, failed for the first time on record in 2025...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
[most co-authors not on bluesky except @javsdiaz.bsky.social @jonscibulski.bsky.social]...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
[most co-authors not on bluesky except @javsdiaz.bsky.social @jonscibulski.bsky.social]...
Reposted by Aaron O'Dea
Just one more week (till 5 Sept) to apply for the postdoc position with me at UA Museums' Department of Museum Research and Collections. NSF-project together with Jill Leonard-Pingel, @odealab.bsky.social, and @sethf.bsky.social focused on marine ecosystems in Panama.
bsky.app/profile/pale...
bsky.app/profile/pale...
Job Alert‼️ Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in paleontology/biology at the University of Alabama Museums:
careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social
careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social
August 29, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Just one more week (till 5 Sept) to apply for the postdoc position with me at UA Museums' Department of Museum Research and Collections. NSF-project together with Jill Leonard-Pingel, @odealab.bsky.social, and @sethf.bsky.social focused on marine ecosystems in Panama.
bsky.app/profile/pale...
bsky.app/profile/pale...
Reposted by Aaron O'Dea
Calling all Palaeontology PhD candidates and post-docs everywhere! No matter what your particular field of research or country of institution, please follow forms.gle/cLLkEjdLjPrT... and fill in my ANONYMOUS RESEARCH SURVEY – #Yourpalaeolife : investigating fieldwork by early career palaeontologists
#Yourpalaeolife: the experience of early career palaeontologists and fieldwork
Hello everybody!
Welcome to my anonymous survey about fieldwork in palaeontology. I want to know about your experiences: what is the place of fieldwork in our research lives, how to we view it, and h...
forms.gle
August 16, 2025 at 11:14 AM
Calling all Palaeontology PhD candidates and post-docs everywhere! No matter what your particular field of research or country of institution, please follow forms.gle/cLLkEjdLjPrT... and fill in my ANONYMOUS RESEARCH SURVEY – #Yourpalaeolife : investigating fieldwork by early career palaeontologists
Reposted by Aaron O'Dea
Job Alert‼️ Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in paleontology/biology at the University of Alabama Museums:
careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social
careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social
August 8, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Job Alert‼️ Postdoctoral Fellow opportunity in paleontology/biology at the University of Alabama Museums:
careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social
careers.ua.edu/jobs/688232b... Aim: assess biotic interactions using mollusks from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. Please share widely! @paleosoc.bsky.social @almnh.bsky.social
I do like a good past analogue for future change. V cool study by Pallacks et al shows how twilight zone lanternfishes—vital prey & carbon cyclers and earth's largest biomass—vanished from the E. Mediterranean when oxygen dropped, but rebounded fast when it returned. www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Ocean deoxygenation linked to ancient mesopelagic fish decline - Communications Earth & Environment
Historical phases of ocean oxygen minimum are associated with near extinctions of mesopelagic fish, suggesting risks of future deoxygenation to marine fisheries due to warming, according to an analysi...
www.nature.com
August 4, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I do like a good past analogue for future change. V cool study by Pallacks et al shows how twilight zone lanternfishes—vital prey & carbon cyclers and earth's largest biomass—vanished from the E. Mediterranean when oxygen dropped, but rebounded fast when it returned. www.nature.com/articles/s43...
We are hiring a lab manager for our lab family at Naos Island in Panama. More information and position description here: odealab.com/opportunities/.
Deadline is today, but if you need more time please just let me know
Deadline is today, but if you need more time please just let me know
August 4, 2025 at 7:50 AM
We are hiring a lab manager for our lab family at Naos Island in Panama. More information and position description here: odealab.com/opportunities/.
Deadline is today, but if you need more time please just let me know
Deadline is today, but if you need more time please just let me know
Nice video report from Shuchita Jha at @inold.news on our Caribbean reef trophodynamics paper (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...). How can some reef fishes be bigger today than they were 7,000 years ago? youtu.be/buGORJ3F1iM
Caribbean Coral Reefs Meet Archaeology
YouTube video by Neighbird
youtu.be
July 24, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Nice video report from Shuchita Jha at @inold.news on our Caribbean reef trophodynamics paper (www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...). How can some reef fishes be bigger today than they were 7,000 years ago? youtu.be/buGORJ3F1iM
Thrilled to share our new paper, led by @jonscibulski.bsky.social, on the rich 16kyr-long history of human-ocean interactions along the Pacific coast of Panama and Costa Rica. Inspired by the late Richard Cooke MBE and beautifully illustrated by his son, @cookedillustrations.com #PaleoSky
🌊Just out! We reviewed the history of human-ocean interactions, focusing on the Pacific coast of the Southern Central Asmerican Isthmus (Panamá and Costa Rica).
Over 16K years of stories on culture, environment, and ecology!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
Illustration: Madeline Dall
Over 16K years of stories on culture, environment, and ecology!
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/epdf/10....
Illustration: Madeline Dall
Historical ecology of the Southern Central American Pacific coast | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
The Pacific coast of the Southern Central American Isthmus is a highly productive and biodiverse region with a rich human history. Although the interaction of the oceans, climate, biodiversity and early human systems has shaped the region’s ecology, ...
royalsocietypublishing.org
July 10, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Thrilled to share our new paper, led by @jonscibulski.bsky.social, on the rich 16kyr-long history of human-ocean interactions along the Pacific coast of Panama and Costa Rica. Inspired by the late Richard Cooke MBE and beautifully illustrated by his son, @cookedillustrations.com #PaleoSky
🐠🦈 Just out: In this paper we ask "How has reef trophic structure changed since humans started removing predatory fishes from Caribbean coral reefs?".
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com
July 1, 2025 at 6:40 PM
🐠🦈 Just out: In this paper we ask "How has reef trophic structure changed since humans started removing predatory fishes from Caribbean coral reefs?".
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Illustrations @cookedillustrations.com
This is the Panama Canal with the centennial bridge over the Culebra Cut, the locks leading into the Pacific ocean and Panama City in the background
June 30, 2025 at 12:18 AM
This is the Panama Canal with the centennial bridge over the Culebra Cut, the locks leading into the Pacific ocean and Panama City in the background
The #INQUA meetings are about paleoecology, climate change, human evolution, and environmental transformations over the past 2.6myrs. @cookedillustra.bsky.social made a beautiful report from the last INQUA meeting in Rome. Here are some highlights. Grab the whole pdf here zenodo.org/records/1494...
March 4, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The #INQUA meetings are about paleoecology, climate change, human evolution, and environmental transformations over the past 2.6myrs. @cookedillustra.bsky.social made a beautiful report from the last INQUA meeting in Rome. Here are some highlights. Grab the whole pdf here zenodo.org/records/1494...
This smoky jungle frog is the reigning queen of the Gamboa frog pond
February 23, 2025 at 3:30 AM
This smoky jungle frog is the reigning queen of the Gamboa frog pond
A myctophids-eye view of the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Lanternfishes live typically from 200 to 2000m deep. Panama (top right) and Galapagos (bottom left) are connected by the Cocos ridge
January 29, 2025 at 9:05 PM
A myctophids-eye view of the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Lanternfishes live typically from 200 to 2000m deep. Panama (top right) and Galapagos (bottom left) are connected by the Cocos ridge
I think this is part of a rostrum of a large billfish. From the Caribbean late Miocene for #fossilfriday
January 17, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I think this is part of a rostrum of a large billfish. From the Caribbean late Miocene for #fossilfriday
Fascinating paper on something I never thought of: When we remove big old animals from wild populations (like fish) we might be losing important cultural transmission in species that learn from elders - Essentially culling transmission of collective knowledge onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Overfishing Social Fish
Social learning is common among vertebrates, including fish. Learning from others reduces the risk and costs of adaptation. In some longer-lived species, social learning can lead to the formation of ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
January 14, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Fascinating paper on something I never thought of: When we remove big old animals from wild populations (like fish) we might be losing important cultural transmission in species that learn from elders - Essentially culling transmission of collective knowledge onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
The ITCZ has finally shifted south of the Isthmus and wind jets forming through low-lying canal area. Will be interesting to see if the winds will be strong enough to create upwelling in the Gulf of Panama during this La niña. The role of ENSO on upwelling in the region has not been resolved
January 13, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The ITCZ has finally shifted south of the Isthmus and wind jets forming through low-lying canal area. Will be interesting to see if the winds will be strong enough to create upwelling in the Gulf of Panama during this La niña. The role of ENSO on upwelling in the region has not been resolved
Reposted by Aaron O'Dea
Devonian touch pool.
January 1, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Devonian touch pool.
Wish I could see this talk. Denticles are incredible things with a variety of form and function. No one is i-denticle 🤨
They also preserve well in fossil sediments giving paleoecologists like @erinmdillon.bsky.social a chance to reconstruct past shark abundances and community composition.
They also preserve well in fossil sediments giving paleoecologists like @erinmdillon.bsky.social a chance to reconstruct past shark abundances and community composition.
What is the significance of the tremendous diversity of #shark skin #denticles? Presenting our experimental approach to understanding this at the Atlanta #SICB2025 meetings. Come to the session for all things shark skin!
December 31, 2024 at 8:27 PM
Wish I could see this talk. Denticles are incredible things with a variety of form and function. No one is i-denticle 🤨
They also preserve well in fossil sediments giving paleoecologists like @erinmdillon.bsky.social a chance to reconstruct past shark abundances and community composition.
They also preserve well in fossil sediments giving paleoecologists like @erinmdillon.bsky.social a chance to reconstruct past shark abundances and community composition.
Some lovely columnar volcanics in Los Ladrillos, Boquete in Western Panama
December 27, 2024 at 5:00 PM
Some lovely columnar volcanics in Los Ladrillos, Boquete in Western Panama
Reposted by Aaron O'Dea
Come and be my colleague in Panama!
forestgeo.si.edu/forestgeo-st...
forestgeo.si.edu/forestgeo-st...
ForestGEO Staff Scientist - Research Ecologist, South & Central American Tropical Forests
The Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) is a global network of forest research plots and scientists dedicated to the study of forest function and diversity.
forestgeo.si.edu
December 17, 2024 at 2:43 PM
Come and be my colleague in Panama!
forestgeo.si.edu/forestgeo-st...
forestgeo.si.edu/forestgeo-st...
Excellent! Looking forward to reading this one. Congratulations Brendan and team!
New paper out today with Elizabeth Petsios, Jessica Behn, Amy Betz, Allmon Warren Allmon, @bruceslieberman.bsky.social & Jonathan Hendricks. ⚒️🦑
We looked at body size change across a regional extinction in 3 clades of gastropods(🐌) at both clade and species level
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
We looked at body size change across a regional extinction in 3 clades of gastropods(🐌) at both clade and species level
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Body-size evolution in gastropods across the Plio-Pleistocene extinction in the western Atlantic
The Plio-Pleistocene turnover event in the western Atlantic following the closure of the Central American Seaway involved high rates of extinction for both gastropod and bivalve molluscs. This extinct...
journals.plos.org
December 13, 2024 at 11:42 PM
Excellent! Looking forward to reading this one. Congratulations Brendan and team!