P. David Polly

@pdpolly.bsky.social

1.3K followers 360 following 210 posts

David is a vertebrate paleontologist who grew up near Boonville, Missouri. He is also British. “Read broader, think deeper, do better”: https://pollylab.org/

Videos

Paul David Polly is an American paleontologist and the Robert R. Shrock Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Indiana University as well as the sitting chair of the department. .. more

Environmental science 34%

Mathematics 19%

Posts Replies Media Videos

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 2d

Watching America Unravel in Minneapolis www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/m...

Watching America Unravel in Minneapolis

www.nytimes.com

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 2d

State Terror Has Arrived www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...

Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived

www.nytimes.com

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 3d

Surely this ranks high for Trumpy lack of understanding: “I want Greenland for security-I don't want it for anything else," he told reporters, “You have to go 25ft down through ice to get it. It's not something that a lot of people are going to do." #5489ftThick www.bbc.com/news/article...

Greenland: What natural resources does the island have?

Greenland's natural resources include large reserves of rare earth deposits.

www.bbc.com

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 6d

🤔

Reposted by P. David Polly

Genetics Society of America @genetics-gsa.bsky.social · 6d

📢 NEW GENOME ALERT

In #G3journal, @pdpolly.bsky.social and colleagues present a high-quality, annotated genome of Poecilozonites bermudensis, the greater Bermuda land snail, which can serve as a resource for conservation of the species. 🐌
buff.ly/y3OH8Nw

Reposted by P. David Polly

Will Quinn @willquinnart.bsky.social · 12d

Daily bunny no.3200 is sleeping in today

A bunny is sound asleep in bed, under a thick blanket. Light shines from their open window: it is morning. Clothes lie scattered about the floor of their room

Reposted by P. David Polly

Will Quinn @willquinnart.bsky.social · 14d

Daily bunny no.3198 about to take a dive

A bunny in a tiny rowboat is spiraling around a whirlpool, about to be sucked into it. He is in the middle of the ocean, and teh whirlpool is illuminated with an eery light

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 18d

Proud of my senator Todd Young today. The madness must stop and he helped us take a step in the right direction. wapo.st/4qHyjM7

Senate advances bill to block further military action in Venezuela

Though largely symbolic, the measure would be a rare assertion of Congress’s role in using lethal force after the stunning raid to capture Nicolás Maduro.

wapo.st

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 19d

The struggle is worth it… a good day for America. #LetFreedomRing. www.aclusc.org/press-releas...

Fired Clemson faculty member wins settlement after being fired for a Facebook post about Charlie Kirk - ACLU of South Carolina

Clemson University has rescinded its firing of an assistant professor who shared another person's Facebook post via his personal account that was critical of the late conservative pundit Charlie Kirk.

www.aclusc.org

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 19d

The struggle is worth it…. A good day for indiana and America. www.ipm.org/news/2026-01...

Court orders IU to remove reprimands from protesters' permanent records

The case was originally two separate lawsuits, one against no-trespass orders and another against IU’s expressive activity policy written in August 2024.

www.ipm.org

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 20d

I learned today about The Welders. Maybe the first punk band in St Louis and agreed the first all female punk band in that city. Regardless of “firsts”, here they are… youtu.be/RTjAlSlt7pg?...

The Welders - P-E-R-V-E-R-T (1979)

YouTube video by SHUT UP AND LISTEN

youtu.be

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 23d

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | America’s real source of patriotism has been clear for 250 years

Critiquing the nation on where and how it has fallen short, but from a place of respect and affection.

www.washingtonpost.com

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 23d

New genome for the Bermudian land snail, with Stevie Winingear, Anne Stone, @sexchrlab.bsky.social, Gerardo Garcia, and Mark Outerbridge
academic.oup.com/g3journal/ad...

Genome report: de novo genome assembly of the greater Bermuda land snail, Poecilozonites bermudensis (Mollusca: Gastropoda), confirms ancestral genome duplication

Abstract. Poecilozonites bermudensis, the greater Bermuda land snail, is a critically endangered species and 1 of only 2 extant members in its genus. These

academic.oup.com

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 24d

News headlines baffle me. If someone violently kidnapped the US President and spirited them off for a trial, would that someone legally be able to “run the US”? No. The Constitution provides a clear chain of succession if the President is no longer able to perform duties. #hubrisunimaginable

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · 24d

Civilized countries, like decent human beings, solve differences with reason, mutual respect, persuasion and compromise, not violence, bullying, and chauvinism. When a democracy elects leaders who lack basic decency, the country loses its civilized veneer. What will we do to right the course?

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Dec 16

Aww, Joe Ely. 😕. Joe Ely, Texas-Born Troubadour of the Open Road, Dies at 78 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/o...

Joe Ely, Texas-Born Troubadour of the Open Road, Dies at 78

www.nytimes.com

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Dec 13

At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u.... #ScratchesHead #AntiquaOrFraktur #TimesOrCalibri

At State Dept., a Typeface Falls Victim in the War Against Woke

www.nytimes.com

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Dec 10

My internet service in an IU science building that was just renovated is not fast enough to use the proofing tool to publish a scientific paper (see warning at top of screen). #FailedState #TheNewIU.

Reposted by John R. Hutchinson

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Nov 23

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

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Nov 21

Excellent use of the silent “p”…

Will Quinn @willquinnart.bsky.social · Nov 21

Daily bunny no.3145 helps out with flight ptraining

A bunny on a cliffside releases a small pterosaur into the air. It is a prehistoric setting, and another larger pterosaur is taking off next to him

Reposted by P. David Polly

Will Quinn @willquinnart.bsky.social · Nov 21

Daily bunny no.3145 helps out with flight ptraining

Reposted by P. David Polly

Will Quinn @willquinnart.bsky.social · Oct 31

Daily bunny no.3124 offers you a balloon

A bunny on a gray, rainy day looks down a storm drain, where a clown bunny with a red nose and ears looks out at him from below. It is a bunny Pennywise, from the Stephen King novel, and it offers the other bunny a red balloon through the grate on the drain

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Oct 31

Apparently it is now illegal to use X-windows in Indiana. Or so says the Witten administration at IU. 🤷‍♂️

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Oct 21

My university finally feels like it too is run by the wheel-clampers (Biff from 30+ yrs ago).

P. David Polly @pdpolly.bsky.social · Oct 20

Here is the original 1986 tree from undergrad thesis for anyone curious what a pre-Adobe graphic looks like. Polarities on most of the characters reversed so topology wrong. Still, i learned a lot from doing it. Thanks Tim Rowe. 🙂