Christopher Dean
@princessquatris.bsky.social
Palaeontology person. My interests include music, science, justice, animals, shapes and feelings. (he/him)
Pinned
The structure of the end-Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record in North America
Dean et al. examine the fossil record of North American dinosaurs prior to the end-Cretaceous
mass extinction. Estimates of detection probability from occupancy models decrease
prior to the extinction...
www.cell.com
🚨 I'm super happy to announce that our new paper is finally out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social! 🚨
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Christopher Dean
Yesterday we led a workshop at @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social on “Building open data science skills in paleobiology and ecology”. Huge thanks to everyone involved for making the workshop so successful and fun! 🤩
July 28, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Yesterday we led a workshop at @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social on “Building open data science skills in paleobiology and ecology”. Huge thanks to everyone involved for making the workshop so successful and fun! 🤩
Reposted by Christopher Dean
This week, Open Palaeontology published our first research article: a reassessment of the giant millipede-like Arthropleura by Lhéritier, Vallois and Durand! Thank you to the authors for being part of the open-access publishing revolution!
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
Re-assessment of Arthropleura from the Moscovian of Northern France: new anatomical information and adaptations to terrestrial environments
| Open Palaeontology
www.openpalaeo.org
June 6, 2025 at 10:34 AM
This week, Open Palaeontology published our first research article: a reassessment of the giant millipede-like Arthropleura by Lhéritier, Vallois and Durand! Thank you to the authors for being part of the open-access publishing revolution!
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
www.openpalaeo.org/article/view...
Reposted by Christopher Dean
🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨
It’s time to announce our Summer 2025 talk schedule 👀
Looking forward to hearing from @spissatella.bsky.social, @sauropodlets.bsky.social, @nmkphylo.bsky.social and @russellgarwood.co.uk!
Sign up here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-lecture-series-2025
It’s time to announce our Summer 2025 talk schedule 👀
Looking forward to hearing from @spissatella.bsky.social, @sauropodlets.bsky.social, @nmkphylo.bsky.social and @russellgarwood.co.uk!
Sign up here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-lecture-series-2025
June 4, 2025 at 10:20 AM
🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨
It’s time to announce our Summer 2025 talk schedule 👀
Looking forward to hearing from @spissatella.bsky.social, @sauropodlets.bsky.social, @nmkphylo.bsky.social and @russellgarwood.co.uk!
Sign up here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-lecture-series-2025
It’s time to announce our Summer 2025 talk schedule 👀
Looking forward to hearing from @spissatella.bsky.social, @sauropodlets.bsky.social, @nmkphylo.bsky.social and @russellgarwood.co.uk!
Sign up here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-lecture-series-2025
Really happy to see this out! Also super grateful for Jeff bringing me on board; what started as a casual conversation over lunch in the NHM staff room has turned into some really interesting work and a great friendship. What more can you ask for?!
Read on for stuff on fossil record preservation! ⤵️
Read on for stuff on fossil record preservation! ⤵️
Super happy to see this out! Ever wondered what regulates taphonomic quality in skeletal fossil records? New with @princessquatris.bsky.social , Tim Ewin, and Maddy Ford we identify the controls on preservational quality in Palaeozoic echinoids onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Taphonomic controls on a multi‐element marine skeletal fossil record
Animals with multi-element skeletons, including the vertebrates, echinoderms and arthropods, are some of the most biodiverse and ecologically important animal groups. Understanding the relative impac...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
May 30, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Really happy to see this out! Also super grateful for Jeff bringing me on board; what started as a casual conversation over lunch in the NHM staff room has turned into some really interesting work and a great friendship. What more can you ask for?!
Read on for stuff on fossil record preservation! ⤵️
Read on for stuff on fossil record preservation! ⤵️
Go work with Lewis, he's bloody great.
But seriously, if you're interested in bias in the fossil record, open science, or corals, he's your man!
But seriously, if you're interested in bias in the fossil record, open science, or corals, he's your man!
Interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship this year? Feel free to reach out!
We've got micro🔬, invert 🪸, and vert palaeo🦕 @es-ucl.bsky.social!
📆 We are accepting Expressions of Interest until 9th June!
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/post...
We've got micro🔬, invert 🪸, and vert palaeo🦕 @es-ucl.bsky.social!
📆 We are accepting Expressions of Interest until 9th June!
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/post...
Postdoctoral Fellowships
The information provided on this page is a summary of the main rules and requirements for Postdoctoral Fellowships (PFs) and who can apply for them.
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu
May 28, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Go work with Lewis, he's bloody great.
But seriously, if you're interested in bias in the fossil record, open science, or corals, he's your man!
But seriously, if you're interested in bias in the fossil record, open science, or corals, he's your man!
Reposted by Christopher Dean
Just under two weeks left to apply for this 3 year postdoc looking at how signalling shapes skeletal development in sea urchins! Please reach out if you’re interested! For lovers of imaging, skeletal development, biomineralization, in situ hybridization, and marine invertebrates!
Interested in Developmental biology? Imaging? Marine invertebrate body plans? Then this three year postdoc in my group @sotonbiosciences.bsky.social is for you! Join our team to decypher how signalling molecules shape skeletal phenotype in juvenile sea urchins. jobs.soton.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
May 22, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Just under two weeks left to apply for this 3 year postdoc looking at how signalling shapes skeletal development in sea urchins! Please reach out if you’re interested! For lovers of imaging, skeletal development, biomineralization, in situ hybridization, and marine invertebrates!
A huge thanks to @bethanyjallen.bsky.social for the write up on our recent Current Biology paper! Happy to have added to the ever growing toolkit for combatting sampling bias in deep time 🖥️📈🦕
I wrote a Dispatch for Current Biology on the neat new paper by @princessquatris.bsky.social et al., highlighting why occupancy modelling is an exciting tool for understanding sampling bias in palaeontology 🦕
You can access it for free using this link:
authors.elsevier.com/a/1l7HM3QW8S...
You can access it for free using this link:
authors.elsevier.com/a/1l7HM3QW8S...
authors.elsevier.com
May 22, 2025 at 10:16 AM
A huge thanks to @bethanyjallen.bsky.social for the write up on our recent Current Biology paper! Happy to have added to the ever growing toolkit for combatting sampling bias in deep time 🖥️📈🦕
Reposted by Christopher Dean
If you are interested in biodiversity in deep time, check out my new preprint with @rachelwarnock.bsky.social and @dralexdunhill.bsky.social! We review methods of quantifying diversity and diversification, using the fossil record and phylogenies with extinct tips 🐚🦕📊
doi.org/10.32942/X2D...
doi.org/10.32942/X2D...
“A history of the world imperfectly kept”: Will we ever know how biodiversity has changed over deep time?
doi.org
May 6, 2025 at 1:51 PM
If you are interested in biodiversity in deep time, check out my new preprint with @rachelwarnock.bsky.social and @dralexdunhill.bsky.social! We review methods of quantifying diversity and diversification, using the fossil record and phylogenies with extinct tips 🐚🦕📊
doi.org/10.32942/X2D...
doi.org/10.32942/X2D...
🖥️ Our new paper summarising the paleontological community's progress with data equity is now out! 📉
Really thankful to have played a small part in the making of this paper; it was a joy working with these folks and very satisfying to find a home for some of my thoughts on museum data and curation.
Really thankful to have played a small part in the making of this paper; it was a joy working with these folks and very satisfying to find a home for some of my thoughts on museum data and curation.
Delighted to share our paper on data equity in #palaeobiology as part of Paleobiology's 50th anniversary issue 🥳
We look at how palaeo data is collected, stored, curated & shared, and how equity in these processes is crucial for our field's future (1/n) 🧪⚒️
doi.org/10.1017/pab....
We look at how palaeo data is collected, stored, curated & shared, and how equity in these processes is crucial for our field's future (1/n) 🧪⚒️
doi.org/10.1017/pab....
April 23, 2025 at 1:18 PM
🖥️ Our new paper summarising the paleontological community's progress with data equity is now out! 📉
Really thankful to have played a small part in the making of this paper; it was a joy working with these folks and very satisfying to find a home for some of my thoughts on museum data and curation.
Really thankful to have played a small part in the making of this paper; it was a joy working with these folks and very satisfying to find a home for some of my thoughts on museum data and curation.
Reposted by Christopher Dean
The paperback is here!
April 22, 2025 at 11:39 PM
The paperback is here!
Reposted by Christopher Dean
Reposted by Christopher Dean
I use the CDNC *literally* daily for research that supports tribal sovereignty/rights claims.
This is such a vital resource with outsized impact for U.S. researchers, communities, history, etc etc etc.
Please, please, pleaseeee reshare and submit a comment!
This is such a vital resource with outsized impact for U.S. researchers, communities, history, etc etc etc.
Please, please, pleaseeee reshare and submit a comment!
🚨 Funding is being cut for the California Digital Newspaper Collection!
The state budget for next year zeroes out all funding, which would put the entire site offline permanently.
Please fill out comments
- sbud.senate.ca.gov/members/subc...
- abgt.assembly.ca.gov/sub-committe...
Sample text ⬇️
The state budget for next year zeroes out all funding, which would put the entire site offline permanently.
Please fill out comments
- sbud.senate.ca.gov/members/subc...
- abgt.assembly.ca.gov/sub-committe...
Sample text ⬇️
April 14, 2025 at 10:18 PM
I use the CDNC *literally* daily for research that supports tribal sovereignty/rights claims.
This is such a vital resource with outsized impact for U.S. researchers, communities, history, etc etc etc.
Please, please, pleaseeee reshare and submit a comment!
This is such a vital resource with outsized impact for U.S. researchers, communities, history, etc etc etc.
Please, please, pleaseeee reshare and submit a comment!
Reposted by Christopher Dean
Great to see Lewis Jones received his Doscar as one of the winners of the 2025 Dorothy Bishop Prize for his work on the Paleoverse (palaeoverse.org) a community space improving reproducibility in palaeobiological research.
#Palaeobiology #Reproducibility #OpenResearch #Research
#Palaeobiology #Reproducibility #OpenResearch #Research
April 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Great to see Lewis Jones received his Doscar as one of the winners of the 2025 Dorothy Bishop Prize for his work on the Paleoverse (palaeoverse.org) a community space improving reproducibility in palaeobiological research.
#Palaeobiology #Reproducibility #OpenResearch #Research
#Palaeobiology #Reproducibility #OpenResearch #Research
🦖📉 In case anyone missed it, our new paper on using occupancy modelling to resolve the structure of the end-Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record came out yesterday! 🪨⛰️
You can find it here ⬇️
www.cell.com/current-biol...
It's also accompanied by this incredible illustration by @tim-bird.bsky.social!
You can find it here ⬇️
www.cell.com/current-biol...
It's also accompanied by this incredible illustration by @tim-bird.bsky.social!
April 9, 2025 at 10:55 AM
🦖📉 In case anyone missed it, our new paper on using occupancy modelling to resolve the structure of the end-Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record came out yesterday! 🪨⛰️
You can find it here ⬇️
www.cell.com/current-biol...
It's also accompanied by this incredible illustration by @tim-bird.bsky.social!
You can find it here ⬇️
www.cell.com/current-biol...
It's also accompanied by this incredible illustration by @tim-bird.bsky.social!
Reposted by Christopher Dean
It’s been hotly debated whether dinosaur populations were thriving or dwindling when an asteroid slammed into the planet 66 million years ago.
Rethink of fossils hints dinosaurs still thrived before asteroid hit
The number of dinosaurs may have been stable before the asteroid impact, despite evidence that species were getting less diverse
www.newscientist.com
April 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM
It’s been hotly debated whether dinosaur populations were thriving or dwindling when an asteroid slammed into the planet 66 million years ago.
Reposted by Christopher Dean
A new way to gauge the cracks and stains in our windows to the deep past.
🚨 I'm super happy to announce that our new paper is finally out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social! 🚨
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
The structure of the end-Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record in North America
Dean et al. examine the fossil record of North American dinosaurs prior to the end-Cretaceous
mass extinction. Estimates of detection probability from occupancy models decrease
prior to the extinction...
www.cell.com
April 8, 2025 at 5:10 PM
A new way to gauge the cracks and stains in our windows to the deep past.
🚨 I'm super happy to announce that our new paper is finally out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social! 🚨
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
The structure of the end-Cretaceous dinosaur fossil record in North America
Dean et al. examine the fossil record of North American dinosaurs prior to the end-Cretaceous
mass extinction. Estimates of detection probability from occupancy models decrease
prior to the extinction...
www.cell.com
April 8, 2025 at 3:34 PM
🚨 I'm super happy to announce that our new paper is finally out today in @currentbiology.bsky.social! 🚨
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
We used the ecological approach of occupancy modelling to investigate the structure of the dinosaur fossil record prior to the K/Pg mass extinction!
www.cell.com/current-biol...
Reposted by Christopher Dean
Our new paper out today describes a sebecoidean crocodylomorph from the Early Palaeocene of Patagonia, and provides support for the survival of a large-bodied terrestrial vertebrate lineage across the K-Pg.
@pdmannion.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@pdmannion.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
March 26, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Our new paper out today describes a sebecoidean crocodylomorph from the Early Palaeocene of Patagonia, and provides support for the survival of a large-bodied terrestrial vertebrate lineage across the K-Pg.
@pdmannion.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
@pdmannion.bsky.social @es-ucl.bsky.social
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
Reposted by Christopher Dean
The Palaeoverse team have published a 🚨new preprint🚨 on “Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology” 🧹🐚
Take a look here: doi.org/10.32942/X2FS8M
There is also an accompanying R vignette on our website at tenrules.palaeoverse.org 💻
Take a look here: doi.org/10.32942/X2FS8M
There is also an accompanying R vignette on our website at tenrules.palaeoverse.org 💻
Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology
doi.org
March 24, 2025 at 10:16 AM
The Palaeoverse team have published a 🚨new preprint🚨 on “Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology” 🧹🐚
Take a look here: doi.org/10.32942/X2FS8M
There is also an accompanying R vignette on our website at tenrules.palaeoverse.org 💻
Take a look here: doi.org/10.32942/X2FS8M
There is also an accompanying R vignette on our website at tenrules.palaeoverse.org 💻
Reposted by Christopher Dean
My new book SMALL WORLD came out yesterday! And it's ironically HUGE (here modelled by my eldest), immersing you in the habitats of 30 of Earth's smallest animals.
It's *insanely* illustrated by Rosie Dore and published by Wide Eyed Editions (Quarto) here in the UK. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/smal...
It's *insanely* illustrated by Rosie Dore and published by Wide Eyed Editions (Quarto) here in the UK. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/smal...
March 21, 2025 at 5:16 PM
My new book SMALL WORLD came out yesterday! And it's ironically HUGE (here modelled by my eldest), immersing you in the habitats of 30 of Earth's smallest animals.
It's *insanely* illustrated by Rosie Dore and published by Wide Eyed Editions (Quarto) here in the UK. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/smal...
It's *insanely* illustrated by Rosie Dore and published by Wide Eyed Editions (Quarto) here in the UK. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/smal...
I remember starting my PhD and wishing there was a guide on how to how to prepare data for palaeo analyses. Now there is.
Very happy to see this preprint out and more broadly to be a part of the Palaeoverse. It’s a joy to work with these folks in so many ways.
Very happy to see this preprint out and more broadly to be a part of the Palaeoverse. It’s a joy to work with these folks in so many ways.
Happy #FossilFriday!
We’re excited to share our new preprint from the @palaeoverse.bsky.social team “Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology”, available now from EcoEvoRXiv: doi.org/10.32942/X2F...
With a bonus accompanying vignette!
tenrules.palaeoverse.org
We’re excited to share our new preprint from the @palaeoverse.bsky.social team “Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology”, available now from EcoEvoRXiv: doi.org/10.32942/X2F...
With a bonus accompanying vignette!
tenrules.palaeoverse.org
Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology
Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology
tenrules.palaeoverse.org
March 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
I remember starting my PhD and wishing there was a guide on how to how to prepare data for palaeo analyses. Now there is.
Very happy to see this preprint out and more broadly to be a part of the Palaeoverse. It’s a joy to work with these folks in so many ways.
Very happy to see this preprint out and more broadly to be a part of the Palaeoverse. It’s a joy to work with these folks in so many ways.
Reposted by Christopher Dean
Brilliant news! At last, confirmation that the Govt *will* go ahead with the #NaturalHistoryGCSE 🎉 We have to get to know our fellow travellers on this planet again. Young people who know & love nature are far more likely to protect & restore it - as well as enjoying better physical & mental health
Department for Education confirms launch of natural history GCSE
Campaigners have been calling for the qualification for years but plan stalled despite a curriculum being drawn up
www.theguardian.com
March 21, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Brilliant news! At last, confirmation that the Govt *will* go ahead with the #NaturalHistoryGCSE 🎉 We have to get to know our fellow travellers on this planet again. Young people who know & love nature are far more likely to protect & restore it - as well as enjoying better physical & mental health
Reposted by Christopher Dean
🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨
🗓️27th March 2025, 16:00 UTC🗓️
Next week we will hear from Dr Ondřej Mottl from Charles University, on “FOSSILPOL: the workflow to process global palaeoecological data of fossil pollen for vegetation-based macroecological synthesis”
Register here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-...
🗓️27th March 2025, 16:00 UTC🗓️
Next week we will hear from Dr Ondřej Mottl from Charles University, on “FOSSILPOL: the workflow to process global palaeoecological data of fossil pollen for vegetation-based macroecological synthesis”
Register here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-...
March 21, 2025 at 9:57 AM
🚨Palaeoverse Lecture Series🚨
🗓️27th March 2025, 16:00 UTC🗓️
Next week we will hear from Dr Ondřej Mottl from Charles University, on “FOSSILPOL: the workflow to process global palaeoecological data of fossil pollen for vegetation-based macroecological synthesis”
Register here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-...
🗓️27th March 2025, 16:00 UTC🗓️
Next week we will hear from Dr Ondřej Mottl from Charles University, on “FOSSILPOL: the workflow to process global palaeoecological data of fossil pollen for vegetation-based macroecological synthesis”
Register here: bit.ly/palaeoverse-...
Without a doubt the best paper you'll read this year. The video abstract is pretty hard to beat too.
This project was so much fun! If you want to watch a video abstract - check it out here!
youtu.be/C3JsBb2ZyRU
youtu.be/C3JsBb2ZyRU
March 10, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Without a doubt the best paper you'll read this year. The video abstract is pretty hard to beat too.