Katie Collins
@spissatella.bsky.social
Taxamorphologist, mollusc-botherer (they/them).
Pinned
bivalves are great lol no heads no legs no gods no masters no genders no husbands
Reposted by Katie Collins
🙏Please share🙏
🐌Applications are open for MSL travel grants!🐌
⭐Deadline = 1st March (for travel between 1st June and 30th November)
⭐£500 available for members
⭐£300 available for non-members
malacsoc.org.uk/awards-and-g...
🐌Applications are open for MSL travel grants!🐌
⭐Deadline = 1st March (for travel between 1st June and 30th November)
⭐£500 available for members
⭐£300 available for non-members
malacsoc.org.uk/awards-and-g...
February 11, 2026 at 6:42 PM
🙏Please share🙏
🐌Applications are open for MSL travel grants!🐌
⭐Deadline = 1st March (for travel between 1st June and 30th November)
⭐£500 available for members
⭐£300 available for non-members
malacsoc.org.uk/awards-and-g...
🐌Applications are open for MSL travel grants!🐌
⭐Deadline = 1st March (for travel between 1st June and 30th November)
⭐£500 available for members
⭐£300 available for non-members
malacsoc.org.uk/awards-and-g...
Reposted by Katie Collins
🌘 "Starchild" 🌟
Commission for @franzanth.bsky.social & at last another of my Golden Orbits.
Commission for @franzanth.bsky.social & at last another of my Golden Orbits.
February 11, 2026 at 10:44 AM
🌘 "Starchild" 🌟
Commission for @franzanth.bsky.social & at last another of my Golden Orbits.
Commission for @franzanth.bsky.social & at last another of my Golden Orbits.
Timezones mean sometimes I get to stay up til 10pm yelling about the relevance of Euclid and Ptolemy to the measurement of Nipponites mirabilis 🥰
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Timezones mean sometimes I get to stay up til 10pm yelling about the relevance of Euclid and Ptolemy to the measurement of Nipponites mirabilis 🥰
Reposted by Katie Collins
The 12yo has declared Porcelain Crab Awareness Day!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
Porcelain crab - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 10, 2026 at 1:44 PM
The 12yo has declared Porcelain Crab Awareness Day!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
Reposted by Katie Collins
Calling rock nerds: a large, heavy, and vaguely metallic rock at the Rock and Art Shop in Bangor.
February 7, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Calling rock nerds: a large, heavy, and vaguely metallic rock at the Rock and Art Shop in Bangor.
Ok I gotta get better a sewing bc I need a shirt made of this for the next WCM!
A mollusc themed repeat pattern for your nature loving Valentine featuring three of my #linocut heart cockles (Corculum cardissa). Perfect for your favourite malachologist, beach comber or shell collector. 🧪🐡
Corculum cardissa, the heart cockle, is a species of marine bivalve mollusc in the 🧵
Corculum cardissa, the heart cockle, is a species of marine bivalve mollusc in the 🧵
February 6, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Ok I gotta get better a sewing bc I need a shirt made of this for the next WCM!
Another day, another specimen cut from a gallery plan due to unspecified reasons (but probably due to lack of teeth, claws, and hyperbolic name 🙄)
February 4, 2026 at 10:02 AM
Another day, another specimen cut from a gallery plan due to unspecified reasons (but probably due to lack of teeth, claws, and hyperbolic name 🙄)
Reposted by Katie Collins
It's ostracod time!!!
February 2, 2026 at 12:56 PM
It's ostracod time!!!
Reposted by Katie Collins
Pelecypod Pride!
February 2, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Pelecypod Pride!
It's 02/02 which means it's World Bivalve(d Organism) Day!
February 2, 2026 at 9:53 AM
It's 02/02 which means it's World Bivalve(d Organism) Day!
THIS THIS THIS THIS
TLDR; it is too early to stop doing taxonomic & natural history work and exclusively do meta-analysis; our existing datasets are highly structured & biology is weird. we shouldn't assume we already know enough to extrapolate a species' needs for conservation- we still need taxonomy & autecology
February 1, 2026 at 5:08 PM
THIS THIS THIS THIS
Reposted by Katie Collins
New paper out:
The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation
with @fossildetective.bsky.social, @bigfacecats.bsky.social, Curtis Congreve & @jonhendricks.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44... 🦑⚒️
The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation
with @fossildetective.bsky.social, @bigfacecats.bsky.social, Curtis Congreve & @jonhendricks.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44... 🦑⚒️
The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation - npj Biodiversity
npj Biodiversity - The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation
www.nature.com
February 1, 2026 at 4:22 PM
New paper out:
The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation
with @fossildetective.bsky.social, @bigfacecats.bsky.social, Curtis Congreve & @jonhendricks.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44... 🦑⚒️
The flounder effect: disparities in taxonomic and ecological study intensity across extant and fossil marine organisms hamper conservation
with @fossildetective.bsky.social, @bigfacecats.bsky.social, Curtis Congreve & @jonhendricks.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s44... 🦑⚒️
JUST SAW KŌTUKU AT MY LOCAL PARK
February 1, 2026 at 8:18 AM
JUST SAW KŌTUKU AT MY LOCAL PARK
Reposted by Katie Collins
By all means do a trans history week but the current Labour government has to be discussed as the current oppressive force in the comparison with history. They are banned from pride for a fucking reason what are you doing involving them with this
I dont want a fucking trans history week i want some fucking work put in so we have a Tomorrow
Yeah no i really think you kinda made a fool of yourself if you have a nice chat with Keir Starmer about a bloody awareness week
January 30, 2026 at 9:09 AM
By all means do a trans history week but the current Labour government has to be discussed as the current oppressive force in the comparison with history. They are banned from pride for a fucking reason what are you doing involving them with this
Reposted by Katie Collins
Western Society of Malacologists has a research travel grant for students heading to LACM or other museums to work on extant or extinct mollusks that live(d) in western North America -$1500 max
Proposal and rec letter are due March 1st 2025:
westernsocietymalacology.org/grants/james...
Proposal and rec letter are due March 1st 2025:
westernsocietymalacology.org/grants/james...
James H. McLean Student Grant in Collections-Based Research
The Western Society of Malacologists (WSM) is proud to offer a financial stipend for students to travel to natural history collections to study fossil or recent malacological specimens to further thei...
westernsocietymalacology.org
January 27, 2026 at 8:13 PM
Western Society of Malacologists has a research travel grant for students heading to LACM or other museums to work on extant or extinct mollusks that live(d) in western North America -$1500 max
Proposal and rec letter are due March 1st 2025:
westernsocietymalacology.org/grants/james...
Proposal and rec letter are due March 1st 2025:
westernsocietymalacology.org/grants/james...
Reposted by Katie Collins
🐌Become an MSL member!🐌
Membership gets you:
⭐Our journal - Journal of Molluscan Studies
⭐Our bulletin - The Malacologist
⭐Society meetings
⭐Likely coming this year… exclusive funding
🙏Please support us to advance molluscan research & education!🙏
malacsoc.org.uk/membership/
Membership gets you:
⭐Our journal - Journal of Molluscan Studies
⭐Our bulletin - The Malacologist
⭐Society meetings
⭐Likely coming this year… exclusive funding
🙏Please support us to advance molluscan research & education!🙏
malacsoc.org.uk/membership/
January 26, 2026 at 5:54 PM
🐌Become an MSL member!🐌
Membership gets you:
⭐Our journal - Journal of Molluscan Studies
⭐Our bulletin - The Malacologist
⭐Society meetings
⭐Likely coming this year… exclusive funding
🙏Please support us to advance molluscan research & education!🙏
malacsoc.org.uk/membership/
Membership gets you:
⭐Our journal - Journal of Molluscan Studies
⭐Our bulletin - The Malacologist
⭐Society meetings
⭐Likely coming this year… exclusive funding
🙏Please support us to advance molluscan research & education!🙏
malacsoc.org.uk/membership/
Reposted by Katie Collins
Today the 12yo has declared Chiton Awareness Day!
These amazing marine molluscs can come in extraordinary colours, and are not to be confused with the garment worn in Ancient Greece and Rome.
These amazing marine molluscs can come in extraordinary colours, and are not to be confused with the garment worn in Ancient Greece and Rome.
Chiton - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 24, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Today the 12yo has declared Chiton Awareness Day!
These amazing marine molluscs can come in extraordinary colours, and are not to be confused with the garment worn in Ancient Greece and Rome.
These amazing marine molluscs can come in extraordinary colours, and are not to be confused with the garment worn in Ancient Greece and Rome.
Reposted by Katie Collins
does anyone know of any documentaries or movies that prominently feature seals?
January 23, 2026 at 9:18 PM
does anyone know of any documentaries or movies that prominently feature seals?
Reposted by Katie Collins
Collaborate with me! Myself and @peterroopnarine.bsky.social are looking for a postdoc with expertise in quantitative paleoecology to work on our new NSF grant addressing whether communities after the PTME functioned differently than those beforehand.
job-boards.greenhouse.io/californiaac...
job-boards.greenhouse.io/californiaac...
Postdoctoral Researcher, Paleontology
San Francisco, CA
job-boards.greenhouse.io
January 16, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Collaborate with me! Myself and @peterroopnarine.bsky.social are looking for a postdoc with expertise in quantitative paleoecology to work on our new NSF grant addressing whether communities after the PTME functioned differently than those beforehand.
job-boards.greenhouse.io/californiaac...
job-boards.greenhouse.io/californiaac...
Reposted by Katie Collins
#FossilFriday Graptolites are extremely useful as zonal fossils in the Ordovician and Silurian. Some look like pencil marks but better preserved examples, like this Monograptus priodon from the Wenlock of Scotland, resemble miniature saw blades.
January 16, 2026 at 7:53 AM
#FossilFriday Graptolites are extremely useful as zonal fossils in the Ordovician and Silurian. Some look like pencil marks but better preserved examples, like this Monograptus priodon from the Wenlock of Scotland, resemble miniature saw blades.
Question from the groupchat: do whales have foreskins? 🤔
January 15, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Question from the groupchat: do whales have foreskins? 🤔
Reposted by Katie Collins
Mollusc-related Academic Grant alert
Deadline: February 28, 2026
For:malacological topic, usually within biology or paleontology, with any molluscan taxon or taxa as the focus. All scientific disciplines in studying mollusks eligible
Please see : www.conchologistsofamerica.org/grants/
🦑 #snails
Deadline: February 28, 2026
For:malacological topic, usually within biology or paleontology, with any molluscan taxon or taxa as the focus. All scientific disciplines in studying mollusks eligible
Please see : www.conchologistsofamerica.org/grants/
🦑 #snails
Grants - coa
COA Grants to Malacology Since the inception of the program in June 1985, COA has awarded over $200,000 US in grants toward research in malacology. Individual grants range between $1,000 and $2,500. I...
www.conchologistsofamerica.org
January 15, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Mollusc-related Academic Grant alert
Deadline: February 28, 2026
For:malacological topic, usually within biology or paleontology, with any molluscan taxon or taxa as the focus. All scientific disciplines in studying mollusks eligible
Please see : www.conchologistsofamerica.org/grants/
🦑 #snails
Deadline: February 28, 2026
For:malacological topic, usually within biology or paleontology, with any molluscan taxon or taxa as the focus. All scientific disciplines in studying mollusks eligible
Please see : www.conchologistsofamerica.org/grants/
🦑 #snails
Reposted by Katie Collins
This morning I saw a post w/photos of Smithsonian paleontologist Charles Gilmore, and it dislodged a thought from my brain: I *still* use the dude's work, 80 years after his last paper. Why? Because he published copious data - measurements, solid morphological descriptions, great photos. <thread>
January 13, 2026 at 3:28 PM
This morning I saw a post w/photos of Smithsonian paleontologist Charles Gilmore, and it dislodged a thought from my brain: I *still* use the dude's work, 80 years after his last paper. Why? Because he published copious data - measurements, solid morphological descriptions, great photos. <thread>
On the one hand I should decline to review this paper that I fundamentally disagree with and which used my own damn dataset to do something I think is a fools errand - I don't think I can give it a fair hearing and I should recuse myself.
January 13, 2026 at 9:56 AM
On the one hand I should decline to review this paper that I fundamentally disagree with and which used my own damn dataset to do something I think is a fools errand - I don't think I can give it a fair hearing and I should recuse myself.
Reposted by Katie Collins
January 12, 2026 at 4:41 PM