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bigfacecats.bsky.social
Dr. BigFaceCats
@bigfacecats.bsky.social
99 followers 37 following 180 posts
Paleontologist, ornithologist, SLAC prof, may actually be a big-faced cat
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bigfacecats.bsky.social
Who put this here this is a biology program.
A picture of a tulip. It is labeled petunia.
October 31, 2025 at 12:42 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
To reiterate: OB has no brain at all.
Orange Boy, a large orange tabby cat, looms over the camera. His green eyes are wide and vacant and his mouth is faintly agape, giving him a particularly derpy expression. He is blurry because he was coming to doof the camera.
September 9, 2025 at 1:00 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
I have a colleague who mentors the catholic club on our campus and they ordered some cheap stickers for an event. They got what they paid for. This feels like a threat… maybe I should go through them with her at some point and look for more bible stickers with threatening auras.
A sticker with pretty flowers that says “You need simply watch the punishment of the wicked you will see. Psalm 91.8.” It feels like a threat.
September 5, 2025 at 5:08 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
Orange boy sometimes likes to creep me out by sleeping with his eyes open. And snoring. On top of Big Boy’s head, too, because why not.
September 4, 2025 at 10:38 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
I haven’t posted anything for a while sorry guys yes my cats are still big and in love with each other.
Big Boy, a black and white tuxedo cat, is asleep (probably) next to Orange Boy, an orange tabby cat, who is looking at the camera with an absolutely vacant expression. There is clearly not a brain cell to be had in his sweet big head.
September 3, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Dr. BigFaceCats
fossildetective.bsky.social
New paper out online in Geology @geosociety.bsky.social for #FossilFriday with @bigfacecats.bsky.social, @thomashegna.bsky.social and Ron Meyer. We describe an unusual horseshoe crab from the Ordovician of Michigan which preserves the ovaries with developing eggs! 🧪⚒️ 🧵[1/7]

doi.org/10.1130/G533...
A view of a fossil horseshoe crab preserving the entire animal in a cream-coloured rock. The head is unusually long and has a dark stain running around its edge. Closeup views of the dark stain show little round eggs preserved inside it.
May 30, 2025 at 2:58 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
Enjoy ten seconds of Big Boy purring. #purring
March 24, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Dr. BigFaceCats
fossildetective.bsky.social
Is this anything?
An image of David's "The Death of Socrates", over which is emblasoned the caption "What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?"
March 7, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Dr. BigFaceCats
fossildetective.bsky.social
Just heard the news that Richard Fortey has passed away.

As well as his science he did a lot for popukarising arthropod research in his books. Reading his autobiography (A Curious Boy) really made me reflect on my own pathway into science and highlighted the different opportunities people get.
March 7, 2025 at 2:07 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
R O U N D
Orange Boy is an orange tabby. He is staring directly at the camera. His right ear is damaged in a way that makes the top half of it flip backwards, and his left ear has a TNR tip in it. His nose his pink. His eyes are green-gold and completely blank. He has no brain. His face is SO ROUND.
February 11, 2025 at 10:28 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
This paper is really a great paper for a number of reasons but one of the big ones *is* this figure.
fossildetective.bsky.social James Lamsdell, PhD @fossildetective.bsky.social · Feb 11
I opened this paper on bird feeding traces to send to @bigfacecats.bsky.social and I'm glad I did because of this figure.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A schematic diagram showing a Mesozoic waterbird making feeding traces in mud. The bird looks incredibly derpy.
February 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Reposted by Dr. BigFaceCats
fossildetective.bsky.social
This might be the best reviewer comment I have ever received. 🧪
A screenshot of a comment in a word document by a reviewer, which just says "what is a mech?".
February 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
They love each other so very much.
Orange Boy, a large orange tabby cat, is snuggled against Big Boy, a large black and white tuxedo cat. OB has his head against Big Boy’s side, and Big Boy has his against one of OB’s paws. It looks like they’re holding hands. They are so in love.
February 8, 2025 at 1:31 AM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
Y’all I think God is trying to tell me something.
A syllabus for a class titled “Natural History of the Vertebrates”, only it overprinted a handout titled “The Selfishness of Self-Care”, from a publication with the title “Self-care for Department Chairs and Faculty Members”. The overplay of words from the syllabus and handout makes it impossible to read and gives a subtly disturbing “House of Leaves” or Zalgo impression…
February 5, 2025 at 12:37 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
Important update re: OB’s dental. I am forgiven.
Orange Boy, a large orange tabby, is lying on someone’s chest, facing the camera.
January 30, 2025 at 9:24 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
I’ve been avoiding social media except to post daily cat timeline cleanses, I should start doing that here. OB had a tooth extracted yesterday and ended up sitting like this in my living room for upwards of 20 minutes last night. He was still very stoned.
Orange Boy, a big orange tabby, sits with a vacant stare and his tongue sticking out. He can see time, thanks to the drugs the vet gave him for his dental. There is also some junk around him because I haven’t been able to be arsed to clean my living room and get rid of Christmas packing stuff. (Also the box in the foreground is for the cats.)
January 30, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Dr. BigFaceCats
fossilsndcoffee.bsky.social
You know what they say, "Never going in against a caecilian when milk is on the line" or ... something like that
science.org Science Magazine @science.org · Jan 2
A 2024 Science study reveals that an egg-laying species of worm-like amphibian nourishes its young with a lipid-rich, milk-like substance.

The findings report previously unobserved behavior and offer new insight into the species’ parental care and communication. scim.ag/4fPSG48
Milk provisioning in oviparous caecilian amphibians
During parental care, female oviparous Siphonops annulatus provide oviductal lipid-rich milk to hatchlings through the maternal vent.
scim.ag
January 2, 2025 at 6:11 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
He snorfled, then snorted himself awake. This cat is unreal.
Big Boy, a large black and white tuxedo cat, lies on his back asleep. The picture is only of his face (and white bib), but his eyes are closed and his mouth is open. You can see his lower incisors and even his lower canines. He is an embarrassment, even though his majestic white whiskers, which are very long, sort of makes up for it. His nose and lips/gums are very pink. You can practically hear him snoring just from the picture.
December 31, 2024 at 1:22 AM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
In case you were wondering, Big Boy and Orange Boy love each other very much.
Orange Boy (an orange tabby) sits with his forehead against Big Boy’s forehead (Big Boy is a black and white tuxedo cat). Their eyes are closed, and they are just vibing with each other. This was immediately after a mutual grooming session. They are clearly in love and are curled around each other, although the picture is zoomed in so you can really only see their heads and a little of their bodies.
December 30, 2024 at 10:06 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
Don’t worry, Orange Boy is happy too.
Orange Boy, a large orange tabby, is asleep on a chunky hand-knit blue blanket. He is on one side, his front paws stretched out. He almost looks to be smiling in his sleep. His nose is very pink today and turned slightly upward, towards the ceiling.
December 30, 2024 at 12:30 AM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
Big Boy is happy I’m home and feeling ridiculous.
Big Boy, a large black and white tuxedo cat, is lying on his back with his front paws in the air. His belly is pink because he licks the fur off of it. He’s done this for years ever since my cat Drace thumped the crap out of him when he tried to wrestle with her once. (Drace has been dead for almost 4 years so I think he just likes it now.) Orange Boy’s back half is just visible in the upper left hand corner of the picture. Big Boy is also lying on my knitting; I’ve just started a sock, but he doesn’t want me to work on it right now.
December 30, 2024 at 12:03 AM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa from these two dapper boys!
Big Boy, a large black and white cat, looks up at the camera, revealing a smart little red and white checked bow tie. His white whiskers are fully extended and pointed forward. There may be a treat right out of frame for him. He has a particularly eager expression and his pink nose is pointed up. Orange Boy, a large orange tabby, has his face buried in a bowl of food. However you can see a blue and white checked bow tie around his neck. (It’s on backwards.) He clearly doesn’t care and is intent on dinner.
December 25, 2024 at 3:23 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
My parents’ cat Bebe has finally figured out that the pillow my mom made for her is nice. It only took like two years.
Bebe, a large, long-haired black cat, sits on a patchwork pillow made from hand-woven yarn squares in shades of blue and green. She looks off into the middle distance with an expression that is rather inscrutable. But don’t be fooled—she’s a cowardly big floof.
December 20, 2024 at 4:47 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
It’s 63 degrees in my office this morning. I pity folks with Saturday finals today.
December 14, 2024 at 1:47 PM
bigfacecats.bsky.social
The last few days I think all of the stress I’ve been under has caught up to me, and I had a seriously rough couple of days with my mental health. I had a whole thread typed up multiple times and deleted it, because I couldn’t convince myself that it was worth saying, or that I wasn’t just whining.
December 13, 2024 at 11:00 AM