Robert Sansom
@fossilrob.bsky.social
Palaeobiologist in Manchester | Fossils, Parenting, Animal Evolution, Fish, Phylogeny, Existential Despair, Taphonomy, and occasionally Eurovision
Here’s a sneak peak where I feebly try to justify the 18 year gap between the genesis and completion of this project with @Emma. Can you beat this gap?
November 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Here’s a sneak peak where I feebly try to justify the 18 year gap between the genesis and completion of this project with @Emma. Can you beat this gap?
I’d prefer not to be making the final finessing touches to tomorrows talk whilst on the train to Birmingham for #SVP2025, but that is where we are
November 11, 2025 at 8:56 PM
I’d prefer not to be making the final finessing touches to tomorrows talk whilst on the train to Birmingham for #SVP2025, but that is where we are
If you can’t beat them join them. My demon hunters inspired pumpkin for this year
October 31, 2025 at 11:46 AM
If you can’t beat them join them. My demon hunters inspired pumpkin for this year
Well that is an alarming email to start one’s day.
🐿️ Half?!?!?!
🐿️ Half?!?!?!
October 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Well that is an alarming email to start one’s day.
🐿️ Half?!?!?!
🐿️ Half?!?!?!
How big are fossil whales? Convex hull mass estimation in cetaceans with @sketchy-raptor.bsky.social
October 15, 2025 at 3:51 PM
How big are fossil whales? Convex hull mass estimation in cetaceans with @sketchy-raptor.bsky.social
New Dinosaur trackways happening at #MorphUpNorth at Man Met with @peterfalkingham.com with lots of fancy rotating models
October 15, 2025 at 3:13 PM
New Dinosaur trackways happening at #MorphUpNorth at Man Met with @peterfalkingham.com with lots of fancy rotating models
The story of Oculudentavis is wild. It was named "eye-teeth-bird" but had neither the eyes nor teeth of a bird, and indeed it wasn't even a bird. And the fossil may have come from a war zone 1/2
October 7, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The story of Oculudentavis is wild. It was named "eye-teeth-bird" but had neither the eyes nor teeth of a bird, and indeed it wasn't even a bird. And the fossil may have come from a war zone 1/2
I am glad I caught that typo
October 1, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I am glad I caught that typo
Hey palaeontologists - what (if anything) has this guy on Reddit found in Kootenay national park BC?
September 23, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Hey palaeontologists - what (if anything) has this guy on Reddit found in Kootenay national park BC?
Made it to the top
September 21, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Made it to the top
Apparently this sign does not mean the Stairs of Cirith Ungol to Mordor but the “easy” route
September 21, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Apparently this sign does not mean the Stairs of Cirith Ungol to Mordor but the “easy” route
Further unexpected fossil finds in Tbilisi: archaeopteryx street art
September 20, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Further unexpected fossil finds in Tbilisi: archaeopteryx street art
And whatever the hell is going on here
September 18, 2025 at 7:53 AM
And whatever the hell is going on here
And lots and lots of wine and dumplings…
September 18, 2025 at 7:51 AM
And lots and lots of wine and dumplings…
What to see in Georgia🇬🇪? @thefossilfiles.bsky.social is on tour. The Dmanisi cave fossils, some of earliest humans (?) outside of Africa, ~1.8 million years old, here in Tbilisi
September 18, 2025 at 7:49 AM
What to see in Georgia🇬🇪? @thefossilfiles.bsky.social is on tour. The Dmanisi cave fossils, some of earliest humans (?) outside of Africa, ~1.8 million years old, here in Tbilisi
But we finally got it done! BEHOLD
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
But we finally got it done! BEHOLD
Over many many years, and bringing in @evopalaeo.bsky.social along the way, we were finally able to slowly build towards getting all heterostracan genera into one big phylogeny, but it wasn't easy
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Over many many years, and bringing in @evopalaeo.bsky.social along the way, we were finally able to slowly build towards getting all heterostracan genera into one big phylogeny, but it wasn't easy
Enter Emma Randle and I! For her PhD she was going to tackle this problem, but it needed breaking down into smaller more digestable chunks (Cythaspids, Pteraspidiformes)
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Enter Emma Randle and I! For her PhD she was going to tackle this problem, but it needed breaking down into smaller more digestable chunks (Cythaspids, Pteraspidiformes)
The full gamut of heterostracan diversity had never been properly incorporated into a large phylogenetic study before, which is a problem. Because we don't know the structure of this diversity, we can't accurately reconstruct the evolution of our own stem-gnathostome lineage
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The full gamut of heterostracan diversity had never been properly incorporated into a large phylogenetic study before, which is a problem. Because we don't know the structure of this diversity, we can't accurately reconstruct the evolution of our own stem-gnathostome lineage
The most diverse group is the Heterostraci ("different plates"), with over 100 genera. They are weird.
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The most diverse group is the Heterostraci ("different plates"), with over 100 genera. They are weird.
Between jawless fish and jawed fish there are a whole host of heavily armoured fossil weirdos (the ostracoderms) who sit on our own lineage as stem-gnathostomes
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Between jawless fish and jawed fish there are a whole host of heavily armoured fossil weirdos (the ostracoderms) who sit on our own lineage as stem-gnathostomes
Would you believe that we don't have an evolutionary tree for the biggest group of fossil jawless fish? UNTIL NOW THAT IS!
Our new paper "A Phylogeny for Heterostraci" 10+ years in development, 100+ taxa, is finally out (thread)
Our new paper "A Phylogeny for Heterostraci" 10+ years in development, 100+ taxa, is finally out (thread)
September 2, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Would you believe that we don't have an evolutionary tree for the biggest group of fossil jawless fish? UNTIL NOW THAT IS!
Our new paper "A Phylogeny for Heterostraci" 10+ years in development, 100+ taxa, is finally out (thread)
Our new paper "A Phylogeny for Heterostraci" 10+ years in development, 100+ taxa, is finally out (thread)