P. David Polly
@pdpolly.bsky.social
David is a vertebrate paleontologist who grew up near Boonville, Missouri. He is also British. “Read broader, think deeper, do better”: https://pollylab.org/
My university finally feels like it too is run by the wheel-clampers (Biff from 30+ yrs ago).
October 21, 2025 at 1:23 AM
My university finally feels like it too is run by the wheel-clampers (Biff from 30+ yrs ago).
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. 🙂
October 20, 2025 at 11:28 PM
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. 🙂
JFK, I realized today my first phylogenetic tree was only 20 yrs after Hennig was published in English, and my last was 40 yrs after my first. 🤦♂️
October 20, 2025 at 4:01 AM
JFK, I realized today my first phylogenetic tree was only 20 yrs after Hennig was published in English, and my last was 40 yrs after my first. 🤦♂️
For anyone who happens to be on Long Island next week, please come...
October 15, 2025 at 10:30 PM
For anyone who happens to be on Long Island next week, please come...
Warm though it may have been, it wasn’t 50+c in Turkey. 🤔
July 28, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Warm though it may have been, it wasn’t 50+c in Turkey. 🤔
Another Missouri senator who just sold his constituents down the river. Maybe the House will bail him out?
July 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Another Missouri senator who just sold his constituents down the river. Maybe the House will bail him out?
And meanwhile the demoted former Executive Vice President, now Executive Vice Chancellor as we work overtime in unpaid summer months to deal with this nonsense that he helped bring down…..
July 1, 2025 at 1:52 AM
And meanwhile the demoted former Executive Vice President, now Executive Vice Chancellor as we work overtime in unpaid summer months to deal with this nonsense that he helped bring down…..
The attacks by US and Israel on Iran and Gaza are simply immoral, especially when the balance of power is so completely lopsided. It is murderous, immoral bullying. This MUST stop NOW. Not in my name, never ever ever....... ☹️🤬
June 22, 2025 at 12:13 AM
The attacks by US and Israel on Iran and Gaza are simply immoral, especially when the balance of power is so completely lopsided. It is murderous, immoral bullying. This MUST stop NOW. Not in my name, never ever ever....... ☹️🤬
No kings, Bloomington IN.
June 14, 2025 at 7:29 PM
No kings, Bloomington IN.
Hyaenodon, an @pelican-man.bsky.social original now framed and hung with a @blueasterstudio.bsky.social original.
June 14, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Hyaenodon, an @pelican-man.bsky.social original now framed and hung with a @blueasterstudio.bsky.social original.
Art by Ray Troll, sentiment by millions…..
June 14, 2025 at 1:16 AM
Art by Ray Troll, sentiment by millions…..
Congratulations to Dr. Sierra Lopezalles for successfully defending her PhD. Sierra showed how body mass and running speed can be estimated not from scaling relationships, but from the form of postcranial bones. Sierra has overcome terrible odds, being my 13th PhD advisee to finish…
May 6, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Congratulations to Dr. Sierra Lopezalles for successfully defending her PhD. Sierra showed how body mass and running speed can be estimated not from scaling relationships, but from the form of postcranial bones. Sierra has overcome terrible odds, being my 13th PhD advisee to finish…
April 17, 2025 at 9:37 AM
New paper from Sierra Lopezalles of the Polly Lab group: Lopezalles SM. Leveraging functional morphology to increase accuracy of body-mass estimation: a study using canids. Paleobiology. Published online 2025:1-13. doi:10.1017/pab.2025.1
doi.org/10.1017/pab....
doi.org/10.1017/pab....
March 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
New paper from Sierra Lopezalles of the Polly Lab group: Lopezalles SM. Leveraging functional morphology to increase accuracy of body-mass estimation: a study using canids. Paleobiology. Published online 2025:1-13. doi:10.1017/pab.2025.1
doi.org/10.1017/pab....
doi.org/10.1017/pab....
New paper models causal link between evolutionary rates, sedimentary rates, and glacial-interglacial sea level cycles in Bermudia snails. drive.google.com/file/d/1pLid...
March 15, 2025 at 7:57 PM
New paper models causal link between evolutionary rates, sedimentary rates, and glacial-interglacial sea level cycles in Bermudia snails. drive.google.com/file/d/1pLid...
Nice book by Øyvind Hammer that i only learned about yesterday...
February 21, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Nice book by Øyvind Hammer that i only learned about yesterday...
Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪
December 30, 2024 at 9:34 PM
Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪
Cross-bedded plastics -- plastics and deposital dynamics from Sarah Gabbot at #PalAss2024.
December 11, 2024 at 4:24 PM
Cross-bedded plastics -- plastics and deposital dynamics from Sarah Gabbot at #PalAss2024.
Sarah Gabbott giving the plenary address at #PalAss2024. Who but paleontologists like to hear about bodily decay and decomposition before dinner?
December 11, 2024 at 3:59 PM
Sarah Gabbott giving the plenary address at #PalAss2024. Who but paleontologists like to hear about bodily decay and decomposition before dinner?
Phylogenetics symposium at #PalAss2024.
December 11, 2024 at 8:48 AM
Phylogenetics symposium at #PalAss2024.
Wilkommen to #PalAss2024 from @rachelwarnock.bsky.social and colleagues
December 10, 2024 at 12:53 PM
Wilkommen to #PalAss2024 from @rachelwarnock.bsky.social and colleagues
#PalAss24 unfortunately had to start with a Lufthansa/DB double-header, but 14 hrs later that is finished and the study of ancient life can begin.
December 8, 2024 at 9:16 PM
#PalAss24 unfortunately had to start with a Lufthansa/DB double-header, but 14 hrs later that is finished and the study of ancient life can begin.
#5albums80s5.... Zeitgeist, Translate Slowly (rereleased under group name Reivers after a legal battle). Local (Austin).
November 25, 2024 at 6:44 AM
#5albums80s5.... Zeitgeist, Translate Slowly (rereleased under group name Reivers after a legal battle). Local (Austin).
Bears, for those who care.... a new paper. www.sekj.org/PDF/anz61-fr...
Bear Feet with Björn: tarsal evolution in the origin of polar bears. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 61: 357–376.
Bear Feet with Björn: tarsal evolution in the origin of polar bears. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 61: 357–376.
November 21, 2024 at 6:45 AM
Bears, for those who care.... a new paper. www.sekj.org/PDF/anz61-fr...
Bear Feet with Björn: tarsal evolution in the origin of polar bears. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 61: 357–376.
Bear Feet with Björn: tarsal evolution in the origin of polar bears. — Ann. Zool. Fennici 61: 357–376.