Dr Jordan Kistler

Darren Naish lecturing about snakes.

Snake Summer event poster.

Giant model snake skull up high on a cabinet.

Giant Retic python (over 7m long .. but this not necessarily original length) on show at Hunterian Museum of Zoology.

Just back from brilliant Snake Summer event at Hunterian Museum of Zoology, big thanks to @tattersdill.bsky.social and @jordankistler.bsky.social. Bothrodon pridii, lost worlds, cryptid snakes and snake diversity and biology. Thanks to those who bought my tsuchinoko stickers :)

Hugely bittersweet to see all the wonderful doctoral projects that have received AHRC funding this year in Scotland - 50 in total! - and to know that the introduction of the Landscape Awards for 2026 will mean a 58% reduction in funding for Scottish institutions.

I always knew he was no good

Masthead for the newspaper Boon's Lick Times, from 1845.

I just feel like I'd have trouble taking news from this source seriously.

Want to know how baseless the claim that em dashes indicate GenAI use is? I just had to change all my book's em dashes to en dashes to fit house style (SOB), which means I now know that I used 275 em dashes in this book.

Of course, I also named my rabbit Em Dash, so perhaps this isn't a surprise.

Collecting Australia: colonial consumption and the display of Australia in Scotland during the long nineteenth century at University of Aberdeen on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Collecting Australia: colonial consumption and the display of Australia in Scotland during the long nineteenth century at University of Aberdeen , listed on FindAPhD.com

Funded PhD in heritage! Collecting Australia: colonial consumption and the display of Australia in Scotland during the long nineteenth century.

Closing date: 25 May

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

Very pleased that my article 'Facts and Fictions: Emotional Authenticity and Narrative in Natural History Exhibitions', which close reads the displays of the NHM and the Loch Ness Centre, has been published today!

journals.le.ac.uk/index.php/mas

Absolutely lovely feeling of Friday 5 o'clock (nearly) coinciding with the completion of the last chapter of my book! There's still a conclusion to be written and the notes and the index (shudder) to sort out, but that's still 90,000 words drafted!

Come join @tanjabueltmann.net and I at Strathclyde for a funded PhD on built heritage and Glasgow’s slaving links, centred around Tobacco Merchant’s House.

Excellent ops to engage with heritage industry via co-supervision by Scottish Civic Trust!

Details below!

Any questions - get in touch!

The problem with comical nicknames for your pets is that you call for "stinky baby" and "darling horror", and that's at least several of them, if not all of them.

The historic models of dinosaurs in the Nature or Culture? exhibition were also well worth a look.

I visited the Museu Martorell in Barcelona last week and can't get over the spectacular taxidermy they currently have on display, by Antonio Perez Rodriguez. A genuine feat of engineering, I can't quite work out how he did it!

Victorianist friends: I'm looking for appearance of the Egyptian Hall Piccadilly in fiction. Any ideas?

Betraying your username!

One close to my heart as someone from Philadelphia.

I love the meme-turned-cryptids that keep coming up. I wonder how many of the OG cryptids were the memes of their day, too?

Just looked this up on cryptid wiki, and some of the art is spectacular.

I just love that we're still coming up with new ones!

Ooh, good one.

Excellent suggestion.

Loving how ramrod straight that guy is. Reminds me of the cgi in the obvious classic Piranhaconda.

A classic that I had almost forgotten about!

Batsquatch is new to me, and I love him.

I was unaware of the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, and I am delighted with it.

For very important research reasons, I need to know everyone's favourite cryptid (not just nessie). @tetzoo.bsky.social ?

Great to meet you, too, Vicky!

This is Anactoria! And Salomé really is not happy about it.

Anactoria!

A new obstacle to work has appeared in my life

The BSLS is now on bluesky! Give us a follow for all the latest lit and science news.

@thebsls.bsky.social