Liz Martin-Silverstone

When the universe is against you and keeps giving you error after error, give in and eat the biscuits someone gave you as a thank you to remind you that not everything is terrible…

Third week back at work and I’ve had a filament blow in the middle of a long day of scanning, after the second scan of a 2 part scan failed. I did not miss this part of my job…

A hidden diversity of ceratopsian dinosaurs in Late Cretaceous Europe - Nature New results indicate that rhabdodontids and the previously described Ajkaceratops are actually distinctive European ceratopsians, a group better known from Asia and North America.

Out in @nature.com today, we shake up the ornithischian family tree. Remember those weird Late Cretaceous iguanodontians, the rhabdodontids? Well they're weird because they aren't iguanodontians. They're ceratopsians. Well, at least some of them are... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Last day of maternity leave so I’m reflecting and enjoying some quiet reading time while Robin is asleep. Thinking a lot about the last 10.5 months and what would have happened if I hadn’t gone into the hospital on a whim on my way home from work in February…

#preeclampsia #hellpsyndrome

A slab of grey-brown coloured rock with long thin bones preserved on it.

#FossilFriday: the pterosaur found by Mary Anning in December 1828, probably at Church Cliffs (close to where her statue is today), Lyme Regis. The 1st British pterosaur fossil to be recognised (not the 1st found), it was purchased by William Buckland who forced it upon a reluctant British Museum.

A FAIR narrative on open science: when, who, what and how of computed tomography and the NoCTURN network Abstract. Open science, the practice of making research products and processes free and available to scientists and non-scientists alike, is transforming i

New NoCTURN paper on open science in computed tomography out now!
royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article...

‘She was like a deer in headlights’: how unskilled radical birthkeepers took hold in Canada In holistic communities and midwifery deserts, women are turning to the Free Birth Society for information and unlicensed providers

‘She was like a deer in headlights’: how unskilled radical birthkeepers took hold in Canada

And to masquerade as a proper midwife as well is deplorable. People think they are getting care but instead these women have no idea what they are doing. Bonkers.

‘There’s no longer a heartbeat’: the couple whose twins were stillborn – and the ‘birth keeper’ they blame Soon-to-be parents hired a woman they believed would act as a licensed midwife. But she in fact belonged to a radical society that was linked to baby deaths around the world

This free birth movement is insane. There’s one thing to try to give birth without medical intervention, but to try to go through a whole pregnancy without any tests, ultrasound etc is just crazy. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t go for extra tests. Insanity

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

As I was struggling to stay upright walking around Brussels I looked down at the very slippery paving stones and discovered they were full of fossils! Not great for my shows but fun to notice walking around central Brussels. Can’t take a palaeontologist anywhere… 😅

On my way back to Bristol after a great #2025SVP. Thanks to all the organisers for a great conference and getting me to use my brain a bit and be a scientist for the first time in 9 months. So lovely to catch up with so many friends I haven’t seen in a while.

I love my palaeo pals ❤️

He was great! I was really impressed by him. An excellent end to a great conference (though it really ended in Popworld a few hours later as is tradition…)

I may be missing #2025SVP today while on mum duty, but I made sure to make up for it by putting Robin in full dinosaur outfit 😅

Back in Bristol for 2 nights being a mum to my little one who has a sad cough. Hope no one at #2025SVP drowns today and you all survive the storm! See you tomorrow for the dinner 🦕 #svp2025

Isn’t that meant to be Saturday? Is it still supposed to be rainy tomorrow?

Just don’t tell anyone about the rain warning tomorrow….

Enjoyed my one full day at #2025SVP yesterday and this cool diorama that lots of my friends were involved in making! Well done all #SVP2025

Photo of a sticker showing a Thrinaxodon and Broomistega

Come to Hall 3 for these super cute Triassic cuddle stickers!! #2025SVP #SVP2025

Photo of Science Graphic Design booth with merchandise like notebooks, bookmarks and tote bags of palaeontology themes

Come see us tomorrow and for the rest of the week at Hall 3! #SVP2025 #2025SVP

😆 I wish I had done that earlier…

Looking forward to catching up with people at #2025SVP this week! I’m only at the conference on Wednesday but around socially for some of Thursday and Saturday!

Don't forget to sign up for our workshop at #SVP2025:

Designing For All: Creating Accessible Graphics For Science!

Spaces are limited so sign up while you can!

vertpaleo.org/2025-worksho...

I hope the 2 30ish guys who had parked in their fancy car in the “parking with children” section of Sainsbury’s thought at least slightly bad when I was struggling to get my baby out of a tiny spot in the pouring rain and sorting out the stroller. I shouted at them. They didn’t respond. Mom wrath

Fair, but in my case emergency c-section would have happened anyways as no scan would have helped (though possibly better antenatal monitoring would have). I had the blood tests done but no one looked at the results until too late… so yes probably better antenatal care would help!

Charlie Kirk spent his life‘s work and all of his energy and time targeting out-groups while arguing for a world in which gun massacres would be easy to enact, plentiful, and inevitable, and he became famous and wealthy doing it, and we’re now not supposed to mention that because it’s not polite.

More than half of UK births now involve medical intervention, audit finds Caesareans drive rise in assisted deliveries as experts warn of complex pregnancies linked to age, obesity and other conditions

I’m always annoyed by the suggestion that there are too many c-sections. They happen for a reason, and the decision isn’t taken lightly. If I hadn’t had one when I did I may not be here today. And I didn’t have a complex pregnancy.

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

@societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social when will a more detailed schedule come out? I am likely only registering for 1-2 days of the conference but need the schedule to know when. I was hoping to do this before the early registration deadline but can’t yet

I couldn’t think of another female pterosaur worker in the UK. I thought of @nataliajagielska.bsky.social but she’s not in the UK anymore. It’s really sad that this is the case! If I forgot anyone l will blame baby brain…

Got asked to do an interview for a tv programme on a paper coming out tomorrow. Had to decline because baby life. They asked me for a suggestion of another woman based in the UK that they could contact… which is how I realised there are far too few women who work on pterosaurs. And none in the UK?

This was us last night. Bedroom was 24 most of the night. Outside was 16. We had windows open but I think it went down to 23.4 lowest….