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Dr Richie Howard

@arthropoda-curator.bsky.social

Curator of Fossil Arthropods at the Natural History Museum, London ๐Ÿฆ‚ Nature geek and outdoor enthusiast with a passion for angling ๐ŸŒž๐ŸŒฟ

3,090 Followers  |  205 Following  |  93 Posts  |  Joined: 15.11.2024  |  2.007

Latest posts by arthropoda-curator.bsky.social on Bluesky

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A Jurassic acanthocephalan illuminates the origin of thorny-headed worms - Nature An acanthocephalan body fossil, Juracanthocephalus daohugouensis, is described from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou biota of China, showing previously unrecognized diversity in ancient Acanthocephal...

I finally have something worth posting here! A new paper on wormsI never expected to see fossilised! Juracanthocephalus is the first body fossil of Acanthocephala and remarkably provides links with rotifers and other gnathiferans.

Published in @nature.com
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

09.04.2025 20:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 71    ๐Ÿ” 21    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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๐˜Š๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช (Schlotheim, 1823) (Ptychopariida: Conocoryphidae)

Miaolingian

Jince Formation

Ginetz, Bohemia, Czechia ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ

10.04.2025 06:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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applerankings.com/pink-lady-ap...

24.03.2025 17:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The Pink Lady apple is the complete fruit.

24.03.2025 17:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
A little pseudoscorpion with its impressive claws held out-stretched in a plastic tray.

A little pseudoscorpion with its impressive claws held out-stretched in a plastic tray.

A dark brown pseudoscorpion with its claws held out in a plastic tray with a few specks of soil and some plant debris.

A dark brown pseudoscorpion with its claws held out in a plastic tray with a few specks of soil and some plant debris.

A couple of Neobisium carcinoides pseudoscorpions sieved from Hornbeam leaf litter on a random road verge in Norfolk today while out cycling with @jeremybartlett.bsky.social
#pseudoscorpions #invertebrates

23.03.2025 20:31 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 54    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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This is one of our coolest horseshoe crab fossils. Tachypleus syriacus- featuring a fishy friend!

Cenomanian in age, from the Hjoula Lagerstรคtte of Lebanon ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ง

24.03.2025 07:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 46    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Shaky footage but here's a few seconds of a Bristly Millipede (Polyxenus lagurus) gliding across a lichen covered wall at Hethel church today.

23.03.2025 20:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 40    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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๐˜‰๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข ๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ด (Brongniart, 1822) (Phacopida: Encrinuridae)

Wenlock Series (upper Silurian)

Coalbrookdale Formation

Malvern Hills, Worcestershire, England

21.03.2025 10:46 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Can never decide whether itโ€™s cooler that fleas are parasitic scorpionflies or that termites are eusocial cockroaches.

12.03.2025 11:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Here is a Selenopeltis from the collection of Joachim Barrande.

11.03.2025 09:39 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 14    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Alexa:

โ€œ70s invert palaeo vibesโ€

10.03.2025 12:06 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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Today I got FOUR lifers, which is the sort of numbers I normally only do on a holiday abroad!

Dartford Warbler, Wood Lark, Meadow Pipit and Common Snipe.

09.03.2025 17:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 10    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Now fact me till I fart!

02.03.2025 17:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Do not mess with Velvet Swimming Crabs.

02.03.2025 17:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 29    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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A cheirurid, a phacopid and a harpetid walk into a bar

14.02.2025 16:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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More reasons to love the mild and damp British winter!

Moss - ๐˜“๐˜ฆ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ฌ๐˜บ๐˜ข ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ด
Beetle wood borings - ๐˜๐˜บ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ถ๐˜ด sp.
Golden Shield Lichen - ๐˜Ÿ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜ฑ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ข
Tripe Fungus - ๐˜ˆ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ข

01.02.2025 07:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 45    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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On this #FossilFriday I am curating an enormous collection of harpetid trilobites from the Devonian of Morocco, as figured in the recent ZooTaxa monograph by Robert Johnson.

Some absolutely gorgeous material we are very lucky to have acquired.

www.mapress.com/zt/article/v...

31.01.2025 15:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 64    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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They are out!

31.01.2025 07:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 54    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The big, the small and the weird: A phylogenomic analysis of extant Priapulida Priapulida is a small phylum of 22 described species that are divided into two size classes (microscopic and macroscopic), distinguished by adult and โ€ฆ

A new phylogeny of extant Priapulida

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

30.01.2025 11:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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The Jackdaws getting right in the feeder this morning.

Move aside House Sparrows!

30.01.2025 11:08 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 7    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Hereโ€™s a dragonfly wing from the Purbeck Group (Tithonian) collected in the 19th century that I curated today.

Fantastic preservation of the venation!

29.01.2025 16:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 50    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Weโ€™ve just had our windows replaced and it disturbed this juvenile Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis) from hibernation in one of the cracks ๐Ÿ˜ด

A lot of growing to do for her next year!

29.01.2025 11:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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So much good moss round these parts

28.01.2025 18:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Beetle remains from the Middle Jurassic Taynton Limestone of Oxfordshire - bugs from the world of Megalosaurus.

28.01.2025 08:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 33    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Obsessed with this photo

26.01.2025 16:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Hey folks I want to Post More ... I curate fossil (non-cephalopod) molluscs at NHM London - does anyone have any curation or mollusc related questions for me? Any kinds of critters you'd like to see more pics of? I can't guarantee I'll answer everything, but I'll try!

26.01.2025 12:31 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 239    ๐Ÿ” 71    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 47    ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
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Winter colours in West Berkshire โ˜บ๏ธ

25.01.2025 17:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 20    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Todayโ€™s the day!

God that was hard work ๐Ÿ˜‚

16.01.2025 21:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Had a dream last night a small local museum had this insane stash of scorpion fossils for me.

But I only had this middle of Lidl toy camera to image them and the building was flooding because they were tearing the place down to build a theme park.

Going to characterise this as an anxiety dream.

16.01.2025 07:31 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 15    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I feel like the Triassic and the Devonian (and also the Palaeogene but who cares about that) are the systems on the geological timescale where it is absolutely WIDE OPEN who has the main character energy.

15.01.2025 07:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

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