Luíseach Nic Eoin

comhgairdeas!

🎉🦕 Big news! The Palaeontological Association has just released the abstract booklet and programme for the 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association (Portsmouth, 11–15 Dec 2025)! 🌍📖 ⬇️

palass.org/annual-meeti...
#conference #PalAss25 #uk

Great day for cat archaeology all round

Wildcat bones found in Co Clare dated to 5,500 years ago The first directly dated wildcat bones found in Ireland have been identified, confirming that the species inhabited the island more than 5,500 years ago.

Finally the research has been published to prove that wild cat (Felis silvestris) lived in Ireland 5,500 years ago. Many claims over the years but the backup genetics was needed and a good number of bones have been recovered to provide enough material www.rte.ie/news/munster...

Paleo folks: Please recommend researchers (incl yourselves) interested in phylogenetic reconstruction in deep time, molecular clocks (discord w/ fossil clocks), foundational/methodological issues in phylo/paleo-reconstruction & who'd be interested in hanging w/ historians & philosophers of science ⚒️

you see, once they don't have heads, they can no longer form the little lines on the pottery, so they can't contribute to society anymore. It's really sad.

Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished Wave of mass brutality accompanied the collapse of the first pan-European culture

"Headless bodies hint at why Europe’s first farmers vanished"

That'll be because without heads, they couldn't see where they were going?
www.science.org/content/arti...

Save Geology at the University of Leicester Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

The geology department at the University of Leicester, where myself and countless others did our palaeontology PhDs, is at serious risk of closure

Please show your support by signing the below!

c.org/KtYyZB8dHk

...but one of my favourite things about the journal is showcasing the organisms and systems that the published work comes from (this year's gallery: www.nature.com/natecolevol/...) via beautiful photos. And the day AI art appears on one of our covers (yes we do get submissions) is the day I quit!

I'm not sure that's totally true: at Nature journals authors are also invited to submit potential cover art, and at NEE we inevitably have to make difficult choices each month because of the amazing quality of author photos. We occasionally commission a cover eg www.nature.com/natecolevol/.... 1/2

I'm not at #SVP2025 unfortunately, but if you're interested in publishing in @natecoevo.nature.com one of my excellent colleagues can tell you how to get in touch with us!

Here’s the @natureportfolio.nature.com crew at #SVP2025 - @joaovascoleite.bsky.social @devinleaward.bsky.social @lukegrinham.bsky.social and me. Come and chat.

Women are credited less in science than men - Nature The difference between the number of men and women listed as authors on scientific papers and inventors on patents is at least partly attributable to unacknowledged contributions by women scientists.

Anyone interested in learning about why journals make a proactive effort to increase women's participation in the peer review process should take the time look at some actual evidence about why this is needed. Ditto journalists covering such a story. Do some reporting! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Jane Goodall obituary: pioneer primatologist who inspired generations of scientists She was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats.

Richard Wrangham pays tribute to Jane Goodall in an obituary for Nature, outlining how she was a tireless advocate for conservation, the welfare of captive chimpanzees and the protection of habitats. 🧪

Protect the Tibetan Plateau’s rich felid diversity - Nature Ecology & Evolution Nature Ecology & Evolution - Protect the Tibetan Plateau’s rich felid diversity

Sheng et al. call for greater survey efforts and broader conservation initiative to protect the 11 (ELEVEN!) felid species of the Tibetan Plateau.

(Strong contender for the Correspondence, or indeed article of any kind, with the best figure we ever published)

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

really want a marbled cat now

Scientists targeted by dark PR tactics: Several academic scientists critical of de-extinction projects have become the targets of anonymous smear articles and weaponized copyright infringement claims:... EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

The archaeological record of plastics

FYI this excellent piece is now free access for a month--check it out! #palaeontology #plasticpollution

Understanding environmental impacts of plastic requires a palaeontological lens - Nature Ecology & Evolution Growing evidence suggests that timescales for plastic degradation have been vastly underestimated. The fossil record of plastic-like biopolymers might provide a perspective on plastic fossilization in...

Sarah Gabbott's @thepalass.bsky.social plenary talk has been living rent free inside my head ever since December so I'm delighted that she's written it up as a Comment for @natecoevo.nature.com: we need taphonomy to understand plastic pollution

rdcu.be/eAmRU

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Cover of the August issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution. The image shows a pangolin curled up in a ball in the palm of a hand. The headline reads "Threat scales"

Our August issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

🧪 Featuring research on:

🧬 The antibiotic resistome
🌍 Palaeobiogeography of lagerpetids and early pterosaurs
🫄 Evolution of mammalian pregnancy

Cover shows a pangolin from Emogor et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This company claimed to ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves. Then the fighting started. Colossal’s bold announcements have drawn criticism from many scientists, but the billion-dollar firm is not backing down.

This company claimed to ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves. Then the fighting started. Colossal’s bold announcements have drawn criticism from many scientists, but the billion-dollar firm is not backing down. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

New scientist headline critics of de extinction hit by mystery smear campaign

Like science? Then you better be interested when *someone* starts putting out hit pieces on scientists. This is beyond the pale ethically and honestly anyone who doesn’t want to slide to hell on a slick of ai generated content that benefits billionaire business, maybe now is the time to get angry.

I was really looking forward to @cpeg-cpb25.bsky.social but unfortunately can’t make it anymore. Hope to catch up later, but if you’ve got any #conservation #palaeobiology papers please do submit them to @natecoevo.nature.com! Or drop me a message to discuss

Geochemical chronologies in Paranthropus robustus teeth inform habitat and life histories Nature Ecology & Evolution - Strontium analysis of Paranthropus robustus teeth from two South African sites reveals that the Pleistocene hominin probably exploited both savanna and riparian...

Paranthropus robustus ecology and life history via Sr isotopes from teeth

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
rdcu.be/exFEL

Cover of the July issue of Nature Ecology & Evolution showing an image of an orchid mantis. The headline reads "Mechanisms of mimicry and camouflage"

Our July issue is now live! www.nature.com/natecolevol/...

🧪Featuring research on:

🌴Regenerating tropical forests
🐊Early archosauromorph reptiles
🦑Bobtail squid visual and nervous systems

Cover shows an orchid mantis, from Pei et al. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Moa de-extinction, moa problems.

Moa "de-extinction" plans announced - Expert Reaction An overseas company has announced plans to "bring back" the South Island giant moa. Colossal Biosciences, working with Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and Canterbury Museum, says it expects to "resurrect" t...

And here is a whole host of expert comment on the Moa/Colossal announcement -- well worth a read, with lots to think about.

www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2025/07/09/m...

I can't remember the location I'm afraid but I can tell you that perusing the Argos catalogue and then going to the shop was a highlight of visiting my Ballymena granny during this time period (no Argos down south then) up there with going to Camerons, glad to hear it'll be memorialised in print.

Nazi Germany did literally ban Nature:

"Articles are often published in the London weekly scientific journal Nature containing outrageous and vile attacks on German science and the national socialist state.

The journal must therefore be excluded from general use in the scientific libraries."