Krista Koeller

I’m a biologist in large part because of Pokemon.

The whole premise of most of the games is to explore biodiversity and collect data for research.

What is a Pokédex but a life list?

They’re vestigial. Their ancestors were more symmetrical

Haha you don’t need functional shoulder blades if you don’t have arms.

The Sternum, Collar Bones and Shoulder blades of a legless lizard. this is a figure comparing a drawing and a CT scan of the same bones of the same species, Feylinia currori, but different specimens. the top image is a line drawing that looks like it was done by a 6 year old. the bones are wonky and asymmetrical and the sternum is just a blob. the bottom image is a CT scan showing what the bones of this skink actually look like. they are wonky and asymmetrical and the sternum is just a blob. it looks almost exactly like the illustration.

I'm sorry, Charles Camp, for thinking you were bad at drawing.

Timeline cleans with snowflake-sized baby lagoon jellyfish.

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🎥 jelliesfarm www.instagram.com/jelliesfarm?...

Oh my god people need to chill out about food. Our bodies are generally really good at continuing to exist and most people don’t need to micromanage their diets or think too hard about it.

In my ongoing attempts to give you a break from *gestures widely* THE HORRORS:

Let's talk about the utterly bizarre science of cats' purring.

Here's a weird starting point:
There are NO cats (Felidae) that can BOTH roar AND purr.

Cats that roar = genus Panthera
Cats that purr = genus Felis

I’m so impressed by this person, who kept filming and kept focus on what was happening.

Yuuuuuup. And I’m zero percent surprised. We all knew people would die.

ICE murdered another person. I don’t know what else you can call shooting a guy who is already on the ground being restrained and pummeled in the head by half a dozen guys.

Look geologists, it's a ternary plot, but for energy pathways!
⚒️

Thanks for writing it! It helped me appreciate the End-Ordivician more!

“The exciting part is learning how linked the Earth system is, and how one change can unlock several others.”

Graphic illustrating the reconstruction process for Scyllacerta creanae (SAM-PK-K7710). The holotype aggregation specimen (left) comprises four skulls and at least six nearly complete skeletons preserved in lifelike positions. Using synchrotron micro-CT scans of the skulls, the bones could be segmented, digitally isolating them from the matrix and allowing their full morphology to be studied in detail (top center). Combining information from all four skulls, a reconstructed version could be assembled, depicting the likely life appearance (center, with each bone in a distinct color). This reconstruction can be used to make line drawings for science communication and skeletal reconstructions (bottom center). These reconstructions were the basis for a detailed life restoration of the head of Scyllacerta (bottom right, by @LiterallyMiguel). Despite its incredibly small size (top right, compared to a human hand), the known individuals were likely nearing full maturity.

Very excited to share Scyllacerta creanae, a new Permian stem-reptile from South Africa known from an aggregation of several individuals. This specimen provides unprecedented detail regarding the anatomy of the early reptile skull. 🦎

(1/🧵)

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains

Tube>not tube!

They never do learn that lesson.

Oh for sure. 100%. And it’s something every social media user should be thinking about.

If you’re using a service that’s free, how are the platform owners benefiting?

Ooh great figure find!

Yeah some birds have more guts (haha chickens being cowards joke) but no birds really have a labyrinth in there.

What a wild world it is. And what a lovely thing it is not live not in the ocean.

Yeah it’s for sure a different circumstance, and different eels. Just a possible explanation. You also see frogs eating snakes that end up coming out alive the other end.

Sometimes it’s good to be a tube.

And whatever the explanation, I stand by not judging birds for…having seconds.

Salary to living wage plot with only 4 programs falling aprove the 1:1 line and paying a living wage.

Happy recruitment/interview season for PhD students! Recruiting students in ecology & evolutionary biology? Make sure your department's stipend is accurate in our database: rhettrautsaw.app/shiny/Biolog...

Gross but neat!

(PDF) Escaping via the predator's gill: A defensive tactic of juvenile eels after capture by predatory fish PDF | On Jan 30, 2022, Yuha Hasegawa and others published Escaping via the predator's gill: A defensive tactic of juvenile eels after capture by predatory fish | Find, read and cite all the research y...

There’s research showing eels can sometimes navigate a digestive tract after being captured and escape. It’s not birds being weird, it’s eels being real good at tubes!

www.researchgate.net/publication/...

Skull of Scyllacerta, reconstructed based on scans of four nearly complete skulls.

Introducing a new Permian reptile: Scyllacerta creanae

With a tympanic fossa on the quadrate and no lower temporal bar, Scyllacerta challenges long-standing ideas about when-and-how hearing evolved in reptiles 🦎👂

🔗 doi.org/10.1111/pala...

Omg it’s so cute!

Third Eye of Ancient Reptiles Reveals Clues About Evolution of "Warmbloodedness" — Steemit Located deep within your brain is a small cluster of neurons that we call the pineal gland. Producing melatonin, the… by herpetologyguy

Good blog post on the pineal eye and our ancestors.

steemit.com/science/@her...

This is one of those things that’s very exciting if you already know a cooler thing.

A lot of lizards and some extinct guys in our lineage have a “third eye,” a light sensing spot that connects to the pineal gland which makes our sleepy hormone.

Looks like this evolved from paired complex eyes!

#Sciart #Paleoart #Dinosaur Ceratopsid dinosaurs (2025)

3-day snow accumulation forecast with a palette that resets from dark blue to light yellow at the boundary between 4–6 and 6–8 inches accumulation. This over-emphasizes the transition and may cause confusion.

While we’re being bombarded with weather maps, I thought I’d revisit one of my favorite color palette tricks. Sometimes it’s important to emphasize a boundary, perhaps between moderate (< 6") and severe (>8") snowfall. You could reset the palette, like the NYT, but there’s a better way.

📊🗺️🎨