John Dawson

Fossil isotope evidence for trophic simplification on modern Caribbean reefs - Nature Using nitrogen isotopes from ancient and modern fish otoliths and corals, the study shows Caribbean reef food webs are now 60–70% shorter and functionally less diverse, indicating human-driven trophic simplification and increased risk of collapse.

The food chains on modern Caribbean coral reefs may have shortened by up to 70% compared with those on their prehistoric counterparts, according to research in Nature. The findings suggest that modern reefs could be increasingly vulnerable to external stressors and ecosystem collapse. 🌍 🧪

Science Christmas
The Upturned Microscope

Caribbean reefs have lost 48% of hard coral since 1980, study finds ‘Destructive’ marine heatwaves driving loss of microalgae that feed coral, says Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network

Caribbean reefs have lost 48% of hard coral since 1980, study finds

Forgotten women of paleontology: Estella Bergere Leopold. Paleoecological records suggest that the transition to agriculture marked a pivotal turning point in the environmental history of our planet. Tropical forests have been reduced by agricultural expa…

Forgotten women of paleontology: Estella Bergere Leopold ⚒️🧪

paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2025/11/21/f...

This baby pterosaur is no bigger than my thumb

#FossilFriday Remarkable preservation of the brachidium which supported the lophophore in the brachiopod Spiriferina from the French Jurassic.

"Dude, that is so cool!" A group of hikers were left in awe when they spotted a Giant Pacific octopus in a tide pool near Bellingham, Washington!

They’re intelligent and adaptive creatures. It’s crucial we ensure their conservation and protect their habitats for future generations.
#Octopus 🐙

I'm currently at my godmother's baby shower and I still can't escape deep time. The building steps are made up of sandstone slabs completely full of trace fossils! These were once part of an ancient beach millions of years ago and Invertebrates burrowed into the sand. Not sure on age or province.

Here are more pictures I took of Ichnofossils I saw in the sandstone slabs that made up the steps at the baby shower venue I went to today. Many of these are cross-cutting one another. It must have been an active seabed. Some of these look like they were made by arthropods. Possibly trilobites.

Megadroughts Have Grown in Size and Scope - Eos A new study maps and ranks the largest, longest-lasting, and most severe multiyear droughts from 1980 to 2018.

As the climate warms, the total land area affected by multiyear droughts has expanded by 50,000 square kilometers, or more than 12 million acres, each year since 1980.

JOB: SEASONAL PALEONTOLOGIST
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15wks, starting in mid-late May or early June 2025 (flexible). $19.07 / hr. Must be legally able to work in US. Applications close Feb 10th 2025.

Come work with us!

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See listing & comments for details

Scientists drill nearly 2 miles down to pull 1.2 million-year-old ice core from Antarctic An international team of scientists say they’ve successfully drilled one of the oldest ice cores yet, penetrating nearly 2 miles to Antarctic bedrock to reach ice that's at least 1.2 million years old...

They did it!
"An international team of scientists announced they’ve successfully drilled one of the oldest ice cores yet [...] to reach ice they say is at least 1.2 million years old."
So far scientific ocean drilling was the only way to go back in time further than 800ka!
apnews.com/article/anta...

Mitchell Ralphs bends over a portable XRF machine, which looks a little bit like a microscope but instead of the lens tube is a small box where you can put shards. He is writing notes down on a piece of paper.

Mitchell Ralphs bends over a portable XRF machine, which looks a little bit like a microscope but instead of the lens tube is a small box where you can put shards. He is writing notes down on a piece of paper.

Read more: https://buff.ly/3DBKkiS

January 7 is Old-Rock-Day 🪨 & you can't go older than with the Acasta Gneiss-a tonalite gneiss of the Slave craton, NWT/Canada. Dated at approximately 4.03 billion years with Earth being 4.543 billion years old
www.travelinggeologist.com/2014/10/acas...

What an exciting and relevant project😍!!
Deadline: 17 Jan

Travel awards (up to $5,000) are available to support the study of collections in the United States National Herbarium. Applications are due on 15 January: naturalhistory.si.edu/research/bot...

Screenshot of the wikipedia page for Merychippus, a proto-horse that lived in North America 15.97-5.33 million years ago. It had three toes on each foot.

Merychippus everyone 🎄🐎

Side view of a solitary horn coral.

Top view of a solitary coral with septa visible.

Happy #fossilfriday. Solitary scleractinian coral Asterosmilia from Caribbean Pleistocene.

December 19, 1741, Danish explorer and officer in the Russian Navy Vitus Jonassen Bering passed away.
The Bering Strait and the ancient land of Beringia, exposed when sea levels were lower during the last glaciation, is named after him.

Plush Paleozoic Pals™ Paleozoic Pals™ are the Paleontological Research Institution’s line of plush fossils. The Paleozoic is the era before dinosaurs, during which animal life first diversified in the seas,...

Looking for a last minute holiday gift for a deep-time loving friend in your life? Paleozoic Pals are the best - and super affordable! pri-gift-shop.myshopify.com/collections/... Consider making a donation to the incredible institution that makes these plushies possible - PRI-- www.priweb.org/donate

Middle school student and PRI educator work together to identify fossils.

Middle school students work together to identify fossils.

Middle school students work together to compile their paleoecology data.

Due to a major financial shortfall, the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) in Ithaca, NY is in need of substantial support. If you're in a position to donate, I hope you will consider it (www.priweb.org/donate). 1/9

BBSRC NWD CASE: Selective breeding, morphological and functional disparity in domestic dogs: implications for welfare and veterinary healthcare technologies at University of Liverpool on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - BBSRC NWD CASE: Selective breeding, morphological and functional disparity in domestic dogs: implications for welfare and veterinary healthcare technologies at University of Liverpool, l...

Are you a dog lover looking for a PhD? You're in luck, becuase we are advertising a BBSRC-funded project that combines evolution, morphology, and biomechanics, and actually helps #dogs live better lives! Check it out here: www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

We've got a number of PhD projects up for grabs with competitive funding, but apply asap because they have Jan 13 and Jan 20 application deadlines!!

Check out the list below......

www.bristol.ac.uk/earthscience...

The dinosaur dance floor (a piece of it anyways).

A vast plateau by the side of a mountain preserves thousands of Triassic dinosaur footprints. Tait Berg, East Greenland July 1989.

🧪 #paleontology #dinosaurs

Awesome opportunity to conduct integrative research at a spectacular and absolutely beautiful field site!

microscope photo of a microfossil in a brown mudstone with black spots. The brown is clay and organic matter, the black spots are pyrite. The microfossil looks like a tiny orange that has gone a bit mouldy.

Close up of the fossil in the previous photo. We can see here that the surface of the fossil is covered in lots of tiny pores that give it a seive-like texture.

#FossilFriday an example of the large unicellular algae Tasminites from the early Jurassic black shales back home. This one is about 100 um across. The second image shows a close up where you can see the fine scale ornamentation #geology #paleontology

Me too!

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Atlas Obscura Wild Life, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, Every Living Thing, Alien Earths, Becoming Earth, and Deep Water

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Frostbite, The Inner Clock, How to Kill an Asteroid, The Great River, The Last Fire Season, and Hoof Beats

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are The Serviceberry, Not the End of the World, Nature's Ghosts, Meet the Neighbors, The Light Eaters, and Our Moon

A collage of book covers of new nature & science books. Featured here are Turning to Stone, The Weight of Nature, What If We Get It Right?, Waves in An Impossible Sea, The Tree Collectors, and Why We Remember

I was deeply disappointed by the lack of nature/science/climate/enviro on many major end-of-year book lists—so I decided to make my own!

Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚

Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!