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Per Ahlberg

@perahlberg.bsky.social

Palaeontologist at Uppsala University. Early vertebrate enthusiast. Moderately effective gardener. He/him. Views my own. The photo is me, not some random bloke. Background image from Ymer Island, north-East Greenland.πŸ‡ΈπŸ‡ͺπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦πŸ‡¬πŸ‡±πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§

6,529 Followers  |  4,780 Following  |  4,555 Posts  |  Joined: 30.08.2023
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Posts by Per Ahlberg (@perahlberg.bsky.social)

This is such a fundamental point! It’s strange that it isn’t more widely known and discussed.

05.03.2026 07:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Your β€œadministration” has some few Americans dead and many hundreds (and rising) of Iranians dead - including children and other civilians. People who were never any threat to your country. I never thought I would use these words, but -

Check your privilege.

05.03.2026 06:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Shades of George Formby:

"Now I go strumming kittens,
to earn an honest bob,
for a nosey Parker it's an interesting jo_AAAARGH GET IT OFF ME!!!"

04.03.2026 21:35 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the sopranissimo ukulele

04.03.2026 21:27 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

You think of it that way because the early Holocene - the time of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in "primeval" forests - was already an ecological disaster zone. A shell of what it had been; an ecosystem stripped of all the really big environmental engineers like elephants and rhinos.

04.03.2026 20:35 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The greatest tongue-twister is surely the fossil primate Ekgmowechashala zancanellai, but in all its you-didn't-really-read-it-did-you? simplicity, my all-time favorite is Homo erectus.

04.03.2026 20:16 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

A planktivore is the most terrifying hyperpredator imaginable. Its victims count in the tens, nay, hundreds of thousands. All consumed without a moment of pity.

04.03.2026 19:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
A red sandstone bridge over the river Neckar. The old town of Heidelberg in the background.

A red sandstone bridge over the river Neckar. The old town of Heidelberg in the background.

The gate tower of the bridge: two white round towers with ornamental roofs flanking a red sandstone arch.

The gate tower of the bridge: two white round towers with ornamental roofs flanking a red sandstone arch.

The market square in the old town of Heidelberg, with a gothic church in the middle.

The market square in the old town of Heidelberg, with a gothic church in the middle.

While Silurian stem osteichthyans seize the cover of Nature, it’s a beautiful evening in Heidelberg. My first visit, here to give two lectures. A lovely city!

04.03.2026 19:00 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

arcade, but not everyone believed us. Here they are! Seen in an articulated fish for the first time. πŸ§ͺ

04.03.2026 18:29 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This paper carries a special satisfaction for me. Years ago, Donglei Chen and I discovered small tooth-bearing elements in Silurian vertebrate micro-residues (obtained by dissolving rock in acid) of the stem osteichthyans Andreolepis and Lophosteus. We worked out that they must be the inner dental

04.03.2026 18:29 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Largest Silurian fish illuminates the origin of osteichthyan characters - Nature New findings from articulated head and trunk material of Megamastax amblyodus yield previously unseen morphological details of a Silurian stem osteichthyan.

Megamastax, a mighty chew from the Silurian - paper in @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

04.03.2026 17:47 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 3

Gorgeous photo! The shadow really makes it.

04.03.2026 18:21 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thrilled to have been a part of this project and the accompanying (but slightly younger and much bigger) Megamastax. The osteichthyan stem group is coming into focus!πŸ§ͺ

04.03.2026 18:18 β€” πŸ‘ 43    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Chocolate chip dog

04.03.2026 18:14 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

A single toilet bowl with his face on the inside is a bigger up-front investment but can be used again and again. Probably cheaper in the long run.

04.03.2026 18:13 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I would love to see Trump try to pronounce β€œCardinal Ximenez”.

04.03.2026 10:53 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

And still it won't make him happy. Every day his hatred and fear - the worm that never sleeps - will continue to gnaw at his bowels.

03.03.2026 18:01 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
a man singing into a microphone with makeagif.com in the corner Alt: The Stonehenge scene from the movie Spinal Tap: a rock band is performing while a very small trilithon is lowered onto the stage.
03.03.2026 17:07 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Is that a Druid standing by the stones??

"No one knows
who they were,
or what they were doing;
but their legacy remains,
hewn into the living rock
of Stonehenge!"

03.03.2026 14:25 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Really looks like it, doesn't it? Obviously this doesn't apply to all of them - and we all know who the exceptions are - but from an outside viewpoint their response to the obvious authoritarian far right take-over of the US government has been jaw-droppingly lame.

02.03.2026 21:00 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yep

02.03.2026 18:49 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

You know what I mean, I think; those strange lingering sequences when a shallow sea has inexplicably surrounded Yubaba's bath house. Shoals of small fish swimming over submerged railway tracks.

02.03.2026 17:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm getting Spirited Away vibes. Like it.

02.03.2026 16:58 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

No wonder they're in trouble...

02.03.2026 16:49 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Surely it would be disastrous in the long run for the Democrats to be associated with that kind of doublespeak? If they aren't already, that is. Without detailed knowledge, I'm guessing Maine is a rather White state? But many others are not and the Black vote is a crucial backbone for the party.

02.03.2026 16:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

A great big tent-pavilion with a swastika above the door? Not sure this is a good direction to go.

02.03.2026 16:32 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I'm not saying that the left shouldn't own guns. Indeed, you are finding yourselves in a situation where that may prove important. But it's part of the whole mythology around the 2A that it will protect the citizens from a potential tyrannical government, and so far that hasn't really worked out.

02.03.2026 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Black-and-white engraving of five soldiers in a row, all wearing fantastically elaborate costumes and big hats.

Black-and-white engraving of five soldiers in a row, all wearing fantastically elaborate costumes and big hats.

And these guys are 16th century German mercenaries of a type known as "Landsknecht"; murderous, probably psychopathic killers-for-hire who terrorized contemporary Europe:

02.03.2026 15:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
A long-haired nobleman wearing a black jacket and red trousers, festooned with lace and decorative details.

A long-haired nobleman wearing a black jacket and red trousers, festooned with lace and decorative details.

It's funny in context that male European fashion for centuries embraced styles and fashions that look jaw-droppingly camp today. Here's 17th century Spanish nobleman Tiburcio de Redin y Cruzat:

pxcanvasprints.com/featured/tib...

02.03.2026 15:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Nah, the gayest of all cavemen: Homo erectus.

02.03.2026 15:00 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0