Dave Rodland
@daverodland.bsky.social
Geologist to the 3rd degree and (formerly) professional necromancer. Paleoecology, taphonomy, stratigraphy, marine biology ... all things Earth history. Living in the past and talking to dead things since the late Holocene.
Reposted by Dave Rodland
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild (penguins only edition):
Emperor Penguin
Adelie Penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguin
Little Blue Penguin
Fiordland Crested Penguin
Emperor Penguin
Adelie Penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguin
Little Blue Penguin
Fiordland Crested Penguin
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in [the wild] your backyard:
Virginia opossum
Whitetail deer
North American raccoon
Striped skunk
Pacific giant salamander*
* okay, different backyard, but still notable
Virginia opossum
Whitetail deer
North American raccoon
Striped skunk
Pacific giant salamander*
* okay, different backyard, but still notable
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild:
West Indian Manatee
Sandhill Crane
Timber Rattlesnake
Atlantic Stingray
North American River Otter
West Indian Manatee
Sandhill Crane
Timber Rattlesnake
Atlantic Stingray
North American River Otter
November 29, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild (penguins only edition):
Emperor Penguin
Adelie Penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguin
Little Blue Penguin
Fiordland Crested Penguin
Emperor Penguin
Adelie Penguin
Yellow-eyed Penguin
Little Blue Penguin
Fiordland Crested Penguin
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in [the wild] your backyard:
Virginia opossum
Whitetail deer
North American raccoon
Striped skunk
Pacific giant salamander*
* okay, different backyard, but still notable
Virginia opossum
Whitetail deer
North American raccoon
Striped skunk
Pacific giant salamander*
* okay, different backyard, but still notable
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild:
West Indian Manatee
Sandhill Crane
Timber Rattlesnake
Atlantic Stingray
North American River Otter
West Indian Manatee
Sandhill Crane
Timber Rattlesnake
Atlantic Stingray
North American River Otter
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you’ve seen in the wild:
Swinhoe's pheasant
American ermine
Lesser frigatebird
Eurasian nightjar
Greater roadrunner
Swinhoe's pheasant
American ermine
Lesser frigatebird
Eurasian nightjar
Greater roadrunner
November 28, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in [the wild] your backyard:
Virginia opossum
Whitetail deer
North American raccoon
Striped skunk
Pacific giant salamander*
* okay, different backyard, but still notable
Virginia opossum
Whitetail deer
North American raccoon
Striped skunk
Pacific giant salamander*
* okay, different backyard, but still notable
Bonus round for #FossilFriday... 🧵 from the archives on a plaster cast replica of a Permian synapsid.
If we have to deal with white fragility from a sketchy replica of a South African mammal-like reptile, why not step up your game to the classic Karoo fauna?
If we have to deal with white fragility from a sketchy replica of a South African mammal-like reptile, why not step up your game to the classic Karoo fauna?
Yo, #FossilFriday 🧪⚒️
Today we have another oddball from the collection: a cast of the skull of a Permian dicynodont (probably Diictodon feliceps; Dicynodon is a wastebasket taxon). Given the date indicated, the specimen predates our current building (and sadly will outlast our department).
Today we have another oddball from the collection: a cast of the skull of a Permian dicynodont (probably Diictodon feliceps; Dicynodon is a wastebasket taxon). Given the date indicated, the specimen predates our current building (and sadly will outlast our department).
November 28, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Bonus round for #FossilFriday... 🧵 from the archives on a plaster cast replica of a Permian synapsid.
If we have to deal with white fragility from a sketchy replica of a South African mammal-like reptile, why not step up your game to the classic Karoo fauna?
If we have to deal with white fragility from a sketchy replica of a South African mammal-like reptile, why not step up your game to the classic Karoo fauna?
When #FossilFriday is also Black Friday, one looks for black fossils ... bonus points if they were apparently purchased from a science supplier like Wards. This on is a large specimen of Maclurites, an Ordovician taxon generally believed to be sedentary, suspension feeding gastropods.
November 28, 2025 at 2:09 PM
When #FossilFriday is also Black Friday, one looks for black fossils ... bonus points if they were apparently purchased from a science supplier like Wards. This on is a large specimen of Maclurites, an Ordovician taxon generally believed to be sedentary, suspension feeding gastropods.
Happy Thanksgiving, to all who celebrate. May you be the one feasting on turkey-sized paravian theropods, and not the other way around!
And to those condemned to battling family upon the occasion, may the strength of a million raptors course through your veins.
And to those condemned to battling family upon the occasion, may the strength of a million raptors course through your veins.
November 27, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Happy Thanksgiving, to all who celebrate. May you be the one feasting on turkey-sized paravian theropods, and not the other way around!
And to those condemned to battling family upon the occasion, may the strength of a million raptors course through your veins.
And to those condemned to battling family upon the occasion, may the strength of a million raptors course through your veins.
You've just died. The 6th picture in your gallery is what killed you.
This is why we don't let anyone borrow our phone, people. No matter how cute they seem.
This is why we don't let anyone borrow our phone, people. No matter how cute they seem.
November 27, 2025 at 1:33 PM
You've just died. The 6th picture in your gallery is what killed you.
This is why we don't let anyone borrow our phone, people. No matter how cute they seem.
This is why we don't let anyone borrow our phone, people. No matter how cute they seem.
Reposted by Dave Rodland
Brachiopods at the @montereyaq.bsky.social deep sea exhibit #brachiopods
March 7, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Brachiopods at the @montereyaq.bsky.social deep sea exhibit #brachiopods
Reposted by Dave Rodland
Happy to be a part of this big project led by Mario Bronzati & Matteo Fabbri—out today #OA in @currentbiology.bsky.social
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
November 26, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Happy to be a part of this big project led by Mario Bronzati & Matteo Fabbri—out today #OA in @currentbiology.bsky.social
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
bit.ly/3M5weun —on the brain endocast of a close pterosaur cousin & what it means for pterosaur brain evolution...maybe different from bird brain evolution. 1/2
Guillermo del Toro's Octonauts
November 26, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Guillermo del Toro's Octonauts
#TrilobiteTuesday has crept up on us again in the dark, twilight waters of the Welsh Ordovician. This one is Trinucleus, a blind trilobite characterized by a pitted fringe along the anterior margin of the cephalon.
November 25, 2025 at 9:50 PM
#TrilobiteTuesday has crept up on us again in the dark, twilight waters of the Welsh Ordovician. This one is Trinucleus, a blind trilobite characterized by a pitted fringe along the anterior margin of the cephalon.
In under the wire for #MolluskMonday with some turretellid gastropods. As always, some of these have predatory drill holes. ⚒️🧪🐌
November 25, 2025 at 3:15 AM
In under the wire for #MolluskMonday with some turretellid gastropods. As always, some of these have predatory drill holes. ⚒️🧪🐌
We can discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back, Charlie Brown.
You can be my wingman any time, Charlie Brown.
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should, Charlie Brown
November 24, 2025 at 3:19 AM
We can discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back, Charlie Brown.
Re-watching Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire ... while I love the first, as any child of the 80s does, and I think Afterlife was a more-than-wortthy successor, I feel like this one didn't get a fair shake. It's better than its rep, and I identify harder with Phoebe's arc than I should.
November 24, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Re-watching Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire ... while I love the first, as any child of the 80s does, and I think Afterlife was a more-than-wortthy successor, I feel like this one didn't get a fair shake. It's better than its rep, and I identify harder with Phoebe's arc than I should.
Nobody's murdered me yet.
Not that it would keep me down.
Not that it would keep me down.
November 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Nobody's murdered me yet.
Not that it would keep me down.
Not that it would keep me down.
Without downloading any new pics, what's it like dating you?
November 22, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Without downloading any new pics, what's it like dating you?
#FossilFriday isn't done yet! 🧪⚒️🦪 In today's installment, we have interior decor from a lovely little diner I had lunch in over 10 years ago, along the southern Oregon coast. Look, I have very specific professional interests. Some of them are boring.
November 21, 2025 at 10:23 PM
#FossilFriday isn't done yet! 🧪⚒️🦪 In today's installment, we have interior decor from a lovely little diner I had lunch in over 10 years ago, along the southern Oregon coast. Look, I have very specific professional interests. Some of them are boring.
Celebrating a year on Bluesky (+/-1 million, because my dates are so not calibrated), I figured I might bring back some old posts buried in the feed for #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪
There's still plenty of material from the old collection I haven't posted yet, but I have some old favorites worth revisiting!
There's still plenty of material from the old collection I haven't posted yet, but I have some old favorites worth revisiting!
Hi there, science feed! 🧪 For your consideration: phosphatic shell fragments from lingulid brachiopods in siltstone, from the lower Triassic Dinwoody Formation of SW Montana. Preservation is a little rough, but two valves are loosely connected at the pedicle end.
November 21, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Celebrating a year on Bluesky (+/-1 million, because my dates are so not calibrated), I figured I might bring back some old posts buried in the feed for #FossilFriday ⚒️🧪
There's still plenty of material from the old collection I haven't posted yet, but I have some old favorites worth revisiting!
There's still plenty of material from the old collection I haven't posted yet, but I have some old favorites worth revisiting!
You know, I'm not good about #TrilobiteTuesday. They weren't a strength of the collection, unless you count a stupid number of Silica shale phacopids that probably aren't Phacops rana as labeled, but ... I am not a trilobite guy.
These are a couple of olenellids, famous as tectonic shear indicators
These are a couple of olenellids, famous as tectonic shear indicators
November 19, 2025 at 2:10 AM
You know, I'm not good about #TrilobiteTuesday. They weren't a strength of the collection, unless you count a stupid number of Silica shale phacopids that probably aren't Phacops rana as labeled, but ... I am not a trilobite guy.
These are a couple of olenellids, famous as tectonic shear indicators
These are a couple of olenellids, famous as tectonic shear indicators
#MolluskMonday has fallen upon us like a 10km diameter carbonaceous chondrite. Boom! 🧪⚒️🦑
Today, your reminder that you don't need to keep everything neat and tidy. You can loosen up a little and unwind like a heteromorphic ammonite!
Today, your reminder that you don't need to keep everything neat and tidy. You can loosen up a little and unwind like a heteromorphic ammonite!
November 17, 2025 at 11:52 PM
#MolluskMonday has fallen upon us like a 10km diameter carbonaceous chondrite. Boom! 🧪⚒️🦑
Today, your reminder that you don't need to keep everything neat and tidy. You can loosen up a little and unwind like a heteromorphic ammonite!
Today, your reminder that you don't need to keep everything neat and tidy. You can loosen up a little and unwind like a heteromorphic ammonite!
Last saved meme is your moral philosophy.
November 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Last saved meme is your moral philosophy.
Quote with your art with horns, apparently?
November 15, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Quote with your art with horns, apparently?
We live near the northern edge of the range for black vultures, an unusually social variety of carrion bird. There were a lot of 'em circling my old campus today. A LOT.
The ancient Greeks would have been able to augur something from this, but I suspect the meaning isn't subtle.
The ancient Greeks would have been able to augur something from this, but I suspect the meaning isn't subtle.
November 15, 2025 at 10:11 PM
We live near the northern edge of the range for black vultures, an unusually social variety of carrion bird. There were a lot of 'em circling my old campus today. A LOT.
The ancient Greeks would have been able to augur something from this, but I suspect the meaning isn't subtle.
The ancient Greeks would have been able to augur something from this, but I suspect the meaning isn't subtle.
I was today years old when I realized that the nautiloids on my Cincinnatian seaway coffee mug were encrusted with epibionts!
Probably supposed to be microconchids, but I suppose they could include tiny edrioasteroids. 🦑🪸🦂🪼⭐️
Probably supposed to be microconchids, but I suppose they could include tiny edrioasteroids. 🦑🪸🦂🪼⭐️
November 15, 2025 at 2:29 PM
I was today years old when I realized that the nautiloids on my Cincinnatian seaway coffee mug were encrusted with epibionts!
Probably supposed to be microconchids, but I suppose they could include tiny edrioasteroids. 🦑🪸🦂🪼⭐️
Probably supposed to be microconchids, but I suppose they could include tiny edrioasteroids. 🦑🪸🦂🪼⭐️
I am not going up against all of SVP for #FossilFriday... so, enjoy the somewhat enigmatic (and in this case, woefully undocumented) graptolite bearing shale. ⚒️🧪
Graptolites were biostratigraphically useful colonial fossils of the lower Paleozoic, often found in organic rich mudstones like this.
Graptolites were biostratigraphically useful colonial fossils of the lower Paleozoic, often found in organic rich mudstones like this.
November 14, 2025 at 10:40 PM
I am not going up against all of SVP for #FossilFriday... so, enjoy the somewhat enigmatic (and in this case, woefully undocumented) graptolite bearing shale. ⚒️🧪
Graptolites were biostratigraphically useful colonial fossils of the lower Paleozoic, often found in organic rich mudstones like this.
Graptolites were biostratigraphically useful colonial fossils of the lower Paleozoic, often found in organic rich mudstones like this.
One of the underlying assumptions of democracy is human equality, predicated on mutual respect.
A lack of respect ... the desire to control, manipulate, abuse or take advantage of others ... should be all anyone ever needs to know about one's character.
How we react is a different problem.
A lack of respect ... the desire to control, manipulate, abuse or take advantage of others ... should be all anyone ever needs to know about one's character.
How we react is a different problem.
November 14, 2025 at 4:38 AM
One of the underlying assumptions of democracy is human equality, predicated on mutual respect.
A lack of respect ... the desire to control, manipulate, abuse or take advantage of others ... should be all anyone ever needs to know about one's character.
How we react is a different problem.
A lack of respect ... the desire to control, manipulate, abuse or take advantage of others ... should be all anyone ever needs to know about one's character.
How we react is a different problem.