Bruce S. Lieberman
@bruceslieberman.bsky.social
Paleontologist and macroevolutionist at the University of Kansas
If you're a #teacher interested in a great #openaccess write up on reading #phylogenetic trees, check out www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/system... created by @jonhendricks.bsky.social and Elizabeth Hermsen.
2.1 Reading Trees
Chapter contents: Systematics — 1. Taxonomy — 2. Phylogenetics —— 2.1 Reading trees ← —— 2.2 Building trees —— 2.3 Character mapping —— 2.4 Phylogenetic trees and classificationParts of a tree A phylo...
www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org
November 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM
If you're a #teacher interested in a great #openaccess write up on reading #phylogenetic trees, check out www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/system... created by @jonhendricks.bsky.social and Elizabeth Hermsen.
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
Yes, some people's legacies are complicated. For example, Watson. After all, though he was racist, don't forget his other traits. For example, he was also sexist. And also anti-semitic. And a data / idea thief. So let's not forget all the different facets.
November 8, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Yes, some people's legacies are complicated. For example, Watson. After all, though he was racist, don't forget his other traits. For example, he was also sexist. And also anti-semitic. And a data / idea thief. So let's not forget all the different facets.
Excellent write up by @geosociety.bsky.social describing grant funded research by former post-doc Claudia Nunez-Penichet now @vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on impending #marine #extinction threat www.geosociety.org/GSA/News/pr/... @kubiology.bsky.social @researchatku.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
GSA News Release 25-17
A Warming Climate Could Decimate Mollusk Populations in the Western Atlantic
www.geosociety.org
October 30, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Excellent write up by @geosociety.bsky.social describing grant funded research by former post-doc Claudia Nunez-Penichet now @vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on impending #marine #extinction threat www.geosociety.org/GSA/News/pr/... @kubiology.bsky.social @researchatku.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
Excited to share work by former PD Claudia Nunez-Penichet
@vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on #marine #extinction threats: A warming climate could decimate mollusk populations in the West Atlantic www.eurekalert.org/news-release... @geosociety.bsky.social @kubiology.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
@vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on #marine #extinction threats: A warming climate could decimate mollusk populations in the West Atlantic www.eurekalert.org/news-release... @geosociety.bsky.social @kubiology.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
A warming climate could decimate mollusk populations in the Western Atlantic
The consequences of a warming climate are known to be dangerous for marine ecosystems, with environmental changes like ocean acidification and warming, disrupted nutrient supplies, and rising sea leve...
www.eurekalert.org
October 30, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Excited to share work by former PD Claudia Nunez-Penichet
@vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on #marine #extinction threats: A warming climate could decimate mollusk populations in the West Atlantic www.eurekalert.org/news-release... @geosociety.bsky.social @kubiology.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
@vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on #marine #extinction threats: A warming climate could decimate mollusk populations in the West Atlantic www.eurekalert.org/news-release... @geosociety.bsky.social @kubiology.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
Actually Sphenoceramus; Utah's Platyceramus cycloides in the Blue Gat Shale might get nearly this big. @utahpaleo-ufop.bsky.social
For #FossilFriday, meet Inoceramus : the largest bivalve to ever exist. This genus lived in the Cretaceous seas of North America and Europe.
This one is 178 cm long. And look at these rings ! It must an amazing palaeoenvironmental recorder to work with 😍
#PaleoSky 🦑 🧪 ⚒️
This one is 178 cm long. And look at these rings ! It must an amazing palaeoenvironmental recorder to work with 😍
#PaleoSky 🦑 🧪 ⚒️
October 5, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Actually Sphenoceramus; Utah's Platyceramus cycloides in the Blue Gat Shale might get nearly this big. @utahpaleo-ufop.bsky.social
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
Hendricks and @bruceslieberman.bsky.social discussed the vital importance of museum collections for studying macroevolution in an article for the Paleobiology special issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of Punctuated Equilibria
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
On the basis of stasis: documentation of taxon durations in paleontology and the necessity of museum voucher specimens | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
On the basis of stasis: documentation of taxon durations in paleontology and the necessity of museum voucher specimens
www.cambridge.org
September 22, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Hendricks and @bruceslieberman.bsky.social discussed the vital importance of museum collections for studying macroevolution in an article for the Paleobiology special issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of Punctuated Equilibria
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
Interesting a lot of recent theory-focused papers I've been reading about fossils don't acknowledge the vast amount of paleobiological literature on the subject(s) they're discussing. I'm happy folks are excited about fossils but also confused why folks seemingly aren't reading papers about fossils
September 25, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Interesting a lot of recent theory-focused papers I've been reading about fossils don't acknowledge the vast amount of paleobiological literature on the subject(s) they're discussing. I'm happy folks are excited about fossils but also confused why folks seemingly aren't reading papers about fossils
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
🌍 The International Biogeography Society’s 12th Biennial Conference — TIBS Aarhus 2026 — will take place Jan 6–10 in Aarhus, Denmark: conferences.au.dk/tibs-aarhus-... 🐘🍃🌴We're looking forward to hosting it!
#Biogeography is central to understanding the #biosphere & is more important than ever!♨️
#Biogeography is central to understanding the #biosphere & is more important than ever!♨️
September 4, 2025 at 7:49 PM
🌍 The International Biogeography Society’s 12th Biennial Conference — TIBS Aarhus 2026 — will take place Jan 6–10 in Aarhus, Denmark: conferences.au.dk/tibs-aarhus-... 🐘🍃🌴We're looking forward to hosting it!
#Biogeography is central to understanding the #biosphere & is more important than ever!♨️
#Biogeography is central to understanding the #biosphere & is more important than ever!♨️
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
First, first-author paper alert!
“Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris” is out and open access in @sicbjournals.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
Keep reading for some highlights in the thread below!
🦑🧪
“Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris” is out and open access in @sicbjournals.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
Keep reading for some highlights in the thread below!
🦑🧪
Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris
Synopsis. Opsins are G-protein-coupled receptors often expressed in neuronal photoreceptor cells and used for light detection in most animals, including cn
academic.oup.com
August 27, 2025 at 6:41 PM
First, first-author paper alert!
“Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris” is out and open access in @sicbjournals.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
Keep reading for some highlights in the thread below!
🦑🧪
“Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris” is out and open access in @sicbjournals.bsky.social
academic.oup.com/icb/advance-...
Keep reading for some highlights in the thread below!
🦑🧪
Excited to announce another #groundbreaking paper by @andrejpaleo.bsky.social and colleagues is just out - should be required reading for all those interested in #paleontology #palaeontology #geology
Glad to share our latest article on the statistical structure of geological time scales. doi.org/10.1016/j.ep... time scales are defined by the most extreme epoch defining events, while we've found that the distribution of the boundaries is itself extreme multifractal! 1/4
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
August 26, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Excited to announce another #groundbreaking paper by @andrejpaleo.bsky.social and colleagues is just out - should be required reading for all those interested in #paleontology #palaeontology #geology
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
Andrés a PhD candidate in @ku-eeb.bsky.social and @kunhm.bsky.social studying the diversity and ecology of neotropical bees! Check out his recent project on outreach opportunities with bee collections in Columbia!
nhcm.pensoft.net/article/1575...
nhcm.pensoft.net/article/1575...
Outreach drawer collections and visual science communication enhance public engagement with native bee diversity in Colombia
Scientific research is often confined to academic circles, limiting public awareness of critical discoveries. This document highlights the transformative impact of science communication through an ent...
nhcm.pensoft.net
August 26, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Andrés a PhD candidate in @ku-eeb.bsky.social and @kunhm.bsky.social studying the diversity and ecology of neotropical bees! Check out his recent project on outreach opportunities with bee collections in Columbia!
nhcm.pensoft.net/article/1575...
nhcm.pensoft.net/article/1575...
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
And here is the popular synopsis (with some of my comments) of our recent paper on the scaling geological time scales:
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.vu.lt/en/news-even...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.vu.lt/en/news-even...
Hidden Patterns in Geological Time Revealed: Earth's Variability Saturates at Half a Billion Years
Vilnius University is a prestigious institution of science and studies in Lithuania, which develops world-class science and develops science-based international studies.
www.vu.lt
August 25, 2025 at 1:19 PM
And here is the popular synopsis (with some of my comments) of our recent paper on the scaling geological time scales:
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.vu.lt/en/news-even...
🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology
www.vu.lt/en/news-even...
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
Meet our brilliant team of Associate Editors!
Dr Katie Collins is a molluscan palaeobiologist 🐚 specializing in bivalve macroevolution and the morphometrics of conchiferan molluscs.. and is a general measurement nerd!
Read more about her research: buff.ly/GDH0Obv
@spissatella.bsky.social #NHM
Dr Katie Collins is a molluscan palaeobiologist 🐚 specializing in bivalve macroevolution and the morphometrics of conchiferan molluscs.. and is a general measurement nerd!
Read more about her research: buff.ly/GDH0Obv
@spissatella.bsky.social #NHM
August 20, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Meet our brilliant team of Associate Editors!
Dr Katie Collins is a molluscan palaeobiologist 🐚 specializing in bivalve macroevolution and the morphometrics of conchiferan molluscs.. and is a general measurement nerd!
Read more about her research: buff.ly/GDH0Obv
@spissatella.bsky.social #NHM
Dr Katie Collins is a molluscan palaeobiologist 🐚 specializing in bivalve macroevolution and the morphometrics of conchiferan molluscs.. and is a general measurement nerd!
Read more about her research: buff.ly/GDH0Obv
@spissatella.bsky.social #NHM
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
From traits to collaboration networks, cultural systems provide testbeds for evolutionary theory that biology can rarely match in resolution. Arcade games are just the beginning:
"The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse"
👉 doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
"The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse"
👉 doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse
doi.org
August 21, 2025 at 1:06 PM
From traits to collaboration networks, cultural systems provide testbeds for evolutionary theory that biology can rarely match in resolution. Arcade games are just the beginning:
"The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse"
👉 doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
"The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse"
👉 doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
Amazing paper idea, brilliantly executed! Cultural #macroevolution of arcade video games by @svalver.bsky.social @andrejpaleo.bsky.social @blaividiella.bsky.social and R. Alexander Bentley
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse | Evolutionary Human Sciences | Cambridge Core
The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse
www.cambridge.org
August 21, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Amazing paper idea, brilliantly executed! Cultural #macroevolution of arcade video games by @svalver.bsky.social @andrejpaleo.bsky.social @blaividiella.bsky.social and R. Alexander Bentley
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
With great joy—and a touch of nervousness—I’m thrilled to share that my first academic monograph will be published by @mitpress.bsky.social in May 2026! It examines the organism–environment relationship in biology from an integrated #HPS perspective: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #philsky
The Organism-Environment Pairing
In this first systematic book-length examination of the organism-environment relationship in the life sciences, Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda addresses a crucia...
mitpress.mit.edu
August 21, 2025 at 2:20 PM
With great joy—and a touch of nervousness—I’m thrilled to share that my first academic monograph will be published by @mitpress.bsky.social in May 2026! It examines the organism–environment relationship in biology from an integrated #HPS perspective: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #philsky
Practical applications of #geology #mineralogy
August 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Practical applications of #geology #mineralogy
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
In time for #FossilFriday, my new paper with Warren Allmon out in Paleobiology:
Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion 🧵
#Paleontology ⚒️🧪
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion 🧵
#Paleontology ⚒️🧪
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion | Paleobiology | Cambridge Core
Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion
www.cambridge.org
August 1, 2025 at 5:16 PM
In time for #FossilFriday, my new paper with Warren Allmon out in Paleobiology:
Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion 🧵
#Paleontology ⚒️🧪
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion 🧵
#Paleontology ⚒️🧪
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Love to see #Trilobites in ancient Rome: phys.org/news/2025-07...
Ancient Romans likely used extinct sea creature fossils as amulets
At the Roman settlement of A Cibdá de Armea in northwestern Spain, archaeologists uncovered evidence suggesting that ancient Romans adorned their amulets with fossils of extinct marine arthropods, lik...
phys.org
July 28, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Love to see #Trilobites in ancient Rome: phys.org/news/2025-07...
RIP to the great #TomLehrer , a comedic genius: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...
Tom Lehrer, Musical Satirist With a Dark Streak, Dies at 97
www.nytimes.com
July 28, 2025 at 5:34 PM
RIP to the great #TomLehrer , a comedic genius: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
New paper! The 1st publication from our NSF grant investigating local to global biodiversity patterns in marine invertebrates across the O-S boundary is out! Here, we describe a new crinoid from Anticosti Island & use Bayesian tip-dating approaches to quantify uncertainty in its stratigraphic age 🧪
Phylogenetic position and stratigraphic uncertainty of a new flexible crinoid from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary of Anticosti Island (Québec, Canada) | Journal of Paleontology | Cambridge Core
Phylogenetic position and stratigraphic uncertainty of a new flexible crinoid from the Ordovician–Silurian boundary of Anticosti Island (Québec, Canada)
www.cambridge.org
July 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
New paper! The 1st publication from our NSF grant investigating local to global biodiversity patterns in marine invertebrates across the O-S boundary is out! Here, we describe a new crinoid from Anticosti Island & use Bayesian tip-dating approaches to quantify uncertainty in its stratigraphic age 🧪
Very excited to be hosting this workshop with Natalia Lopez Carranza at the @kunhm.bsky.social on #paleontology publications and data: biodiversity.ku.edu/news/article...
Invertebrate paleontologists to improve how data is used in their discipline
Click for more on conclave of paleontologists, data scientists and publishers at KU
biodiversity.ku.edu
July 24, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Very excited to be hosting this workshop with Natalia Lopez Carranza at the @kunhm.bsky.social on #paleontology publications and data: biodiversity.ku.edu/news/article...
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
For perspective, last year, 1.2 million unique visitors used our online educational materials...it's really a need of only 1 or 2 dollars per user, and it won't be an annual ask. Just one make or break 6 month period for an almost 100 year old research institution
July 2, 2025 at 7:47 PM
For perspective, last year, 1.2 million unique visitors used our online educational materials...it's really a need of only 1 or 2 dollars per user, and it won't be an annual ask. Just one make or break 6 month period for an almost 100 year old research institution
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
June 29, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
New day, new paper! 🦣🌍 Led by @mapaslab.bsky.social ab.bsky.social PhD student Sofía Galván and out now in Global Ecology and Biogeography in which we asked:
"Could future palaeontologists detect today’s biodiversity patterns from fossils alone?"
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
"Could future palaeontologists detect today’s biodiversity patterns from fossils alone?"
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
June 19, 2025 at 1:17 PM
New day, new paper! 🦣🌍 Led by @mapaslab.bsky.social ab.bsky.social PhD student Sofía Galván and out now in Global Ecology and Biogeography in which we asked:
"Could future palaeontologists detect today’s biodiversity patterns from fossils alone?"
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
"Could future palaeontologists detect today’s biodiversity patterns from fossils alone?"
🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...