Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
@ichnologist.bsky.social
Traces & trace fossils. Wrote 'Life Sculpted' (2023), 'Dinosaurs Without Bones' (2014), 'The Evolution Underground' (2017), & more. Hubby, Trekkie, reading, cooking, craft-beer imbibing, childless cat dude. 🧪🐾🦖🦕🪨⚒️🌍📚✍️ 🖖 https://ajmartinauthor.com
Pinned
Hello Bluesky science appreciators! I'm a geologist, paleontologist, & (most importantly) an ichnologist, which means I study modern traces (tracks, burrows, etc.) & trace fossils. I teach undergrad students in environmental sciences, write books about ichnology, & do lots of public outreach. 🧪🪨⚒️🐾🦕🦖
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
October 27, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Did you know. That the meme-explosion that was the wooden model of Sacabambaspis (an Ordovician jawless fish) held at a Museum in Helsinki, was created by a pioneering Estonian fish paleontologist and palaeoartist, Elga Mark-Kurik. 🧵
November 11, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Did you know. That the meme-explosion that was the wooden model of Sacabambaspis (an Ordovician jawless fish) held at a Museum in Helsinki, was created by a pioneering Estonian fish paleontologist and palaeoartist, Elga Mark-Kurik. 🧵
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Almost a year now since I received this absolutely classic burn from the Canadian government.
November 21, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Almost a year now since I received this absolutely classic burn from the Canadian government.
As generations of my students and many colleagues can verify (accompanied by rolling eyes and groans), I have thoroughly embraced my silliness in both teaching & research throughout my career. And yes, it made me a better teacher & scientist.
"In the end, I have come to realize that being authentic at work is not a weakness, but rather a strength." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/49B7hRv
November 21, 2025 at 11:11 PM
As generations of my students and many colleagues can verify (accompanied by rolling eyes and groans), I have thoroughly embraced my silliness in both teaching & research throughout my career. And yes, it made me a better teacher & scientist.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
What might be my favourite fossil has been just published by Kiat et al. 2025. Years ago I saw a pic of this Anchiornis specimen in nat geo article and I audibly gasped.preserving not only the feathers but also the original patterns as well. I made this drawing on the spot. Maybe its time to do v2.0
November 21, 2025 at 7:27 PM
What might be my favourite fossil has been just published by Kiat et al. 2025. Years ago I saw a pic of this Anchiornis specimen in nat geo article and I audibly gasped.preserving not only the feathers but also the original patterns as well. I made this drawing on the spot. Maybe its time to do v2.0
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
A group of Dorygnathus use a Seirocrinus raft as a hunting ground for fish, when a big Eurhinosaurus suddenly breaches the surface.
This scene takes place in Germany during the Early Jurassic, around 180 million years ago.
Digital painting by Peter Nickolaus, 2025.
This scene takes place in Germany during the Early Jurassic, around 180 million years ago.
Digital painting by Peter Nickolaus, 2025.
November 21, 2025 at 8:08 PM
A group of Dorygnathus use a Seirocrinus raft as a hunting ground for fish, when a big Eurhinosaurus suddenly breaches the surface.
This scene takes place in Germany during the Early Jurassic, around 180 million years ago.
Digital painting by Peter Nickolaus, 2025.
This scene takes place in Germany during the Early Jurassic, around 180 million years ago.
Digital painting by Peter Nickolaus, 2025.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Brain work bad thanks to some sort of flu, so you'll have to write your own amusing #FossilFriday post about this giant #azhdarchid #pterosaur #paleoart.
November 21, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Brain work bad thanks to some sort of flu, so you'll have to write your own amusing #FossilFriday post about this giant #azhdarchid #pterosaur #paleoart.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
What if I told you dinosaurs rose to power because Earth entered a rainstorm that lasted nearly TWO million years?
My new video breaks down the event that changed everything
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/Z5IbhQX
My new video breaks down the event that changed everything
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/Z5IbhQX
What If It Rained for 2 Million Years?
It Rained for 2 Million Years and Accidentally Created Dinosaurs Today’s video covers one of the most surprising climate events in Earth’s history: a rainy...
climateages.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
What if I told you dinosaurs rose to power because Earth entered a rainstorm that lasted nearly TWO million years?
My new video breaks down the event that changed everything
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/Z5IbhQX
My new video breaks down the event that changed everything
🧪 #SciComm
buff.ly/Z5IbhQX
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Happy #FossilFriday! #Fossils can come in a variety of colors! These are all #tyrannosaur #teeth from the Upper #Cretaceous #TwoMedicineFormation in #Montana. The different colors reflect conditions and processes that occurred after burial.
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! #Fossils can come in a variety of colors! These are all #tyrannosaur #teeth from the Upper #Cretaceous #TwoMedicineFormation in #Montana. The different colors reflect conditions and processes that occurred after burial.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
This is a late Cretaceous echinoid, Hardournia mortonis, from the Peedee Fm. near Holden Beach, NC. The mouth structure is preserved with 5 beak-like teeth called Aristotle's lantern.
#FossilFriday
#FossilFriday
November 14, 2025 at 4:43 PM
This is a late Cretaceous echinoid, Hardournia mortonis, from the Peedee Fm. near Holden Beach, NC. The mouth structure is preserved with 5 beak-like teeth called Aristotle's lantern.
#FossilFriday
#FossilFriday
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Have a chunk of Megatherium skull with curiously sliced-off teeth collected by Chucky D himself #FossilFriday
November 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Have a chunk of Megatherium skull with curiously sliced-off teeth collected by Chucky D himself #FossilFriday
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Yay!!! Thoughtful palaeobotany rep in #paleoart!!!!
@sauriancyh.bsky.social I adore the final piece you created! It's gorgeous and I love how you've displayed your work process!!!
@sauriancyh.bsky.social I adore the final piece you created! It's gorgeous and I love how you've displayed your work process!!!
The dinosaurs are passing through burnt Weichselia reticulata, a tree fern some believe formed mangroves in the Bahariya Formation. One paper suggests these mangroves often faced forest fires (Atfy et al., 2019) doi.org/10.1186/s425...
(images by @tomozaurus.bsky.social & @palaeojules.bsky.social )
(images by @tomozaurus.bsky.social & @palaeojules.bsky.social )
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Yay!!! Thoughtful palaeobotany rep in #paleoart!!!!
@sauriancyh.bsky.social I adore the final piece you created! It's gorgeous and I love how you've displayed your work process!!!
@sauriancyh.bsky.social I adore the final piece you created! It's gorgeous and I love how you've displayed your work process!!!
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Thinking a lot lately about the simple fact that college allows people to spend about 15 weeks immersed in a disciplinary conversation with an expert in that field. And what a special thing that is.
November 21, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Thinking a lot lately about the simple fact that college allows people to spend about 15 weeks immersed in a disciplinary conversation with an expert in that field. And what a special thing that is.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
#fossilfriday Sarah stands in for scale against the surprisingly large skeleton of the Jurassic pliosaur Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni, on display in the "Mary Anning hall" at @nhm-london.bsky.social. This is a cast of the type, from the Whitby Mudstone of Yorkshire. @tetrameryx.bsky.social #2025SVP
November 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
#fossilfriday Sarah stands in for scale against the surprisingly large skeleton of the Jurassic pliosaur Rhomaleosaurus cramptoni, on display in the "Mary Anning hall" at @nhm-london.bsky.social. This is a cast of the type, from the Whitby Mudstone of Yorkshire. @tetrameryx.bsky.social #2025SVP
For #FossilFriday, a folk song in honor of Early Cretaceous (~130 mya) fossil synapsid tracks in a pavement stone, Araraquara, Brazil; co-sung by Dr. Bernardo Peixoto (left) & Dr./Fr. Giuseppe Leonardi (center), witnessed by my spouse @hallelujahtruth.bsky.social (right). 🧪🐾🪨⚒️🇧🇷
November 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
For #FossilFriday, a folk song in honor of Early Cretaceous (~130 mya) fossil synapsid tracks in a pavement stone, Araraquara, Brazil; co-sung by Dr. Bernardo Peixoto (left) & Dr./Fr. Giuseppe Leonardi (center), witnessed by my spouse @hallelujahtruth.bsky.social (right). 🧪🐾🪨⚒️🇧🇷
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Emotional. ❤️
I've been working on this for the past 2 years, but in many ways, much longer, as my Masters degree is in paleoanthropology. Specifically Miocene ape evolution.
This isn't a book about how humans learned to walk as much as it is about how primates learned to reach. ❤️
Hence the title.
I've been working on this for the past 2 years, but in many ways, much longer, as my Masters degree is in paleoanthropology. Specifically Miocene ape evolution.
This isn't a book about how humans learned to walk as much as it is about how primates learned to reach. ❤️
Hence the title.
Oooooooh, looks like the news is out! 😁
Our human evolution picture book announcement!!!
I've been SO pumped about this one. It is the story both my soul and my academic side has been longing to tell. I'm thrilled to work with Galia and bring this important story to life for young kids everywhere.
Our human evolution picture book announcement!!!
I've been SO pumped about this one. It is the story both my soul and my academic side has been longing to tell. I'm thrilled to work with Galia and bring this important story to life for young kids everywhere.
November 21, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Emotional. ❤️
I've been working on this for the past 2 years, but in many ways, much longer, as my Masters degree is in paleoanthropology. Specifically Miocene ape evolution.
This isn't a book about how humans learned to walk as much as it is about how primates learned to reach. ❤️
Hence the title.
I've been working on this for the past 2 years, but in many ways, much longer, as my Masters degree is in paleoanthropology. Specifically Miocene ape evolution.
This isn't a book about how humans learned to walk as much as it is about how primates learned to reach. ❤️
Hence the title.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Happy #FossilFriday! This tooth plate is from a giant fossil lungfish called Ceratodus. This specimen is thought to be from the Mesozoic Era and is estimated to be up to 13 feet long! Lungfish have been around for nearly 400 million years, and are one of the closest living relatives to tetrapods!🦎
November 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Happy #FossilFriday! This tooth plate is from a giant fossil lungfish called Ceratodus. This specimen is thought to be from the Mesozoic Era and is estimated to be up to 13 feet long! Lungfish have been around for nearly 400 million years, and are one of the closest living relatives to tetrapods!🦎
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
🚨🦜🐧Cover reveal! Thrilled to show off the cover of my upcoming book: The Story of Birds!
Coming April 28. The whole history of birds, from their dinosaur origins to colossal extinct penguins & terror birds, to the 10,000+ species today. From @marinerbooks.bsky.social
Preorder 👇
Coming April 28. The whole history of birds, from their dinosaur origins to colossal extinct penguins & terror birds, to the 10,000+ species today. From @marinerbooks.bsky.social
Preorder 👇
November 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
🚨🦜🐧Cover reveal! Thrilled to show off the cover of my upcoming book: The Story of Birds!
Coming April 28. The whole history of birds, from their dinosaur origins to colossal extinct penguins & terror birds, to the 10,000+ species today. From @marinerbooks.bsky.social
Preorder 👇
Coming April 28. The whole history of birds, from their dinosaur origins to colossal extinct penguins & terror birds, to the 10,000+ species today. From @marinerbooks.bsky.social
Preorder 👇
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
College is such a precious opportunity to do real thinking in a variety of fields. Always thrilled to see when students make an effort to take advantage of it.
Thinking a lot lately about the simple fact that college allows people to spend about 15 weeks immersed in a disciplinary conversation with an expert in that field. And what a special thing that is.
November 21, 2025 at 1:59 PM
College is such a precious opportunity to do real thinking in a variety of fields. Always thrilled to see when students make an effort to take advantage of it.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age: 5 reasons to watch Apple TV’s mammoth new natural history show www.shortlist.com/entertainmen... #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge #AppleTV #BBCStudios
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age: 5 reasons to watch Apple TV’s mammoth new natural history show
Featuring some of the coolest special effects in TV history, we go behind the scenes with the CGI masters at London’s Framestore to meet the artists behind the arctic chill.
www.shortlist.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age: 5 reasons to watch Apple TV’s mammoth new natural history show www.shortlist.com/entertainmen... #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge #AppleTV #BBCStudios
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
I'm happy I grew up in the era of card catalogs and the dewey decimal system. Just walking into the library with a stack of index cards, a pen, and an idea.
I keep thinking the *process* of researching is as important as what you discover.
It forces you to consider what impacts and relates to what you are looking for and the context of what you find impacts its meaning.
Knowledge is not a box of cereal that you can just grab a handful of. #KM
It forces you to consider what impacts and relates to what you are looking for and the context of what you find impacts its meaning.
Knowledge is not a box of cereal that you can just grab a handful of. #KM
Well slap my ass and call me Suzy
November 21, 2025 at 1:43 PM
I'm happy I grew up in the era of card catalogs and the dewey decimal system. Just walking into the library with a stack of index cards, a pen, and an idea.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
OK, that Lias coprolite maybe isn't the most aesthetically pleasing example for #FossilFriday. In fact it looks a bit s**t. So instead here's some nice-looking Scottish coprolites from the Carboniferous Wardie Shales near Edinburgh which Buckland had made into a table. It's now in Lyme Regis Museum.
November 21, 2025 at 1:48 PM
OK, that Lias coprolite maybe isn't the most aesthetically pleasing example for #FossilFriday. In fact it looks a bit s**t. So instead here's some nice-looking Scottish coprolites from the Carboniferous Wardie Shales near Edinburgh which Buckland had made into a table. It's now in Lyme Regis Museum.
Reposted by Anthony (Tony) J. Martin
Fully Sated Draculasaurus Fossils Found Nearby
Long-Necked Titanosaur Skeletons Have Surfaced at a Dinosaur Fossil Site in Transylvania www.discovermagazine.com/long-necked-...
Long-Necked Titanosaur Skeletons Have Surfaced at a Dinosaur Fossil Site in Transylvania
Learn about a fossil site in Transylvania that contains hundreds of vertebrate remains and was once an island full of dwarf dinosaurs.
www.discovermagazine.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Fully Sated Draculasaurus Fossils Found Nearby
One of the many pleasures of writing my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017) was including a section about Darwin & his experiments on the ecological effects of their burrowing, the subject of his last book. Also was a big thrill to visit Down House in 2012 to see Darwin's "wormstones." 🧪🪱🪨
November 21, 2025 at 2:15 PM
One of the many pleasures of writing my book 'The Evolution Underground' (2017) was including a section about Darwin & his experiments on the ecological effects of their burrowing, the subject of his last book. Also was a big thrill to visit Down House in 2012 to see Darwin's "wormstones." 🧪🪱🪨