Peter Roopnarine
@peterroopnarine.bsky.social
Scientist, Trini-Jamaican lover of very hot Indo-Caribbean food. Many loves, dislikes AI. Scientist at California Academy of Sciences, but opinions are definitely my own. Proud alum, UC Davis and Mt. Allison University.
Our new TREE paper is out! "‘Earth system engineers’ and the cumulative impact of organisms in deep time."
"Over ~3.5 billion years our planet has become increasingly bioengineered...". www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"Over ~3.5 billion years our planet has become increasingly bioengineered...". www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
September 23, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Our new TREE paper is out! "‘Earth system engineers’ and the cumulative impact of organisms in deep time."
"Over ~3.5 billion years our planet has become increasingly bioengineered...". www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
"Over ~3.5 billion years our planet has become increasingly bioengineered...". www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A #FossilFriday visual treat, the Cretaceous diatom Trinacria nitescens. In addition to their global ecological importance, diatoms are also a visual feast. Staring at this one enough will do wonder for your eyes. Scale bar = 10 microns. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/8cy7X6
July 25, 2025 at 5:10 PM
A #FossilFriday visual treat, the Cretaceous diatom Trinacria nitescens. In addition to their global ecological importance, diatoms are also a visual feast. Staring at this one enough will do wonder for your eyes. Scale bar = 10 microns. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/8cy7X6
This #FossilFriday we have a fish. An unidentified fish. Early Cretaceous from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. So many fossils, so few names, so few taxonomists. The dark data of paleo and Earth's missing diversity. All suggestions are welcome! #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7yP95M
July 18, 2025 at 4:46 PM
This #FossilFriday we have a fish. An unidentified fish. Early Cretaceous from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. So many fossils, so few names, so few taxonomists. The dark data of paleo and Earth's missing diversity. All suggestions are welcome! #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7yP95M
#FossilFriday trilobite Zacanthoides idahoensis! Great name. An early carnivore from the Middle Cambrian of Utah. #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v2AFP
July 11, 2025 at 6:16 PM
#FossilFriday trilobite Zacanthoides idahoensis! Great name. An early carnivore from the Middle Cambrian of Utah. #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v2AFP
Happy #FossilFriday ammonite. Acanthohoplites barryana, from the Cretaceous of Shasta Co., California. #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/Yx4fie
June 27, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Happy #FossilFriday ammonite. Acanthohoplites barryana, from the Cretaceous of Shasta Co., California. #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/Yx4fie
This week's featured article in Nature Protocols @natprot.nature.com . Big shout out to former student, post-doc and now colleague, Yuangeng Huang (China University of Geosciences, Wuhan).
June 17, 2025 at 6:56 PM
This week's featured article in Nature Protocols @natprot.nature.com . Big shout out to former student, post-doc and now colleague, Yuangeng Huang (China University of Geosciences, Wuhan).
For #FossilFriday we celebrate Los Angeles w/ the round slipper snail, holotype of Crepipatella charybdis, from the Pleistocene of Los Angeles Co., California. Og genus Verticumbo (rev. J. McClean), still a part of California's great diversity. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/fmfhE7
June 13, 2025 at 5:43 PM
For #FossilFriday we celebrate Los Angeles w/ the round slipper snail, holotype of Crepipatella charybdis, from the Pleistocene of Los Angeles Co., California. Og genus Verticumbo (rev. J. McClean), still a part of California's great diversity. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/fmfhE7
#FossilFriday clam. Venericardia merriami holotype, Oregon, USA. From the Eocene, shortly before the planet changed, transitioning from a Warm House to the Cool/Ice House planet that we currently have (for now). #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/pUwnwu
June 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
#FossilFriday clam. Venericardia merriami holotype, Oregon, USA. From the Eocene, shortly before the planet changed, transitioning from a Warm House to the Cool/Ice House planet that we currently have (for now). #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/pUwnwu
#FossilFriday foram! Vaginulinopsis verruculosa, Eocene Lodo Fm. of California. The Lodo records the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum when global average temp. rose more than 5 C, lasting ~200,00 years! A time of big biotic change. #paleontology #foraminifera @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/rBMU4y
May 30, 2025 at 4:06 PM
#FossilFriday foram! Vaginulinopsis verruculosa, Eocene Lodo Fm. of California. The Lodo records the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum when global average temp. rose more than 5 C, lasting ~200,00 years! A time of big biotic change. #paleontology #foraminifera @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/rBMU4y
It's #FossilFriday! Holotype of the Pleistocene diatom Rouxia leventerae, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Scale bar=10 um! Diatoms produce up to 50% of Earth's oxygen each year. They remind us that small can be mighty, and of the power of numbers. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/dT1BWa
May 23, 2025 at 4:33 PM
It's #FossilFriday! Holotype of the Pleistocene diatom Rouxia leventerae, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Scale bar=10 um! Diatoms produce up to 50% of Earth's oxygen each year. They remind us that small can be mighty, and of the power of numbers. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/dT1BWa
Happy #FossilFriday. A skull of the real dire wolf, Canis dirus, from the Pleistocene of California. We've tried repeatedly to reflesh this thing, but the result always looks like some weird cross between a modern wolf and my dog. 🤷♂️ #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v6PFh
May 16, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Happy #FossilFriday. A skull of the real dire wolf, Canis dirus, from the Pleistocene of California. We've tried repeatedly to reflesh this thing, but the result always looks like some weird cross between a modern wolf and my dog. 🤷♂️ #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v6PFh
I love fossils. I've never met one that I didn't wish could be seen at least one as a living, vibrant organism, appreciated by all. Therefore, for #FossilFriday I present to you the US National Science Foundation ❤️
May 9, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I love fossils. I've never met one that I didn't wish could be seen at least one as a living, vibrant organism, appreciated by all. Therefore, for #FossilFriday I present to you the US National Science Foundation ❤️
#FossilFriday Paraphrasing the Great Bard, "Something is rotten in the state of USA" as we wake to news of NSF's demise. Rotten fish? To mourn, here is Vinctifer comptoni, Cretaceous, Brazil, described by the notorious Starr Jordan. #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7A5Cx7
May 2, 2025 at 4:09 PM
#FossilFriday Paraphrasing the Great Bard, "Something is rotten in the state of USA" as we wake to news of NSF's demise. Rotten fish? To mourn, here is Vinctifer comptoni, Cretaceous, Brazil, described by the notorious Starr Jordan. #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7A5Cx7
Still #FossilFriday in my time zone...Californian herring-type fish, Xyne grex, member of the productivity-driven explosion of N. Pacific diversity during the mid-Miocene. Described by the notorious David Starr Jordan. From the #paleontology collection @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v6Aom
April 26, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Still #FossilFriday in my time zone...Californian herring-type fish, Xyne grex, member of the productivity-driven explosion of N. Pacific diversity during the mid-Miocene. Described by the notorious David Starr Jordan. From the #paleontology collection @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v6Aom
Happy #FossiFriday. Trying to drown the sorrows of a frozen NSF with a Devonian trilobite from Morocco, Odontochile hausmani. As any trilobite can testify, this too shall pass. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7tXLC4
April 18, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Happy #FossiFriday. Trying to drown the sorrows of a frozen NSF with a Devonian trilobite from Morocco, Odontochile hausmani. As any trilobite can testify, this too shall pass. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7tXLC4
#FossilFriday Molluscs 3 consecutive weeks! Ammonite Parahoplites stantoni, Cretaceous, Shasta Co., California. Many ammonites were geographically widespread, without tariffs. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social @[email protected] flic.kr/p/Yx4f34
April 4, 2025 at 6:56 PM
#FossilFriday Molluscs 3 consecutive weeks! Ammonite Parahoplites stantoni, Cretaceous, Shasta Co., California. Many ammonites were geographically widespread, without tariffs. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social @[email protected] flic.kr/p/Yx4f34
#FossilFriday and sticking with molluscs. The Cretaceous gastropod Cydas crossi (formerly Volutoderma) from Shasta Co., California. A humble individual, but a holotype specimen (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holotype). From the #Geology & #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social .
March 28, 2025 at 4:29 PM
#FossilFriday and sticking with molluscs. The Cretaceous gastropod Cydas crossi (formerly Volutoderma) from Shasta Co., California. A humble individual, but a holotype specimen (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holotype). From the #Geology & #paleontology collections @calacademy.bsky.social .
This #FossilFriday we return to clams after a long detour through (equally important but) certainly less interesting fossils. Chionopsis gnidia from the Pleistocene of California, still extant in Baja California. My favourite bivalve! # paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7Zn6fw
March 21, 2025 at 4:20 PM
This #FossilFriday we return to clams after a long detour through (equally important but) certainly less interesting fossils. Chionopsis gnidia from the Pleistocene of California, still extant in Baja California. My favourite bivalve! # paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7Zn6fw
#FossilFriday & sticking with the microlove this week. Ventilabrella ornatissima holotype specimen CASG # 4746 from the Cretaceous, Fresno County, California. There are an (crudely) estimated 6.5 million forams in #Geology collections @calacademy.bsky.social mostly unexplored! flic.kr/p/syL77x
March 14, 2025 at 4:48 PM
#FossilFriday & sticking with the microlove this week. Ventilabrella ornatissima holotype specimen CASG # 4746 from the Cretaceous, Fresno County, California. There are an (crudely) estimated 6.5 million forams in #Geology collections @calacademy.bsky.social mostly unexplored! flic.kr/p/syL77x
#FossilFriday micro-love! The Miocene pennate diatom Synedra duhemi from the world's 3rd largest diatom collection. Scale bar is 10 microns. Diatoms, small but mighty! #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social @[email protected] flic.kr/p/7xufvN
March 7, 2025 at 5:46 PM
#FossilFriday micro-love! The Miocene pennate diatom Synedra duhemi from the world's 3rd largest diatom collection. Scale bar is 10 microns. Diatoms, small but mighty! #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social @[email protected] flic.kr/p/7xufvN
Happy #FossilFriday and #DontBuyFriday. Spent last week in Laguna San Ignacio en Baja California Sur. Calving grey whales are cool, but more spectacular was the abundance of modern & fossil shells! Chunk of Late Pleistocene platform just above sea level. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social #Mexico
February 28, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Happy #FossilFriday and #DontBuyFriday. Spent last week in Laguna San Ignacio en Baja California Sur. Calving grey whales are cool, but more spectacular was the abundance of modern & fossil shells! Chunk of Late Pleistocene platform just above sea level. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social #Mexico
#FossilFriday & I suppose I must do a vertebrate sometime. So here is Euzaphleges longurio, a mackerel-type beast from the late Miocene of California. Paleo-saba? #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v6AoW
February 21, 2025 at 5:59 PM
#FossilFriday & I suppose I must do a vertebrate sometime. So here is Euzaphleges longurio, a mackerel-type beast from the late Miocene of California. Paleo-saba? #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social flic.kr/p/7v6AoW
#FossilFriday Any day is a good day for trilobites. Here is Zlichovaspis from the Late Devonian of Morocco. Beautiful animal. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social
flic.kr/p/7tXLzx
flic.kr/p/7tXLzx
February 14, 2025 at 5:58 PM
#FossilFriday Any day is a good day for trilobites. Here is Zlichovaspis from the Late Devonian of Morocco. Beautiful animal. #paleontology @calacademy.bsky.social
flic.kr/p/7tXLzx
flic.kr/p/7tXLzx
US Blueskiers
February 9, 2025 at 6:36 PM
US Blueskiers