Prof. Valentin Fischer
@val-fisch.bsky.social
Professor of palaeontology @ Université de Liège, Belgium
Director of the Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab. I study the biodiversity and extinctions of fossil marine predators
Director of the Evolution & Diversity Dynamics Lab. I study the biodiversity and extinctions of fossil marine predators
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
June 19, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Happy #FossilFriday! Interested in fossil data handling & building analysis-ready databases? New paper out today in Palaeontology @thepalass.bsky.social with @palaeoverse.bsky.social team led by @lewisajones.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Hope it helps! 💻📊📈🦐🦪🦣🐚🪸🦕🦖🐋🐊🐟🦑🐢🐍🦎🐦⬛🦂
Hope it helps! 💻📊📈🦐🦪🦣🐚🪸🦕🦖🐋🐊🐟🦑🐢🐍🦎🐦⬛🦂
Ten simple rules to follow when cleaning occurrence data in palaeobiology
Large datasets of fossil occurrences, often downloaded from online community-maintained databases, are a vital resource for understanding broad-scale evolutionary patterns, such as how biodiversity h...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Happy #FossilFriday! Interested in fossil data handling & building analysis-ready databases? New paper out today in Palaeontology @thepalass.bsky.social with @palaeoverse.bsky.social team led by @lewisajones.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Hope it helps! 💻📊📈🦐🦪🦣🐚🪸🦕🦖🐋🐊🐟🦑🐢🐍🦎🐦⬛🦂
Hope it helps! 💻📊📈🦐🦪🦣🐚🪸🦕🦖🐋🐊🐟🦑🐢🐍🦎🐦⬛🦂
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Nouvelle expo dans le jardin du @mnhn.fr sur les Savanturières, avec, parmi les chercheuses exposées, une paléontologue ! Nathalie Bardet @cr2p.bsky.social
Nouvelle expo dans le jardin du @mnhn.fr sur les Savanturières, avec, parmi les chercheuses exposées, une paléontologue ! Nathalie Bardet @cr2p.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Nouvelle expo dans le jardin du @mnhn.fr sur les Savanturières, avec, parmi les chercheuses exposées, une paléontologue ! Nathalie Bardet @cr2p.bsky.social
Nouvelle expo dans le jardin du @mnhn.fr sur les Savanturières, avec, parmi les chercheuses exposées, une paléontologue ! Nathalie Bardet @cr2p.bsky.social
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Post-doc @narimanechatar.bsky.social is working with extinct sabertoothed cat-like carnivores from John Day, scanning a cast of Pogonodon platycopsis, housed in the UCMP. 3D scanning allows her to compare the shape and mechanical performances of its cranium and jaw. tinyurl.com/pogcranium
October 16, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Post-doc @narimanechatar.bsky.social is working with extinct sabertoothed cat-like carnivores from John Day, scanning a cast of Pogonodon platycopsis, housed in the UCMP. 3D scanning allows her to compare the shape and mechanical performances of its cranium and jaw. tinyurl.com/pogcranium
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
October 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
We're excited to share a new Special Issue on sabretooth taxa, broadly defined. From defining what makes a sabertooth/tusk to exploring fossil taxa and saber function.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
October 8, 2025 at 3:36 PM
We're excited to share a new Special Issue on sabretooth taxa, broadly defined. From defining what makes a sabertooth/tusk to exploring fossil taxa and saber function.
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19328494...
Volume edited by Hartstone-Rose, Werdelin & Pollock
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Benson, R.B.J., Walsh, S.A., Griffiths, E.F. et al. Mosaic anatomy in an early fossil squamate. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Mosaic anatomy in an early fossil squamate - Nature
Breugnathair elgolensis gen. et sp. nov., an early squamate identified from a newly discovered Middle Jurassic skeleton on the Isle of Skye, provides new evidence on the origins of snakes.
doi.org
October 1, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Benson, R.B.J., Walsh, S.A., Griffiths, E.F. et al. Mosaic anatomy in an early fossil squamate. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1st, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away due to natural causes.
She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
October 1, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1st, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away due to natural causes.
She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
A new ichthyosaur species is discovered! Welcome Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis! fr.pensoft.net/article/1542...
Huge congratulations to @spichergael.bsky.social for leading this project.
Huge congratulations to @spichergael.bsky.social for leading this project.
A new Eurhinosaurus (Ichthyosauria) species from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) of Mistelgau (Bavaria, Southern Germany)
Eurhinosaurus is a European Lower Jurassic longirostrine ichthyosaur, characterized by its remarkable overbite. Despite the long history of the genus, the taxonomy of Eurhinosaurus is still under deba...
fr.pensoft.net
September 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
A new ichthyosaur species is discovered! Welcome Eurhinosaurus mistelgauensis! fr.pensoft.net/article/1542...
Huge congratulations to @spichergael.bsky.social for leading this project.
Huge congratulations to @spichergael.bsky.social for leading this project.
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
I am extremely happy to see that our review on fossil tip-dating is out in early view in Systematic Biology! A huge thanks to all the authors of this massive project (@heckeberg.bsky.social, @basantakhakurel.bsky.social, Gustavo Darlim, and @hoehna.bsky.social)! academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
September 25, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I am extremely happy to see that our review on fossil tip-dating is out in early view in Systematic Biology! A huge thanks to all the authors of this massive project (@heckeberg.bsky.social, @basantakhakurel.bsky.social, Gustavo Darlim, and @hoehna.bsky.social)! academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
this exists it is called thinking
September 20, 2025 at 12:15 PM
this exists it is called thinking
Ditch the Megalosaurus, we want a full size Ichthyosaurus!
🚨 THIS IS NOT A DRILL 🚨
We’ve just seen this, by creator “Menapian” - a 4,998-piece set of the Great Exhibition (1851) Crystal Palace - complete with a bonus Megalosaurus and Ichthyosaur…
beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...
We’ve just seen this, by creator “Menapian” - a 4,998-piece set of the Great Exhibition (1851) Crystal Palace - complete with a bonus Megalosaurus and Ichthyosaur…
beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...
September 17, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Ditch the Megalosaurus, we want a full size Ichthyosaurus!
Are you tired of people constantly overestimating body size of marine reptiles? No longer!
We provide equations to estimate body size in ichthyosaurians, mosasaurids, and thalattosuchians.
1/4
We provide equations to estimate body size in ichthyosaurians, mosasaurids, and thalattosuchians.
1/4
September 17, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Are you tired of people constantly overestimating body size of marine reptiles? No longer!
We provide equations to estimate body size in ichthyosaurians, mosasaurids, and thalattosuchians.
1/4
We provide equations to estimate body size in ichthyosaurians, mosasaurids, and thalattosuchians.
1/4
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Do you like cichlids? Fossils? Fossil cichlids? Would you like to study them as part of a graduate degree at the University of Michigan, joining an NSF-funded project? Get in touch.
September 12, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Do you like cichlids? Fossils? Fossil cichlids? Would you like to study them as part of a graduate degree at the University of Michigan, joining an NSF-funded project? Get in touch.
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
UMMP 57588: specimen showing the Late Devonian genera Archaeopteris (fronds) and Callixylon (trunks, branches) belonged to the same plant. This critical discovery by UMMP curator Charles Beck illuminated the structure of trees contributing to some of the planet's most ancient forests. #FossilFriday
September 12, 2025 at 8:32 PM
UMMP 57588: specimen showing the Late Devonian genera Archaeopteris (fronds) and Callixylon (trunks, branches) belonged to the same plant. This critical discovery by UMMP curator Charles Beck illuminated the structure of trees contributing to some of the planet's most ancient forests. #FossilFriday
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
LOVE papers about gut contents!
Vampyromorph coleoid predation by an ichthyosaurian from the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte of Bascharage, #Luxembourg
Valentin Fischer et al
peerj.com/articles/197...
(Seen thanks to @arctomet.bsky.social!)
Vampyromorph coleoid predation by an ichthyosaurian from the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte of Bascharage, #Luxembourg
Valentin Fischer et al
peerj.com/articles/197...
(Seen thanks to @arctomet.bsky.social!)
September 9, 2025 at 2:43 PM
LOVE papers about gut contents!
Vampyromorph coleoid predation by an ichthyosaurian from the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte of Bascharage, #Luxembourg
Valentin Fischer et al
peerj.com/articles/197...
(Seen thanks to @arctomet.bsky.social!)
Vampyromorph coleoid predation by an ichthyosaurian from the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte of Bascharage, #Luxembourg
Valentin Fischer et al
peerj.com/articles/197...
(Seen thanks to @arctomet.bsky.social!)
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Gut contents: the trace fossils that answer the question "What was for dinner?", even if dinner was 180 million years ago. 🧪
LOVE papers about gut contents!
Vampyromorph coleoid predation by an ichthyosaurian from the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte of Bascharage, #Luxembourg
Valentin Fischer et al
peerj.com/articles/197...
(Seen thanks to @arctomet.bsky.social!)
Vampyromorph coleoid predation by an ichthyosaurian from the Early Jurassic Lagerstätte of Bascharage, #Luxembourg
Valentin Fischer et al
peerj.com/articles/197...
(Seen thanks to @arctomet.bsky.social!)
September 9, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Gut contents: the trace fossils that answer the question "What was for dinner?", even if dinner was 180 million years ago. 🧪
New paper showing that ichthyosaurs ate vampyromorph coleoids. Did they like it ? No idea 🤷♂️
@universitedeliege.bsky.social @naturmusee.bsky.social @just-fre.bsky.social
@peerj.bsky.social
peerj.com/articles/19786
@universitedeliege.bsky.social @naturmusee.bsky.social @just-fre.bsky.social
@peerj.bsky.social
peerj.com/articles/19786
peerj.com
September 8, 2025 at 10:21 AM
New paper showing that ichthyosaurs ate vampyromorph coleoids. Did they like it ? No idea 🤷♂️
@universitedeliege.bsky.social @naturmusee.bsky.social @just-fre.bsky.social
@peerj.bsky.social
peerj.com/articles/19786
@universitedeliege.bsky.social @naturmusee.bsky.social @just-fre.bsky.social
@peerj.bsky.social
peerj.com/articles/19786
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
"Growth series", with foetus, of two very distinct ichthyosaurs from the Triassic! Very glad to have participated to this cool study! Thanks again Lene!
Ichthyosaurs were fully pelagic five million years after the End Permian Mass Extinction - and we have fetal vertebrae from two Early Triassic taxa. That is the main findings in our @natureportfolio.nature.com Scientific Reports paper published just now🥳 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Vertebral microstructure marks the emergence of pelagic ichthyosaurs soon after the End Permian Mass Extinction - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Vertebral microstructure marks the emergence of pelagic ichthyosaurs soon after the End Permian Mass Extinction
www.nature.com
September 5, 2025 at 11:43 AM
"Growth series", with foetus, of two very distinct ichthyosaurs from the Triassic! Very glad to have participated to this cool study! Thanks again Lene!
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
New paper out today lead by @tsengzj.bsky.social where we test the 150-year-old hypothesis that the unique jaw torus in Nimravus is an adaptation to resist bite forces using FEA🦁🔪our results highlight some functional advantage of the torus, which are amplified at larger gape doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
August 27, 2025 at 6:28 AM
New paper out today lead by @tsengzj.bsky.social where we test the 150-year-old hypothesis that the unique jaw torus in Nimravus is an adaptation to resist bite forces using FEA🦁🔪our results highlight some functional advantage of the torus, which are amplified at larger gape doi.org/10.1098/rsbl...
New paper where we applied FEA on marine reptiles teeth, with Joshua White & Matthew McCurry @australianmuseum.bsky.social. @universitedeliege.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Measuring the load-bearing capacity of Mesozoic marine reptile teeth using Finite Element Analysis
Paleontologists have long inferred the dietary preferences of Mesozoic marine reptiles based on skull and tooth morphologies. Previous researchers have hypothesized that different marine reptile to...
www.tandfonline.com
August 8, 2025 at 10:20 AM
New paper where we applied FEA on marine reptiles teeth, with Joshua White & Matthew McCurry @australianmuseum.bsky.social. @universitedeliege.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
New #GRAVIBONE paper from @camillebader.bsky.social with Rémy Gilardet, Nicolas Rinder, @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social & @toriherridge.bsky.social on the long bone microanatomy of elephants. Well done Camille :)
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
August 7, 2025 at 8:17 AM
New #GRAVIBONE paper from @camillebader.bsky.social with Rémy Gilardet, Nicolas Rinder, @johnrhutchinson.bsky.social & @toriherridge.bsky.social on the long bone microanatomy of elephants. Well done Camille :)
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
New paper by Guilherme Hermanson & me out: we explore ontogenetic shell shape change in turtles to check if there is a size threshold at which turtles reach adult shapes. This started for a different (in prep) study & was a fun little project w preliminary data
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
PG-18: turtles reach adult shell shapes at about 65% maximum carapace length - Swiss Journal of Palaeontology
Ontogenetic shell shape changes of turtles are often only documented for individual species. It is currently unclear how shell shape changes during ontogeny across species, if there are common trends,...
link.springer.com
August 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
New paper by Guilherme Hermanson & me out: we explore ontogenetic shell shape change in turtles to check if there is a size threshold at which turtles reach adult shapes. This started for a different (in prep) study & was a fun little project w preliminary data
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
![Comic. [3-column table with headers Period, My Favorite Part, and My Biggest Complaint] [Row 1] P: *Precambrian*, MFP: Life develops, MBC: Snowball Earth episodes [Row 2] P: Cambrian, MFP: Trilobites!, MBC: Evolution could stand to calm down a little [Row 3] P: Ordovician, MFP: Earth might have had rings, MBC: Scary volcanic eruption in North America [Row 4] P: Silurian, MFP: First land animals, MBC: Earth’s newfound mold problem [Row 5] P: Devonian, MFP: Big mountains in Boston, MBC: Yeah, sure, what those giant killer fish needed was *armor* [Row 6] P: Carboniferous, MFP: Cool forests, MBC: Bugs too big [Row 7] P: Permian, MFP: Pangea, MBC: Google “The Great Dying” [Row 8] P: Triassic, MFP: Tanystropheus [dinosaur with extremely long neck next to tiny person for scale], MBC: Damage to Canada still visible from space at Manicouagan [Row 9] P: Jurassic, MFP: Birds, MBC: Parasitoid wasps [Row 10] P: Cretaceous, MFP: Raptors, MBC: Raptors [Row 11] P: Paleogene, MFP: Pretty horseys!!!, MBC: Paleocene-eocene thermal maximum [Row 12] P: Neogene, MFP: Forests of *Dracaena* Dragonblood Trees, MBC: Zanclean Flood [Row 13] P: Quaternary, MFP: Burrito invented, MBC: Whoever picked this name for the third period of the Cenozoic](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreifyh56h2dhfnxxuarc6hspobseq6jzurt7mnkuo3dkvlkyrw6e76i@jpeg)
July 28, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Reposted by Prof. Valentin Fischer
Grateful for the chance to present my #marinereptiles research at both #EAVP2025 and #SEB2025 over the past weeks.
Huge thanks to the organisers, and all my coauthors for their support and guidance!
Looking forward to the next conferences!
Huge thanks to the organisers, and all my coauthors for their support and guidance!
Looking forward to the next conferences!
July 12, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Grateful for the chance to present my #marinereptiles research at both #EAVP2025 and #SEB2025 over the past weeks.
Huge thanks to the organisers, and all my coauthors for their support and guidance!
Looking forward to the next conferences!
Huge thanks to the organisers, and all my coauthors for their support and guidance!
Looking forward to the next conferences!