Letter to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology advocating that their annual meeting have an online option in addition to the in person meeting in Cleveland. Unfortunately, alt text cannot have all of the letter text but the reasoning involves threatof violence to at risk groups in the US as well as issues related to contracting dangerous diseases and other safety threats.

Continuation of letter. Please read previous alt text for summary.

Today, for the safety of all SVP members, I request with this open letter that the @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social provides an online option for this year's annual meeting. Myself and many others no longer feel it is safe to travel to and within the USA. Please share the letter everywhere you can!

No one should have to compromise their safety for their career, and vice versa. @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social needs to add an online option.

A succinct and important message to the 2026 SVP Meeting this year! The United States has created dangerous environments for the LGBTQIA+ community, foreign travel, and Science in general. Not everyone has a safety net - Let's work to ensure that everyone has a safe way to continue participating!

Mira is one of the founders of PalaeoPoems. We presented at @societyofvertpaleo.bsky.social years ago in Toronto and it gave us a real platform to talk about the project. An online option will give that chance to even more early career researchers!

There was nothing AUKward about our volunteer @aukwardlucia.bsky.social's thesis defence today! Congratulations Lucia, you're the t-auk of the town!
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Art from Audubon's Birds of North America plate 341.

Find the PalaeoPoem here: https://www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/hyeanas-den

An illustration of the hyena cave by William Conybeare. His friend William Buckland enters the cave holding only a candle, and is astonished by four large hyenas and a floor littered with bones.

William Buckland found the site, first believing the remains to be washed there by the biblical flood but then finding evidence of hyena feeding and coprolites. Illustration by Conybeare.

William compares the hyena stomach to a “Papin’s Digester”, a pressure cooker used in the 17th-19th centuries that could melt bones!

A painting of a pack of hyenas in a cave gnawing on mammal bones.

For #FossilFriday, savor William Conybeare’s poem inspired by a hyena fossil den in Yorkshire, UK! This site, known as Kirkdale Cave, contains fossils of many Pleistocene mammals and hyenas. Art by James Mckay! 🧪

Find the poem here: www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/oldhamia-ant...

John Joly was an Irish scientist of many interests and, in 1899, he proposed the oldest age of Earth at 100my - which now we know to be 4.5by old!

The trace fossils Oldhamia capture the behaviors of ancient animals ~635-485mya! For example, these fossils demonstrate the feeding behavior of marine worm-like organisms digging for bacteria to eat under microbial mats on the sea floor.

Screenshot of our blog main page. A hexagonal tile with a worm-like motif reads "1886" and underneath it says 'Oldhamia Antiqua’ by John Joly.

Happy New Year and #FossilFriday! Contemplate the years before (and deep time) with John Joly’s Palaeo Poem “Oldhamia Antiqua”! 🧪Magnificent art @brigidomorpha.bsky.social

🧪forgot to add this for the science feed!

Screenshot of our blog main page. A hexagonal tile with a fern motif reads "2011" and underneath it says 'Twas the Eve of the Cretaceous by Leo J Hickey.

Looking for a Christmas poem that inspires hope and joy? Look no further than our blog! "'Twas the Eve of the Cretaceous" by Leo J. Hickey talks about the birth of a very special plant: the Angiosperm.
Listen to it here: www.palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/...

Find the poem here: https://palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/ode-to-a-trilobite

Trilobite fossils are recognizable with 3 distinct body segments. They had large compound eyes, allowing them to see all changes in the world from their “fossil grave”. Timothy was a self-taught paleontologist who became the State Paleontologist of New York.

Black and white digital illustration with grey watercolour style shading. in the centre is a classically posed (dorsal) trilobite,it is very large and bug like. In each corner of the image is another trilobite curled into a ball, all different species shown from different angles. alongside the edges of the illustration are medieval style sea monsters and waves that you might expect to see on an old map. they are not shaded so they do not draw the eye like the trilobites.

For Thanksgiving break, catch up on your Palaeo Poems with “Ode to a Trilobite” by Timothy Conrad. Trilobites were ocean-loving arthropods that lived during the Paleozoic, 541-251 mya. Thrilling art by John Meszaros! 🧪 #FossilFriday

Embracing first snow in Vermont with this PalaeoPoem about frozen mammoths! 🦣❄️🧪

Find the poem here: https://palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/frozen-mammoths (the full poem is in “A song of geology”, published 1969).

Many mammoths have been found in ice! They are found in Siberia and in other parts of Russia and Alaska, and are especially well preserved - even containing DNA and their last meals! There is ongoing debate on how and whether mammoths should be revived through cloning.

A digital piece made to emulate a linocut. This piece is entirely black and white. About 2/3 of the way up, the background is white, and the bottom 2/3 have a black background, with a sharp line between them. The black portion is below the ice, and the white portion is exposed to the air. Between the two sections is a dead and frozen mammoth, floating in a way so it is almost standing bipedally. Its trunk and tusks are above the ice, but the rest of the head and body are sunk below. Its rear right foot is skeletonized. The effect is eerie, since the mammoth looks like it could still be alive and struggling until you pan down and see that foot. The bottom right of the piece has Ida Kalsta's watermark.

For #FossilFriday, embrace the cold weather with John Blackie’s Palaeo Poem “Frozen Mammoths”! This ballad was inspired by the Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), an extinct relative of elephants. Woolly wonderful art by Ida Kalsta! 🧪

Find the poem here: https://palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/fossil-fish

Two especially exciting findings were a large predatory fish, Holoptychius, and a heap of extinct armored fish, placoderms, that died together simultaneously!

This comedic poem was written in Scots in 1863 after finding a rich assemblage of fish fossils. These fish were found in the “Auld Red Stanes” or the Old Red Sandstone in the UK dating to 419-358mya.

A photo of a beach scene. On grey sand lies various debris, there is dead seaweed toward the back of the image, bits of driftwood and rocks lying around, and a large white scallop shell. Lots of other little shells and polished rocks lie around as well, and a bit of coral. Scattered all over the scene are bits of jewelery, all earrings, made of slices of blue geodes and shark teeth. The effect of the image is that all of these items and debris washed ashore and are now visible.

For #FossilFriday, enjoy a fishy PalaeoPoem “Fossil Fish & Fossil Fish Addressed” by Scottish geologist and poet Robert Dick. Fin-tastic guest art by Athena! 🐠🐟🧪

John Mill wrote "The Fossil Spirit: A Boy's Dream of Geology," possibly the first children's book on geology. It included illustrations and poetry based on science from 1854. Listen to the poem and read about John Mill here: palaeopoems.com/palaeopoems/...

An eerie digital painting of an evening scene, featuring a crescent mood and prehistoric plants in the background. In the foreground, the star of the portrait is a pterodactlyl that may at first glance look like it is standing on a grassy hill. Looking more closely it is actually standing on the back or neck of a long-necked sauropod dinosaur with little spines poking up along the ridge of its back. The pterodactyl is holding a tiny mammal by the tail, and has one glowing yellow eye. Another pterodactyl approaches by air.

This frightful #FossilFriday, we want you to imagine the sinister side of prehistoric creatures. In his poem "Song of the Pterodactylus," John Mill shares cutting-edge Victorian ideas for how the pterodactyl may have lived. Artwork by @joschuaknuppe.bsky.social. 🧪

Missed our poster last year? Check it out: drive.google.com/file/d/1LgPq...

SVP A place for folks who love T. rex who talk of fossils and fancy teeth A place for the prof, the student, the geek Who love to learn & love to seek Emily Bamforth

SVP While cool fossils and finds make me pensive I can't help but be apprehensive Of a group so excessive And awful access, with their conferences awfully expensive!

Last SVP we prompted palaeontologists to write poetry inspired by things they learned at the conference! In honour of 2023SVP and Fossil Friday, here are two of our favourites. By Emily Bamforth & Anon. 🧪 #SciArt