Sillitoe Research Leader, Economic Geology:South Kensington

ANOTHER JOB!! Research Leader in Economic Geology - come work on our minerals collection!
jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Barnacle Geese on the fringes of the local Canada gaggle, image shows three Canada geese with three Barnacle geese behind them.

Barnacle Geese on the fringes of the local Canada gaggle. Beautiful. #birding

A picture of fresh frogspawn in a local stream (seen today 230226), with a frog in attendance.

First frogspawn of the year seen this morning here at the foot of the Cheshire Peak District. prev at same location: 04.03.25; 29.02.24; 03.03.23; 08.03.22; 12.03.21; 09.03.20.

Just got my hot-off-the-press copy of the new edition of Dinosaurs: How They Lived and Evolved, written by @tetzoo.bsky.social and yours truly, with gorgeous new cover art from @bobnichollsart.bsky.social: finally, a sauropodomorph on the cover 🦕🦕🦕 On sale soon!

Ouch. Cool new paper.

peerj.com/articles/207...

How do I become a paleontologist? This is a revised and updated version of an old post of mine that’s now nearly 10 years old, so it seemed sensible to give it a polish and re-release it into the wild. So, what do you do to become …

I've decided to revise and update one of my most important and popular blogposts "How do I become a paleontologist?".

I still get asked this every few weeks so having a new version of this post to share is so useful to put people on track.

archosaurmusings.wordpress.com/2026/02/17/h...

I'm really thrilled to see the "Cromhall Croc" finally getting the attention it deserves! Please welcome Galahadosuchus jonesi, named after Ewan's school science teacher, who inspired his love of the natural world ♥️
anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

After a storm last week the sand stripped from the beach to reveal a 40 cm long iguanodontian dinosaur foot cast originally from the shores of a 120 million year old lagoon (Vectis Formation). #IsleofWight #FossilFriday

An isolated T. rex manual ungual found whilst prospecting in the Hell Creek, Montana in 2010

Got T. rex on my mind for the first time in a while. Here's an isolated T. rex manual ungual in the wild, found by one of the team whilst prospecting in the Hell Creek, Montana in 2010. #FossilFriday

A speculative reconstruction of the head and neck of Polacanthus with cutaneous spikes drawn in 2015.

If cutaneous spikes were widespread in ornithischians, it'd make any ankylosaurs sporting them look even more dramatic. I suspect they were more so than we often depict them (see Spicomellus). Speculative doodle of the head and neck of Polacanthus from a 2015 sketchbook. #ankylosaurs #SciArt

Cover for my book 'Tracking the Golden Isles: The Natural and Human Histories of the Georgia Coast,' with title, subtitle, and author name (Anthony J. Martin) at the bottom. Cover image is a photograph showing a sandy beach in front of a coastal dune with abundant tall grasses growing on it, and a human (my spouse Ruth) standing at the base of the dunes; on the white sandy surface are many tracks, some of which have a large sinuous trails between them, made by alligators coming to and from the ocean. Photo was taken on Sapelo Island, Georgia (USA).

Screenshot of University of Georgia (Athens) Press webpage with blurb for 'Tracking the Golden Isles: The Natural and Human Histories of the Georgia Coast' under banner of PRAISE: "The Sherlock Holmes of the Georgia coast, Anthony J. Martin bounds onto shores and marshes eager to solve mysteries found there. How does a knobbed whelk bury itself in the sand? Why, once buried, does it attract dwarf surf clams? Why are there two tiny holes next to each of them? Which gull has left its prints around? With remarkable passion, a lighthearted style, and a beautiful way of translating science into plain language, Martin teaches us to read the coastal landscapes. He pays attention to the smallest of details, tiny things I would miss. This mesmerizing book is being proudly added to my knapsack of field guides. ~Janisse Ray, author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and Drifting into Darien"

My 2020 book 'Tracking the Golden Isles: The Natural and Human Histories of the Georgia Coast' (@ugapress.bsky.social) is coming out in paperback next month (March 15)! If you missed its debut in May 2020, you can get it now. Preorder at: www.ugapress.org/978082037806... 🧪📚 #Booksky

It's the weekend... and relax.

#FossilFriday The ischium bone on the right from #IsleofWight formed part of the iguanodontian dinosaur pelvis. In 1849 the bone was understandably still something of an enigma and here has been misidentified by Gideon Mantell as a clavicle.

A 43 years old daylight simulation bulb that popped last night.

This is one of two 60w daylight simulation bulbs purchased when I was an art student 43 years ago. The first popped in 2021 after 39 years of continuous service, near daily usage. The second incandesced for 4 years until it pinged last night. We shall not see their light again. #SciArt

For #FossilFriday a small #IsleofWight iguanodontian dinosaur tibia in the collections @nhm-london.bsk.social. What makes it special is that it is from the Gideon Mantell collection. The fossil takes me back 125 million years but its history casts me back to the 1820s.

Formation, preservation, and interpretation of dinosaur tracks The fossilized tracks of dinosaurs were first reported in the scientific literature in 1836, not long after Buckland's discovery of Megalosaurus. Tracks record aspects of dinosaur locomotion, diversi...

Cool new paper from @peterfalkingham.com and Stephen Gatesy:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Oooh, grim. Like root canal work. Best of luck!

Cool new paper alert! Some of our rhabdodontids are not what they seem. Great work on European ceratopsians from @tweetisaurus.bsky.social et al.

I love this!

The foot of the #IsleofWight iguanodontian dinosaur Comptonatus chasei and a 125 million year old foot cast also from the island. The island provided Richard Owen with the first good evidence for the dinosaur origins of the tracks. #FossilFriday.

When 21 men saw in the new year by dining in a dinosaur Guests braved the cold of December 1853 to have dinner inside a concrete mould of a dinosaur in a warehouse.

This is a delightful article about an event we all are familiar with. The world needs more philosophical mirth.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Young Atlantic salmon seen in three English rivers for first time in a decade Species that is critically endangered in Britain is spotted in Mersey, Bollin and Goyt rivers in north-west

Good to see salmon back in the Mersey, Goyt and Bollin. Here at the foot of the Cheshire Peak District close to the Bollin‘s source, we see dippers, kingfishers, wagtails, trout, egrets etc. The river is not treated kindly as it winds its way join the Mersey.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I think this might happen if you listen from outside the UK, this might help: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/...

How scientists discovered a 165m-year-old bizarre dinosaur - BBC Sounds Our science editor Rebecca Morelle went behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum.

Great piece on this morning's Today program on Radio 4 about the discovery of the weird and very spiky Jurassic ankylosaur Spicomellus from Morocco, featuring @tweetisaurus.bsky.social, @richardjbutler.bsky.social, @ahmedoussou.bsky.social and @simonwills.bsky.social.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

CT Data and Micro CT Specialist :South Kensington

JOB KLAXON! The @nhm-london.bsky.social is recruiting a micro-CT specialist! jobs.nhm.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...

Me—oldish white guy with light-brown broad-brimmed hat, green shirt, olive-gray shorts, black running shoes—pushing up against a reddish sandstone layer above my head; another sandstone layer above that has a blue in its lower surface, which is a natural cast of a Late Jurassic sauropod dinosaur.

For #FossilFriday & in celebration of all teachers ("K to gray") finishing grades this time of the year, here's me performing a similar task, trying to keep a Late Jurassic sandstone bed with its natural cast of a sauropod track from falling off the outcrop; near Morrison CO (west of Denver). 🧪🦕🐾🪨⚒️

A dinosaur perk was that worn teeth got replaced. A section of the lower jaw of a big iguanodontian from the #IsleofWight shows the process. Tooth replacement was organised in waves known as Zahnreihen, so that large sections of the jaw weren’t left toothless (enlarge to see numbers). #FossilFriday

blimey

For #FossilFriday a sacrum from a medium sized iguanodontian in the collections of @nhm-london.bsky.social. Found at Sudmoor Point on the #IsleofWight by Reginald Hooley a wine merchant from Southampton who also discovered the fabulous Mantellisaurus in 1914. Iggy sacra are so aesthetic.