As ammonite reconstructions go, I like to call this "the worst of both worlds." I will now rhapsodize about the history of paleontologists trying to figure these weirdos out

Our paper on the impact of the Messinian salinity crisis on Mediterranean marine biota is finally out in Science Magazine 🥳🥳🥳 Daniel García-Castellanos marta coll Francesca Bosellini Niklas Hohmann @[email protected] and many more iMARES MedSalt Salt Giant FWF Universität Wien science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

#FossilFriday this week features beautiful specimens of the lobsters Palaeastacus sussexiensis and Glyphea willetti from the #Chalk, now in Natural History Museum collections looked after by Richie Howard

Now Starmer's gone too far; he's removed Liz Truss' portrait.

Check out chalksea.co.uk for Q&A's with Chloe and Alex, Masters students who have worked with our project this year. In those posts they tell us a bit about themselves, their research, and surprising things they've learnt about #Chalk!

A drawing of Gideon Mantell, waving to a delighted iguanodon. Drawn to celebrate Mantell securing access to the "Maidstone iguanodon" specimen By palaeontologist Henry De La Beche (1830s)

I have been told to stop stealing muffins from the bakery. Unfortunately, it’s the only way to keep my lucrative muffin stand in business. Everyone is fine with this.

Nature research paper: A climate threshold for ocean deoxygenation during the Early Cretaceous go.nature.com/4dSupKy

Palaeontology, going a month without a controversy. Impossible!

#MaastrichtianMonday James Witts and Prof. Andy Gale from ChaSE are in Maastricht 🇳🇱, presenting a poster at a meeting celebrating 175 years since Andrè Dumont first described the original type section for this stage of the #Cretaceous!

We are saddened to hear the news about the passing of Prof Jack Zussman who only recently reached his 100th birthday. Prof. Zussman is best know for his contribution to Crystallography and as author of 'An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals'

Fun day of fieldwork to end the #Maastrichtian175 meeting. First to the ENCI quarry, original type Maastrichtian locality with lots of macrofossil finds (including this mosasaur tooth by one of the students), then a trip underground to the enigmatic Geulhemmerberg K-Pg boundary.

Mega El Niño instigated the end-Permian mass extinction | Science science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

🌋Mega El Niño instigated the end-Permian mass extinction📷. New research in Science Magazine on how mega-El Niño solve a decades old problem in unifying both land and marine extinctions. The deadliest extinction in Earth's History. #sciencetwt #sciencetwt science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…

UK citizens are becoming less corncerned about climate change even as heat records are shattered, extreme climate events increase, and scientists warn of tipping points. Why? Perhaps because: Leaders don't sound bothered about it➡️the media doesn't either➡️public concern drops

Please find our outreach article on our recent article in The Conversation by David Bond, Paul Wignall and myself. What happens when El Niño gets out of control? Global Extinction ☠️💀☠️ #ClimateCollaps Original paper: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc…. tinyurl.com/3h8jzvh7

'Oh, so it's been warmer in the past, so we shouldn't worry' is often the number 1 talkback point I hear when doing scientific outreach. People seem genuinely shocked when you provide simple evidence from the geological record as to why the current situation is unprecedented.

Preparing my geosociety #GSA2024 talk on initial results of our fieldwork investigating the ecological impact of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction on Seymour Island, #Antarctica. Enjoy this beautiful #ammonite (Anagaudryceras) from right below the K-Pg boundary!

Come check out our geosociety session Monday morning on the K-Pg boundary: 08h00-12h00 in room 204C 🦖☄️🌋! We got a diverse programme, incl a talk on clumped isotopes within the Chicxulub crater by yours truly at 09h30 😎! James Witts GSA Planetary Geology Division The Paleontological Society GSA Sedimentary Geology Division GSA Geobiology

Starting now in Room 204C, our geosociety #GSA24 session on the K-Pg #extinction! We have a great interdisciplinary line-up of speakers covering many aspects of this fascinating interval of geological time from all over the globe.