Prof Susie Maidment

Prof Susie Maidment

@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Dinosaur researcher at NHM London. Honorary Prof at Birmingham. Ed-in-Chief of TJSP. One half of the Fossil Files podcast. Medium pace swing bowler. You were thinking it; I just said it out loud. Views my own.

2.7K followers683 following850 posts

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology
@journalsystpal.bsky.social

New Middle Jurassic species of Sauropsis Agassiz, 1832 and revision of the Early Jurassic ‘Sauropsis’ veruinalis White, 1925, with an updated systematic classification of Pachycormiformes (Actinopterygii, Teleosteomorpha). Read here: buff.ly/5ZmAgzP #PaleoSky #OxfordClay #phylogeny #stem-teleosts

Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

A new entry into this summer's series of Selfies With Female Dinosaur Researchers, it's Cecilia Apaldetti! Having got Lindsay Zanno last month, I've only got two more to go before I've got all of them....

Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

I'm in Argentina on fieldwork. It's my first time in South America. I had three days in Buenos Aires before we left for the field so I was forced to do tourism. Day 1: very cold, seriously underdressed. Went to see the Casa Rosada because I watched Evita as a teenager

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Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Day three I went to Recoleta cemetery, which is like TOP of things to do in BA in the guide books. It was sinister and weird and I came away with the distinct impression that catholics prefer dead people to living ones

Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

I'm in Argentina on fieldwork. It's my first time in South America. I had three days in Buenos Aires before we left for the field so I was forced to do tourism. Day 1: very cold, seriously underdressed. Went to see the Casa Rosada because I watched Evita as a teenager

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Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

After that I went into the cathedral because it was warm, free, and I could have a sit down. Also I figured I could sneak in a jet-lag induced micro-nap and people would think i was praying

Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

I'm in Argentina on fieldwork. It's my first time in South America. I had three days in Buenos Aires before we left for the field so I was forced to do tourism. Day 1: very cold, seriously underdressed. Went to see the Casa Rosada because I watched Evita as a teenager

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Michał Jezierski
@jezierskimt.bsky.social

Every future scientist kid wants to have a paper about dinosaurs. Here I go ✅ with this in @natrevbiodiv.nature.com with @tweetisaurus.bsky.social, @richardjbutler.bsky.social and T Matthews. We asked - how to study islands in the fossil record? Turns out - with great difficulty! @leverhulme.ac.uk

nature.comIsland biogeography in deep time - Nature Reviews BiodiversityIsland ecosystems feature unique species assemblages with diverse evolutionary histories, but identifying island communities in deep time comes with its own challenges. This Perspective explores the a...

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Systematics Association
@systassn.bsky.social

Student or recent graduate working on any aspect of taxonomy/systematics/phylogenetics? Want to present at a friendly, FREE online conference? 📢📢📢WE WANT YOUR ABSTRACTS!!!!📢📢📢 Send them to us by Monday, October 26 at 11:59AM GMT+0!!! REGISTER: tinyurl.com/bdzxt2ht

tinyurl.comYSF2026 Registration FormWelcome to the YSF2026 Registration and Abstract Submission form. This year the conference will be held online on Friday, November 13th 2026. We look forward to seeing old and new faces from across t...
Systematics Association@systassn.bsky.social

Join us Nov 13th for #YSF2026, a completely free, online conference where postgraduate students (and other early career researchers) present their work on systematics, taxonomy and/or phylogenetics. Abstract submission closes Oct 24th! REGISTER: tinyurl.com/bdzxt2ht systass.org/young-system...

tinyurl.comYSF2026 Registration FormWelcome to the YSF2026 Registration and Abstract Submission form. This year the conference will be held online on Friday, November 13th 2026. We look forward to seeing old and new faces from across t...

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Paul D. Taylor
@nhmbryozoa.bsky.social

#MolluscMonday. Winchester Cathedral is awash with fossils. The oldest I could find during a recent visit were these orthocone nautiloids in a 1683 gravestone made of Ordovician limestone probably imported from Sweden.

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology
@journalsystpal.bsky.social

The holotype of 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙤𝙣 𝙠𝙤𝙘𝙝𝙞 from the early Eocene Fur Formation in Denmark. 🔗 Evolution of a morphological novelty: exceptional skeleton of an early Eocene trogon (Aves: Trogoniformes) elucidates the origin of a unique foot morphology by Mayr (2026) buff.ly/djk12iT #PaleoSky #FossilFriday

Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Spurred on by this and slightly bored, I just took a look at a matrix I'm using at the moment. There are 9 taxa in it that are more than 90% missing data; 8 of those have been named in the last 10 years. Analysis of the matrix results in a massive polytomy (1/2)

Prof Susie Maidment@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Yes. As a consequence, we seem to be headed back to the bad old days of dinosaur taxonomy, where every isolated scrap gets a name. This is causing a vast proliferation of genera based on indeterminate and fragmentary material that overwhelmes phylogenetic analyses with missing data (1/2)

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Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Spurred on by this and slightly bored, I just took a look at a matrix I'm using at the moment. There are 9 taxa in it that are more than 90% missing data; 8 of those have been named in the last 10 years. Analysis of the matrix results in a massive polytomy (1/2)

Prof Susie Maidment@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Yes. As a consequence, we seem to be headed back to the bad old days of dinosaur taxonomy, where every isolated scrap gets a name. This is causing a vast proliferation of genera based on indeterminate and fragmentary material that overwhelmes phylogenetic analyses with missing data (1/2)

Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

I resolved this through a posteriori deletion of wildcards identified by iterative PCR to produce a better resolved reduced consensus. But get this: deletion of those taxa with > 90% missing data a priori results in a strict consensus that is virtually the same as my reduced consensus (2/3)

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Jack Lovegrove
@jackl0vegr0ve.bsky.social

Replying to @tweetisaurus.bsky.social

"just one more proximal femur, it'll fix the phylogeny" is the dinosaur taxonomy equivalent of "just one more lane, it'll fix the traffic"

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Lizzy Steell
@lizzysteell.bsky.social

Does the shape of the inner ear really make a difference to flight? It doesn't seem so! Congrats to the authors on this super cool work. Another example of ecomorphological relationships not being straightforward to understand👂 🐦 🦢 🦤 #oxipotangos

Guillermo Navalón@gnavalon.bsky.social

Very happy to see this finally out! Thanks to all my amazing co-authors for this multi-year effort that we manage to wrap up! Coordinated transformations of the labyrinth and occiput during the dinosaur–bird transition | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

pnas.orgCoordinated transformations of the labyrinth and occiput during the dinosaur–bird transition | PNASEvolutionary shape changes of the vertebrate semicircular canals (SCCs) are often ascribed to evolutionary transitions in locomotion, including the...
Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Yes. As a consequence, we seem to be headed back to the bad old days of dinosaur taxonomy, where every isolated scrap gets a name. This is causing a vast proliferation of genera based on indeterminate and fragmentary material that overwhelmes phylogenetic analyses with missing data (1/2)

Andy Farke@andyfarke.bsky.social

The hollowing out of taxonomic expertise is the silent crisis in our profession. And the worse sin is those who aren't even the slight bit *curious* about learning basic identifications.

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Rafael Behr
@rafaelbehr.bsky.social

I was on the telly.

GylesNaMopaleen@gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social

This is quite extraordinary. I don't think I have heard a more coherent, articulate and accurate deconstruction & demolition of Nigel Farage's ReformUK, Tory & Restore policy than this. In under 85 seconds! @rafaelbehr.bsky.social is on here folks and worth a follow.

Prof Susie Maidment
@tweetisaurus.bsky.social

Fossil taxa are sometimes considered island weirdos without any actual evidence that island effects were important in their evolution. So we wrote a paper on how we could do actual island biogeography in deep time. If you want a copy but can't access it, email me: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

nature.comIsland biogeography in deep time - Nature Reviews BiodiversityIsland ecosystems feature unique species assemblages with diverse evolutionary histories, but identifying island communities in deep time comes with its own challenges. This Perspective explores the a...

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology
@journalsystpal.bsky.social

A new 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙨 species (Reptilia: Squamata: Varanidae) from the Early Pliocene of Langebaanweg, South Africa by Marchitelli et al.: buff.ly/1QFxUnY This discovery provides the oldest South African record of 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙪𝙨 and the first confirmed monitor lizard from the region #Neogene #PaleoSky #Fossil

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

The Fossil Files Podcast
@thefossilfiles.bsky.social

Replying to @thefossilfiles.bsky.social

Find out in this week's episode of the Fossil Files with @tweetisaurus.bsky.social & @fossilrob.bsky.social. We explore these new finds & discuss the relative incompetence of babies and teenagers. Available now on YouTube or where ever you get your podcasts 1/2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTXv...

youtube.comCute fossil babies reveal how mammals evolved live birthYouTube video by The Fossil Files Podcast

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

The Fossil Files Podcast
@thefossilfiles.bsky.social

Did mammals evolve live birth more than once?! New fossils discoveries from South Africa and Argentina reveal some cute Triassic mammal babies, one *in ovo* and one captured in histology. So where DID mammal babies come from? 👶🥚🦡 1/2

Prof Susie Maidment reposted

Jack Stack
@jackstack.bsky.social

Hot off the presses! I reviewed the history of early ray-finned fishes, with a focus on their morphology, fossil record, and taxonomy. My principal goal is a guide for other workers to make the rich record of early actinopterygian evolution more broadly available. dx.doi.org/10.1002/jmor...

dx.doi.orgThe Evolutionary History of Early Ray‐Finned Fishes (Pan‐Actinopterygii)Ray-finned fishes, the most diverse living vertebrate clade, include over 600 extinct early actinopterygian species whose evolution is an enigma.