Robert Boessenecker, Dr. of Whaleontology ™️

@coastalpaleo.bsky.social

Marine mammal paleontologist, artist, snorkeler, beachcomber, tidepool enthusiast. Blog: www.coastalpaleo.blogspot.com

@cephalopodsdaily.bsky.socialReposted by @coastalpaleo.bsky.social

Argonauts (genus Argonauta) are a genus of pelagic octopuses like to ride around on jellyfish and salps.

Female argonauts have a "shell" that is actually an egg case that they live in. They are also known as paper nautiluses, although true nautiluses are actually named after them.

#OCTOtober

A female Brown Argonaut (Argonauta hians) riding a red bell jellyfish. The argonaut is sitting on the bell of the jellyfish, and the jellyfish is swimming downward, so the whole thing is upside down. The jellyfish has a dark orange bell and light orange arms. The argonaut has a wavy, spiral egg case that it wears like a shell. The egg case is a off white with black or grey on the outer rim. The argonaut itself is mostly in the egg case but you can see its head and part of its arms sticking out of the egg case. Its arms are sucker side out, and it has a bright orange eye with a round black pupil.A female Noury's Argonaut (Argonauta nouryi) being held by a person in an orange bucket. The octopus is in its "shell". The "shell" is actually an egg case and is white and bumpy. It forms a spiral shape but that is not visible in the photo. The photo is showing the opening where the octopus is. The octopus is a dark red, almost purple, colour with white flesh that just peeks out behind the chromatophores. It has most of its body in the "shell" and its arms are reaching backwards into the shell, exposing the bottom of its arms. The offset two rows of suckers are visible. Its eye is just peeking out from the shell on the left side, at it has a round pupil. On the front right, its siphon is poking out from between its arms and its opening its sort of shaped like a gridiron football, making it look a mouth. If you see the siphon as a mouth, it makes the octopus have a confused, dazed expression.A male Knobbed Argonaut (Argonauta nodosus) riding a jellyfish. It is very small All of its arms are visible, including its hectocotylus. It is translucent, with its mantle, siphon and arms being clear but its head being white and more opaque. Its eye is round and silvery. The jellyfish is pointed to the right, and the argonaut is hanging onto that side. The jelly is transparent and clear with some orange bits visible through the flesh. There are numerous shrimps (or similar looking crustaceans) swimming around. The water is black.A Brown Argonaut (Argonauta hians) riding a translucent jellyfish. The argonaut has a spiral "shell" (actually an egg case) that is it wearing, and its mantle is in the egg case, and its arms are reaching back into the "shell." The shell has a wavy series of edges. The parts of the arms that are exposed have their suckers sticking out. Its mantle is sticking out on the left side. The argonaut has round silvery eyes, its body is white with purple chromatophores, and a beige shell. The jellyfish is clear and has frilly edges. The background is dark.
@tweetisaurus.bsky.socialReposted by @coastalpaleo.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...

@tressiemcphd.bsky.socialReposted by @coastalpaleo.bsky.social

Why would we let Anthropic decide this for us? If you ascribe to a moral philosophy or religion that disavows being mean to a toaster, that is fine. It is not however fine for a tech company to make, functionally, a moral law for a talking word toaster that is promised to rule us one day.

@paleoadiel.bsky.socialReposted by @coastalpaleo.bsky.social

#FossilFriday student highlight! 😀 Easten Jenn is an intern in the UAMRC paleontology collection with me this semester. One project is cleaning and piecing together bones of Alabama's state fossil, the Eocene whale Basilosaurus cetoides! 🐋 Here are some of the ribs he worked on.

Easten Jenn with Eocene whale Basilosaurus cetoides rib bones he worked.
@cisneros.bsky.socialReposted by @coastalpaleo.bsky.social

Esta é Timonya, um anfíbio que viveu antes dos dinossauros em Timon, MA. O crânio mede 4cm, seus braços e pernas eram diminutos (consegue ver os ossinhos dos dedos no lado esquerdo?) e ela deveria passar a maior parte do tempo dentro d'água.
#fossilfriday

@cranialoraptor.bsky.socialReposted by @coastalpaleo.bsky.social

＃金曜日だから化石貼る
＃FossilFriday
アキシマエンシス及び同館企画展示「アキシマクジラ化石発見65周年記念展示」〜過去と未来をつなぐアキシマクジラ〜より、アキシマクジラEschrichtius akishimaensis。
多摩川からこんなにも大きく、完全度の高いクジラが出てるというのがすごい。しかも現生ヒゲクジラの中でもとりわけ特徴的な種の1つであるコククジラと同属だというのだから。

@coastalpaleo.bsky.social

Fossil collection at Crab bank was only possible for about four years (2022-2025) after the renourishment project expanded the island with fossiliferous sand from the harbor bottom.

@coastalpaleo.bsky.social

The sandbar is a nesting area for migratory birds and in the winter, was open - along the edges - to visitors including fossil collectors. However, last winter, greedy collectors who couldn't stick to the beaches got everyone kicked off the island - permanently.

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