Bruce S. Lieberman
Paleontologist and macroevolutionist at the University of Kansas
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanFinished my first book of 2026, Macroevolutionaries by @bruceslieberman.bsky.social and @nilese.bsky.social. It’s a wonderful tribute to Gould, every essay is enlightening, but the one on Kestrels is my favorite.
- Big 🙏 to Tricia Kelley of UNCW for her review of my & @nilese.bsky.social 's @columbiaup.bsky.social 📕 book "Macroevolutionaries" in @ncse.bsky.social reports: ncse.ngo/review-macro... #macroevolution #paleontology #palaeontology #punctuatedequilibria #stephenjaygould
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanWow—thanks @bruceslieberman.bsky.social for posting the entire issue of Paleobiology vol 51/4 2025 “Punctuated Equilibria at 50”—open access papers from the GSA 2022 50th anniversary symposium! A great community celebration!!
- Really excited to have the new issue of Paleobiology @paleosoc.bsky.social out celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Here is our introductory paper to the Paleobiology special volume @paleosoc.bsky.social celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Really excited to have the new issue of Paleobiology @paleosoc.bsky.social out celebrating the 50th anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria #macroevolution #paleobiology #palaeontology #paleontology @nilese.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
Congratulations to @nilese.bsky.social for the publication by the @paleosoc.bsky.social's journal Paleobiology of the 50th anniversary punctuated equilibrium symposium organized by Don Prothero & held at the 2022 GSA meeting. @bruceslieberman.bsky.social @andrejpaleo.bsky.social - Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanGlad to share our new article which is dedicated to the stratigraphy and paleoenvironments (facies)of the Ludfordian (late Silurian) in relation to the largest carbon isotopic excursion of the Phanerozoic — Lau Extinction Event 1/5 www.geology.cz/bulletin/ful... 🧪 #Geology #Macroecology #Paleobio
- If you're a #teacher interested in a great #openaccess write up on reading #phylogenetic trees, check out www.digitalatlasofancientlife.org/learn/system... created by @jonhendricks.bsky.social and Elizabeth Hermsen.
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanYes, some people's legacies are complicated. For example, Watson. After all, though he was racist, don't forget his other traits. For example, he was also sexist. And also anti-semitic. And a data / idea thief. So let's not forget all the different facets.
- Excellent write up by @geosociety.bsky.social describing grant funded research by former post-doc Claudia Nunez-Penichet now @vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on impending #marine #extinction threat www.geosociety.org/GSA/News/pr/... @kubiology.bsky.social @researchatku.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
- Excited to share work by former PD Claudia Nunez-Penichet @vt-invasivespecies.bsky.social on #marine #extinction threats: A warming climate could decimate mollusk populations in the West Atlantic www.eurekalert.org/news-release... @geosociety.bsky.social @kubiology.bsky.social @kunhm.bsky.social
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanActually Sphenoceramus; Utah's Platyceramus cycloides in the Blue Gat Shale might get nearly this big. @utahpaleo-ufop.bsky.social
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanHendricks and @bruceslieberman.bsky.social discussed the vital importance of museum collections for studying macroevolution in an article for the Paleobiology special issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of Punctuated Equilibria www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanInteresting a lot of recent theory-focused papers I've been reading about fossils don't acknowledge the vast amount of paleobiological literature on the subject(s) they're discussing. I'm happy folks are excited about fossils but also confused why folks seemingly aren't reading papers about fossils
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman🌍 The International Biogeography Society’s 12th Biennial Conference — TIBS Aarhus 2026 — will take place Jan 6–10 in Aarhus, Denmark: conferences.au.dk/tibs-aarhus-... 🐘🍃🌴We're looking forward to hosting it! #Biogeography is central to understanding the #biosphere & is more important than ever!♨️
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanFirst, first-author paper alert! “Shedding Light on Patterns of Unconventional Expression of Opsin Genes in Hydra vulgaris” is out and open access in @sicbjournals.bsky.social academic.oup.com/icb/advance-... Keep reading for some highlights in the thread below! 🦑🧪
- Excited to announce another #groundbreaking paper by @andrejpaleo.bsky.social and colleagues is just out - should be required reading for all those interested in #paleontology #palaeontology #geology
- Glad to share our latest article on the statistical structure of geological time scales. doi.org/10.1016/j.ep... time scales are defined by the most extreme epoch defining events, while we've found that the distribution of the boundaries is itself extreme multifractal! 1/4 🧪 ⚒️ #Geology #Paleobio
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanAndrés a PhD candidate in @ku-eeb.bsky.social and @kunhm.bsky.social studying the diversity and ecology of neotropical bees! Check out his recent project on outreach opportunities with bee collections in Columbia! nhcm.pensoft.net/article/1575...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanAnd here is the popular synopsis (with some of my comments) of our recent paper on the scaling geological time scales: 🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #EvoBio #Geology www.vu.lt/en/news-even...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanMeet our brilliant team of Associate Editors! Dr Katie Collins is a molluscan palaeobiologist 🐚 specializing in bivalve macroevolution and the morphometrics of conchiferan molluscs.. and is a general measurement nerd! Read more about her research: buff.ly/GDH0Obv @spissatella.bsky.social #NHM
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanFrom traits to collaboration networks, cultural systems provide testbeds for evolutionary theory that biology can rarely match in resolution. Arcade games are just the beginning: "The Cultural Macroevolution of Arcade Video Games: Innovation, Collaboration, and Collapse" 👉 doi.org/10.1017/ehs....
- Amazing paper idea, brilliantly executed! Cultural #macroevolution of arcade video games by @svalver.bsky.social @andrejpaleo.bsky.social @blaividiella.bsky.social and R. Alexander Bentley www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanWith great joy—and a touch of nervousness—I’m thrilled to share that my first academic monograph will be published by @mitpress.bsky.social in May 2026! It examines the organism–environment relationship in biology from an integrated #HPS perspective: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205282... #evosky #philsky
- Practical applications of #geology #mineralogy
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanIn time for #FossilFriday, my new paper with Warren Allmon out in Paleobiology: Punctuated equilibria remains the dominant pattern of morphospecies origin in the fossil record: an analysis using the “persistence of ancestor” criterion 🧵 #Paleontology ⚒️🧪 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
- Love to see #Trilobites in ancient Rome: phys.org/news/2025-07...
- RIP to the great #TomLehrer , a comedic genius: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/27/a...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanNew paper! The 1st publication from our NSF grant investigating local to global biodiversity patterns in marine invertebrates across the O-S boundary is out! Here, we describe a new crinoid from Anticosti Island & use Bayesian tip-dating approaches to quantify uncertainty in its stratigraphic age 🧪
- Very excited to be hosting this workshop with Natalia Lopez Carranza at the @kunhm.bsky.social on #paleontology publications and data: biodiversity.ku.edu/news/article...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanFor perspective, last year, 1.2 million unique visitors used our online educational materials...it's really a need of only 1 or 2 dollars per user, and it won't be an annual ask. Just one make or break 6 month period for an almost 100 year old research institution
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanCanada goose gosling, Ocean City, New Jersey #birds #wildlifephotography
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanNew day, new paper! 🦣🌍 Led by @mapaslab.bsky.social ab.bsky.social PhD student Sofía Galván and out now in Global Ecology and Biogeography in which we asked: "Could future palaeontologists detect today’s biodiversity patterns from fossils alone?" 🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanFor hundreds of millions of years, marine annelids had remarkably stable genomes. Then, a sudden and drastic transformation occurred. In non-marine lineages like earthworms and leeches, the genome structure massively reorganized in a short evolutionary window.
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanA new paper in Nature Ecol & Evol by @rosafernandez.bsky.social et al. shows a #punctuated burst of genome evolution in #annelids as they transitioned from marine to land and freshwater habitats.
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanBFSA Environmental Services, has an immediate opening for a full-time Associate Paleontologist in our Poway, CA office. This position reports to and works closely with BFSA’s Principal Paleontologist. www.indeed.com/viewjob?from...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanIf you intend to attend, updating your registration would be greatly appreciated. It’s free and registration can be added via the meeting portal: www.evolutionmeetings.org/registration...
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanJust out! My newest paper on "The Molecular Basis of Punctuated Equilibria." It was so awesome taking part in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the theory of #PunctuatedEquilibria. I got to meet so many awesome scientists in the field & it was such an honor to be a part of this. ❤️ bit.ly/4kmNOWO
- Very excited to have this paper with Luke Strotz out in 50th Anniversary of #punctuatedequilibria issue of the journal Paleobiology @paleosoc.bsky.social #macroevolution #paleontology #palaeontology @nilese.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/pab....
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanCan the structure of knowledge evolve like life itself? In our new MBE paper, we show that the Gene Ontology evolves through mechanisms shared with cultural and technological systems—reuse, modularity, and curator-driven restructuring. Here’s what we found: 🧵
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanIn case you couldn't bear to read all the way to the end (understandable), here is the proposed picture for the BIO Directorate.
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman🚨Postdoc Opportunity in Invert Paleontology🚨 Milwaukee Public Museum is searching for a postdoc to assist with a research project focused on Plio-Pleistocene to Recent mollusks from the southeastern United States. Details available at: www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.p... Please share #FossilFriday
- "There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of #science and #literature. #Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness." - George Washington, address to Congress (1790)
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanNew "On the Basis of Stasis" paper out with @bruceslieberman.bsky.social in Paleobiology where we emphasize -- using Eldredgeops rana as a test case -- the importance of museum voucher specimens for documenting stratigraphic durations in the fossil record. doi.org/10.1017/pab....
- Great to be involved in #Paleobiology paper led by @jonhendricks.bsky.social showing #stasis & #punctuatedequilibria in fossil record @nilese.bsky.social #macroevolution - also evaluates records in databases @paleodb.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/pab....
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanExcellent coverage by @mclarknews.bsky.social , @lawrencekstimes.com on the termination of our Bridges, MARC, PREP and IRACDA programs.
- Federal funding for KU programs that enable Haskell and KU students to conduct scientific research, further their studies and launch their careers has suddenly been terminated. lawrenceks.news/3FWulNK
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanFederal funding for KU programs that enable Haskell and KU students to conduct scientific research, further their studies and launch their careers has suddenly been terminated. lawrenceks.news/3FWulNK
- Practical applications of #paleontology part deux #trilobite
- Practical applications of #paleontology part one
- My Obituary of Elisabeth Vrba—out today in Nature in read-only format: rdcu.be/ediyO
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman🔆 A great tribute to the brilliant Elisabeth Vrba Palaeontologist who solved a problem that vexed Darwin “I’m interested in pushing out the frontiers of science, not sailing my boat through tranquil seas.” Elisabeth Vrba (1942–2025) 🧪 By @nilese.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanCritical role of fossils: "notion that insect pollination began with the origin of angiosperms is still widespread... insect orders with extant and/or extinct pollinator representatives radiated long before the evolution of flowering plants." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... 🧪 #Paleobio ⚒️
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanNSF employees were unlawfully reclassified from career to probationary, and then fired. www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanJuvenile Cooper's hawk from my balcony, Alexandria, Virginia. I was convinced this was a sharp-shinned hawk, but a kind person on eBird set me straight. It has been visiting my courtyard and chasing the pigeons, without success that I've seen. #birds #wildlifephotography
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanI have had the privilege to spend a year working alongside the great folks at NSF. They devote their careers to helping us do science. They deserve so much better. I am heartbroken.
- @matthewherron.bsky.social is an amazing person and #scientist. What happened to him and other federal employees is #terrible and seriously damages #science and the American people!
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanStand with science. Always.
- So glad to have had you in the #macroevolution #paleontology class @daveyfwright.bsky.social ! Plus 🐝-n awesome to get to see all your professional accomplishments since then!
- Oh I think a lot of folks miss Darwin's discussion of the principle of divergence (or forget about it). The main reason it has stuck with me is I remember @bruceslieberman.bsky.social pointing it out when we read Darwin for his Macroevolution class.
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanOh I think a lot of folks miss Darwin's discussion of the principle of divergence (or forget about it). The main reason it has stuck with me is I remember @bruceslieberman.bsky.social pointing it out when we read Darwin for his Macroevolution class.
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanHappy birthday to Charles Darwin, who wrote one of the most poetic lines ever dropped in scientific writing: "There is grandeur in this view of life - that from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."
- Beam me up … Grover?? www.sciencealert.com/teleportatio...
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanWhen I was in graduate school there were very few women scientists in my orbit. Every interaction with her left me starstruck. We have lost a legend.
- Could not agree more @nilese.bsky.social An honor and privilege to have known and worked with this key figure in #macroevolution & #paleontology #palaeontology
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman📣 Yo! Journalists! Pausing spending for “review” is not a thing. It's all illegal impoundment. Report that!
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanA coyote & badger pair were captured on a trailcam by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) near Gilroy, CA in 2020. Look, I would absolutely watch a movie about these two, but there's also a fascinating bit of biology here. Interspecies cooperation is well established between these two species.
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanSabotage. Criminal sabotage. "[The NSF] is planning to lay off between a quarter and a half of its staff in the next two months, a top National Science Foundation official said Tuesday." www.eenews.net/articles/sci...
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman👇 Call 🧪
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanGood advice
- Reposted by Bruce S. LiebermanBoth my senators’ voicemail accounts are full, so I’m calling local offices to leave messages.
- Reposted by Bruce S. Lieberman"Judaken’s book deserves our attention because his review of some of the 20th century’s most significant thinkers and their reflections on the hatred of Jews is once again brought to the forefront by tragic urgency."—Joseph A. Edelheit buff.ly/4aIuGP6 #BookReview #antiSemitism
