Hi--
I've been reading the posts here for a while and finally decided to register. Not that I've got anything too terribly intelligent to say on most of these topics, as I'm neither a cephalopod breeder nor a biologist. Actually, I'm a geology undergrad in my last year at Caltech, although I'm hoping to study palaeontology in graduate school. Probably will be posting, therefore, mostly in the palaeontology forum.

Which brings me to my first question: is there anyone here who studies ceph palaeontology? I asked the forum member who invited me here and he said he wasn't sure, so I figured I'd give a shout-out and see. Will probably be making a longer and more annoying post on this later in some other forum.

In any case, glad to meet you all, and I look forward to many hours enjoyably wasted. Hail Eris!

Hi and welcome to TONMO.com!

Sounds like you're doing some interesting things!

I'm mostly working with live cephs, but we have many people who are interested in ceph palaeontology. I don't know whether any have actually studied ceph palaeontology or are studying it now. More people will respond if you post this question in the Ceph Science forums, maybe in Fossils and History.

Nancy

:welcome:

:welcome: (even though I already did in AIM, I figure I try to welcome everyone on principle. Not that I have to keep up my posting rate now that I'm no longer a gelatious blob.) :heteromor -- sorry, no Burgess Shale smilies...

Welcome from south of the Kayenta formation!

Greg

:welcome: to TONMO

is there anyone here who studies ceph palaeontology?

I think there are a few students of paleontology in our ranks, maybe not ceph paleontology. Neil Monks used to drop by but I havent seen him post for a while.

Phil(?) and I are both perpetual students of ceph paleontology (informally).

Looking forward to some interesting discussions.

:welcome: Discordia reigns! (But not here!:wink:)

:welcome: to our cephalopod world!

:welcome:

Howdo old chap! Welcome to the site, hope you find much of interest here. Always good to have a fossil hunter here.

I don't know of any regular poster who has actually studied palaeontology formally but there are a number of people here who have a keen interest. For externally-shelled ammonoids and nautiloids, Kevin is definitely your man. I've never studied the subject but just try and muddle through using the internet, a small number of good books and a few other resources.

If you are truly Hallucigenia, which way up should you be reconstructed? :smile: :earlynaut

I don't know of any regular poster who has actually studied palaeontology formally

I know we look down on those overrated vertebrates, but we do have a published digger-up of thunder lizards:

http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004AM/finalprogram/abstract_81031.htm

Hey, don't embarrass me! I'm pretty much out of the biz now.

Ooh. Burgess Shale icons. That would rock.

Incidentally, did that business with Wiwaxia being an ancestral mollusc ever show up here? I thought it was interesting, at least.

Hey, don't embarrass me! I'm pretty much out of the biz now.

I figured any chance of embarassment was out when I saw this yesterday:

This takes me nostalgic for my low-temp geochem class :)

:twisted:

Ooh. Burgess Shale icons. That would rock.

Incidentally, did that business with Wiwaxia being an ancestral mollusc ever show up here? I thought it was interesting, at least.

There was this (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6782), which I think I forwarded to you, but it's Odontogriphus rather than Wiwaxia. But here (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2736&highlight=wiwaxia) Phil mentioned Wiwaxia as having a molluscan foot and radula. (The wiwaxia link in Phil's post appears dead, though)

Surprisingly (to me) the wikipedia page on Odontogriphus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontogriphus) says that there is an older identified mollusc, Kimberella (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberella) but Phil, of course, already knew about it in the above post...