Discussing about ichnology and astrobiology on Focus TV
I presented my research on the 'Pale Blue Dot' #documentary, which aired on Focus TV. Watch the three episodes on Mediaset Infinity!
Read MoreTavira Island
Anyone clicking on this link before August 29, 2021 will be taken directly to the final version of my article about the neoichnology of Tavira Island. No sign up, registration or fees are required! A tidal creek in the Tavira Island. What is it about?…
Read MoreThe Northern Adriatic Sea as a model for past seas
The Northern Adriatic Sea is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea. As a shallow (average depth: 35 m), semi-enclosed sea lying on continental crust, it is an ideal model for past epeiric (epicontinental) seas. In his 2007 book "The Northern Adriatic Ecosystem: Deep Time…
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Trace of the day: Piscichnus
The seafloor of the Ligurian Sea is more than an expanse of sand. In fact, it often features traces of life-substrate interactions, such as these circular 'craters'. What are they? They are feeding pits produced by fishes, almost identical to the trace fossil Piscichnus. This…
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Why do I put all this effort into sampling modern ecosystems?
This photo gallery documents my typical day on the field during autumn times. I check field tools on the beach, I start up my GPS-equipped camera, then I fit into the wetsuit... and then I splash into the cold water! Succesively, my fieldwork basically consists…
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Trace of the day: Nereites
The fossil record preserves abundant horizontal traces with sediment pads. These traces, known as Nereites , have tradistionally been attributed to worm tracemakers, but then researchers pictured horseshoe crabs leaving Nereites-like traces. I also documentes Nereites-like traces made by arthropods (hermit crabs) in the Adriatic…
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Trace of the day: Archaeonassa
Today I spotted a gastropod leaving a locomotion trail... almost identical to Archaeonassa, an ichnofossil known from the Precambrian!
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