Greetings!

[Neale Monks]

Folks,

Wanted to stop by and say hello. I dabble in fossil cephalopod palaeontology, and was one of the authors of a new book on ammonites that was reviewed here a couple of months ago. There's stuff about my book, my research and links to articles at my website. You can also download PDF files for some of the papers I've written.

Anyway, looking over some of the threads there's clearly a lot of interest in fossil cephs, and some interesting speculations on their evolution. Sadly the fossil record of cephs isn't nearly as complete nor as detailed as people imagine it is. There are lots of fossils, yes, but mostly of the shells of nautiluses and ammonites. There's not nearly so many squid fossils and virtually nothing on soft body parts of any of them. Studies of things like fossil squid hooks and statoliths could be rewarding but no-one seems to be interested in them.

I look forward to being able to contribute to your discussions in the coming months, and wish you all well.

Cheers,

Neale Monks

http://users.macunlimited.net/n.monks/index.html

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Neale, it's fantastic to have you onboard.

Tony normally does this, but

Steve

 

[Clem]

Re: Greetings!

There's not nearly so many squid fossils and virtually nothing on soft body parts of any of them.

Except for that CT-scanned Sigaloceras Neville Hollingworth et al got everyone excited about back in 1999, then dropped down a virtual mineshaft.

I look forward to being able to contribute to your discussions in the coming months, and wish you all well.

A great welcome to you, Sir.

Clem

 

[Phil]

Neale,

As Moderator of this board I can only reiterate the above sentiments. It is absolutely fantastic to have you aboard; you have no idea how many times you have been mentioned in the last few months since Tony set this section up!

Things can often get quite silly around the site but have no fear, practically everyone who contributes has a deep fascination with cephalopods. There are so many different backgrounds to the contributors that you will find many varied perspectives towards these enigmatic creatures on these pages. Some contributors are interested in these animals as they keep them as pets, some are interested in them from a cultural perspective, others are interested in the science and biology and still others simply because cephalopods are 'cool'.

I think we shall all look forward to your posts; I must say that your book 'Ammonites' has been my bible since Tony asked me to run this section.

Best regards,

Phil

 

[tonmo]

Indeed, welcome Neale, we're glad to have you aboard!

Readers, be sure to have a look at Phil's review of Neale's book, here:

Book Review: Ammonites

 

[Architeuthoceras]

Welcome to TONMO Neale! Looking forward to many great discussions.