Dan Killam
@DantheClamMan
Followers
2,563
Following
3,423
Media
2,700
Statuses
33,837
Environmental scientist, marine biogeochemist @sfei_asc Previously a giant clam wrangler @B2science ! He/him Mastodon:
Vacaville, CA
Joined April 2008
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Messi
• 404747 Tweets
Adriana Lima
• 231614 Tweets
Allred
• 210853 Tweets
Ted Cruz
• 208606 Tweets
Bolivia
• 104171 Tweets
Peru
• 97806 Tweets
Yankees
• 90455 Tweets
JENNIE KIMMEL LIVE
• 75502 Tweets
カレンダー
• 46119 Tweets
バーニス
• 33277 Tweets
#WorldFoodDay
• 29030 Tweets
शरद पूर्णिमा
• 27879 Tweets
ميسي
• 26286 Tweets
無断生成AI
• 25442 Tweets
Raúl Jiménez
• 23088 Tweets
期日前投票
• 21805 Tweets
The Next Prince Q10
• 20204 Tweets
Lakers
• 19770 Tweets
Nico Paz
• 19664 Tweets
Luiz Henrique
• 17666 Tweets
Andreas
• 17641 Tweets
CHENLE FIRST THROW
• 16249 Tweets
عبدالرحمن المطيري
• 11727 Tweets
メカジンベエザメ
• 10896 Tweets
ボスの日
• 10067 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
Just told by an editor that giant clams are too specific to be featured in their journal. They said to try again when I study corals.
I SEE YOU ARE CHALLENGING ME TO A DUEL
24
99
471
Sauron had a lot of problems, but he knew how to manage a wetland. The Dead Marshes were one of the environmental gems of Mordor, and an impressive nature-based solution to help remediate the environmental damage caused by the corpse issue after the Battle of Dagorlad
71
2K
19K
Got an email from a faculty search committee saying I didn't get the job, but they included info on the # of applicants and how many got to interview stage. I really appreciate and will remember this kind of professionalism in my future interactions with that department.
23
44
3K
No better example of vertebrate propaganda than branding "no backbone" as cowardly. Vertebration was our original sin for which we must repent.
6
138
639
We are in a global biological collections crisis. Taxonomists and curators can't get funded or hired. Collections deteriorate and are closed. We are at risk of losing our ability to quantify our biosphere. Baselines will keep shifting and we will be blind to it.
as a
@DukeU
alumnus and now the (first!) Curator of Ichthyology
@MVZ
@UCBerkeley
, I am horrified and deeply saddened by this decision. Collections are priceless records of biodiversity across space and time -and they need even greater investment during current rapid species loss.
1
56
201
6
197
649
May we all find someone who cares for us as gently and respectfully as this curator treats this bean
7
153
488
@atrupar
We live in hell. I can't believe I live in a country where this sniveling, sneering beneficiary of many layers of nepotism gets to direct the emergency response to the greatest challenge America has faced since WWII. We have fallen so far.
14
71
405
@milodtowntx
@FOX4
Shh they're trying to assassinate his character here and you're making it difficult
1
19
372
When I'm at a conference I have serious respect for faculty who take time to have real conversations with undergrads and early grad students. Those conversations were so important for me when I started out, to put a human face behind the papers which influenced me.
6
31
405
@baddestmamajama
"Come over here kid. Learn something. You never know, you might have to cook for some twitter person someday"
0
7
293
GIANT CLAMS ARE SOLAR POWERED. THEIR FLESH IS FULL OF SYMBIOTIC ALGAE WHICH CREATE SUGARS THEY EAT. AS IF YOU COULD GO SIT OUTSIDE AND TAN FOR LUNCH. THIS IS THE CHEAT CODE THAT ENABLES THEIR GIANT LIFESTYLE
#LIFEHACK
6
44
275
@washingtonian
No matter the food, there is someone trying to gatekeep about how it should be eaten
0
5
233
@verge
Add it to the massive pile of reasons why Discord is a horrible place to run a support server for any FOSS software. Just stop it
4
5
238
@sketchyhippos
@historiancole
@NickTagliaferro
While watching that movie my frustration just grew and grew as questions like this added up and I realized there would be no answers.
2
3
232
@hacknow
@US_Stormwatch
The last deglaciation was due to orbital changes which increased insolation, warming the climate. The current warming trend in terms of watts/m2 is entirely due to changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. Insolation is flat. -a paleontologist
10
15
219
@bestofnextdoor
Please maintain your yard as an unnatural over-irrigated monoculture or else
0
3
214
@maya_givens
@goldeneug
@leiaroosevelt
@Brianbeck
@larrywinget
@StephenKing
@LVMtgConcierge
also this
7
8
204
Been screaming this to anyone who will listen: the world also has real-world worm riders. The tiny clam Montacutona sigalionidcola attaches attaches to the heads of polychaetes
Meet the real-life versions of Dune’s epic sandworms:
0
7
14
5
54
194
@NateSilver538
even if we win, I will be forever disappointed that the American public was so close to embracing fascism
17
22
171
@DrakeGatsby
They all have some weird little individualisms to discover. That's what is so great about them
1
2
185
@depthsofwiki
I have advocated for the band Purity Ring. I still advocate for them but would like a dagger anyway †
1
1
177
GIANT CLAMS ARE SO SWOLE THEY NEED TO INGEST EXTERNAL NITRATE AND AMMONIA AS FERTILIZER TO ENHANCE THEIR
#GAINS
. THEREFORE HELPING CLEAN THE REEF
1
17
171
@MosquitoLab
definitely! these kind of accidental reserves like Camp Pendleton or even Chernobyl Exclusion Zone are really fascinating
3
5
171
@MKBHD
They couldn't have done this in a trashier way. So many innovations behind Twitter today owe their existence to third party apps. They could have gone for some sort of syndication model and increased ad impressions by an order of magnitude.
1
1
167
The UCSC Seymour Center has a fat inkeeper worm on display, and I was definitely starstruck.
6
11
168
GIANT CLAMS WILL SQUIRT YOU IN THE FACE WITH A JET OF WATER AS A DEFENSE MECHANISM, LITERALLY LIKE CLOYSTER FROM POKEMON. IT FEELS LIKE A PLEASANT UNDERWATER BREEZE TBH
#itwasntveryeffective
5
23
161
For those interested, the real-life filming location of the Dead Marshes was the Kepler Mire in NZ. It is a string bog, which means little islands dotting wide stretches of saturated vegetation. Gollum would have known the ways between the islands!
3
4
150
Configuring a Raspberry Pi connected to a sensor attached to a clam the other day, lit by the glow of the monitor and the setting sun, I realized it has finally happened. I have crossed into mad scientist territory.
8
13
150
GIANT CLAMS (TRIDACNINAE) ARE SOME THE MOST MASSIVE BIVALVES THAT HAVE EVER EXISTED. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE. YET WE KNOW VERY LITTLE OF HOW THEY WILL BE INFLUENCED BY CLIMATE CHANGE. PHOTO OF ~3 FT LONG SPECIMENS AT CAL ACADEMY
3
15
148
GIANT CLAMS SHIT OUT THEIR EXCESS SYMBIONTS WHICH CAN BE INGESTED AND INOCULATE OTHER NEARBY CLAMS AND CORALS WITH THE HELPFUL ALGAE. IF ONLY OUR FECES WERE SO USEFUL
6
17
147
Pay a visit to Mirkwood Old Growth Forest Reserve. While there are issues of harmful algae producing neurotoxins in some waterways, the biodiversity is rich, with the apex predators being a unique endemic population of colonial spiders, Ungoliantus shelobii, still under-studied
3
11
149
GIANT CLAMS ARE GENTLE GIANTS AND WILL NOT TRAP YOU UNDERWATER TO DROWN YOU THOUGH THEY COULD PINCH YOUR FINGER REAL GOOD IF YOU POKED THEM, SO DON'T POKE THEM. ALSO YOU NEED TO SNEAK UP ON THEM TO DO SO AS THEY HAVE EYES AND CAN SEE YOU COMING
4
17
145
I wrote a rant about why biological collections are important and under threat!
3
39
142
@oneunderscore__
Seems very technically feasible for
@twitter
to cross check profile pics with the popular stock photo sources and include it as a flag for possible inauthentic behavior
@jack
3
4
122
@HelenBranswell
@CDCgov
I'm no expert, but seems like by the time people show up at ERs it's already too late and the cat's out of the bag. Is there any testing planned at dairies? Even just pooled testing?
2
4
124
UNTIL WE HAVE TIME MACHINES GIANT CLAMS (and a couple other subfamilies) ARE THE ONLY MODERN SYSTEM TO HELP UNDERSTAND EXTINCT BIVALVES SUCH AS THE CRETACEOUS RUDISTS WHICH ARE THOUGHT TO HAVE HAD SYMBIONTS
2
8
114
IMAGINE HAVING STRIPES OF REFLECTIVE SUNBLOCK IN YOUR SKIN. GIANT CLAMS HAVE STRUCTURES CALLED IRIDOPHORES THAT THEY CAN USE TO REFLECT HARMFUL UV RAYS, AND TO CHANNEL VISIBLE LIGHT TO THEIR SYMBIONTS LIKE FIBER-OPTICS. EVOLUTION IS AMAZING
3
17
112
If you're having a tough day, here is a very long thread of birb missiles
People have been throwing birds at me again..... luckily I managed to dodge this Mistle Thrush.....
😉
637
3K
16K
1
14
109
IF YOU WISH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GIANT CLAMS YOU CAN FOLLOW
@MeilinNeo
@SusiDoesScience
@millsk_
@CoralClam
@GrouperDoc
@bokterium
@ocean_keshi
@omchelang
@NielsJdeWinter
@GuibertIsis
@CoralMorph
@shengsayco
@mikerobes02
@deinocockus
@EricJ_Armstrong
5
12
112
I talked to two families via
@SkypeScientist
today and it turns out that talking to kids about clams is like therapy for me. Helping me keep it together. Give them a look here:
0
6
111
@nahaltoosi
@politico
his eyes wagging back and forth rapidly suggest you're talking to a disingenuous person
8
4
93
@WeirdMedieval
All santas proceed through the pupal stage before entering the claustral chamber, after which they metamorphose
0
0
100
@uglyprogramming
@PleaseBeGneiss
Noooo I knew someone would post this and I still went looking. Cursed
0
0
96
Giant clams have a butt! It's the exhalant siphon, the tube thing to the left. They expel feces + pseudofeces (undigested particles) out through there. They also poop out excess symbiotic algae, which may be used as a fecal transplant by other organisms!
#InverteButtWeek
2
16
87
Starting April 1st, only posts about clams will be eligible to be in For You recommendations.
10
10
88
On fire for ten months, still trying to grow back. Redwoods, man.
SMOLDERING TREE: This tree in Big Basin Redwoods State Park was still smoldering from the
#CZULightningComplex
(10 months ago), but has been extinguished.
#BigBasin
and the entire fire footprint is being monitored.
#CaWx
23
209
676
1
20
87
@exerciseauthrty
@jaclynasiegel
As a dude in academia, I frequently observe that my points are taken at face value when a woman at my level is challenged by men who actually don't know the subject. It is real and it is a problem.
2
1
84
I got a new job! In this blog, I review how I got here and where I'm going.
19
0
88
BREAKING NEWS
A virus is spreading and has already killed >8200 people in America this season, including 54 kids.
It's called influenza. Get your vaccine if you can. Immunosuppressed people you love will be grateful.
4
45
76
@MeilinNeo
@SusiDoesScience
@millsk_
@CoralClam
@GrouperDoc
@bokterium
@ocean_keshi
@omchelang
@NielsJdeWinter
@GuibertIsis
@CoralMorph
@shengsayco
@mikerobes02
@deinocockus
@EricJ_Armstrong
THANK YOU ALL FOR READING MY CLAM CATHARSIS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO HIT ME WITH ALL YOUR
#HULKCLAM
QUERIES, WHICH BRING A NONTHREATENING SMILE TO MY FACE
2
2
78
Clam I dislike: zebra mussel
Clam I begrudgingly respect: zebra mussel
Clam I think is overrated: NA
Clam I think is underrated: Lithiotis problematica
Clam I like: hammer oyster
Clam I love: Tridacna squamosina
Clam I think should be shown in Jurassic Park: reef-building rudists
Gene I dislike: Notch
Gene I begrudgingly respect: p53
Gene I think is overrated: Wnt
Gene I think is underrated: Doublesex/Dmrt1
Gene I like: Melanocortin 1 receptor
Gene I love: Green fluorescent protein
Gene I dream of knocking-out (in non-models): DNA methyltransferase
3
11
231
1
7
77
@charlot_summers
The thing that disgusts me is even if it only killed people with preexisting conditions, are they implying that somehow that makes it better? These are people who have years of life left and instead die a slow, painful death by suffocation.
4
10
75
THE SYMBIOTIC ALGAE WITHIN GIANT CLAMS ARE SO PRODUCTIVE THAT THE ANIMAL BECOMES A NET PRODUCER OF OXYGEN DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS, LIKE A FRICKIN PLANT. SOURCE: HAWKINS & KLUMPP 1995
1
11
77
Regarding academia, the privileges I will most miss include:
- unlimited library access
- pretending I'm a student for discounts
- reply all listserv drama
6
1
75
Depending on species, bivalves can be male, or female, or both, or start as male and end up female, or alternate seasonally.
Talk about sexual anarchy!
#clamfacts
3
13
74
@jpgcrowley
I'm no expert but they seem to be within Sauron's zone of influence, and orcs would be there if they could navigate
1
0
73
It has been scientifically proven by other workers that giant clams like to snuggle! I did not place these two touching each other; they did that themselves. It may be that they want safety in numbers, higher chance of reproductive success later in life,…
1
10
70
@Mark40511
@US_Stormwatch
Alpine glaciers worldwide are losing mass and the rate is accelerating
1
12
70
@PleaseBeGneiss
You're right. Sandwich enjoyment is a function of bite area of the non-crust sectors of the sandwich. The diagonal cut provides far more biteable noncrust area with less effort
3
0
65
@WillOremus
All public policy in California should be tested and prioritized based on its ability to decrease Marc's home value.
0
2
69
@Dina_Maron
Really makes you wonder if we should be raising exotic animals in confined conditions for something as frivolous as their fur
3
3
69
Pile of screamers
This Temachia microstoma (Bryozoa) colony. Who doubts that bryozoology is a very serious research field? An illustration from Kluge "Bryozoa of the Northern Seas of the USSR".
7
16
106
3
11
66
Fossils like these activate an obscure sorrow for me. I wish I could see one live!
One of the best belemnite fossils I’ve ever seen. Perfect for
#MolluscMonday
Most belemnite fossils are just the hard part, called the guard or rostrum. This one includes the ink sac and arms with hooks! It’s a real beauty. Well, as far as squid-like Jurassic critters go. 🦑
12
178
976
1
9
69
@samueljrob
@FerrisState
Probably the most insane assemblage of words ever typed with Garamond
2
0
65
@lawldydawdy
@gramnegativity
I study the growth lines of their shells and what they can tell us about their health, pollution and climate change!
2
0
65