PinnedRoy PlotnickI found a meteorite! (Probably not)Near midnight on Thursday, March 27, 2003, as I was preparing for bed, I noticed a bright flash outside. I did not think more about it at…5 min read·Mar 14, 2022--2--2
PinnedRoy PlotnickA Fossil Park for IllinoisOne of the greatest challenges I face in teaching paleontology in Chicago is finding a place to bring my classes on field trips. I also am…5 min read·Apr 1, 2019--3--3
PinnedRoy PlotnickWhat is a fossil?In a Peanuts comic that had a place of honor on my dorm door, Peppermint Patty is taking an exam and is asked to: “Explain World War II.”…3 min read·Jan 27, 2020--1--1
PinnedRoy PlotnickI found a fossil!! (or did I?)You are walking along a creek bed when you see an oddly shaped and colored rock. You pick it up and think “this must be a fossil!” So, you…5 min read·Dec 14, 2021----
PinnedRoy PlotnickWhat are fossils worth?$2.36 million dollars. That’s how much a private seller paid for a nearly complete skeleton of a carnivorous dinosaur sold at auction in…4 min read·Jun 14, 2018--4--4
Roy PlotnickIntroduction to Palaeontology: A PodcastThought I would share this just released podcast on the site Palaeocast (https://www.palaeocast.com/category/podcast/), long run by Dave…1 min read·Feb 25, 2024----
Roy PlotnickPaleontology Is Far More Than New Fossil Discoveries: Understanding the ancient past is critical to…Roy E. Plotnick, Brendan M. Anderson, Sandra J. Carlson, Advait M. Jukar, Julien Kimmig and Elizabeth Petsios5 min read·Dec 1, 2023--1--1
Roy PlotnickI’m Sorry I Missed Your Talk! (and yours, and yours…)I just returned from the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA) in Pittsburgh. At this point in my career, I have lost…3 min read·Oct 25, 2023----
Roy PlotnickThe Continuing Importance of PaleontologyAs my-coauthors and I argue in a recently published opinion piece in Scientific American, paleontology is far more than new fossil…5 min read·Oct 8, 2023----
Roy PlotnickThe World Turned Upside DownOne of my prized possessions is an original reprint of the seminal 1972 paper on punctuated equilibrium by Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay…8 min read·May 4, 2023----