Jacob Weston

Joined: Jul 13, 2021 Last Active: Apr 18, 2024 iNaturalist

I love identifying and am fluent in marine bivalves and gastropods along the US Gulf and Atlantic coast (also especially interested in micros and tusks shells/scaphopods) and will often cite Marlo's website: (technical and compare similar species with lots of pictures) https://olram9.wixsite.com/letstalkseashells
this has a large photo gallery where you can see species side by side but doesn't actually compare species
https://catalog.shellmuseum.org/shells/southwest-florida-shells?
this place has a significantly larger collection than both but is a little harder to navigate. If a species exists, it exists here.
https://jaxshells.org/
one last website (all of these authors are on iNat by the way)
https://www.seahorseandco.com

I’m not an expert, but I do know a lot of shells. I estimate my mistake rate is 0.2%

feel free to @ me for help or to ask for more info about why I made my ID. I don't often give explanations anymore because, as far as I can tell, no one reads them most of the time, but I'd be more than happy to tell you what I know about the species should you ask. If you see an observation that needs another ID, don't hesitate to ping me! Even if it’s a fragment, I’ll do my best to ID it. I've gotten pretty good at IDing fragments too, it really forces you to look at the little details on every part of the shell which is why I started the Seashell Fragments Project
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/seashell-fragments

I also occasionally ID the unknown list and some common plant species in Tennessee.

About me:
I am a bonsai enthusiast (hence the username--that's how you're supposed to pronounce "bonsai"), all-around science lover, white-water canoeist, hiker, nerd, mountain biker, Trekkie, blackbelt (2nd degree), avid outdoorsman, Christian, fiddler (also mandolin), snow skier, apologist (I love the intersection of theology and science and it’s quite vast), and eventually a botanical genetics engineer (I'm a student at the University of Tennessee). Although my primary hobbies are bonsai and seashells, fish was my first interest and I've been maintaining 4-9 aquariums/terrariums for the last 10 years (saltwater too). I also have two huge but very emotional wolfhounds! I’m a huge fan of Creation Magazine and mathematical fractals in complex numbers (my brother is a math genius so I also like a lot of other obscure math topics too like Catalan solids). Although I will do research on and take pictures of almost any living thing, I interact most with arthropods and seashells. I have a particular interest in collecting micro seashells (mostly because they take up little space in an already large collection and few others seem to do it). I’m an enthusiast in almost everything but I have no formal training. 🖖 Live long and prosper!
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“lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path” Proverbs 3:5-6

Profile picture: I'm sitting on a steep sandstone ledge covered with stunted Virginia pines with some bonsai buddies on a collection trip.

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I believe in science; I believe in the Bible; I find it is not necessary to compromise beliefs in either but that they actually fit together perfectly. To me the geology of the Grand Canyon more closely follows being formed with a lot of water in a little time similar to mt. St. Hellen’s canyon. I’ve found that adaptation is often just activation and deactivation of genes and sometimes is a result of a gene breaking which are neutral and reverse evolutionary(long term) progress respectively and have yet to find any evidence supporting the possibility of improvement. I believe that coal and oil are a memorial to a global flood. I think unfossilized dinosaur tissue requires recent burial. I believe Genesis is history.

If you disagree, I would be happy to support a friendly debate. Or visit here where Ph.D. scientists from all different fields, from around the world, and from many different Christian denominations have come together to write myriads of articles on all topics. https://creation.com/ There are many other good ministries but this is my favorite because you can type anything into the search and find an article on it.

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