@palaeosingh
β’ Vertebrate Palaeontologist @ The Open University, UK β’ Studying the links between morphology, ecology & evolution across deep time, with a focus on terrestrial tetrapods & ecosystems β’ πΏ- π¦- π¦
NHMLA has a student collections study award (deadline April 1) - nhm.org/student-coll.... NHM has great paleontology collections, AND it's near many other museums (Alf, San Bernardino Co. Museum, Western Center, Cooper Center, San Diego NHM), so a SoCal paleo trip can cover a lot of institutions!
Hereβs the website with the event details:
www.geocollections.org/events/190-m...
Circular for new symposium on marine reptile palaeontology to be held at the Oxford Museum of Natural History between 7-8th October 2026. Abstract submission deadline: 1st June 2026.
π¨ Call for Abstracts π¨
Abstract submission now open for a symposium meeting on #MarineReptile palaeontology hosted at @morethanadodo.bsky.social from 7-8th October 2026.
Abstract deadline: 1st June 2026
#Palaeontology #Science #SciComm
Smith & Sidor present a new shuvosaurid, Sonselasuchus cedrus, from the Late #Triassic Chinle Fm. in Arizona πΊπΈ & a mass assemblage of at least 36 individuals. Seems these crocodile-line βdinosaur mimicsβ were quite abundant! β¬οΈ
#Paleontology #Fossils #Science
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Pardo et al. report a new stem tetrapod, Tanyka amnicola, from Brazil π§π· that survived into the early #Permian, with interesting implications for faunal #evolution across the Permo-Carboniferous in the Southern Hemisphere. β¬οΈ
#Paleontology #Fossils #Science
royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article...
CRUROTARSIπ these are only a few examples of how diverse the lineage Crocodiles come from used to be π #crurotarsi #pseudosuchia #paleoart #purussaurus #deinosuchus #postosuchus #plesiosuchus #arizonasaurus #phytosauria
Drawing showing biodiversity from the Carboniferous of Puertollano, which includes plants, arthropods, fish and tetrapods. From left to right, top to bottom: - The giant millipede Arthropleura walking through the forest floor, next to an amphibian (maker of the Puertollanopus tracks) and insects - General view of the swamp landscape, with a volcano erupting in the background - A early synapsid, maker of possible Dimetropus tracks - Pecopteris monyi, leaves of a tree fern - A pair of Acanthodes swimming through vegetation and smaller fish - The temnospondyl Iberospondylus schultzei swimming next to some platysomid fish - Small clam shrimp Euestheria - Two lycophytes Omphalophloios puertollanense next to some swamp creatures - The xenacanth Orthacanthus hunting in the murky waters - Juvenile shark Lissodus hiding from the fish Progyrolepis speciosus - Puertollanichthys richtei, a small fish, swimming through the vegetation
π΄π¦Carboniferous PuertollanoπΈπ
In the lands of La Mancha, fossils from the Late Carboniferous known from old coal mines reveal a tropical coastal swamp ecosystem, rich in aquatic and plant life
#paleoart #FossilFriday #Carboniferous #Puertollano
π§΅Thread for additional explanation
New paper by Angielczyk et al. reports new #synapsids from the early #Permian tetrapod fauna of the Pedra de Fogo Formation, Brazil π§π· - South Americaβs first pelycosaurs! β¬οΈ
#Paleontology #Fossils #Science
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Really sad news. Hans worked on an incredible diversity of vertebrate groups but in particular made huge contributions to our understanding of the Triassic.
Nice to see more spinosaur skull material published. Sereno et al. present a new species of #Spinosaurus, S. mirabilis - with a snazzy cranial crest.
#Paleontology #Science #Dinosaurs
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
The Brymbo Fossil Forest is offering students the chance to get involved in palaeontological excavations of a Carboniferous fossil forest in North Wales. QR code on image directs to further details.
π¨ UK Student Palaeo Research Opportunity π¨
Brymbo Fossil Forest are offering students the chance to get involved in active palaeontology research & excavations βοΈ at a unique #Carboniferous fossil site in Wales π΄σ §σ ’σ ·σ ¬σ ³σ Ώ - See below for more details β¬οΈ
#Paleontology #Geology #Fieldwork #FossilFriday #ECR
Revealing the hidden patterns of shark and ray diversity over the past 145 million years: Current Biology www.cell.com/current-biol...
Dicynodonts survived multiple environmental upheavals & mass extinction events but finally met their end in the End-Triassic Mass Extinction (~201 Ma). Why they finally went extinct remains somewhat unclear - perhaps due to their increasing niche specialisation through the Late Triassic?
𧡠End.
#Ischigualastia was among the largest of known dicynodonts & one of the last, evolving in the Late Triassic as the group declined. Nonetheless, despite becoming rarer, these latest dicynodonts grew larger, with the youngest species, #Lisowicia being the largest (rhino-sized).
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#Dicynodonts were notably able to survive the worst mass #extinction event in history: the End-Permian event (~252 Ma). Despite this evolutionary bottleneck, they were able to diversify & regenerate a comparable level of diversity in the Triassic to their pre-extinction levels in the #Permian.
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These herbivores possessed a unique beaked jaw & jaw adductor muscle arrangement that produced powerful & efficient cropping bites. They also had a rolling jaw joint that enabled them to effectively break down plant matter when eating. Itβs thought these features contributed to their success.
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#Dicynodonts were an ancient & successful group of #synapsids that lived from the middle of the #Permian to the end of the #Triassic. They were among the largest terrestrial animals of their time, only really surpassed when large dinosaurs began to evolve in the Late Triassic.
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This specimen was found on a 1964 expedition that took BYU's James A. Jensen & a Harvard team of paleontologists to the #Ischigualasto Formation of Argentina. This formation has yielded an amazing array of animal & plant fossils from the #Carnian stage of the Late #Triassic (237-227 Ma).
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The lateral view of a skull of the dicynodont, Ishigualastia jenseni, on display at the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology in Provo, Utah. This skull was discovered in 1964 from the Ishigualasto Formation, Argentina.
Presenting a skull of the #dicynodont, Ischigualastia, at the BYU Museum of Paleontology in Provo, Utah πΊπΈ for this #FossilFriday. This ancient, beaked herbivore was the size of a cow & lived in Argentina π¦π· during the Late #Triassic (~230 Ma).
#Paleontology #Science
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I need a mood booster, let's talk about capybaras.
Here's a capy demonstrating one of MANY ways they can move through the water: running along the bottom.
They're 'semi-aquatic' mammals, just like hippos, seals & beavers. They LOVE water.
(π·: Fernando Maidana)
Sketches showing reconstructions of Dimetrodon limbatus (top), D. loomisi (center) and D. limbatus (bottom)
Sketches showing reconstructions of Dimetrodon angelensis (top), D. milleri (center) and D. grandis (bottom)
Reconstructions of all Dimetrodon species shown in previous plates in scale next to silhouettes of a ca. 1.8 m tall human
Selected species of Dimetrodon.
Here are various sketches showing some species of Dimetrodon, which was a quite diverse genus during the Early Permian. The genus includes about a dozen of species
#paleoart #sciart #synapsids
Just in time for #FossilFriday
Earliest Cenozoic ammonoids:
Machalski, M., Olszewska-Nejbert, D., Landman, N.H. et al. Ammonite survival across the CretaceousβPaleogene boundary confirmed by new data from Denmark. Sci Rep 15, 45802 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
A chunk of Weald Clay from SE England, covered with fragments of ferns, conifers and other seed plants from 130 million years ago.
A chunk of Weald Clay from SE England, covered with fragments of ferns, conifers and other seed plants from 130 million years ago.
Mesofossils may not look as appealing as large hand specimens, but can provide a better snapshot of vegetation.
#FossilFriday βππ±π¬πΏπ²
For #fossilfriday, The New York Times has written a good article about the Paleontological Research Institution, what the museum means to the field of Paleontology, and its current financial situation (much improved even from a few weeks ago).
π§ͺπ¦βοΈπ¦£ #paleontology
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/s...
Apparently Bill Simpson, longtime Collections Manager of fossil vertebrates at the β¦βͺ@FieldMuseumβ¬β© in Chicago, is retiringβafter 46 yrs! Bill has always been so helpful, including pulling out the skull of β¦βͺ@SUEtheTrexβ¬β© for study multiple times! Happy Retirement, Bill! π₯: Emily Rieff #FossilFriday
Nice new study by Martinez & Jenkins on procolophonid #parareptile tooth morphology & dietary #evolution β¬οΈ Great to see their quantitative comparison to living reptiles π¦ to infer procolophonid feeding habits π½οΈ
#Paleontology #Science #Permian #Triassic
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
#Stegosaurus is perhaps most known for the bony plates along its back. Their function is still unknown, but it has been proposed that they may been displays to help deter predators or attract mates. Or perhaps thermoregulation structures. Still much to learn about these #dinosaurs!
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Sophie is a #Stegosaurus stenops, a species found across the Morrison Formation in western USA πΊπΈ, with fossil found across Wyoming, Colorado & Utah. It lived during the Late #Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago, and was a herbivore (plant-eater) πΏ.
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Itβs not actually known whether Sophie was a female as itβs very difficult to sex extinct animals, especially dinosaurs, when all we have are their bones. This specimen was named after the daughter of the donor who helped the NHMUK to acquire the fossils.
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