Tyrannosaur Expert; Dinosaur Paleontologist; University of Maryland Geology Faculty; Director of the College Park Scholars-Science & Global Change Program; Science Author; Cat Dad; 🦖🦕
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Eric Buffetaut (2025) Furileusaurian osteological characters in Genusaurus sisteronis Accarie et al., 1995, an abelisaurid dinosaur from the Albian (Lower Cretaceous) of south-eastern France Carnets natures 12: 79-88. carnetsnatures.fr/volume12/Gen...
The answer to "What are they trying to hide?" Is only too obvious.
Sadly true.
#Geol104playlist Course introduction www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDlU...
The stupid, it burns. This guy is US Secretary of Energy and blithely puts certifiably and grossly and embarrassingly incorrect statements on social media.
All of this.
And all of this too!
Breaking: a young and healthy Donald Trump announces that Space Force will be launching a preemptive strike on The Great Gazoo, who he heard make threats as he fitfully napped in front of the TV Saturday.
More than 85 scientists say that a recent U.S. Department of Energy report is full of errors and misrepresents climate science.
Two-billion-year transitional oxygenation of the Earth’s surface www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Also, I’m just so angry that I’ve heard no less than three pseudoscientists TODAY refer to the “cell of mitochondria” and I want to shew through leather. MITOCHONDRIA IS THE POWERHOUSE OFFFFFF THE CELL it is a part OF a cell you grifting nincompooping vacuoles!!
FFS! "Upgrade"- God Damn what shitty framing, MSM is so complicit.
I'm surprised I've managed to keep this series going almost daily. Anyways, here's the next Kem Kem pterosaur - the tiny probe-feeder Leptostomia! As always, size comparison below ⬇️ #sciart #paleoart
@albertonykus.bsky.social defintely deserves a tag, too.
Results so stunningly clear they inspired this classic xkcd (xkcd.com/2400/):
Excited to announce that the 1st paper from my postdoc is now out in @currentbiology.bsky.social ! Using a large dataset of 3D preserved fossils, we explore the diversification of jaws in early bony fishes. 1/15 www.cell.com/current-biol...
New fossil mammal remains from the Chorrillo Formation (Maastrichtian, Upper Cretaceous), Santa Cruz Province, Argentina: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Probably supposed to be the Morrison troodontid(?) Hesperornithoides.
I mean, that's not a coincidence. The old TSR guys named "Vecna" as an anagram of science fantasy writer Jack Vance, whose writing (and particular his magic system) inspired the original version of D&D.
Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the 10th lowest on record (JAXA data) • about 90,000 km² above the 2010s mean • about 1,010,000 km² below the 2000s mean • about 2,010,000 km² below the 1990s mean • about 2,740,000 km² below the 1980s mean More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Today marks the 86th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of Poland, start of World War Two in Europe, and systemic genocide of six million Polish citizens. Among them, countless academics and their lifetime of research. Numbers are numbers, every digit represents a family member, an unfinished story.
Temperature anomalies averaged over the last month (left), 3 months (center), and 12 months (right) across the Northern Hemisphere... Data from @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social ERA5 reanalysis.
Style test for a tutorial series I'm putting together. Will probably redraw the life head shot, as I kinda rushed it.
They are the same kind of people who told Jews on their way "to the showers" their belongings would be waiting for them when they came back. That kind of people.
Instagram influencer Adventorin goes viral after demonstrating how simple it is to climb over the U.S. Border Wall.
Upper ocean heat content (0 to 700 m depth) also set a new record high with the latest June data update (see my earlier post). Yikes! 🌊 Graphic/data (anomalies) from www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/globa...
www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
This is how much Spicomellus changed in the last four years: 2021 reconstruction by Joschua Knüppe on left based on single rib known then; 2025 reconstruction by Matt Dempsey based on new material on right. My guess: when we get articulated material it's going to prove to be even weirder.
"The lunatics are running the asylum."
Nadav Mishol, Gadi Herzlinger, Yoel Rak, Uzy Smilanksy, Liran Carmel and David Gokhman (2025) Candidate Denisovan fossils identified through gene regulatory phenotyping Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(35): e2513968122 doi: doi.org/10.1073/pnas... www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Columbian mammoth mitogenomes from Mexico uncover the species’ complex evolutionary history | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Z. Jack Tseng and Narimane Chatar (2025) Mechanical function of the unique alveolar torus in the sabretooth Nimravus brachyops (Nimravidae, Carnivora) Biology Letters 21(8): 20250208 doi: doi.org/10.1098/rsbl... royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
The histology of rhynchosaur (Diapsida, Archosauromorpha) ankylothecodonty - Mestriner - Journal of Anatomy - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Renesto, S., Ragni, C. & Magnani, F. The first specimen with skin preserved of Lariosaurus (Eusauropterygia) from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland) allows inferences about its swimming method. Swiss J Palaeontol 144, 56 (2025). doi.org/10.1186/s133...
A phylogeny for Heterostraci (stem‐gnathostomes) - Randle - 2025 - Papers in Palaeontology - Wiley Online Library onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Sreepat Jain, Mariusz A. Salamon, Christian Klug, Dean R. Lomax, Bartosz J. Płachno and Piotr Duda (2025) An unusual predator-prey relationship inferred from a Bathonian (Middle Jurassic) nautilid from southern Poland Lethaia 58(3): doi: doi.org/10.18261/let... www.scup.com/doi/10.18261...
A. Khosla et al. (2025) Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological inferences from inclusions in vertebrate omnivore coprolites from the Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of central India Cretaceous Research 172(4): 106110 doi: doi.org/10.1016/j.cr... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A tour through my Monsters of the Deep exhibition, currently on show at Aberdeen Art Gallery and there until late October. Visit if you can (it started life far too the south, at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, in Falmouth)... 1/n
Ha. Haha. Haaa. I get it.
"She did not die defending the Constitution. She died trying to overturn it. She was not protecting lives at a gate in Iraq; she was forcing her way through windows in the Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power." New from @markhertling.bsky.social:
This is a recent hiring notice for NWS!!!
The assault on expertise is driven by an agenda to place uniformed, ill-conceived, often politically-motivated antiscience from charlatans on an equal footing with scientific consensus. Please read #ScienceUnderSiege by @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social & me: www.barnesandnoble.com/w/science-un...
Chicago keeping art alive:
The damage this man has done is incalculable.
the lowly worm has the last laugh as it destroys human civilization... #WeAreLivingAnEpisodeOfBlackMirror
Italicization applies to genus and species names. But it is noteworthy that trying to italicize in social media doesn't work for all apps or browsers.
"…Paleontology, a science seemingly immersed in the depths of the planet, serves as a window to the cosmos, through which we will learn to see the patterns of the history of life and the emergence of thinking beings." —Ivan A. Efremov 🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio
Nazi speak.
"This is a five-alarm fire. If people don’t act now, ideology will fully consume science." - Dr. Demetre Daskalakis Story by Christopher Wiggins. www.advocate.com/politics/dem...
Find out the full story behind the dig 👇 (4/4) www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dis...
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
#FossilFriday The little Cretaceous thescelosaurid Orodromeus at the @museumoftherockies.bsky.social
Donald Trump is literally ending treatments for children with brain cancer. Not even the most outrageously evil cartoonish movie villain would do something like this. Why?? What could possibly be the point of letting kids with brain tumors die? www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...
Armoured dinosaurs have of course been on our mind, so a VERY GOOD MORNING to you from this..interesting depiction of a Hylaeosaurus - by “F.John” - from a series of cards produced by a German cocoa company, early 20th Century.. 1/2
Just got word that the dean of Mongolian vertebrate paleontology, Rinchen Barsbold, passed away at age 90. A pivotal figure in the history of paleontology in his nation, and of the study of theropods.
X.A Jenkins et al. (2025) Evolutionary assembly of crown reptile anatomy clarified by late Paleozoic relatives of Neodiapsida Peer Community Journal 5: e89 doi: doi.org/10.24072/pcj... - peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10....
Newsom: Perhaps the president could deploy the National Guard in every corner of Mississippi. Murder rate is out of control there. And the governor may want to make that phone call.
Inside a duck‐billed dinosaur: Vertebral bone microstructure of Huallasaurus (Hadrosauridae), Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia - Aureliano - The Anatomical Record - Wiley Online Library anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
A cult of personality. What could go wrong?
CDC employees standing up and walking out in light of the mass shootings, firings, and *waves hands in the air* everything else. #USAnotRFK Lets gooooo
New rule. A parent may only propose removing a book from the school library only after reading it in its entirety and delivering a book report to the librarian. Until then no discussion shall be entered into.
This interview, which is also available to listen to as a podcast, provides a useful overview of some of the dangerous trends we’ve been seeing in recent months regarding federalization and militarization of state and local police functions.
Are you thinking of @bobnichollsart.bsky.social "Double Death"? It is two Carcharodontosaurus and a Rayososaurus. www.newscientist.com/article/dn27...
Temperatures have warmed across the entire contiguous United States over the last five decades or so during the months of September through November. Check out @climatecentral.org's fall package for more information and graphics: www.climatecentral.org/climate-matt... 🍁🍂
You're not going to believe this but Susan Collins is "extremely alarmed"
Domestic terrorist gets military honors. Traitor.
I mean, "Spicomellus" means "spike collar".
Only in the broadest sense. It was a dinosaur; porcupines are rodents, and thus placental mammals.
Well put White House X-Ray:
If you don't have access to Nature, but would like to read our paper on the new specimen of #Spicomellus, you can read it online at this link with no subscription: rdcu.be/eCJK3
RFK Jr must go. Period. Even if they dont care or won't listen, email/call your Reps.
Yes, the new material is consistent with the original.
CHAOS ERUPTS AT CDC CDC Director Susan Monarez has been ousted after RFK Jr. demanded she change her policy on the COVID vaccine. Top officials from the Vaccine Unit, Zoonotic Division, and the Chief Medical Officer are resigning, per reports. Horrifying news for public health.
TBF, before this it was a single band of rib with some spikes.
Hi all, me, @richardjbutler.bsky.social and the amazing UK-US-Moroccan team are delighted to announce that.. we have a new specimen of Spicomellus AND IT'S WAY WEIRDER AND WAY COOLER THAN WE EVER IMAGINED!!
Even SPIKEtacular! :-)
It's spectacular!
my "NSF's remaining budget will be used to soft nationalize the AI industry as 'infrastructure'" theory stays winning, folks
One way of visualizing the variability and multidecadal decline of July #Arctic sea-ice thickness and sea-ice volume through 2025... + Data information (PIOMAS): climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data...
Behold our Lord and Saviour, @davehone.bsky.social !
Nothing like the heart-warming tale of a cold-blooded & galloping Cretaceous killer croc to brighten your day, reported by @asherelbein.bsky.social. 🧪🐊🦖
Breaking news: Susan Monarez, the newly installed director of the CDC, is being ousted weeks after she was confirmed to lead the public health agency, according to multiple administration officials.
In this case, central Argentina on south, at least for the later Late Cretaceous. It shows up as a distinct pollen zone, too (see figure).
Even in the Late Cretaceous, southern South America is weird compared to northern South America (which is a lot more like Africa, India, and Madagascar in terms of its vertebrates).
The Empire put people in "solid confinement."
Hennessey SA, Stigall AL. Global factors constrain body-size trends across the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event at a regional scale: a case study from the Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma. Paleobiology. 2025: 1-13. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
New killer croc from the end of the Cretaceous in Patagonia: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
Jingmai K. O’Connor, Alexander D. Clark, Pei-Chen Kuo, Min Wang, Akiko Shinya, Constance Van Beek & Huali Chang (2025) Avian features of Archaeopteryx feeding apparatus reflect elevated demands of flight The Innovation DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.xi... www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Maidment, S.C.R., Ouarhache, D., Ech-charay, K. et al. Extreme armour in the world’s oldest ankylosaur. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
peerj.com/blog/post/11...
Cool thread about the spikiest of all dinosaurs (at least so far)
Senevirathne, G., Fernandopulle, S.C., Richard, D. et al. The evolution of hominin bipedalism in two steps. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
I want to see paleoart of it with vegetation trailing off of its longer spikes. An impressive beast!
When @profpaulbarrett.bsky.social came up with the name 'Spicomellus', meaning 'spikey collar' back in 2021 based on a single partial rib, we never could have guessed how accurate he was!
Meet Spiny Norman, the earliest known and definitely the most outrageously spiky ankylosaur ever discovered, as presented by @tweetisaurus.bsky.social & @richardjbutler.bsky.social in @nature.com. Q: how did it mate? A: carefully. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here’s a link to the full story 🧪#SciComm climateages.com/fighting-mis...
In a world where misinformation spreads fast, science needs consistency more than virality. One clear post at a time can build trust, cut through the noise, and make your work matter. That’s the Slight Edge of science communication. Start small. Keep showing up. 🧪 #SciComm
here is this platypus supercut you may want to watch
Interesting article on the assimilation of past climate data and the reconstruction of climate change trajectories. Monotonic decrease in sampling can significantly affect the apparent pattern. 🧪 ⚒️ #Paleobio #Geology www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
we accept your apology too, friend down under